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The room went silent.
“Hello,” Lillian Kingsbury said from the stage. “Is there a problem? We’re not at the social policy part of this speech yet, but you know what? It’s never a bad idea to circle around to that more than once.”
Mrs. Fisher froze.
Lillian Kingsbury’s smile could have cut glass. “We support families, and families come in all different shapes and sizes. When I got married, there was still an expectation that a woman stayed home and supported her husband’s career, and she took his name. She certainly didn’t go off and make a name for herself in politics. Apparently, it didn’t look good. What do they call it nowadays? ‘The optics.’ Now, if I’d followed all those rules, I wouldn’t be here tonight, but luckily, I married a man who was nothing but encouraging. For those of you who don’t know, my husband, Dr. Steven Montague, has been my greatest supporter. Followed closely by my son. They’re both here tonight. Steve, wave.”
Dad grinned and waved.
Mrs. Fisher let out a shocked gasp.
“And Tristan, I’d say wave, but you look so fetching in that gown, why don’t you give us a spin instead?”
Tristan winked at Mrs. Fisher, who was still frozen in place, stood and gave a twirl followed by a curtsy, quietly glad Miss O’Jenny had coached him in that particular move, because it wasn’t as easy as it looked, not in heels.
“Isn’t he gorgeous?” Lillian asked the crowd. “Smart, too. Top of all his classes, on the Dean’s List for six years running, and in a few months, he’ll be the second doctor in the family.” She smiled proudly. “Sorry, gentlemen, he’s already taken. Now, if we can get back on track…”
Tristan sat down again, grinning at Leo. “I honestly didn’t put two and two together until we got here or I would have told you.”
Leo’s jaw was on the floor.
“Are you pissed off?” Tristan asked him.
Leo seemed to shake himself awake, then, laughing, pulled Tristan forward for a kiss.
Not pissed off, then.
Tristan dragged his fingers through Leo’s hair and kissed him so thoroughly that the rest of the room vanished, and he was only vaguely aware of Mr. and Mrs. Fisher scuttling away in shame.
Good riddance.
“This is the first Bad Boyfriend date I’ve had where I wasn’t the one who left,” Tristan said an hour later, nursing a glass of something sparkling as he and Leo leaned on the balcony railing and gazed out over the harbour. “Or, well, was kicked out.”
Leo smiled softly at him.
“Are you okay?” Tristan asked. “That was a pretty big deal in there. What happened with your parents, I mean. And what you said. You were incredible.”
“For finally remembering I had balls?”
“I’ve always known you had balls,” Tristan said. “I love your balls. But yeah, for standing up to them like that loudly and in public.”
Leo drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You know what? I am fine. I think the most surprising thing tonight is finding out you’re a dentist.”
“Um, I’m not a dentist, but okay.”
“Maxi oral surgeon?”
“Close enough. As long as you remember the oral part.”
“It’s hard to forget where you’re involved,” Leo said, grinning. “It’s just such a trip to think you’ve been studying something so…sensible all this time, and I never even thought to ask.”
“Well, what did you think I’d been doing at uni for the past seven years?”
Leo ducked his head. “Um, honestly? I just assumed you’d been dicking about, taking one of those pointless degrees so you didn’t have to get a real job. I mean, you never actually said what you were studying.”
“Rude, but still a step up from your initial assessment of me as a rent boy. And I didn’t mention it because when you’re trying to seduce someone, talking about impacted wisdom teeth is a real mood killer.”
Leo laughed.
