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“And now she wants to clean up the image she created?”
“Well, I mean, she can only play the poor mom with an asshole kid so many times before people stop caring.”
“That’s so fucked up.”
Instead of responding, Nathan glanced up at the clock over the door. “Times up.”
For both the room and the conversation. Still, I wasn’t ready to let him go yet. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes. I want Korean corndogs.”
I didn’t know what the hell that was, but I did know how to get to Koreatown. I figured that was a start. “Deal. Did you drive?”
“Uber.”
Even better. “Let’s go.”
Six
~ Nate ~
I couldn’t remember a time I had ever been so radiantly happy.
Every day since the rage room had been filled with a new adventure. Gage had taken me indoor skydiving, which I had loved. Rock climbing, which I hadn’t. Blacklight laser tag had been fun, even if I had sucked at it.
I would have spent all of my time with him if I could, but he insisted on dropping me off at my apartment every evening before dark. Not because he thought I might turn into a pumpkin or anything like that. He just wanted to make sure I had time to study for semester exams.
We were friends. Gage had said so himself, and while I wanted more, I would take what I could get. Although, I was pretty sure friends didn’t send food delivery every night, followed by a text to make sure I ate it.
Not wanting to drag anyone into the insanity that had become my life, I barely had acquaintances, let alone friends. It wouldn’t matter what kind of background they came from, the senator would find someone way to use them for her gain. I had watched her do it time and again with my sisters’ friends.
With Gage, I didn’t have to worry.
For starters, he had chosen to get involved in my life, even if he hadn’t known all that entailed at the time. Since then, however, he come to understand exactly the kind of person the senator was, and the lengths she would go to get what she wanted. A fact I found slightly humiliating, but it also meant that he couldn’t be manipulated.
I didn’t even care that he was being paid to hang out with me. It was actually the perfect cover. I couldn’t get out of going to these stupid events, but it would be a lot less miserable with Gage by my side.
We just had to be careful. If Senator Fairfax thought for even a moment that my happiness might be real, she wouldn’t hesitate to fire him on the spot.
Standing outside the towering double doors of the main ballroom inside the Rosewood Mansion, I took a deep breath and silently repeated my mantra.
Look happy but not too happy. Committed but not too in love. Close but not too intimate.
“Relax.” Gage took my hand and squeezed it comfortingly. “We can leave whenever you want.”
I shook my head. “We’re supposed to stay until after—”
“We can leave whenever you want,” Gage repeated, a note of finality in his tone. “Right?”
God, this man. How could I not fall for him?
“Right.”
“Good boy,” he teased with a wink. “Now, can we go in already?” He rolled his head to the side and tugged at the collar of his crisp, black shirt. “I need a drink.”
While I much preferred him in jeans and a leather jacket, he was absolutely gorgeous in a tux. Simple and elegant, the black material hugged him in all the right places, highlighting his broad shoulders and lean waist. Only a pearl pink bowtie and matching pocket square—the same color as my vest—broke the monochrome.
When I had suggested we coordinate our attire for the evening, I had been half joking. I never thought he would agree, but Gage hadn’t hesitated.
