Page 78 of Game Changer
“They have it,” Elena assured him. She left them alone.
Kip was staring at the floor, and Scott desperately wanted to tuck a finger under his chin and tilt his head up. He wanted to kiss him. He wanted to tell him that he absolutely belonged here because he was important to Scott, and clearly important to Elena.
“Quite the party, huh?” was what he said instead.
“Yeah,” Kip said, turning his eyes up to meet Scott’s. “I feel like I should be carrying a tray around.”
Scott frowned and kept himself from reaching for his boyfriend. He felt eyes and ears all around them. “You don’tlooklike you should be carrying a tray around. You look...” He couldn’t finish his sentence. Not with the words he wanted to use. Not here.
“Elena seems great,” he said instead, changing the subject.
“She is. You’ll dance with her later, right?”
“I’ll do my best impression of dancing, yes.”
Kip laughed a little. Then he sighed and gazed at Scott with so much affection and longing that Scott couldn’t do anything but stare back. He knew he had a goofy, love-struck grin on his face, but he couldn’t help it.
Throwing caution to the wind, he lowered his voice. “You look incredible.”
Kip bit his lip. “Not so bad yourself.”
Scott leaned a little closer, pushing his luck. “It’s going to be a long night.”
Kip was staring at his mouth. Scott watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed.
When Kip replied, his voice had shifted to that ragged Brooklyn drawl that Scott loved so much. “Should have a hell of an ending, though.”
“I can’t wait,” Scott breathed.
“Me neither.”
And thank god Elena returned at that moment or else Scott might have done something very stupid. The pointed look Elena gave him as she handed him his beer told him that he and Kip had been standing much too close a moment ago.
“It’s time to sit for dinner,” Elena said. “Let’s get you two separated.”
Before they parted, Scott extended his hand to Kip, who stared at it for a moment before he grinned and took it, shaking it like two men might who have just met at a social function.
But Scott took the opportunity to gently brush his fingertips against the inside of Kip’s wrist. He stroked the sensitive flesh as they shook hands, and he watched Kip’s lips part. He watched his eyes ignite.
“I’ll see you later,” Scott said,“Christopher.”
The dinner went on for far too long. Between courses, Jacqueline thanked everyone for coming, and explained the importance of providing opportunities early for kids to explore STEM careers. She talked about some of the good work the Equinox Foundation had already done in this area, and what plans she had for the future. She announced a massive endowment to local public schools to furnish them with state-of-the-art computers and other technology. Scott applauded along with the rest of the crowd.
He was seated with nine people he did not know. Even Carter had been placed at a different table. Scott was never particularly comfortable at these types of events, but tonight he was even more restless and distracted. It didn’t help that he couldn’t see Kip at all from where he was sitting.
As they waited for dessert and coffee, he decided he needed to get out of there for a few minutes. He excused himself and stood. He briefly scanned the room for Kip, but couldn’t find him.
Scott went to the bathroom, but didn’t feel like returning to the table afterwards. He wandered around the area outside the main ballroom where the bathrooms were located and found an alcove that offered a third-story view of the city lights. No one else was in it, so he took a few quiet minutes to himself, standing against the glass and watching the traffic below.
He felt Kip behind him before he saw his reflection in the glass, just over Scott’s shoulder. “Hey,” he said in a quiet voice.
Scott closed his eyes and forced the fluttering in his stomach to calm down.
He turned. “We probably shouldn’t be here together.”
“Probably not.” Kip stepped closer, invading Scott’s personal space and taking over his senses. The spicy smell of his aftershave was intoxicating.
“They did a good job with your suit,” Scott said shakily. “Really...fits you well.”
