Chapter 7

~Justin

What am I thinking going to this party with Gabe? It"s a formal event and I can"t possibly look right. After I get into my suit, I get a curt, approving nod from Gabe then we head out the door. He looks perfect, of course, but he was born to this. I"m going to look so out of place, like a scarecrow. But that"s actually why I"m going, to scare away people Gabe doesn"t want to deal with. Maybe I can manage that much.

It"s a nighttime garden party with flowers, fancy lights and trays of champagne everywhere I look. It"s not outdoors though. It"s inside a greenhouse full of exotic flowers, with the moonlight shining down through a glass roof.

I feel ill at ease, but at least I"m surrounded by green things and flowers blooming sending their scents into the air when we pass by. I start looking at the different plants so I can avoid looking at the people.

Noticing what I"m doing, Gabe tells me, "If you like those plants, you can order some for the terrace."

"I"m not that into plants. I"m just really not into people," I admit.

"We have that in common," he says making it clear that it"s the only thing. We"re just stepbrothers through some weird twist of fate and that"s it. That"s our only connection and this very temporary job.

As for the people here, I catch some brief stares, but it"s like no one dares to eyeball Gabe too openly or anyone who"s with him. He does have an intense vibe and it"s dialed up to eleven tonight, like he"s warning everyone off though he"s being nice enough to me.

He talks to a few people but only for a minute or two. When one guy starts going on and on, Gabe points at some random people and says, "Oh, I have to introduce you to the Murrays, Justin."

It goes on like that and it isn"t too bad. Then we see Gabe"s aunt and she has to pick up her jaw off the ground. Based on the evil eye she"s giving us, I think we should stay away from her, but Gabe takes me over to her. She looks at us like she wants to kick us out, or maybe just me.

"I"m making an appearance like you wanted," Gabe tells her.

"I can see that," she says and smiles tightly.

Next it"s Martin saying hi and smirking at us, but two of his socialite friends are beaming at Gabe and giving me questioning looks. As we walk away from them, I overhear one of them say, "So that"s Gabriel"s type. He"s cute, but a little too skinny."

If Gabe hears that, he ignores the chatter. After that, I wonder if we would see Gabe"s ex, Paul. Instead I see another face I recognize. It"s my father. He"s wearing an expensive suit, sipping champagne and next to him is an elegantly dressed woman.

So this is the world my father left us for and never looked back. While I"m glaring at him, Gabe asks, "Did you want to go over and say hello?"

"No. Let him keep acting like I don"t exist," I say.

It doesn"t work out that way. I want to go in another direction, but the woman with my father notices us and her eyes go wide. She comes over and brings my father with her.

I try to walk away but Gabe takes my arm and won"t let me. "I take it you haven"t met your stepmother, my mother, Christine. This is Justin."

"It"s wonderful to meet you, honey. I"m so happy Gabriel brought you," she says with an uneasy smile while my father stares me down like he wants me to disappear.

And now I"m wondering if this is the real reason why he wanted me to come with him. "Is this an ambush?" I wonder.

"Don"t be rude," my father snaps at me and I wrench free of Gabe and stalk away. I feel a light touch on my hand and turn to see Gabe"s mother looking at me like she"s going to cry.

"Please don"t go. I"m sorry if this was too much for you. But your father has wanted to see you so badly," she tells me.

She seems nice but I know she"s lying. I know who my father is. "My father divorced my mom and me too. I don"t think you"re supposed to divorce your kid. But that"s what he did," I tell her.

She nods. "Well, I"m glad that at least you and Gabe are on good terms," she says.

"I work for him," I tell her.

"I"m still glad," she says and leaves me alone.

Now that I"ve cooled down a little, I look around for Gabe. Some woman is talking to him and he"s staring daggers at her. As I go over, I hear her say, "Derrick was such a wonderful boy. You know I hoped he and Tonya would start dating. I remember when he was a little boy and he came over for playdates, so lively and smart. He had such a bright future."

Listening to her go on and on about his dead brother, Gabe looks like he"s going to have a meltdown so I step in. "Sorry, Gabe. That guy you wanted to talk to is about to leave. I think you can still catch him."

"Right. Thank you," Gabe says in a gruff voice that shows me how on edge he is.

I get it. If someone started going on about my mom like that, I would lose it. As we walk away from the lady with the big mouth, I tell Gabe, "Sorry about the way I acted before."

"You"re saying that because Mrs. Randall wouldn"t stop talking about Derrick," he says.

He isn"t wrong. "I"m here so you don"t have to talk to people and I was neglecting my duties. I could tell she was upsetting you, but I guess she couldn"t, so I went over to do my job."

"I just can"t listen to people talk about him. It"s so false, so empty," he says and I can see how raw his pain is.

I have the urge to make him talk about it for his own good like Martin said, but who am I to say that when it kills me to even think about my mother.

Gabe leads us out of the greenhouse and we end up walking in an outdoor garden that"s not very well lit. I see a few other people walking out here. They"re just shadows to me. Then we come across two shadows making out and I remember seeing those two guys kissing in the park.

I got such a weird feeling seeing that while walking with Gabe. It"s not how I usually see it between two guys. It"s usually just me shutting down if anyone makes a move on me.

I wonder if it would be any different for me with a girl. If I felt anything for any girl I could find out. But I don"t feel anything. I don"t want anything.

Suddenly Gabe turns around and puts an arm in front of me. I gasp and freeze. He does too. His eyes stare into mine. His hand reaches for my face and then he flinches back.

Turning away from me, he points down, "You were about to step on it."

I catch a glimpse of a snake slithering off the path and under some bushes. "It"s probably not poisonous," I say.

"I wasn"t worried about you. I just didn"t want you to step on it," Gabe says and I laugh.

Damn if I can remember the last time I did that. But I feel so weird in general. Some of it is from how unexpected it all is, Gabe caring about a snake, touching me out of nowhere, the way he looked at me for a second there. It"s like those dreams I"ve been having with him stroking my hair and kissing me softly, moving his hands gently over my body, making me feel so strangely good.