Page 63 of Conquest

“Yeah, but you seemed to like her, for some inexplicable reason. Why’d you break up with her?”

“Ever since I told her about the contract, all she could talk about was money this and money that. She kept pestering me to buy her a new outfit, asking when I was going to get a new car, and crap like that. And I thought, damn, if she’s grubbing for cash this bad now, what’s she gonna be like when we hit it really big? Not to mention, why the hell would I want to tie myself down to one girl when there’s gonna be hundreds, thousands, of so much hotter ones to sleep with?”

“Very logical reasoning,” Evan said. “And at least you’re lucky that you don’t have to compete with a hot lead singer for the ladies.”

Kenny looked at Evan, his eyes slowly widening as his words sank in. “You’re right. That’s never even hit me. And Julian’s gay too, so I wouldn’t have to compete with him, either. And Trish seems like a really straight chick since she was looking pretty hot for Jess when we all met.”

Evan aimed a sharp look at Jesse.

Jesse forced out a chuckle and waved his hand at Kenny’s words. “She was not.”

Lost in his fantasy, Kenny continued, “I’ll be the only straight guy in the band, so all the women will be mine. All the models, actresses, fan girls, big boobs, little boobs, long legs, blondes, brunettes, younger, older, all races, all colors, they’ll all be mine.” He grabbed Jesse’s shoulders, shouting his elation. “They’ll all be mine!”

“Yeah, freak!” Jesse laughed. “They’ll all be yours, and everyone here knows it.”

Kenny glanced over his shoulder at the others, who from the entertained expressions seemed to have caught a fair bit of the conversation. He let go of Jesse and shifted his weight from one foot to the other in his embarrassment.

Evan flicked his head toward the door. “You guys decided on Lawry’s, right? Let’s go, I’m starving.”

Kenny gave Evan a grateful smile for taking the attention off him and sped for the door. Evan kept his arm around Jesse’s waist and followed Kenny’s lead out of the studio.

Greg caught Evan’s shoulder as he stepped outside. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Yeah, sure.” Evan dug in his front pocket for his car keys and handed them to Jesse. “I drove the Cayenne here. Let’s take that instead of the Enzo.”

Jesse started across the street. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

“Don’t worry, gorgeous. I’ll be coming soon.”

Greg waited until Jesse disappeared into the parking garage, then leaned toward Evan, his voice just above a hiss. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Going to lunch,” Evan said, putting on his sunglasses. “Prime rib sounds really good, don’t you think?”

“Don’t pull your little question dodging bullshit with me. I guess now I know the real reason you canceled coming over to have dinner at my house last week. Are you insane? Have you completely lost it? Why don’t you go to the tabloids and pose with your tongue down his throat and end both your careers right now!”

“I think you’re overacting. These people would have to know about our relationship if they’re going to be in a band with him.”

“No they wouldn’t. No one who played for you ever knew about your sexuality except for JJ and Brad Delfini. Not to mention, these are people I’m not yet one hundred percent certain can be trusted with this information. It’s not like you to be so reckless. But besides that, how the hell can you be sleeping with that kid?”

“He’s not a kid and lighten up.” Evan moved to walk away, but Greg yanked him back by his shoulder.

“I should’ve known better than to think you were interested in his career because of his talent. I know you don’t give a damn about your own career, but don’t go screwing up his just because you want to have a fling.”

Evan slapped Greg’s hand off him and stabbed his index finger into Greg’s chest. “I care for you greatly, but if you ever say something like that to me again, I will lay you the fuck out. What I do in my personal life is my business.”

“If only you could keep it your business.” When the last word left his mouth, Greg thought Evan really was going to hit him. He saw Evan’s arm twitch, his fingers balled into a fist, but somehow, Evan restrained himself at the last second. He had seen Evan’s temper unleash at less provocation than what he just gave him, and felt a pang of guilt that Evan’s words had been true about caring for him.

Greg softened his voice. “I’m only trying to protect you. Both of you. And after what I saw of Jesse today, I’m not sure I’ll be able to.”

Evan shook his head slightly. “What do you mean?”

“He announced being gay to a room full of strangers with such brash and basically told everyone they had no choice but to accept it.”

Evan laughed under his breath. “He’s a confident little thing, isn’t he?”

“This isn’t funny, Evan. I’m not sure he’ll be able to hide it when he hits the public eye.”

“Who says he has to?”