Page 49 of Seal the Deal
“You want anadultieradult to look it over.”
“Exactly.” Alec’s relief is tangible though the phone. “Theo’s busy at work with some report, or I’d ask him and?—”
“You don’t have to explain,” Andrew interrupts. “I can look it over on my break if you send it to my email.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. You’re the best big brother in the entire world. Have I mentioned I love you recently?”
“Yup.” Andrew answers, stepping into the elevator. “Every time I do you a favor.”
“Well, it’s true,” Alec says. “I do love you when you’re not doing me favors, too though. You know that, right?”
“Of course,” Andrew replies, biting back the urge to point out that it would feel more true if the declarations came at times besides when he’s needed. This thought only makes Andrew feelguilty. He should be grateful his brothers need him at all now that they’re all grown up and starting families.
“I’ve got to head to class,” Alec tells him. “You should come to dinner at our place soon.”
“Sure,” Andrew agrees absentmindedly, taking a sip of coffee while stepping out of the elevator. This is the third time Alec’s said as much, and while he doesn’t think Alec is lying, he does think Alec is stressed to the max with college and wedding planning and keeps forgetting to follow through on inviting Andrew over.
Maybe he should host a dinner for his brothers and their boyfriends. There’s no reason he can’t do that instead of waiting to be invited, except sometimes he worries they don’t really want him around. It’s just his own issues he knows, his brothers aren’t like that, but adjusting to all of them being in committed relationships and moving on to new stages in life while he feels left behind has been hard. It’s not their fault they don’t know, he hasn’t exactly told them.
Before his thoughts spiral too far, they’re interrupted by the sight of a group of people gathered outside the front of his building doors. Curious to find out what’s going on, he steps outside and immediately regrets this choice when the thrum of voices rises to uncomfortable levels followed by a camera going off in his face.
“It’s him,” someone yells.
“Andrew King,” someone else adds, several more cameras going off.
Stumbling backwards Andrew falls against the building, the hard cement wall against his back doing nothing to steady him as he struggles to make sense of what’s happening. He doesn’t have to wonder for long, questions rapidly fired at him as cameras go off again. Through the confusion and lights one other name being shouted rings clear—Nicholas Whitmore.
So much for having time to figure out how to handle this whole fake boyfriend thing.
Fuck.
9NICHOLAS
“Wake up, asshole.”
With a groan, Nicholas drags his pillow over his head to drown out the yelling. Unfortunately, someone very annoying yanks the pillow off his face before she continues to shout.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Amanda’s voice is far too loud given his sleepy state. “You’ve made a mess of things,again, Nicholas.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Nicholas asks, sitting up with a groan. He turns to look at the clock on his night table, frowning when he notices it’s not even nine in the morning. “You know what, never mind. I don’t care.”
“Of course you don’t care. You never care about anyone but yourself, Nicholas.”
“If you just want to yell at me, you can leave and come back during regular business hours. I gave you my house key for emergencies.”
“This is an emergency, you fucker.”
“Am I being traded?”
“No.”
“Is my house on fire?”
“Obviously not.”
“Did someone die?”
“Not yet, but the day is young.”
