“Ohhh, do it. We could hang out. Do you have a boyfriend?” A bit drunk, Chase grabbed his arm. “My guy broke up with me because he said I was too busy for him.” He pouted, and his full pink mouth drooped for a second, but then like a changeling, he kissed Shea on the mouth, catching him by surprise.
“Whoa, hey now.” Shea ducked, but Chase clung to him.
“C’mon.” The man rubbed against him and began to kiss his neck. “We can go to my place or your hotel. I’ve never been with a real cowboy.”
“We don’t even know each other.” Shea recalled Louis, the model he’d brought to the ranch two months earlier after a crazy night of sex. He hadn’t known him either. And that hadn’t turned out well. Besides, neither Chase nor Louis could give him what he’d already found in Jake.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not looking for anything but a good time.” Chase swayed and sucked down his third margarita. His glassy eyes and trembling lips made him more pitiful than sexy to Shea. Not to mention, the guy looked to be in his early twenties and seemed way too young.
“C’mon now. You just had a little too much to drink.” Shea tried to move away, but the crowd hemmed him in, and Chase turned from a sweet drunk to belligerent.
“Wassamatter, I’m not your type? Well, fuck you.” He threw his drink at Shea, who ducked and felt the sticky ice cubes hit the top of his head. By the time he straightened up, Chase had stormed away, and Shea caught Alejandro’s wry smile.
“Guess I dodged a bullet, huh?”
“He’s a little out of control since Matt left him.” He handed Shea a napkin.
Shea accepted it and wiped his hair. “The boyfriend?”
“Yes. Chase is too into the scene. Too desperate. He hasn’t figured it out yet.”
Fascinated with the beautiful man’s insight, Shea hoped to keep him talking. “Figured out what?”
“This.” Alejandro waved his hand, holding half a glass of white wine he’d been nursing all evening. “It’s not real. None of it is. It’s a job we do because we’re fortunate with our youth and appearance. But one day we’ll be replaced, and people will look past us. He’s living in the moment, not thinking about the future.”
“You sound like you have.”
Alejandro stared at him. “Of course. I have a wife and a baby on the way. They’re the reason I’m doing this. One day I’ll say fuck it, take the money I’ve made and invested, and go home. On my terms.”
“Where is home?”
“Mallorca.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
His perfect smile flashed bright. “It’s a small island off Spain. One of the most beautiful places in the world.”
They stood silent, observing the crush, and Shea wondered what Jake was doing at that moment.
His agent stopped by. “My two favorite men. Ale, I’ve got you booked for Milan next month. You should go home to Carmela until then.”
“I intend to. My plane leaves tomorrow night.” He smiled at Shea over his wineglass.
“And my cowboy. Now that you’ve finally made it to New York, how about California? Armani has a campaign they’re prepping, and I think you’ll be perfect for it.”
Jake had mentioned coming to the ranch but hadn’t said when. Shea knew he had to be there and wouldn’t miss it even if Armani himself invited him to model. “Can you tell me when? I have somethin’ I need to be home for.”
“Sure, sure. I’ll text you the details. But it’s a great opportunity. Could lead to bigger things.”
“Yeah, send me the dates.” An idea popped into his head. “Hey, listen, I got a friend who invited me to a pool party tomorrow. Where can I get a bathing suit?”
“I’ll get you one,” Alejandro said. “I have some from the ad I just shot.” He took out his phone. “Give me your hotel address, and I’ll have one sent over when I get back. I’m leaving now anyway.”
“ ’Preciate it.” He drank down his beer. “I think I’m gonna hit the hay.”
“I didn’t know you had a friend in the city. You’ve never been here before, I thought?” Pedro paid the tab.
“Just someone I met at the ranch a few weeks ago. He’s been showin’ me around.”
“Well, if you’re still interested in moving here, I know someone who’s looking to sublet his place for the rest of the year. It’s a studio on Franklin Street. That’s Tribeca. Small, but where you’ve always said you wanted to be. I was