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eleven

*ADEN*

A s promised, I pick Noel up before I head to the exhibition.

It’s a smaller one, so I let Lynn and Cedric handle most of it.

Lynn was skeptical at first, pestering me with questions as to why my workaholic ass suddenly decides to forget about its perfectionism and wants to delegate parts of the work instead of doing everything on its own.

She pestered me until I told her about having a date. She would have found out anyway. The shift in her mood, however, was mind-boggling. She even squealed!

Lynn never squeals.

I park the car in front of the apartment complex that Noel lives in, waiting for him to come out. I don’t have to wait for long, because he is on time, something I truly appreciate.

“Hey!” Noel opens the car door, almost breathless.

I chuckle. “You didn’t have to run.”

“I saw you from the kitchen window and didn’t want you to wait too long.” Noel sits down in the passenger seat, taking a deep breath. “Do I look okay?”

He looks dashing. Obviously, he is a very handsome man and would probably look good in anything, but that aside, he also dressed well for the night. “Let me take a closer look,” I say earnestly.

Noel nods, looking slightly confused when I lean forward.

I grin, catching him completely by surprise when I pull him into a kiss.

Noel recovers quickly, his hand moves to my neck, his fingers playing with my hair, while he opens his lips slightly, allowing my tongue to slip past them.

He tastes like mint, so refreshing. He must have brushed his teeth right before he came down.

Something about this makes my chest tighten. I like this guy. I don’t even understand why, I just know, I do.

Unfortunately, we are on the clock, or I would have prolonged this a little. When I draw back, Noel just stares at me wide-eyed. “I did not expect that greeting!” His cheeks flush, and he grins.

“Good to see I am able to surprise you.”

Noel clasps his cheeks, smacking them slightly.

“What are you doing?”

“Obviously, I am still asleep,” he deadpans. “You are too good to be true.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I am just a normal guy.”

“Yeah, totally.” Noel rolls his eyes at me with his usual attitude. I should be annoyed, but I find it endearing. Maybe because his reactions are always so honest, he is being himself without being hurtful. It’s cute. “Anything I should be prepared for?” he suddenly asks.

“No, don’t worry. This exhibition is mostly for patrons. I won’t drag you in front of the press with me.”

“Thank god,” he mutters. “If you ever do that, you need to tell me days in advance. I’d need to prepare myself properly.”

“I’d need to be prepared for such an occasion, too,” I chuckle.

Noel casts me a gaze I don’t quite understand, but I don’t feel it’s the right time to enquire about what he is thinking.

We almost reached our destination after all.

If I hadn’t been on this business trip until earlier today, I would have invited Noel to dinner first so that we could spend some time with each other.

But as things are, we’ll have to catch up on everything during the event.

It’s still mind-boggling to me that I am taking him with me as my official plus one. That’s much bolder than I ever was. When I was with Emil, he didn’t like the spotlight, so I never took him along. And all my other hookups, well, they weren’t important enough to me.

And now, here I am with this young man, whom I barely know. And it was me, who made the first step to kiss him.

Thinking about it now, it’s no surprise that Lynn squealed. This is absolutely unusual for me.

“Now if you had chocolate, you would be truly perfect,” Noel mutters more to himself than to me.

“Just open the glove compartment,” I say. “Cedric keeps a stash there.”

Noel stares at me. “Wait… you have chocolate…” he pauses, furrowing his brows. “Who is Cedric?”

He sounds a little off, but maybe I am just imagining things. “My assistant,” I say. “You must have met him during the last exhibit.”

“Oh,” Noel nods. “The blond guy, right? Mateo introduced him to me. I completely forgot.” He blinks. “Are you really working together with him? How does that work out?”

“Why is everyone asking that?” I mutter.

“I don’t know.” Noel grins, suddenly sounding more like himself again. “Maybe because one of you is a picture-perfect, neat businessman and the other is like an overexcited mascot?”

“And again, everyone keeps saying that,” I sigh.

“Yeah, I wonder why,” Noel chuckles. “But hey, if it works, it’s great.”

“I am said to be a perfectionist at my work,” I explain. “The words demanding and strict fall a lot…”

Noel looks at me curiously. “Really? You don’t come off like that to me.

I mean, perfectionist, I get that, after all, you own a gallery and love what you do.

I can see you trying to do everything as perfectly as possible.

But you don’t come off as demanding or strict to me.

Maybe a bit serious, but that’s not the same. ”

Again, with his honesty. Something about the blunt way he just said what he did, also what he said, makes me happy.

“To be honest, I don’t think I am easy to work with,” I admit.

“But I don’t demand my assistants work themselves to the bone, or even to keep up with me.

I just want to get a sense of passion for the line of work from them. ”

Noel nods, immediately understanding. “The passion for art…”

“You can easily learn the tools,” I say. “Sure, someone with the job experience or with the right background would make things easier. Cedric has neither. But he is motivated and loves the work. He can learn everything else. I guess that’s why we work well together.”

Noel stays quiet for a moment. “You are an interesting man,” he says quietly.

I eye him curiously, and he shows me a smile. He seems to be like he usually is, but something does feel a little off. Maybe my imagination.

*NOEL*

I promised myself not to let my mom ruin this date for me.

She has ruined so much for me already, she can’t ruin any more.

Not when I, for the first time, met a man I really like.

Aden is nothing like the stuck-up businessman I thought he would be before I went to that gallery opening.

He also isn’t anything like the arrogant, intelligent genius I thought he would be before I met him for our first date.

I was sure that since his art and his gallery made him successful, he’d be full of himself, but he isn’t.

However, he is also not like the angel-like being who I’d put on a pedestal all those years ago.

He is just nothing like any of it, and it’s making me fall head over heels for him. It scares me, but I can’t help it. I like how calm and serious he is without being stoic or closed. He seems to have his boundaries, but he is patient and he listens.

He is fucking good listener!

He is also fun to talk to. I can’t remember that I ever had a boyfriend, who I actually liked talking to, or who liked talking to me. Aden seems to be truly interested in what I have to say, how I feel, and what I think.

It’s such a new concept to me that it makes me feel terrified as fuck.

I just can’t fuck this up. I can’t!

It’s that mixture of joy to be here with Aden, and the feeling of doom that he will realize how much work I am, how much baggage I carry around, and that I am just not good enough for him.

“Noel?”

I raise my gaze, looking right into Aden’s dark eyes. It sends a shiver down my spine. Man, he can look intense. “Sorry, did you say something?”

“I just asked you if you are alright?” He puts a hand on the small of my back, making my heart skip a beat. I am not sure if he notices, but this is such an intimate gesture, especially when we are out in public. “You seem to be distracted.”

“I am sorry. I was just taking everything in.”

“Is that all?” he asks, still looking at me through his thoughtful eyes.

I can’t lie when he looks like that.

“I might not have slept well recently,” I admit.

His eyes suddenly cloud with worry. “I am sorry. I probably made it worse by dragging you out here.”

“I am actually so glad you did.”

As if Aden couldn’t get any more perfect, he reaches out his hand to touch my cheek softly. “I will fetch us something to eat. Maybe that will help.”

“Are you not scared?” I ask. “Or embarrassed?”

“To eat? No, not really.”

I feel my cheeks heating up, wondering if he is just teasing me or seriously that oblivious. “I mean, scared of showing affection“—I swallow thickly before I continue—“towards me.”

“No,” he says simply. “Everyone knows I am gay, and I invited you here as my official date. Everyone here knows it now. I would never invite a simple fling to such an event.”

“We are official?” I ask. Wait… is he serious?! I am not just a random fling?

“Aren’t we?” He purses his lips. “I guess it sounds weird to you, because we barely dated. We don’t need to put any label on us yet, but as for me, I am not going to see anyone else. What do you think? Do you want to keep things open?”

“Yes!” I blurt out. “I mean, no, I don’t want to keep things open.” I can’t help but beam at him. “What I wanted to say was yes, for me, we are official too.”

“Then we are on the same page.” He smiles. “As for showing affection openly… if you feel uncomfortable, I will make sure to watch out when we are in public. I am sorry, I should have considered that.”

“No, it’s fine.” No one has ever taken my hand in public or shown me off as his boyfriend, or date or whatever. I am not sure if we are boyfriend stage, yet, but we definitely are official. Now that I am official, he won’t get rid of me that easily! “I mean, you don’t need to hold back. I like it.”

“Alright.” Aden puts his hand on the small of my back again, pulling me close in one swift movement.

I am so close to him that my vision zones in and out.

I am trying to look at his face and not think about how fucking close I am to him right now.

However much I try, I can’t help the twinge I feel in my groin.

Fuck, that smooth movement of pulling me closer to him was hot.

So much about taking it slow.

Who am I even kidding?

Aden kisses my forehead. “I will get us something to eat. Anything you want or don’t like?”

“Nah, I am not picky.”

While growing up, I survived on so little food that being picky just wasn’t an option. If it’s edible and won’t kill me, I will eat it. Aden brushes his thumb over my cheek before letting go. I can only watch him, dumbfounded, while he walks to the buffet.

Aden has two plates in his hands when he walks back to me.

Halfway back to me, a young man approaches him.

He is a cute one, rather small with a delicate body and a sweet face.

I know I am pretty, it’s my main selling point in my job, but it doesn’t count much when I am difficult as fuck to be around and extremely prickly.

More than one guy has already pointed it out to me.

I probably shouldn’t… I shouldn’t…

“Mr. Randall?” The young guy sounds shy and nervous; however, he is not shy enough not to look him over. “I thought we could talk?”

I shouldn’t…

Oh, fuck it, I should and I will!

Aden said we are official, and ‘official me’ is definitely not letting anyone flirt with my guy! Before Aden can even react, I walk over to them in a few strides, taking one of the plates out of Aden’s hand, and then take his hand with my free hand.

“He is talking,” I intervene, “with me.” I pause to look at him, trying not to look anxious now, but I can’t help it. I am sure my eyes give it away. I know I am too much sometimes. “Or are you?”

“I am,” Aden reassures me. And then only for me to hear.

“Behave,” he whispers into my ear. It’s not an accusing tone or reproachful, but rather teasing.

It makes the hair on my forearms stand up.

“I apologize,” he tells the young man. His voice is friendly but also firm. “But I am here with my boyfriend.”