Seth looked between Lindsey and the boy. “Have you two met before? How did you know Jasper’s nickname?”
Lindsey grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. “Could you bring the boy a milk, please?”
“Milk!”
“Yes, I suspect you’ve had a gallon of soda. Milk is good for you.” He looked at Seth. The man’s scent surrounded him and made him want to whimper. “I didn’t know his nickname. I made it up.”
Jasper puffed out his chest. “And, man, I love it.”
Seth laughed. “I’ll admit it suits you.”
They walked to a free table with their plates and sat. Jasper dug into his food with an avidity Lindsey remembered from his early adolescence. Of course, his circumstances had been different. He’d literally been changing his form, not just his brain and hormones. The boy would look up, smile, and try to slow his pace, but he’d go right back to shoveling food down his throat, especially the meat. Clearly, he was growing.
“How old are you, Jasper?”
“Jazz.” He grinned.
“Jazz.” Lindsey grinned back.
“I’m almost thirteen.”
“You’re tall. Must take a lot of food to support all that expansion.”
“Yeah, I’m taller than any of the other guys.” He fell back on his food. Lindsey watched Seth watch Jasper. The man seemed to like the kid. So did Lindsey.
“Well, well, isn’t this a lovely domestic scene.”
Bruce. Shit. Lindsey looked up. “Hi, Bruce, good to see you. This is Seth Zakowsky and Jasper Harding.”
The boy stood and extended his hand. “Jazz.”
Bruce shook his hand but kept looking at Seth. “Sorry I missed the match. I heard you were a standout.”
“I did my best, darling.”
“So, uh, could I talk to you for a minute?”
Tiresome. “Of course. Will you gentlemen excuse me?”
He pushed back his chair and stood beside Bruce, who led him closer to the field. Bruce frowned. “So, uh, is he your boyfriend?”
Lindsey narrowed his eyes. “Do you think I would have sex with you if I had a boyfriend?”
He crossed his arms. “I don’t know. Would you?”
“I don’t cheat, Bruce. Seth is just an acquaintance that I brought to the party as a favor to a friend. Not, I might add, that it’s any of your business. One roll in the hay does not a relationship make.”
Bruce touched Lindsey’s arm. “Hey, I’m sorry. I just really like you and thought what we had was pretty good, and when I saw that big hunk, I went green around the gills.”
“I think you’re lovely, darling. Don’t push your luck.” He laughed when he said it, but Bruce swallowed hard enough that he’d probably got the message. “I’m going back to my lunch. If you’d like another date, call me.”
“I will, okay?”
“Of course.” He walked back across the terrace to where Seth and Jasper sat sneaking peeks in his direction. He sat.
Seth positively scowled. “So who’s that stuffed shirt?”
Lindsey cocked his head. “A friend.”
“Seems like a pretty good friend.”
“As I said, a friend.” What was up with him?
Jazz finally slowed down on the eating and sat back with his milk. He gazed at Lindsey. “So you’re gay?”
Seth coughed on his sparkling water.
Lindsey swallowed a sip of champagne and nodded slowly. “Yes, I am.”
“I always thought, you know, gay guys didn’t like sports and stuff.”
“Obviously, it’s not good to assume things based on stereotypes. Every person is different, gay or straight.”
Jasper seemed to think about that as he swallowed milk. “What about you, Seth? Did you know gay guys were so good at sports?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Really? How’d you know?”
“Well, I was a starting quarterback on my football team in college.”
“Yeah. So did you have a friend on the team who was gay?”
He gave that half smile that made Lindsey gasp. “No, Jazz. I’m gay.”
“You are?”
Lindsey’s mouth dropped open. “You are?”
“Yeah.” He grinned. Those gold eyes speared Lindsey. “Like Lindsey said, Jazz, never assume.”
Chapter Five
Awk-ward.
Seth walked beside Lindsey toward that mother-fucking fabulous car. Neither of them said a thing. Ever since Seth’s big revelation to Jazz, Lindsey had been taking deep breaths and not saying much. Not even “darling.” Hell, he would have thought the guy would be thrilled to know he was gay. Validation and all that crap. But Lindsey didn’t look thrilled. He looked—what? Scared. Weird.
They walked up to the Tesla and Seth crossed to the passenger side and slid in. Lindsey got in beside him. Tense.
“Uh, by the way, man, if I didn’t say it on the way over, this car is bitchin’.”
That got a smile. “Yes, she’s my baby. I’m not really a car person, but an electric car that goes really fast? My idea of a good time.”
“I’d have thought you’d get the sports car version.”
Dimples flashed in those lean cheeks. “I have that one too.”
Seth rolled his eyes. “Holy shit, I’m out of my depth in your lifestyle.”
“It’s all right, darling; most people are.” Strange. His voice sounded sad.
Lindsey started the car and pulled from their parking space. Seth looked out as they passed the entrance to the polo club. Westerberg and his son both stood there. Talk about daggers.
Ahead of them on the driveway, a big school bus puffed fumes into the air. Kids peered out the window at their car. The kids waved and made faces and Seth waved back. Then in the rear of the group, he saw Jazz. Seth gave him a thumbs-up and so did Lindsey. The boy nodded but he looked pretty unhappy.
Seth sat back as the school bus pulled out onto the tree-lined road and Lindsey turned in the opposite direction. “I really like that kid.”
Lindsey frowned. “Me too, and I’m worried about him. He doesn’t seem to get on well with that woman, and I think she’s one of his counselors.”
“Do you think the kid might be homo-curious? He sure asked a lot of questions about being gay.”
Lindsey glanced at Seth, then back at the road. “I hadn’t thought of that. It’s certainly possible. He’s moving into adolescence so it would come up, so to speak.” He laughed. “At least he got to see that there are all kinds of gay men, so he can be whoever he wants to be.”
Seth snorted. “Maybe in your rarified air, baby, but in the real world, being gay is a bitch. Especially for kids, before you’re big enough to fight back.”
“Bad childhood?”
“Sure. Me and a lot of other people. There was this guy in middle school. Shit, that poor kid got beat up every day. Finally he dropped out. His family couldn’t afford private school, so I don’t know what happened to him.”
“Did you help him?”
Seth blew out his breath. “No. I was fighting my own attraction, and couldn’t admit I was just like him. The best I can say is I wasn’t one of the guys beating him up.”