Page 9 of The Himbo and the Lord

But I won’t.

I simply reach for my water glass and take a long sip.

They’re all still staring at me a minute later, so I sigh loudly and give them as much as they’re going to get in this instance.

“I think I’m going to pass on going out tonight.”

I get snickers and head shakes from them, then Seth probes.

“Bro, you’re never so secretive about these things.” He looks as confused as he sounds.

I shift in my seat. Yeah, that’s true. Normally I have no problem being disgustingly specific with the details of my hookups, but I don’t want to have to explain Ru to them. I don’t want to share Ru with them. Which is alarming...

But oh well, life goes on. It’s onlythisspecific hookup I won’t tell them about. And who knows... maybe tomorrow, after I’ve had the pleasure of many naked hours with the lord, I’ll feel like sharing a bit more.

Speaking of... I can’t stop myself from looking back at him. I try to make it seem like I’m only looking around—maybe even searching for the cute waiter—but all thoughts of being inconspicuous go out the window when my gaze clashes with Ru’s seemingly displeased frown.

A smile starts to take over my face. It was going to be a smug one, but Ru snaps his attention back to hisdate.

The thought leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

I turn back to the table and grab my glass of water, and down half of it. Then I realize Seth’s giving me his questioning glare from across the table.

I look down and ignore it.

Nothing to see here.

Over the next hour and a half, I listen to my friends make plans for the night during a truly spectacular dinner, and as always, I laugh at their antics.

These guys are my ride or dies, and yes, they can be very overbearing and more than ridiculous on occasion—which is the reason for the whole secrecy thing—but they’re like my brothers, and I love them.

Unlike them, I don’t have any brothers, only a sister, but they’ve assured me on multiple occasions that our relationship is not unlike how they get along with their brothers.

Seth, for example, has an older brother who he loves but who’s as different to him as oil and water.

Kit has two little sisters—who he’s sure will make him go gray before we reach thirty—and a little brother who bothers him constantly if you believe him. Tony is the middle child, with an older sister and a younger brother.

They’re all close to their siblings in age, and in all things really. They’re also ready to start working in the family businesses, and have never needed to take time away from their families to figure out how to tell them they’re not like them.

I have thought a time or two how none of them have taken the time to question the path that their families have laid out for them, that maybe they’re just going with the flow to keep the peace. But at the end of the day I know them better than that.

They’re excited about this next part of their lives and can’t wait to beadultsor whatever.

It’s not until we’re back in the van on our way to the hotel that Seth finally speaks up.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come out tonight?” he whispers from next to me.

“Yeah, man,” I say carelessly and scoot down lower in the leather seat. I smile at him, trying to convey excitement—but not too much—and relaxation. “I’m going to hang out with you guys until you’re all pimped up and ready to go, then I’m going to my room to have a way better time than any of you losers will.”

The heckling starts then, and I smirk to myself. They are a bit predictable, but I still love them.

* * *

It’snine forty by the time the guys finally leave for the rooftop bar where they’ll get a few drinks, and I hurry my ass over to my room.

It took longer than usual for them to be ready because they decided on a gay club for tonight, which I have to say had a bout of envy growing in my gut, but then I remembered Ru’s coming over and it magically disappeared.

But since they all took so long getting ready, I had a lot of time to think, and to mentally plan for tonight.

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