“Fine. That’s different.” Jenny opens one hand at a time over the table, weighing it out. “Kael does what he loves in a way he doesn’t like. We do what we hate so maybe, someday, we can do what we like.”
“Also,” I admit, lowering my voice, “I don’t want him to. I think it’s horrible that Alistair said he’d airlift my boyfriend out of a wildfire only if he agreed to sleep with him.”
“He wasn’t your boyfriend then, and Kael said no.” She shrugs. “It’s weird. It’s really weird. Just don’t get all high and mighty like you can’t understand it. Support him. Don’t save him.”
Jenny’s comments make me squirm.
“You okay?” she asks.
“I hate how you make me think,” I say.
That breaks her courtroom stare into a guffaw. “We can just talk about the stock market if you want.”
“Ugh.” I fold my arms. “I wanted to ask if you still knew that guy who runs an art gallery in Mission Bay.”
“Yeah. Tom.” She narrows her eyes. “What do you want from him?”
“Well, now I don’t know.” I pour more sake, suddenly unsure of my intentions. “I was going to ask if we could hold a gallery for Kael. Help him get some exposure, maybe make some money, without Alistair. I just want him to see himself the way I see him. Not desperate. Not dependent. Just… brilliant. Worth the space.”
Even to me, that sounds a little too much like salvation.
“Did you talk to Kael?”
“No. I wanted it to be a surprise. To just… do something. Fix one thing. But now I’m wondering if that’s wrong.”
“Nice idea, but Kael doesn’t need fixing,” Jenny says. “And I’m guessing you don’t see how not talking to him means you’re gambling that nothing will go wrong?”
I shrug.
She gives me a look and starts reciting my own religion back to me. “Where’s VTSAX and chill? Where’s slow and steady?”
My shoulders slump. “Youdothink we’re moving too fast.”
“I think you’re my favorite person,” Jenny corrects, squeezing my hand. “It’s fun seeing you head over heels, taking risks, moving fast. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“And throwing Kael a surprise gallery will hurt me? A surprise is just so much more romantic.”
She rolls her eyes.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking if we’re doing this, we’re going to make it one hell of a gallery,” she says. “I’ll talk to Tom.”
“All right!” I clap. “Thank you.”
Jenny’s right. We’re moving fast. I’m taking risks, but it doesn’t feel like sabotaging my future. This is how I intend to build one.
Kael’s worth the risk. I just can’t tell how much of the plan is really for him, and how much is for the part of me that needs to prove I can give him something Alistair never could.
CHAPTER 25
KAEL
This legendary partyfeels like my video game’s last level, and locking my phone in a security bag at the entrance is my point of no return.
Confrontation waits below. Beat the boss, keep the boyfriend. That’s the theory, anyway.
I still feel Ash’s hands on my hips from last night, but the memory only makes this place feel colder.
