Claire, though, isn’t done circling us like a panther ready to strike. Her sculpted brows are furrowed, reminding me of a fucking villain.
“I’m assuming your friend will be staying at a hotel,” Claire snips, her gaze flitting to Mia coldly.
Mia’s back goes ramrod straight. “I was thinking he could stay here.” She looks at her dad for help. “We have the room.”
Claire scoffs, at the same time Harold says, this time sounding like the goddamn man of the house, “We have plenty of room. He can stay here.”
It’s as if the temperature in the room goes down seventy degrees, with the icy glare Claire shoots at her husband. Mia’s gaze darts between her parents, and I’m about to say I can stay somewhere else, even though it will mean putting it on my credit card, when Harold speaks again.
“We have twelve empty rooms. He can stay here,” he repeats, making Mia smile slightly.
Claire throws her napkin on the table and stands. “If you’re bringing him to the charity function tonight, he better be dressed appropriately,” she says before storming out. I could be wrong, but when she leaves, the temperature rises back to a nice seventy-five degrees.
Brayden is here. With me. He flew all the way from Michigan to California just to be here for me. Nobody has ever done anything like that for me before. When he first arrived, he opened up to me about him and Drew. I think he assumed when he told me about them I was going to call him gay and push him away, but how can I judge him when Ashton and I are in a similar situation? If I’ve learned anything from this whole ordeal it’s that we can’t choose who we love or who we’re attracted to. Ashton might label himself as gay, but I know deep down he’s attracted to me, yet for whatever reason he doesn’t want to be.
And I can accept that. I really can. If he doesn’t want to be with me, if he doesn’t want to accept that there’s something between us, I can respect it. But what scares me is him pushing me away, the same way Drew pushed Brayden away. I love Ashton, and as much as I would’ve loved to see where things could go with us, his friendship is more important to me. Now I’m scared to death he’s going to pull a Drew and I’m going to lose him for good. All I want is to hop on a plane and run home to beg him not to do this to us, but I can’t do that. Because I’m stuck here until tomorrow night.
But at least if I have to be stuck here, it’s nice to have Brayden with me. This morning at breakfast Mom did what she always does. She put me down. I’m used to just taking it, because God forbid Dad ever stick up for me. So I was shocked when Brayden jumped in like a white knight.
And then the unthinkable happened. Dad actually stood up to Mom. When she suggested Brayden stay at a hotel out of spite, I thought for sure Dad would agree. But he insisted Brayden stay here, and my heart swelled with hope that maybe Dad is capable of standing up to Mom.
Of course she had to have the final word by reminding me that Brayden would need a tux for tonight. I could’ve argued, but she’s right. Brayden will stick out at the event like a sore thumb if he’s not wearing a tux. Which is why our first stop after we ate breakfast—and I changed into something more comfortable since I wouldn’t be around my mom—was the tuxedo shop my father frequents to have Brayden fitted for a tux. I told the salesman not to let him see the price and offered to pay extra to have it altered on rush.
Once that was out of the way, we spent the rest of the day playing tourists—well, Brayden wasn’t playing… he really is one. I showed him all the popular sights, and we ate lunch at my favorite bistro. Being here with him made me realize I don’t hate this city, just my mom. I love everything else about it. Its fast pace, the over-the-top, extravagant people. The way it’s full of life and character and contains so much diversity. I can see myself making a life here. The problem is, in order to do that, I would be near my mom. And I like my sanity too much to be close to her ever again. Maybe one day I’ll be able to come back, but for now, I’m glad I have Michigan to go back to.
I also realized how much I really like Brayden. Away from the stress of school and our personal issues, we were able to focus on each other. We spent the day laughing and flirting and having a good time. I stopped checking to see if Ashton had texted and enjoyed my time with a guy who wants me. A guy who enjoys my company and isn’t afraid to show it, and it felt really good. So good, I was sad when the guy from the tuxedo shop called to let me know we could pick up Brayden’s tux. It meant our fun, carefree day had to come to an end.
“What do you think?” Brayden spreads his arms out wide. He’s dressed in a three-piece black Tom Ford suit with Armani loafers, and I can’t take my eyes off him. His shirt is white and his tie is black and white checkered. Brayden is sexy on a normal day, when he’s dressed in his jeans and T-shirts, but right now, dressed to the nines, he looks exceptionally delectable.
“I think you look damn good,” I tell him
