“Well no, tomorrow night is… yeah whatever, just not tomorrow night.”
He laughed. “I’ll tell my beautiful woman,” he said. “She’ll take you up on that offer, my friend.”
“Good. We’ll aim for Friday night dinner, if something doesn’t change in the meantime,” I said happily. I stopped at the cubicle on my way to the back door. “And Lola, you and Gabe included. It’s my treat.”
“Will Andrew be joining us?” she asked. Her tone was a mix of both teasing and hopeful.
“I don’t know,” I said quietly. “I’ll ask.”
Her smile was beautiful. “Okay!”
I withheld a groan, but I was back to smiling. I had to wonder if I’d ever stopped.
I spent the afternoon doing online searches for Yanni Tomaras. He had no social media accounts, well, not under his real name. Not that I could find, anyway. By cross-referencing locations and photos, even likes and anything that had been favourited, there was no other Yanni that was remotely close to the pictures Lance had sent me.
I tried a varied combination of his name, date of birth, and address. Then I added in his college and class information, coupled with his place of employment, and surprisingly, I made some headway.
I must have lost track of time because the next thing I knew, my phone rang. Andrew’s name flashed up on screen.
“Hey,” I answered.
“Hi.”
I was one hundred percent certain I was doing that ridiculous smiling thing, just from the sound of his voice. “How was your day?”
“Good,” he replied. “I survived the colleague inquisition, though only barely.”
“Was it rough?”
He groaned. “Painful.”
I chuckled. “Yes, Lola accosted me again today. Though my diversion tactics of complimenting her outfit were countered, and it’s true what they say, resistance is futile.”
He made a happy sound. “Well, I’m having lunch with my mom tomorrow.”
“Remember,” I said seriously. “When in doubt, compliment her outfit.”
“You just said that didn’t work.”
“Well, it didn’t work on Lola, but she knows all my cunning plans.”
“Did you just quote Blackadder?”
“Do you know Blackadder?”
“Well, obviously.”
I laughed. “My Aunt Marvie loved all the British shows.”
“My dad was born in England,” Andrew said. “Came here when he was very young, but his family loves them too. We grew up watching the BBC.”
“I didn’t know that,” I mused. “That you’re half English.”
“Where do you think I get my awesome tan from?”
God, he made me laugh. “Well, for what it’s worth, I hear pale is the new tan. All the rage in LA at the moment. I saw an article in Pasty Living.”
“You’re not funny,” he said, though I could hear the smile in his voice. “And I’m not pasty.”
“No, you’ve got great skin, I must say. When you get here tomorrow night for dinner, you might have to get naked just so I can be sure though.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep. Absolutely.”
He sighed. “I’m sure I can arrange something. I’d hate to disappoint you.”
It was quiet where he was. There was no background noise. “Are you home already?”
“Yep. Been home for a while.”
I checked my watch. Shit, it was six-thirty. “I didn’t realise the time.”
“What did you get up to today?”
“I met a new client today.”
Silence.
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” I added quickly, defensively. “He’s a bit of a wanker, and it’s all a bit weird, to be honest.”
More silence.
“Andrew?”
“Yeah, I’m here. I just… why didn’t you tell me?”
“I did. Just now. I just told you.”
“No, I mean, before. Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I forgot about it, to be honest. I had a life changing weekend, as you might recall. And I was going to tell you last night, but then you sent me a text about coming four times and my stupid brain went on a one-way trip to pornville. There was no coming back from that… Well, there was coming… I had to see whether I could manage four times in one day—well, since I was seventeen anyway—and I couldn’t let you beat me. I’m competitive like that.”
He was silent again, but then he laughed. “What?”
“Do you want me to repeat all of that?”
“You didn’t message me back to say that you did a fourth.”
“I was in an orgasm coma, thanks to you. I wasn’t capable of texting.”
He laughed, but he was serious when he asked, “And your weekend was life-changing?”
“Yes. I seemed to have scored myself a smokin’ hot boyfriend. And that’s a first for me. A boyfriend of any kind, that is.” I sighed and spoke quietly, “So forgive me if I forget to tell you things… It’s just that I’ve never let anyone in. Ever.”
I could hear him suck back a breath. After a beat of silence, his voice was soft when he asked, “Smoking hot, huh?”
“Yeah, totally. He was on the cover of Pasty Living and everything.”