“I can imagine,” Javier said, sitting in one of the chairs but leaning toward Lee. “And, look, we didn’t bring you in here to spill tea or anything. It’s just that we feel responsible for putting you in this position, and as a valued client of ours, we want to make sure we give you all the support we can if you need it.”
Lee’s brow shot up. He was surprised. Most people would have let him twist in the wind at best and goaded him for information at worst. “I don’t know what to say,” he started, then opted for sharing at least some of the truth. Javier and Desmond were kind, and he never would have met Drew if they hadn’t decided to pair the two of them together. “The fact of the matter is that our fake relationship turned pretty real. Which makesthe accusations against Drew even harder to deal with, because contradicting them would force Drew to come out.”
A knot of uncertainty fisted in Lee’s gut. Even saying that was probably too much. He had no right to out Drew to anyone.
Javier and Desmond exchanged a look. “We figured something like that had happened,” Javier said. “Anyone with eyes who saw all those pictures of the two of you together has to be able to see that not everything about your relationship is fake.”
“We really like each other,” Lee said in a rush, the dam bursting. “Drew is so accomplished and fun to be around, but he’s also sensitive and deep. We’ve had the best conversations. I feel honored that I was able to bring something out of him that he had never really considered before.” And that was as close as he was going to skate to talking about Drew’s sexuality.
Javier and Desmond didn’t push. “I thought the two of you would get along well together,” Javier said, which was his way of saying he understood, Lee was sure. “Having everything go public like this must be hard on you.”
“If there’s anything at all we can do to help, we’d like to,” Desmond added. He exchanged a look with Javier and said, “We feel a bit responsible.”
“And to be frank, I’ve been in high profile situations myself,” Javier said.
That was right. Lee had forgotten that Javier had been a relatively well-known model before starting Rent-A-Boyfriend. “Did you ever have your celebrity romance exposed as a fraud to the world when it actually wasn’t a fraud?” he asked, more than a little wry.
“No,” Javier answered, “but I was once caught in a compromising position with a relatively famous singer backstage at a fashion show, and let me tell you, that was not a fun experience.”
Lee suddenly wanted to laugh. Mostly because Desmond whipped his head to stare at his partner with wide eyes.
“You never told me about that,” Desmond said in a slightly wounded voice.
“Baby doll, you don’t want to know,” Javier said, reaching across to Desmond and placing a hand on his knee. Desmond melted into an almost silly grin when Javier winked at him. Javier then turned his attention back to Lee and said, “Needless to say, I do know how things like this can seem insurmountable. But trust me, there is a way through this.”
“And I suppose the good news is that Rent-A-Boyfriend has received a lot of interest over the whole thing,” Desmond said.
“Yes, I saw,” Lee said, glancing toward the door. “Good for you?”
“Everyone thinks they have a chance of getting paired with a celebrity, I guess,” Javier said. “We’ll see how they feel when they end up matched with Joe Nobody.”
“That’s not entirely fair,” Desmond said, resting his hand over Javier’s, which was still on his leg. “We have had a few inquiries from recognized people. They see the value in what we do.”
“I hope so,” Javier said, showing a few seconds of vulnerability to his partner. He then focused on Lee again. “The point is, we kind of got you into this mess, and we fully intend to work with you to get you out of it, if you need help. We’re working on putting together a legal team, and if you need mediation with anyone, we’ll be there for you.”
“Thanks,” Lee said. He was surprised that the meeting was actually making him feel better. “The thing I really need right now is to figure out how to reassure my fake boyfriend that I have real feelings for him, and that I’m actually in his corner instead of working against him.”
That was absolutely what he needed, but Javier and Desmond weren’t the ones who could help him with that.
They knew it, too, and although they repeated their intentions to help him in every way they could, it wasn’t their responsibility to sort out his love life. Only he could do that.
All the same, he felt better when he left the office and headed home. Better, but he still didn’t know what to do about Drew.
He crossed the street, heading into a park so he could breathe for a moment instead of going straight home. As luck would have it, there was a free bench in the sunshine, so he took a seat and pulled his phone from his pocket. Instead of just texting Drew, he called him.
The call, of course, went to voicemail, but Lee wasn’t deterred. “Hey,” he began his message. Then paused for probably too long. “I don’t really know what to say,” he confessed. “I miss you. I just want to be with you. I worry about you all the time. Oh, and I should probably tell you that I fired my agent. Well, I couldn’t fire him because I never signed the contract he sent me to begin with. I cut all ties with him. So there’s that.”
He paused again, watching a pigeon picking at some crumbs someone had left behind for a few seconds before realizing that would mean dead air in his voicemail message.
“Anyhow,” he rushed on. “I miss you. I already said that, but it’s true. I…I hope we can sort this out. Please call me.”
He ended the call and stared at his phone. He should have told Drew he loved him. He absolutely did love him. He was head over heels for the man, whether it made sense or not. He needed to tell him that.
Before he could get too worked up over that, his phone rang and flashed with an incoming facetime request from Diana, of all people. He definitely needed a friend right then, so he answered enthusiastically.
“Diana. I’m so glad to see you.”
“Uh oh.” Diana’s expression went from smiling and lighthearted to concerned in a flash. “It’s that bad, is it?”