“You’re right.I know you’re right.”The self-loathing on Liam’s face after he let himself get too close outside my literature class told me all I needed to know.
“Showtime.”Daniel Corvus sweeps in wearing a tux that’s even nicer than mine and takes hold of my shoulder.He points to Mr.Cat, huddled in my hands.“You can’t take that thing out there.”
I turn to Channing, who’s been hovering in a shadowy corner.“Can you hold on to him for me?Just for, like, a couple of days.Until I’m done, you know?”
His gaze flicks over to Simon.“Why can’t your friend take him?”
“His food and litter are all back at the hotel suite.You’ve got the key.”I hand Mr.Cat over, and Channing looks into his hands as if the little guy’s insulted him personally.
Mr.Cat lets out a quiet “meow” and headbutts Channing’s chest.Channing sighs the most put-upon sigh I’ve ever heard, and I’m counting my mom when she had to fold laundry.
“Fine.You can pick him up here when you’re…done,” Channing says with no real enthusiasm.“If you’re not back to get him soon, I’m eating him.”
Ew.He’s joking.Right?He must be.I cringe.“I’ll be back to get him.I promise.”
Mr.Corvus seems to find this entire thing funny.“Ravi, have you not been treated to Channing’s delightful sense of humor before?”Then he gives Channing one heck of a glare.
Before I have a chance to even ask any more questions, Mr.Corvus says “Showtime” again, and the curtain is pulled away.I’m left squinting at a sea of faceless people.The stage I’m on has lights all around the bottom, and they’re bright enough that everyone else is cast in shadow.I listen to Mr.Corvus read my bio: age, weight, and interests, then he moves on to what I will and will not allow on my twenty-four-hour date.He comes up with so many different ways to call me a virgin I’m almost impressed.
Though there’s something super icky to me about being called “untouched.”
It’s weird, though, the way I can feel everyone’s eyes, but I can’t see them.Like I’m being watched by a room full of ghosts.
“I’ll start the bidding at one million.Who’s in?”
Holy… I suck my breath in so fast I almost choke on it.A million?I kind of assumed they’d start small and work up.One million is… Well, it’s not small.
“One million,” a man with a gravelly voice puts up his hand.
“One point five,” says a woman in a glittery dress.I can’t really see her, but I can see how it catches the light.
I blink against the dazzling sparkles, with my brain swimming even more now.I’m pretty sure I told Mr.Corvus I’m gay, but I’m suddenly not sure.What if I didn’t?What if a woman pays all that money for a date with me and she wants me to do things I can’t do?
My heart’s racing hard.The nervous thumping was steady but a little fast when this all started—now I think this is what getting chased by a bear must be like.Only I’m just standing here.Waiting for my future to be decided.
What the hell was I thinking?
“I think I might faint,” I murmur.
If Daniel Corvus can even hear me, he’s not answering.Things are going so fast I can barely keep track of what’s happening.
There’s an older man who stands when he puts in his bid of—holy shit—two point five million, and he looks so much like my late grandfather on my dad’s side I find myself praying hard that he’s not the one who wins.His bid was a lot, though.He might.
I can’t have sex with someone who looks like my dziadek.I can’t.
“Three and three-quarters.”Comes from the back of the room.I can’t tell who even says it.Squinting into the dimly lit room beyond me, I can see there are a lot more people than I expected.
The lady in the mirror dress raises her bid to five million, and my stomach twists.I’m not worth this much.They’re going to be disappointed.
Honestly, I thought Channing was fucking with me when he said I’d get more than two million.Like the wolf shifter novel reference, right?Jokes.It was supposed to be a joke.
Except this is no joke.For some reason there’s a lot of saliva in my mouth.Mr.Corvus is gripping me by one shoulder, guiding me to turn this way and that, his words blending into a strange, echoing mishmash.
“Ten million.”
My head snaps up.That’s not right.That can’t be right.Who could possibly want me that much?I can’t even picture how much money that is.
There’s this loud…rushing sound in my ears.I must have misheard.