Page 35 of Sapphire Sunset

“Wait, wait. Rodney, what does my son have to do with thehistory of Laguna Beach?” Connor’s father asked.

“I’m using it as a comparison is all,” Rodney said.

“Yeah, but I’m not getting it, though. If this is aboutscheduling, that’s not really my—”

“It’s not about the schedule. It’s about the fact thatConnor was hosting a gay orgy in the middle of the Dolphin Room.”

“Rodney,” his grandfather piped up. “Come on now—”

“Look, the point I’m trying to make about Laguna Beach isthis. You hear all kinds of whining about how it’s not as colorfulasit used to be. Not as artistic. Now we all know what that’s code for, andpersonally, people like me, people who drop a lot of cash when they go out, arepretty glad you can go down there for a nice dinner without getting yelled atby a pack of drag queens with cocaine coming out of their pores.”

“There were drugs at Connor’s party?” Connor’s grandfatherasked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, but that’s not the point.”

“Whatisthe point?” There was barely any fight inhis dad’s voice. Rodney always wore his dad down. That’s why he was theresort’s chief pit bull.

“Look, we all know Connor’s my successor—”

“Years from now, Rodney. Decades, even.” His grandfatherwaved a hand in the air, indicating he didn’t want to have this conversation.

“No, hear me out.” Rodney cut them both off. “Look, I’m nota homophobe. But when someone’s as wrapped up in identity politics as Connor, they’regoing to make choices that are about their agenda, not what’s best for thebusiness. And honestly, guys, what I got a glimpse of the other night in theDolphin Room was a glimpse of Sapphire Cove’s future with Connor in the eventsoffice. AIDS charities, gay weddings, drag queen dance parties. It’s fine tohold your nose and do those things once in a while, but the more power Connorgets, the more that’s going to be the life of Sapphire Cove.”

“We’ve done significant marketing to the LGBT market,” Connor’sfather said.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. All the letters of the weirdo alphabet, Iknow. But the fact is, they’re not the only market, and despite whatever peoplemight say in public, this shit still makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Andanother thing…”

“What?” his father asked after Rodney refused to finish thesentence.

“We’ve got this new security agent. Really handsome guy.Former Marine. He’s gay. That’s fine. He keeps it toned down, reined in. But hewas in my office last night because he was freaked out.”

“Freaked out how?” his dad asked.

“He said Connor was showing him a lot of unwanted attention,and he wasn’t sure how to respond because he’s royalty. But it was clear Connorthought the fact that we hired a gay guy meant he had a right to him or something.”

Connor suddenly felt like he was breathing through a straw.A straw buried in sand.

“Did this security agent say that or are you putting wordsin his mouth?” Connor’s father asked.

“His words exactly. He said Connor made him uncomfortable.”

Something inside Connor broke.

Broke the same way it did when Chester Bailey first calledhim a fag in third grade and Connor knew it was true. Broke like it had whenKen Frye, the first boy who’d ever truly kissed him—like really French kissed—wentto school the next day and told all the other kids a lie that Connor had triedto force his hands down his pants during a sleepover even as he told him tostop. But Connor had thought these past breaks had caused certain musclesinside his heart to grow back stronger.

That which does not kill you and all that…

But now his head was spinning, and when he felt heat on his face,he realized he’d brought his hands to his mouth.

It was Connor who’d walked away from Logan when he thoughthe might be making Logan uncomfortable, and it was Logan who’d invited himback. Who’d asked him to show him the sea caves. Who’d made an alpha dog movewith his flirty talk and slow walk and powerful kiss.

And now he’d lied to Rodney about the whole thing.

Is that why Logan had been so evasive on the subject of hismeeting with Rodney? Had Rodney busted him after all and so Logan doled outthis bullshit cover story to save himself? Or had Logan offered up the storypreemptively, just in case? The same way he’d nipped their attraction in the bud.Logan Murdoch, it seemed, was a guy who liked to stay two steps ahead of risk.

Becausepriorities.

Because Connor, Logan had decided, was a terrible risk.

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