had been. On the outside he might be smiling, but inside he was tired as all hell and wanted nothing more than to pack his suitcase and get on a flight home.
Home to Chess.
God, he missed him. The year had been a brutal one for travel, and he winced, knowing they’d been apart more than together. Chess grounded him and kept him sane. They’d never been apart this long, and he missed him more than he thought possible.
He recalled their first meeting, the inevitability of it. At the university event that evening, when Chess had walked away, leaving him with Turcotte and Williamson, André felt he’d lost something special. Someone destined to be a part of his life…the most important part. The pull to be with Chess—to talk to him more, to learn his likes and dislikes, to see his eyes brighten with laughter—caused him to make an inane excuse to the two board members and rush after Chess, hoping to catch him before he left for the night. And once he found him, he wouldn’t let him go.
Chess turned out to be the guiding light leading him home. Love at first sight was in André’s blood—it had happened that way with his parents, and he loved their fairy-tale story. It was clear to him from the start that Chess was the man he’d spend the rest of his life with. Maybe it was the glow in his eyes or the gentle sweetness of his smile. All he knew was that with Chess there was no subterfuge, no hidden agenda. He wore his heart on his sleeve. And the years together had proved him right—every day spent with Chess was another day of love.
André allowed himself a small sip of champagne, then set the glass on the table and took his seat. Being the expert hostess that she was, his mother circled the room, speaking with everyone personally. He spied his brother and sister slipping out through the rear doors and sighed his despair.
“Come on, André. You can do better than that. I know from personal experience.” Kyle Lewis, his mother’s chief legal counsel, snickered next to him. “Last night—”
“Was a mistake I won’t allow myself again,” André cut him off smoothly. “I should’ve stopped after the first drink.” Trapped at the table with Kyle was the last place he wanted to be, and he could’ve smacked himself for his stupidity.
“Aw, it was all fun, sweetheart. The culmination of months of hard work, and we all deserve to let loose. It’s not like you jumped on the tables and started dancing.”
“As if.”
The withering look he sent Kyle would’ve made lesser men quiver, but Kyle seemed unfazed. He’d forgotten how little Kyle cared about other people’s opinions. André still seethed that he’d wormed his way back into his life, and he intended to press his mother on why she’d felt the need to hire the man as her personal counsel, when André himself was an attorney. It had been much more unpleasant seeing Kyle face-to-face than the occasional meetings over the computer screen, where he could ignore the man. Perhaps that was another reason he’d slipped up and had too much to drink. His head throbbed slightly, both from the hangover and the company.
Kyle went on, relentless. “Too bad we didn’t take it to the hotel room and continue the celebration in private. You were so free with your kisses, I was hoping you were saving the best for last. Us.”
André froze at the touch of Kyle’s hand on his knee. “What the hell are you doing? Get your hand off me,” he gritted out, a plastic smile pasted on his face so no one else could see his shock and turmoil. “And what do you mean, free with my kisses?”
Kyle’s brows rose, and his lips tipped up in a smirk André wanted to slap off his face. “You let loose. Kissed some random guy in the club. Even Henry was surprised and pulled you away after a minute. And there I was, thinking that meant you’d finally gotten rid of that boring professor of yours and were ready to start again.”
Ah, shit. What the hell have I done?
“I don’t remember any kiss. And I told you years ago we were finished.”
“I made a mistake. I was wrong. But if we were together now, I’d be faithful. You were the only man I ever loved. We were so good together once,” Kyle breathed. “I’ve never met anyone I wanted more.” The