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“It’s a good cause, Easton,” Vincent said, holding onto my shoulder.
“We came from loving families, and I know that is not true for many kids. We just want to help however we can,” Lincoln said, with a smile.
“Thank you.” My voice was hoarse with emotion. “You don’t know what this will do for so many kids and families.”
I swallowed a few times trying to keep my emotions in check when I looked at Vincent. His eyes had gone soft, he didn’t have that stern expression he usually had and for some reason I felt naked.
“I’m so glad we have the means to help,” Lola said, coming up to me and giving me a hug. Her embrace eased some of my emotions, as I saw Diane walking towards us.
“How are we doing over here?” She smiled at us.
“Diane, I think you can relax,” Vincent smiled at her. “Lincoln and I have pledged four hundred fifty thousand to the organization.”
She reacted about the same as I did. When we shared a look, it was one of complete relief.
Diane lost her son to suicide. She loved him and accepted him, but his peers did not. She had always been an advocate and if we could save at least one kid, then it would all have been worth it, but I would like to save as many as I could.
The rest of the night passed quickly. I wasn’t so nervous anymore, glad that the future of Love4all was secure. I schmoozed a few more people in the hopes of maybe getting to five hundred thousand, but we surpassed that. At the end of the night, we raised seven hundred six-four thousand dollars.
Diane grabbed my hand when they called out the final number and we looked at each other in shock. This night was supposed to help us stay afloat and it had done so much more than that. As the evening concluded, I set out to find the Valbuenas and Vincent. I needed to say thank you again because this night would have not been such a success without their huge donation.
I walked around the room until I spotted Vincent talking to someone with a drink in his hand. They were talking animatedly about something until Vincent laughed and my stomach flipped from how fucking gorgeous he was. I was about to walk away when he turned around, locking eyes with me.
I was at my limit with talking with people and I didn’t feel like being roped into meeting someone new. I smiled at him, about to turn away when he mouthed “wait”. Not knowing what else to do and because I didn’t want to be rude, I stayed where I was, waiting for him. He was so damn charismatic, I could see why people flocked to him, why he was such a successful businessman.
A few people said their goodbyes before Diane came over with her husband and they ended up saying bye too. The place was clearing out, I was about to say fuck it and leave when he appeared right next to me.
“Easton, I would say you had an amazing evening,” he said, with a big smile.
“Thank you, it was mostly because of you and Lincoln.” I smiled back. “Well if I’m being honest, Lola and her big puppy dog eyes did most of the work.”
He laughed. “You’re not wrong about that. She has both of them wrapped around her finger, but my friend deserves it. He’s worked hard to get where he is and it’s about time he enjoyed life.”
“No sense in working so damn hard if you can’t enjoy life,” I said, seeing him nod. “I just want to say thank you again. You’ve lifted a weight off our shoulders and there’s so much good we can do with what you have given us.”
“I have some builders in my contacts, I could always reach out and see if they can help you with costs,” he said, finishing his drink.
“That would be great. We’ve gotten a few names, but nothing is concrete. We didn't want to get our hopes up if this fell through,” I said, looking around, seeing that there were only a few people here.
“A few of us were going to the bar downstairs, can I buy you a drink?” Vincent asked, looking like he was on the prowl.
As much as I wanted to say yes, I was tired of peopling and I was ready for bed. I actually was ready to blow off some steam and I didn’t know if fucking Vincent was the right thing to do. I mean he was my friend's dad, but I had been on edge since being with Noemi. One time would be fine, right? It’s not like we were still really good friends, even though he still called me his best friend.
“Actually, I’m exhausted. I've filled up my socializing quota for the year,” I said, as he chuckled. “I’m going to Genevieve’s. She lets me crash there when I need it.”
He studied me for a moment. “Is that an invitation?”
“It can be whatever you want, Vincent,” I smirked, thinking this was a bad idea but the idea excited me even more. “I’ll see you later.”
I leaned forward kissing his cheek before turning away.
“Did you drive here?” He followed me out of the room.
“I Ubered,” I said, as I called for the elevator.
“I’m still hungry, as long as you don’t mind a tacos pit stop at Paloma’s, I’ll take you home,” he said, as we got into the elevator.
“How about I have it delivered?” I pulled out my phone to pull up a food delivery service when Vincent pushed me against the wall.
