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I frowned when he trailed off and dropped his hand to his side. “What is it?”
With a heavy sigh, he pushed away from the wall and took a measured step back to put distance between us. “I think we should go back to the party.”
Seven
~ Gage ~
Seated on the sofa in my living room, I stared at the picture on my phone and cursed.
The photo of me and Nathan locked in a passionate kiss had been making the rounds on social media before we had even left the party. By morning, it had gone completely viral, even cropping up in online news articles. Though the response had been mostly positive so far, I fucking hated it.
I shouldn’t have kissed him. Not right there in the open without any thought or care for his privacy. I knew better, but I had let my dick to my thinking, and now Nathan would be the one to pay the price.
I imagined Senator Fairfax loved it. It played right into her narrative. Hell, I wouldn’t be shocked to learn her staff had been the one to leak the picture. Oh, she’d secretly be pissed that we had sullied her special night with our vulgarity, but I could just hear how she’d play it off when asked about it.
It would probably go along the lines of kids being kids and something about “young love.”
I didn’t give a damn about what she wanted, though. I cared about Nathan. What had started off as obligation had turned into a genuine desire to protect him. To shield him from his scheming mother.
The first step to that had been to cancel the contract I had with the senator. No matter what I did or didn’t feel for Nathan, my conscience wouldn’t allow me to continue helping her manipulate everyone. I sure as fuck wouldn’t let her use me as leverage against her son.
Cleaning up Nathan’s image so that it didn’t damage her campaign had been one thing. Especially when I had ignorantly believed he deserved the negative reputation. Enabling her to actively bully him, however, wasn’t something I had signed on for.
It could be argued that I should have quit the moment I’d realized I had feelings for him. With any other client, I probably would have. A petty part of me, however, had taken great satisfaction in knowing the senator had essentially been paying me for something I would have done for free.
I had also been busy making plans for Nathan’s future. Even if he didn’t choose me. Even if we didn’t end up together, I wanted to do whatever I could to help him escape his mother’s control. Which meant providing him with the tools to stand on his own feet.
A job or paid internship with a company that couldn’t be bought or intimidated seemed like a good place to start. Getting him out of the apartment his mother paid for was another goal. He only had one semester left before he graduated, and the deadline for the tuition fees was quickly approaching.
Of course, I had the financial means to take care of all those things, but I didn’t want him to trade one gilded cage for another. I didn’t want him to be dependent on me or feel trapped. I certainly didn’t want him to think he owed me something.
Unfortunately, I didn’t see any other way than a temporary reliance. I had two extra rooms in my house that weren’t being used. I rarely went anywhere, so he could use my car to travel to and from school. While I hoped the senator would do the right thing and pay his tuition fees, I was prepared to step in there as well.
I just had to convince Nathan to let me.
Entering the kitchen, I intended to pour another cup of coffee before I started making phone calls, but as I reached for the coffee pot, the doorbell rang. Confused as to who would be at my house at all, let alone before ten in the morning, I frowned as I placed my mug down on the counter.
I couldn’t have been more pleased when I found Nathan standing on my porch in his customary jeans and hooded sweater jacket. He, however, looked anything but happy. His hair stood out all over his head like he’d just rolled out of bed, and dark shadows circled his red-rimmed eyes.
I instantly went on alert. The last time I had seen him like this, someone had died.
“Nate, what’s wrong?” Grabbing him by the arm, I dragged him into the entryway and out of the cold. “What happened?”
“You quit.” His tone dripped with accusation.
“I did.” I had planned to talk to him about it, to explain, but I honestly hadn’t expected him to find out so soon.
“Because of me?”
“Yes, but only—”
“Because I kissed you?”
“Yes, but…wait. What?” Why did I feel like we were having two different conversations?
“The senator said you quit because I embarrassed you at the dinner by kissing you.”
Of course, she had.
