Miguel rolled his eyes.
“We’ve been considering the college,” Chelsea added. “I mean, since it’s right there.”
She gestured, indicating that the campus was practically everyone in town, which was true.
“Well, we are,” Chelsea continued, pointing to herself and Miguel. “Yaz is probably going to end up somewhere halfway across the country.”
“Doubtful.” Yazmin picked at her food. “Scouts today could mean nothing next year. They’re always chasing the next big athlete, so who’s to say they’ll give a shit about me next year?”
“How many colleges have approached you?” Dylan asked.
Yazmin shrugged. “None I’m really interested in, so it doesn’t matter.”
“You know, if you end up picking some place close, we could get a big ass apartment and really live it up,” Miguel said, nudging Yazmin and grinning at Chelsea.
“Yes, college is going to be so nice. No rules, no bullshit busy work,” Chelsea added. “Though, pretty sure your itty bitty short king will finally graduate by the time you enroll.”
Dylan quirked a brow but didn’t say anything about their casual commentary on Rus. If he added something, chances were he’d only fan the flames.
“Blegh, I’m so over him,” Miguel said with a twisted frown. “The terrible wardrobe I could work with, but the bad taste in men is simply a dealbreaker.”
“Ouch,” Dylan replied with a small smile.
It hadn’t taken long for everyone at the house to piece together Dylan’s somewhat confusing relationship status. Though no one really batted an eye at the fact that he had two boyfriends, other than to suggest they were surprised he managed to land one boyfriend.
“Oh, sweetie, it’s not your fault.” Miguel mockingly patted Dylan on the shoulder. “You were born this way. It can’t be helped.”
“I’m not exactly sure why I’m being insulted, but okay?”
“Just Miguel saving face,” Chelsea said with a wicked grin.
“Gotta pretend you didn’t steal his crush by acting so above it,” Yazmin added.
“Shut up,” Miguel hissed. “I got so many men knocking at my door, I don’t have time to look down at someone else’s leftovers.”
Yazmin and Chelsea burst into laughter, much to Miguel’s aggravation. He started swearing at them in Spanish. Itdidn’t take long for the three of them to lose themselves in conversation, casual insults, and playful barbs as they ate.
Dylan smiled, listening intently as they enjoyed their lunch.
In the days leading up to the fundraiser, Dylan was a wreck. He always overextended himself and got a little lost on the perfect details nobody else could do. Mainly, because he so rarely trusted someone else to handle those details.
“Relax.” Kaiden pressed a hand to the small of Dylan’s back, centering him, pulling him back down to earth.
Kaiden always managed to soothe Dylan in the simplest ways. With a quick reminder, Kaiden went over the checklist with Dylan, he texted Rus, and they did a run-through on the performances planned for the evening.
Okay, maybe Dylan did trust some people to help with those pesky perfect details. Kaiden never let him down, and Rus turned out to be quite the talent for wrangling performers. There was a slight hiccup when Daysha called earlier about some of her Pride Club members falling through, but Rus ran interference. According to the texts, all had been resolved.
“What do you think he did?”
“Probably punched somebody,” Kaiden joked.
“Oh, don’t say that.” Dylan chuckled, then contemplated. “You don’t think he actually punched them, right? I don’t want any of the performers to have black eyes or bloody noses.”
“Please, black eyes would take days to show up, and a bloody nose is an easy fix.” Kaiden rubbed Dylan’s shoulders, grinningat him with this goading expression. “Relax. Rus knows how to behave.”
“Right, right.” Dylan rushed off to attend to the last touches before potential patrons showed up.
Despite his typical day-of stress, everything went quite well. Guests enjoyed the food, cocktails, and entertainment. Kaiden and Rus skirted away any headaches before they came in Dylan’s direction—doing so in a way that they assumed Dylan wouldn’t register. Of course, he noticed. He noticed every tiny detail, but he breathed easily, knowing he could entrust his boyfriends to handle any last-minute hiccups without causing a scene.
