Page 158 of The Build-a-Boyfriend Project

“Don’t they have to introduce him or something? No event starts on time. Concerts start late, movies have like half an hour of previews,” Rose adds.

“Yeah, well, Peter’s book launch isn’t a movie, Rose.” Eli cuts through the traffic, not waiting for the light to give him the go-ahead to walk before crossing the street. “It should be just up here!” He can’t hold himself back anymore; he just starts sprinting, his best friends trailing behind as they reach Hyde St. Books, one of the oldest, largest, and queerest bookstores in the city.

And the place where Peter’s publisher planned his launch party.

Eli feels like he could rip the glass door off its hinges as he races to get inside, his heavy breathing that much more noticeable as the lady behind the counter stares daggers at him, pointing at a sign that reads quiet please, event in progress.

And suddenly, Eli feels like a college student all over again, being stuck with his classmates in the library during a group study session.

“Sorry,” he whispers. “Where is the event?”

“Down this aisle, to the left. There’s a stage you can’t miss,” she tells him, and Eli notices the crowd of people who seem to be spilling over into the shelves. And distantly, he can hear a voice that doesn’t sound like Peter’s reading the script announcing future events at the store.

“It hasn’t started, right?”

“Should begin any second now.”

“Oh my God, cute!” Patricia whips out her phone, taking a photo of the flyer advertising the event with Peter’s author photo plastered in the corner. “Did you take this?”

“Quiet, please,” the lady reminds them, and Patricia gives her a silent apology as Eli motions for the two of them to follow him.

“Tonight, I have the pleasure of introducing a wonderful friend and fellow SF author.” The voice echoes through the shelves. Eli recognizes Amber Thompson, another romance author represented by Ryan.

“Peter Park!” Amber smiles. There’s an eclectic mix of readers, each of them holding copies of Peter’s and Amber’s books for the joint signing that will happen after the event. Eli even spies some of Peter’s Zelus coworkers. “Peter was born in Incheon, South Korea, before his family moved to Georgia when he was young. And if I’m not mistaken, Mr. and Mrs. Park might just be in the audience tonight.”

It’s easy to pick out Peter’s parents. They’re seated right in the front row, pieces of printer paper with the word reserved typed in bold letters taped to their seats.

Eli can’t help but smile. Peter had been so nervous to FaceTime them, to tell them he’d sold a book, that he was going to be a published author. Eli missed most of the conversation, Peter finding it much easier to find the words and explain his feelings in Korean. But Eli had sat across from him, just out of frame, totally silent. Not that he’d minded; Peter was already anxious for the book conversation—he didn’t think he could handle having the Meet My Boyfriend conversation at the same time.

And that’s when Eli had first witnessed Peter speaking Korean with a slight Southern twang to his voice.

It hadn’t mattered, though. They were happy for their son, and they came to San Francisco to visit a month later and Eli was able to meet them officially for the first time.

“When he isn’t writing books, he writes and tests code for a tech start-up, which Peter assured me is as boring as it sounds.” A few laughs from the audience. “His debut novel, What If I Love You?, has earned acclaim from several publications, including starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly!”

Eli can’t help but let out a “Whoo!” which earns him a few curt glances from some of the older people in the crowd. Peter had been even more scared to tell his coworkers about the book. Of course, once Francine knew, he didn’t have to tell anyone else. They were all so excited for him, eagerly counting down the days until release.

Amber continues, “Everyone, please help me welcome to the stage Peter Park!”

Everyone begins to applaud as Peter comes out from behind a set of shelves marked psychology. He’d asked for Eli’s help in picking out his outfit, which meant that if he wanted to wear something that wasn’t a hoodie and matching sweatpants—or a Spider-Man costume that showed off too much of Peter’s crotch—they had to go shopping.

Peter’s dressed as nicely as Eli’s ever seen him, in a baby-blue button-up shirt, with black slacks that probably show off too much of his ass.

Not that Eli chose those pants on purpose.

Certainly not.

Peter blushes a soft pink as he walks onto the small stage, his ears red. He gives Amber a hug before he sits in one of the tall bistro chairs. It’s obvious to Eli that Peter’s nervous from the way that he takes the microphone and nearly drops it, wiping his free hand on his slacks.

But they’ve been preparing for this. Ever since Peter’s team sent him the list of the Northern-to-Southern-California tour stops that he’d be going on to promote the book.

“Wow, uh . . . thank you all for coming out tonight.” His voice shakes in a way that Eli can’t help but find adorable. “I hope that you’ll forgive me, I’m not used to speaking to big crowds. Or crowds at all, for that matter.”

There are a few scattered chuckles, nothing gut busting, but the energy of the room is still electric.

At least Amber knows him well enough now too.

“Well, you should’ve expected this crowd with the kind of response you’ve been getting.” She smiles, her voice relaxed. “Which leads me into my first question, actually. How has the response to What If differed from what you expected?”