Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
“Apologies,” I said with a friendly smile. “I don’t believe I learned that when we played golf that day. If I had, I probably would have asked you several questions.”
He laughed warmly and said the same. “My father is a talker. I usually take a back seat when Dad gets an unsuspecting newbie in our foursome.”
We spent a few minutes on small talk before Nadine asked who I was here with.
“Shit. Sorry. I was supposed to take this wine to Mandi. She’s over there talking to Spider. Give me a minute.”
I strode over to Mandi and pressed a hand on the small of her back before handing her the glass of wine. “Apologies for the delay. I…” Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. Robbie had a hip propped against the sliver of wall between two windows while Darcy Latham, a man who would set his own mother on fire to get cast in the year’s hottest film project, loomed over him with a practiced smile. It was clear the guy had been going on for a while because Robbie’s smile looked like it had been plastered on his face long enough to grow moss.
“You?”
I blinked back over at Mandi. “I, ah, ran into my sister. Would you like to meet her?”
Mandi waved her free hand in the air. “Oh, I’m sure I will. But Spider said he wanted me to meet Jensen Dorine, so why don’t I find you after that?”
“As long as you’re okay mingling?” I didn’t want to ditch her in a room full of strangers, but she was also a very outgoing person who didn’t usually have trouble carrying a conversation. It was one of the things I liked about her.
She waved me off, and I returned to my sister and her date, careful to avoid interrupting Robbie in case I’d misread the situation.
“Where’s your date?” Nadine asked.
“Huh?” I asked.
My sister rolled her eyes. “Never mind. Austin was asking me about your work with the foster program. He was interested in hearing more.”
That was all it took for me to go off on one of my new favorite projects. A friend of Robbie’s had turned me onto a foster program that specifically helped LGBTQ+ kids. I told Austin about Marian House and all the good they were doing in the city.
We spoke for several minutes before my attention was captured yet again by Robbie. This time, his father had pulled him over to speak to Diego and Thiago Vega, who were both incredibly kind people. I let out a breath.
Nadine nudged me with her elbow and tilted her chin in their direction. “Should we say hello to Robbie?”
“Oh, I… maybe not just yet.” I focused on Austin again. “You started to ask me something about Evers Media earlier, and we were interrupted.”
He nodded. “How are you balancing subscription growth with content spend? That must be a tightrope right now. I was impressed by your Q3 numbers, and I’m curious how you see it going moving forward, considering the Pilicoe deal.”
We talked shop for a little while, the conversation eventually attracting several more people who were interested, either because they were investors or were in media like me. All the while, I noticed men flocking to Robbie, trying to compete with Darcy, who’d decided to stake his tent on top of the poor guy.
And Robbie seemed about as interested in him as he was in streaming subscription numbers and quarterly sales projections.
“Will you excuse me?” I eventually murmured, escaping to the men’s room to keep from moving in on Robbie’s conversation and nudging Darcy out of the picture.
After emptying my bladder, I moved to the sink to wash my hands. My hair was still tidy, but my eyes looked tired. No surprise. I’d barely gotten any sleep since hearing Robbie’s sweet fucking orgasm in my bathroom the other night.
The image of Robbie’s hand clasping his bare cock, his head thrown back in pleasure in my bathroom, had been too much to take. It was hard enough to keep my hands off him, but knowing he’d gotten hard from our little interaction? From my close proximity?
It was enough to make me do something stupid. And I refused to do something stupid like fuck my friend’s son.
I’d left that night, not just San Francisco, but California. My pilot had asked, “Where to?” And I’d simply said, “Take me someplace you’ve always wanted to go.”
We’d ended up in Moab, Utah, of all places. And Brinn got to help pilot a hot air balloon. My pilot was a friendly woman, much more bubbly than her quieter wife, Kelly, but they were both adventurous as hell. Since Kelly was my flight attendant, the two of them were able to share the experience while I just went along for the ride and tried to learn how to breathe again.