Page 6 of Seal the Deal
“It is what it is. My step-dad, well he loved my mom, but he loved the money more. My mom chose me, and we were happy until she passed. Anyway, I hadn’t seen or talked to my cousin in twenty years until he moved here for work last year.”
“What does he do?” Andrew asks.
Amanda and Denise share a look. “He does well for himself.”
Doing his best not to point out how little that tells him, Andrew reaches for his wine and takes a small sip. It’s aromatic and sweet, his favorite. Something is definitely up.
“Not to be rude,” Andrew starts.
“But you want to know what any of this has to do with you?” Amanda asks.
“Well, since you said it first—yes.”
“My cousin is a self-centered, spoiled shithead of a man, who is also deep down—way, way deep down buried under layers of emotional unavailability, trauma and bad decisions—a decent guy.”
“Right.” Andrew takes another drink of wine.
“Did I mention he makes bad decisions? Ones that are going to cost him dearly.”
“You did,” Andrew confirms.
“Well he’s made another one, and he needs some help. We think you can help.”
“Oh.” Andrew toys with the stem of his wine glass, suddenly understanding what direction this is going. If her cousin comes from old money, and has made some costly decisions, he’s likely in financial trouble and needs a discreet clean up. It’s not exactly Andrew’s area of expertise to deal with personal finances, buthe’s damn good with numbers and problems, so he can probably help.
“Are you sure you want me?” He asks, wondering how deep it goes. Hopefully not deep enough to need someone in tax management. Andrew is great at large and small scale accounting and financial advising, but tax law is not his area of expertise.
“I never planned on actually calling in that favor you owed me for getting Emerson that suit,” Denise says, looking stricken. “But you said if I ever needed something?—”
“You know I’ll always help you out, owed favor or not,” Andrew tells Denise. “Seriously, why didn’t you guys just say something beforehand? This is no big deal.”
“Oh thank god.” Amanda sinks into her seat, turning her smile on Denise. “I told you, baby. You were so worried for nothing.”
“Why were you worried about asking me for accounting help?” Andrew laughs. “It’s not a big deal at all. As long as he didn’t do anything illegal, but I doubt you’d ask me to help with that.”
Denise blinks while Amanda gulps down her wine.
“What?” Andrew asks, definitely missing something.
“It’s not—” Denise starts, cut off by the doorbell ringing.
“Fuck,” Amanda curses. “He has the worst timing.”
Slightly confused and definitely curious, Andrew watches Amanda rise from the table and walk to the front door. From his specific seat he can’t see who it is, only hears the low rumble of a male voice followed by Amanda whispering. Turning his eyes on Denise, he’s not at all surprised to find her also staring at the living room waiting for this mystery cousin to arrive. He doesn’t have to wait long. After another minute of hushed voices, the sound of approaching feet lets Andrew know they’re coming. Automatically, he rises to introduce himself, caught off guardwhen it’s not a stranger that trails behind Amanda but someone Andrew knows.
Someone he follows on social media.
Someone really fucking famous.
Someone Andrew never, ever expected to meet.
“Andrew, this is my cousin Nicholas.”
Nicholas grunts, hands shoved in his designer sweats. His shoulders are hunched, but the bad posture does nothing to hide his impressive build—broad shoulders and muscles everywhere. He’s got several inches of height on Andrew, but what really sets them apart are their body types. Whereas Andrew’s body is all sharp angles and soft flesh, Nicholas’s body is one that looks carved out of ice. A body built from hockey,forhockey. His long sleeve shirt clings to every single muscle in his massive body bringing up mental images of him without that shirt on, of his nearly naked form often splashed across the papers or in thirst traps on his social media. The thirst traps themselves don’t appeal to Andrew, but something about Nicholas with his classically handsome face and tattoo covered body has long fascinated Andrew.
More than once Charlie has teased him about having a crush on Nicholas because of his past affinity for looking at his social media, but that isn’t true. He just likes to look at him, likes the satisfying symmetry in his facial features and the way tattoos crawl up his neck and across his chest, curling around strong forearms and wrists. Andrew would never get a tattoo himself, he’s terrified of needles and can’t handle seeing things on his body. But on other people? He loves them. The craftsmanship in the line work is magnificent, and the sight of such exquisite art on the human body has always appealed to Andrew.
“You want an autograph?” Nicholas drawls, his heavy New York accent startling Andrew from his thoughts. Usually Andrewonly notices when he starts dropping his r’s but it seems extra pronounced or, maybe Andrew is paying too much attention.
