Gabriel’s face paled. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Smiling, Tristan left, pleased that he’d had the last word.
Chapter 8: Alexander
Alexander Sheldon watched his cousin from the corner of his eye. Jared was sitting on the loveseat by the Christmas tree, his new boyfriend next to him.
“Stop staring at them.” An arm wrapped around Alexander’s waist and soft lips pressed against his cheek.
Alexander turned to his boyfriend and quirked an eyebrow. “I stare only at you.”
Christian dimpled and brushed his lips against his. Alexander had to stop himself from deepening the kiss; they weren’t alone. “Remind me why we invited so many people.”
“Hey, it’s not that many people!” Christian widened his eyes innocently. “There are, like, just thirty.”
“Too damn many,” Alexander muttered.
“Quit being such an antisocial freak. Don’t worry—no one will spill anything on the carpet.”
Alexander gave his boyfriend a flat look, but Christian just grinned and blew him a kiss.
“Besides,” Christian said, hooking his thumb on Alexander’s belt and leaning into him. “We wanted to cheer Jared up, remember?”
Alexander looked back at his cousin. Jared had his boyfriend all over him. “He doesn’t seem to need cheering up.”
“Hmm,” Christian said.
“Oscar seems like a nice guy.”
“Uh huh.”
“Jared’s smiling. He looks happy.”
“Uh huh.”
Alexander looked at Christian. “It’s none of our business.”
Christian chewed on his lip. “Probably. But I don’t think it’s a good idea. A bit too soon after…”
“It’s better than his staying home and drinking himself into oblivion.”
“Well, there’s that,” Christian said and they shared a look.
Alexander grimaced, remembering the first month after Jared’s return from England. It was…bad. He’d never seen his ever-so-composed cousin in such a state. Jared didn’t shave, barely ate and drank way too much. It continued until Alexander finally threw away all the booze in the house, shoved Jared into a cold shower, and told him to get a grip and stop wasting his life away because of some undeserving asshole. Jared punched him in the face and kicked him out of the house, but after that, he seemed to pull himself together: he stopped drinking and even found a job at some soccer club. Alexander had been relieved—until they found out Jared had started sleeping around. Christian didn’t approve, which was a bit amusing, considering Christian’s past. But in Christian’s opinion, there was a difference between having lots of sex because one liked sex and having lots of sex because one wanted to forget someone. Christian thought it wasn’t healthy, but Alexander thought it was promising that Jared was at least making an attempt to forget and move on.
When the pictures of Jared and Oscar Mone had hit the press a few weeks ago, Alexander had been relieved. They had been photographed embracing and they seemed affectionate with each other. It clearly wasn’t just about sex. Oscar seemed totally smitten and Jared was…
Alexander glanced at his cousin again. Oscar was laughing and saying something into Jared’s ear, and Jared listened with a slightly indulgent smile.
“He really seems happy,” Alexander murmured. “He’s smiling.”
“Sure,” Christian said.
Before Alexander could say anything, Mila slung her arms around them. “Hey, guys!” She pecked them on their cheeks and gave them an appreciative look. “Damn, I miss good old days when I had that in my bed.”
Christian laughed. “You sure you should be saying that in front of your boyfriend?”
“The boyfriend is used to it,” Fred, her boyfriend, said dryly.
Alexander had to give the guy credit: not every man would be comfortable in the presence of his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend and another guy she’d had a threesome with.
Mila looked at Christian. “How did you manage to convince this guy to throw a party? He always flat-out refused to do it when we were together.”
Christian smiled at Alexander and winked.
Mila rolled her eyes and patted Alexander’s chest. “You’re whipped, honey.”
Alexander didn’t deny it. He was.
The doorbell rang.
Alexander looked at Christian. “Are we still waiting for someone?”
Christian frowned before shrugging. “Don’t think so. But Beth said she might come.”
Nodding, Alexander went to open the door.
It wasn’t Beth.
“Hi,” Gabriel DuVal said, his green eyes unnaturally bright as they met his. “Merry Christmas?”
Alexander stared at him for a moment before stepping out and shutting the door quickly. “What are you doing here?”
Gabriel raised his eyebrows. “Nice to see you again, too.”
“What are you doing here?” Alexander repeated.
Gabriel shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “I want to talk to Jared. The detective I hired said he should be here.”
“The detective you—Never mind.” Alexander shook his head. “You aren’t seeing him.”
Narrowing his eyes, Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest. “Why not?”
Alexander fixed him with a hard look. “Don’t you think you’ve already done enough? He doesn’t need that shit again. He has a boyfriend now. Leave him alone.”
Gabriel’s lips parted. “I—”
The door behind him opened. “Alec, who’s that?”
“No one,” Alexander said.
Christian put his chin on his shoulder from behind. “No one? The No One looks like a guy to me. Hey, No One!”