Page 52 of Finding Grey
TWENTY-SIX
______
SEAN
Dante’s birthday dawned bright and clear, perfect for a pool party. Late autumn had long since leeched the last of the summer heat from the air, leaving temperate days and cool nights. A few more weeks and it would be too cold for swimming, which made me glad I’d talked Dante into having the party. Despite all the time he’d spent out on the patio, he’d never once used the pool. When I asked him about it, he’d shrugged and said he was here to work. Honestly, it was no wonder he’d been running short on creative juices, he never seemed to do anything but work. The man needed to relax and live a little.
So, I was relieved when Dante told me Roger, after hearing about the party, had opted to go out for the day. A thick tension had pervaded the air between them since Roger’s arrival. Definitely not conducive to a party mood. I didn’t need to hear Dante’s sigh of relief when Roger walked out the door, I swear I felt it.
The guests started arriving shortly before midday. I’d kept the list small, inviting a couple of old mates from high school, and my younger sister and her boyfriend. Gabi, together with her brother and his fiancée, finished off the list—almost.
I cornered Gabi the second I could get her alone. “Where is Connor?” I hissed in her ear. “Please, tell me he’s still coming.”
After having no luck finding someone both willing and available to play the part ofAlanfor my little charade, I’d begged Gabi to come up with someone for me. And she had, in the form of her old next-door neighbour, Connor. Who also happened to be the boy Lawrence Miller cheated on her with back when they were dating. Gabi didn’t believe in holding grudges, especially against people she’d known most of her life, and she’d managed to bury the hatchet with both Connor and Lawrence years ago. But as far as I was aware the two men hadn’t spoken in years.
“Don’t worry,” she assured me. “Connor’s been called in last minute to do some catalogue work because one of the other models backed out due to food poisoning. He’s going to come straight here after he’s done, but that won’t be until about three.”
My anxiety level lowered as I nodded. “That’s fine, better even. The less time Dante andAlanspend together, the better.” I was no longer sure if the charade was necessary. For all I knew, Roger’s presence alone would be enough to cool Dante’s ardour. But I couldn’t back out now. If Alan failed to appear, Dante would get suspicious.
The next few hours were spent chatting and eating food. Dante kept a smile on his face from the first introduction, but it wasn’t until we sat down to lunch he started to relax. I’d given in to his desperate requests for no presents, candles, singing, or forced attention from people he’d only just met, so by the time we cut into the birthday cake he seemed to be having a good time. Leaving him to a conversation with a few of the other guests, I joined Gabi on the circular daybed.
“Good cake,” she said around a mouthful, and I nodded in thanks. “You know,” she added, licking icing from her fork, “Dante couldn’t be more into you if he was actively screwing you right in front of me.” She paused, apparently caught up in the image the idea presented. “I could be into that.”
“Don’t you think you’re exaggerating?” I suggested. “Maybe a little?”
“Nope, I’m totally serious,” she said, shaking her head. “His eyes follow you everywhere you go, like little spherical stalkers.” A giggle followed. “I’ll bet his eyeballs aren’t the only spheres that perk up when you walk by.”
My eyes widened at her words. “Do you mind?”
“Tell me I’m wrong,” she challenged.
I looked over at the table where Dante still sat. Before long, his eyes shifted to me. The corners of his mouth lifted as his gaze held mine, and then he returned to his conversation.
“Told you so.” Gabi sounded every bit the bratty sister she’d always been to me.
“And you know everything,” I responded, pushing against her shoulder until she fell over onto her side laughing. “Come on, let’s go for a swim.”
She gasped in horror. “But we’ve just eaten, what about the thirty-minute rule?”
“I will not be held back by an old wives’ tale, woman.” I already had boardshorts on, so I peeled off my shirt and threw it at her. “I’m going in and you can’t stop me.” I dived into the pool, grateful for the coolness of the saltwater on my heated skin. By the time I reached the other end of the pool, Gabi had pulled off her summer dress to reveal the bikini beneath and followed me into the pool.
Within minutes, everyone else joined us. A half-arsed game of water polo followed, but the only available ball had sprung a leak at some stage and kept deflating, so the game didn’t last long.
An hour later, Dante and I were the only ones left in the water. We’d raced each other doing lengths of the pool and pelted the ball around before eventually running out of energy. Now, Dante floated on his back with his eyes closed while I sat on the sun-warmed edge and pretended not to stare at his half-naked body. Not that anyone around us noticed me staring, or cared.
He drifted towards me by slow degrees. It couldn’t have been deliberate. His eyelids hadn’t so much as flickered. Only his hands moved lazily through the water, swishing this way and that, drawing him inexorably closer.
Sliding off the edge, I carefully lowered myself into the pool, so he wouldn’t be alerted by the movement of the water. By the time I was submerged up to my neck, Dante’s head was next to mine. I leaned in, my lips next to his ear. “Boo.”
Dante jerked forward with a gasp. His eyes snapped open and he disappeared under the water in a splash of limbs.
Throwing my head back, I laughed uproariously. I was still going when he surfaced, coughing and spluttering.
“What the fuck?!” he cried, wiping water from his eyes.
“You should have seen the look on your face,” I managed to gasp before dissolving into another fit of laughter.
His mouth dropped open and he barked out a laugh. “How about you show me?” I was laughing too hard to resist when he jumped on top of me, pushing down on my shoulders. I managed to take in a quick breath of air before I went under.