Attraction - a fraudulent marriage

6. Surprise

This is the updated/extended version

Chris ran around their apartment like a hen without a head. It made no sense to clean the place before the party, but no matter how many times I told him, he wouldn't change his mind. Dante appeared amused and pitched in when Chris was adamant enough.

"Help me lift this. We need a dance floor." Chris placed his hand on the sofa in question.

"Are we rearranging?" Dante asked, not sounding quite on board with the idea.

"Yes we are. We're having a party, and... let's not repeat what happened in The Bahamas."

I hadn't heard that story and was thoroughly intrigued. I smelled juicy gossip. "What happened in The Bahamas?"

"Chris may or may not have ruined the sofa at our hotel by jumping on it." Dante wrapped an arm around his boyfriend and gave him a quick kiss. "We had a fun night, though."

"Jumping, you say." I wiggled my eyebrows.

Chris crossed his arms. "You're impossible." He shifted his attention to Dante. "I thought we promised to never mention it again." He tried a sulk, but I could tell that he was far too pumped for the party to linger in embarrassing memories. And besides, who hadn't ruined a sofa once in their life? Furniture is meant to be used, sometimes in unexpected ways.

Deciding that the two of them could sort out the apartment, I did a last sound check. The sound system had more than enough guts to groove a crowd. It would be a great place to test a few of the fresh songs I'd fetched during the week. I wanted to give a top-notch performance since this was a special occasion.

Fighting a sudden burst of hopelessness, I tried to distract myself by checking the view. The cityscape appeared warm in the soft evening haze despite all that sharp-cut glass and rugged concrete. Tonight might be my last time as a DJ for a long time. If I had to fly back to Stockholm, I would step back into a life I had wanted to leave behind. I could always fly back to the US with a renewed visa, but that required money in the bank. And, while I was perfectly okay with selling my soul, I had no intention of selling my body.

"Joah," Chris called from the kitchen awhile later.

I dropped my headphones and trudged toward the doorway. "What's up?"

Chris rummaged through the fridge, retrieving some of the items we got at the deli down the street. "Ayden and Cal will be over in a bit, and if you still want to help with snacks, then you have to make sure that Ayden doesn't touch anything."

"Why?" I hadn't met Chris' brother, so I was kind of excited. Chris had told me I would recognize the guy, which made no sense whatsoever. I would flip if he turned out to be some kind of celebrity. One celebrity in the house was more than enough in my opinion. Dante's hordes of fangirls made even me uncomfortable. I had no idea how Chris dealt with that cuteness overload of squealing girls.

Fingers snapped in front of me. "Huh?"

"Did you hear what I just said?" Chris asked.

"Probably not."

"Haven't seen you space out like that in a while."

"I was thinking about Dante's fangirls. Maybe we should invite them tonight." A fine joke if I was allowed to say so.

Chris snorted. "Are you mad?"

"No, of course not. I'm flawless."

"So you keep saying. One day you'll have to prove it." The smug grin on his face would cost him many times over. I just had to decide how to claim the debt—a mere apology wouldn't cut it. I smiled at the thought.