Page 8 of His Choice

“It also has my favorite part—the surveillance room,” Flynt added. “Oh, right…and servants’ quarters.”

“Okay, you guys. That’s enough,” I warned, before turning to Flynt. “And they are not servants.”

“Seem like servants, to me,” he replied.

Right at that moment, my butler, James, decided to emerge from nowhere. “Cliff, the refreshments and appetizers are ready at the outside kitchen if you and your guests would like to head to the patio.”

Adam snickered into the crux of his elbow as Myles shot him a look to behave.

As we proceeded to follow James down the hall, I turned to Adam and whispered, “If he was a servant, I wouldn’t let him call me by my first name, would I? And he’s paid quite handsomely.” That only made Adam laugh more and made me flush. “For God’s sake, act like a mayor and not like one of my former students.”

Once we were in the backyard, I regretted having asked two other staff members, Thad and Lamar, to bartend and grill. I had forgotten how excessive it all seemed, having been away from my teacher job for a few years. I was tempted to remind my guests that I’d donated over three million dollars the prior year to charity, but that would make me appear even more defensive and privileged.

I did, however, walk over to Thad and Lamar, clap each on the back, and thank them. Even though it was typical for me to do so, I imagined Adam believed I did it for show.

“Mr. Walker, may Josh and I do some putting on your green?” Flynt asked. The boys knew where the golf clubs and balls were in the pool house, having played many times before.

“Sure. Help yourself,” I invited. They ran to the shed, excited in a way only people their age could be.

“We’ll never get them to go home,” Myles noted with a chuckle before taking a seat on a lounge chair. He stretched out, looking very much like one of those blond male models favored for summer fashion and poolside furniture ads.

Adam took a chair beside him, just as attractive in his own way. He wasn’t as preppy as his husband, preferring facial shadow, loose wavy hair, and no-brand clothes. But everything seemed to accentuate his handsome face and nicely toned body.

Fortunately, as attractive as both men were, we had bonded too much over the years as friends who were like brothers for me to think about my married friends inappropriately. Our joking and immature antics, which mirrored straight bromance relationships depicted in dopey comedy movies, earned eye rolls from their sons.

“The boys are welcome to come over whenever they want,” I said, finally responding to Myles’ comment. “They’re off for the summer. I can have someone…one of my not servants…pick them up when they’d like to take a swim or play some golf.”

“Careful what you offer,” Adam joked before taking a swig from the beer bottle Thad had brought to him. Thad had served Adam and Myles in the past, and he knew what each liked. He handed Myles an iced tea.

“Thank you, Thad,” Myles said before redirecting his gaze to me. “Adam is right. You throw out that offer to the boys, they’ll be here every day.”

I shrugged. I thought how that might be rather nice. Perhaps my mother was right. Being surrounded by a family would make me happy—maybe more than the possessions did. “It would be fine. They’re good kids. And there’d always be someone to keep an eye on them, even if I’m busy. The place will be off limits the next week while there’s filming, though.”

“I’m surprised you said yes to the production,” Myles piped up. “You didn’t sound too keen on it.”

“Well, I’m glad you did. It will be a boost for the town,” Adam added. “Especially gay tourists. I imagine that will be the primary audience for the show. I’ve already suggested to local businesses that they fly Pride flags and try to make White Pines as welcoming as possible. I feared I’d get some pushback from the business council, but everyone was supportive and enthusiastic.”

“Money has that effect,” I noted. “Speaking of which, Flynt sent me a message asking if we could discuss, as he put it, terms.”

Adam shook his head. “He sent your profile to His Choice without your permission. Don’t reward him for that.”

I took a sip of the gin and tonic Thad had brought to me. “I understand your point. But shutting down his entrepreneurial spirit and cutting him out of something that inspired him might not be ideal either. And I believe he wanted what was best for me. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to make a proposal.”

After I had filled in Adam and Myles on my plan and secured their agreement, I pulled Flynt aside to have a discussion with him in my office. That gave Adam and Myles some rare one-on-one time with Josh, as they joined him on the putting green. After all, it seemed wherever one of the two kids was, you’d find the other beside him. It made me envious that I hadn’t had a sibling with whom I could forge a lifelong connection.

I took a seat behind my desk, then invited Flynt to sit on the chair opposite. It was a positioning that typically made a potential business partner feel there was an imbalance in the power dynamic, but the kid did his best to appear confident. I tried not to snicker when he crossed one knee over the other, then clasped his hands on his lap like we’d be discussing world affairs over tea. He had retrieved paperwork from his backpack and placed it on my desk, proving he was prepared to make his case.

“So, you believe you’re entitled to compensation for initiating this deal with the network?” I asked him.

He swallowed hard, then nodded. “I think it’s only fair…”

“Flynt, you and I had discussed what you’d done wasn’t appropriate. Now you want to make a profit off your actions, which makes me question whether you were sincere when you apologized and told me your primary objective was to do something nice for me. I had forgiven you, even though my attorney had suggested I bring a lawsuit against you.” The legal action was a fib I used to lower his expectations.

He gulped. “What? They did? But I did mean it when I said I felt bad. I didn’t lie about the main reason I applied either.” Flynt’s swagger was gone, and now he seemed more like the child he still was. “I’m sorry, Mr. Walker. I just thought that since you agreed to do the show, you were happy about it now. That’s why I had been thinking maybe…” He swallowed again, before rubbing a hand over his eyes. “I guess I don’t deserve anything.”

“Hey.” He lifted his chin to make eye contact. “I meant it when I forgave you, too. And hearing you retract your request reinforces my belief that your motivation for starting this whole thing was out of kindness more than anything else.” He relaxed a bit. “Flynt, I’d love to share with you some of what they pay me for this. Clearly, I don’t need the money. But I can’t reward you for going about things the wrong way. Fruit of the poisonous tree, as they say.”

“Oh,” he mumbled, resigned.