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“I love it,” Luca breathed.
Dmitri raised his brows. “This seems like a lot for a birthday party.”
“Yes, well, my brother demands a lot,” Luca countered. “He spoils Noah.”
Dmitri didn’t point out that Luca did the same damn thing to Wilder—and to any of his friends. He could easily see Luca going out of his way to plan some lavish event for Raphael. He could envision tables of food, a bartender, people laughing.
He could see Raphael standing in the middle of the floor swaying to music, held by strong arms that wouldn’t be his.
Dmitri cleared his throat, then turned to face a guy Dmitri recognized as someone who used to work for Wilder. Paxton. The guy had been a handful of years ahead of him in school and had always seemed nice enough—a reputation for being a flirt, but everyone found him harmless. And he was attractive enough, with a sweep of dark blond hair and a smile that dimpled his right cheek.
“Just the two of you today?” Paxton asked.
Luca rolled his eyes. “Were you expecting anyone else?”
Paxton just grinned in response and crossed the room to stand in front of them. “Mike said to try and sell you on this space since the pool deck is going to be resurfaced, but I feel like I don’t need to.”
“It’ll be too cold out there anyway,” Luca said. He approached the tall window that overlooked the valley leading to the pool deck, and Dmitri was pretty sure that alone was worth whatever he was paying to rent the space. “As long as we can make this place look like the fucking Ritz, Adriano won’t care.”
Paxton grinned as he stepped back, elbowing Dmitri gently. “What about you? Do you have a say?”
Dmitri shook his head. “I’m just here for moral support or whatever.”
“Is that all?” Paxton winked when Dmitri looked at him. “You’re coming to the party though, right?”
Dmitri tried to hide his tired sigh because yes, he would, but it meant watching Raphael and Rian. “I’ll be there.”
“You wanna save me a dance?” Paxton winked at him again, and in spite of himself, Dmitri blushed. “Unless maybe you want to hang out sometime before?”
Dmitri shoved one hand into his pocket, curling his fingers around his phone. He wanted to say no, just for the fact that he was taken completely off guard. He wanted to say no to avoid that awkward, painful moment when he confessed the truth to Paxton and was rejected—whether cruel or kind.
He wanted to say no, because saying yes meant that he was admitting it was over. That Raphael was falling for someone else, and it was time for him to do the same.
“Okay, I read this wrong,” Paxton started, and Dmitri made a soft noise.
“It’s not that. I’m just not great at…”
“Hanging out?” Paxton offered with a small grin.
Dmitri flushed harder and glanced away. “Something like that.”
Paxton hummed, turning his head when the guy who had to be Mike walked in, but he was already focused on Luca, and they began to talk at the far end of the room. “How are you at drinking coffee?”
Dmitri couldn’t help a small laugh. “Um. Normal at it? I think?”
“What about going for walks?”
Dmitri softened a bit at the way Paxton was attempting to put him at ease, and while it felt wrong, he also wanted to be ready for this. So desperately. “I think I’m all right at it. As long as we’re not running.”
“No running,” Paxton promised. “I totally failed the running module in PE.” He reached into his pocket for his phone. “Want to put yourself in there?”
Dmitri breathed out and plunged in, tapping out his name and number into the contact field. Paxton took it back, and a few second later, Dmitri’s phone buzzed against his palm. “That was you?”
“That was me. I work most mornings, but I can get my boss to okay a long lunch or something. Not sure what your days are like.”
They were hell right then, and probably wouldn’t calm down after his midterms, but he wanted to carve out space for himself. “I can figure something out. I’m working for the parks department right now.”
“Damn, with Roman?” Paxton said quietly. “How’s that?”
