by Jack Harbon
Back at Arthur’s penthouse, he did exactly that. Mateo stripped down to his boxers and white undershirt, crawling across the bed and sitting next to the older man. Arthur put his phone away and lifted an arm, welcoming him underneath it.
“Can I ask you a question?” Mateo asked once he’d settled beside Arthur.
“You can.”
“Am I the only guy you’re…seeing?”
“You are. Why do you ask?”
Mateo shrugged. “I guess it’s because we never really talked about it. Y’know, being exclusive. I’ve heard that some guys have multiple sugar babies.”
“That’s true,” he said. “I’ve met men that have three or four girls that they regularly meet with. I’ve never been interested in something like that. It’s too much work juggling all those people. Besides, I’m happy enough with you.” Arthur tilted Mateo’s head back and planted a kiss on his lips. Before he could pull away, Mateo reached up and held the back of his head, keeping him in place.
He deepened their second kiss, letting his tongue venture out to brush against Arthur’s. The feeling was immediate, the kind of wet heat that made his stomach twist and every hair on his arms stand at full attention. Mateo closed his eyes tight, threading his fingers through Arthur’s thick hair as their tongues worked together in perfect synch.
Slowly, he moved into Arthur’s lap, keeping himself balanced with a hand pressed flat to Arthur’s bare chest. The tiny bit of fur that covered his pecs was soft to the touch. Arthur seemed more than happy to welcome him, spreading his legs and getting comfortable beneath Mateo. They didn’t part, either. Their kiss remained unbroken, teeth knocking against each other only once.
In Arthur’s arms, the ball of stress in Mateo’s gut began to unwind, every stroke of his tongue, every heated breath on his lips further unraveling him until he felt at ease.
Panting, Mateo pulled away and pressed his forehead to Arthur’s. “You okay?” Arthur asked.
“Yeah, I’m just… I think we should slow down. Might be too much excitement for one night.”
Arthur nodded and pressed one last kiss to Mateo’s lips. “You’re right,” he said.
Mateo slipped from Arthur’s lap back down to his side, dropping his head onto the man’s broad chest. He felt perfectly content snuggled up against Arthur, and this close, he could hear the other’s throbbing heartbeat. After a few moments of comfortable silence, Mateo said, “We should do something nice for Nicola.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Maybe surprise her with a nice dress or something?”
Arthur thought for a minute. “Actually, I might have something in mind. It’s been a while since I’ve taken her on a trip. The last two times we vacationed she picked the destination. It might be a nice change of pace.”
“Where would you take her?”
“She’s been talking about Vegas for the past few weeks. That would also give me a chance to check in on business over there.” From the sound of Arthur’s tone, Mateo inferred that he was already sold on this idea. “You could come. If you wanted.”
A coy smile reached Mateo’s lips. “Yeah? You’d want me there?”
“I think it’d be nice to have you with us. Have you ever been?”
Mateo shook his head. “I don’t travel much. I went to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon, but I was too little to really remember it.”
“If you can get some time off from work, I’d love to have you. I can show you the city, we can do a bit of gambling, eating, dancing, all of that. But only if you’re free.”
Just the idea of experiencing all of that with Arthur made Mateo’s heart skip a beat—maybe even two. He knew he’d have to jump through thirty different hoops to get away from work and his family for any kind of vacation, but more than anything, he wanted to submerge himself in this fantasy with Arthur.
He wanted to temporarily forget the state of his father’s health and all the responsibilities that he’d shouldered for the past year. And without Lincoln in the picture, he was sure that things wouldn’t be as messy as they’d been at the Sweethearts Ball.
He turned his head up to Arthur. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Mateo didn’t care what it took. He was going to Vegas with Nicola and Arthur.
11
IT’S LIKE ESCAPISM
It took two weeks for Mateo to finally convince his mother to let him leave town for a weekend. She was concerned about who he was traveling with and where they’d sleep, what they’d eat and if they’d drink, and how much it’d cost and what time he’d be back. Mateo knew it was only because she loved him, but it was draining going over the details again and again.
It wasn’t until he’d confirmed with his manager that he could get the weekend off that she finally gave up the reins and let him go on the trip. Sure, he was nearly twenty-two years old, but he still wanted his mother to be okay with this.
In that time, he and Valerie had spent hours getting ready. Vegas was one of her favorite cities, and as a veteran, she schooled him on all of the best stores and restaurants to stop by. She also demanded that he take plenty of pictures so that he’d remember the experience. After getting the rundown from Valerie, Rob stepped in. Mateo vowed that he’d visit a strip club or two in his honor. He wasn’t sure if Nicola or Arthur would want that, but it made Rob happy.
The night before his flight, Mateo packed a small backpack with a few outfit changes, his phone charger, and a little bit of money. He’d never been on a plane before and wasn’t sure what he’d need, so he also threw in showering supplies and a YA novel he was in the process of reading. Bedtime was early for him. Thirty minutes before midnight, he crawled under the covers and clocked out.
His alarm blared hours later, jolting him from his sleep. Try as he might to keep calm, Mateo was filled with a familiar sense of fear and excitement. This was his first plane ride, and he was scared out of his mind. At the end of the day though, this would be another opportunity to spend time with Arthur. He felt that was enough to keep him calm, so while he bathed, he felt the tension leaving his body like shampoo down the drain.
By the time he pulled his socks and shoes on, Arthur called him. He’d originally intended to come up to the door, but Mateo convinced him that wasn’t such a good idea just yet. His mother was already overworked and finding out that he was dating someone older than him would do nothing to help with her stress.
Mateo left a note to his family and slipped out silently. He jumped from the last step of the stairs, headed to the usual spot where they met up, and climbed inside Arthur’s car. “Hey!” he said, out of breath.
“That’s all you brought?” Arthur said in surprise.
Mateo laughed. “Yeah! Is that okay?”
“Boy, we’re gonna have to show you how to travel in style,” he chuckled.
“Yeah, yeah,” Mateo muttered, rolling his eyes. He knew it wasn’t much, but he was pretty low maintenance when it came to situations like this.
Arthur’s driver pulled away from the curb and headed to the airport. From what Arthur told Mateo, Nicola had been doing alright. She was still reeling from the sudden break up, but the surprise of this trip had been enough to cheer her up some. They’d go to a few parties thrown by various socialites, she’d meet some new hot young thing, and everything would be back to normal.
In Mateo’s head, they’d be boarding a commercial airline to fly to Vegas, so it came as a shock when they pulled up to a small jet. Nicola was waiting for them inside, tapping away on her phone. She made an excited noise and rose from her seat when she saw them entering.
“I was starting to wonder if I was going to have to fly there by myself,” she teased, squeezing them both into a group hug. “Mateo, you’ve never been to Vegas, have you, sweetheart?”
“Nope,” he said. “But I hear it gets crazy.”
“You could say that,” she smirked. “I was thinking, our first order of business should be shopping. I know Arthur is probably goi
ng to spoil you, but I want to pitch in as well. After all, I’ve got plenty to spare now.” There was a bitterness to her words that didn’t come through on her face, but Mateo reached forward and took her hand.
“Good riddance, Nicola. We’ll get you somebody ten times better,” he said. She squeezed his hand lightly.
“If only you were interested in women.” Nicola sighed dramatically.
“I’m starting to wonder if I’m anything more than the chauffeur that got Mateo here for you, Nicola,” he teased. Mateo shot a playful glare at him and took a seat by his side. Arthur wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “I better cuff you before she uses her womanly wiles to get you.”
“Oh, definitely. I mean, you’re great and all, Art, but look at her.”
Hearing this, Nicola looked back at them over her shoulder and winked.
Arthur chuckled deeply and shook his head. “There’s no better opponent to lose you to than her.”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head,” Mateo said. He turned and leaned against the wall, stretching his legs out so they sat atop Arthur’s thighs. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
They sat like this until it was time for the jet to take off. As badly as he wanted to seem like he wasn’t nervous, Mateo’s knees bounced, and he fidgeted with his glass of water in the moments leading up to take off. Arthur could sense his anxiety and held his hand out for him. He took it and squeezed tight, holding his breath once the aircraft lifted off the ground.
“Jesus,” he whispered, closing his eyes. He suddenly felt dizzy and unsteady, and he didn’t want to look at the ground disappearing beneath them.
“It’s okay, baby,” he heard Arthur murmur. “What’s the capital of California?”
“Sacramento,” Mateo said.
“How many feet are in a mile?”
“Five thousand, two hundred and eighty.”
“How many people live in the United States?”
“I... I don’t know,” Mateo laughed.
Arthur joined in. “I don’t know either. I don’t know why I asked that question.”
“Because you’re sweet,” Mateo said. He knew Arthur was trying to distract him. For a moment, he was quiet, allowing himself to slowly open his eyes. When he did, he could see Arthur looking at him.
“Are you ready to look?”
“No. Yes,” he said. Mateo gave his hand another squeeze and turned his head to look out of the window beside him. They were just flying, but this was something big to him. They were in the air and he wasn’t having a panic attack. He grinned and spun around to pull Arthur in for a long kiss.
After landing and stopping to get a snack, the three of them headed to The Crystals. During Valerie’s briefing before the trip, she explained that the mall was one of the most lavish in the state. They had brands there Mateo had only heard about on TV, and it didn’t take long until he was splurging alongside Nicola and Arthur. Just as she’d promised, Nicola spoiled Mateo like he was her new sugar baby.
He’d ended up with two different bottles of cologne from Cartier, a leather Saint Laurent bag, a few pairs of shoes from Tom Ford, and three Zegna suits, and this was only within the first two hours of being at the mall. In that amount of time, he estimated that the three of them dropped at least five figures, and the ease with which they did it blew his mind. He kept this to himself, though. Not only were they being more than generous with him, but they also had more than enough to spend. He doubted this dinged their fortunes, let alone left a dent in them.
They stopped to have lunch before heading to the hotel they were going to be staying at for the weekend. Mateo was glad he’d gotten a good amount of sleep the night before because this afternoon was hardly the event of the day. Tonight they’d go exploring the city and showing Mateo all of the best sights to see. After that, they had plenty of gambling to do over the weekend.
As they pulled up to the curb of their hotel, Mateo looked up at the building, his eyes moving higher and higher until he read the name at the top.
“The Danby,” he said, his mouth pulling up into a smile.
“You like it?” Arthur asked. Mateo couldn’t even pretend that he didn’t, just to tease the man. The only other hotel he’d stayed at had been his first, and thankfully last, experience with bedbugs. That place had absolutely nothing on The Danby.
Inside, the lobby was even more breathtaking than the exterior. Marbled floors, a plush sitting area for guests to wait in, bellhops dragging carts full of luxury brand luggage, and a woman working the front desk who looked fresh from the cover of Cosmopolitan all welcomed Mateo as he and the others stepped into the room.
The receptionist glanced up and her face immediately changed. She jumped up from her desk and stuck out her hand. “Mr. Danby,” she said. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
“Thank you,” he said graciously. “I’ve actually booked the—”
“The penthouse, of course.” She quickly typed something down on her computer, then handed over the keycard. “Here you go. Enjoy your stay.” She said the same to Nicola after she checked into her room.
“Mr. Danby,” Mateo said, poking the man in the ribs. “That sounds sexy. Should I call you that?”
A warm smile spread across his face. “You can call me whatever you’d like.” The two of them had just started their flirty banter when Nicola appeared beside them at the elevator.
“Well, I hate to do it, but I’ve got to leave you two gentlemen to yourselves now. I have a spa appointment and I probably won’t be done until it’s time to get to the real fun. Until then?”
“Until then,” the two of them said. She pecked Mateo on the cheek and headed to an employee, quickly instructing him which room to drop her luggage off at. Mateo and Arthur made their way into the elevator, then to their room. Arthur placed their bags in the corner and took a seat on the bed.
Mateo had never seen a hotel room more glamorous than this. The California king bed was decorated with more pillows than necessary, the full-size bar had every brand Mateo could think of, and the glass chandelier had to have cost more than everything Mateo had received so far today. When he peeked into the bathroom, he found an obscenely large bathtub, a glass shower, and a vanity worth spending hours getting ready in.
And the view outside…
“This is incredible,” Mateo said, sliding open the door and stepping onto the balcony. To his right sat an infinity pool and a collection of luxurious recliners. To his left, more outdoor furniture and a tray of glasses that looked perfect for sipping from while admiring the city below.
“This is the most expensive room we offer,” Arthur said from the room.
“I want to live here forever,” Mateo said with a laugh. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, letting the wind ruffle his hair. On the street below, he heard the bustle of cars and tourists. It was like being at home, but somehow more glamorous.
“Can I ask you something?” Mateo said after he closed the door.
“Go for it.”
“What’s it like taking over something as big as your parents’ company?” In Mateo’s eyes, taking over rent was a huge responsibility. Leading a multimillion-dollar company was almost impossible to imagine.
“It was a lot to put on someone at my age, I’ll tell you that. My mother started Alainment Enterprise in 1967. She wasn’t sure which direction she wanted to take it into, but she eventually found her footing. After that, it was only up from there. I knew that I’d have huge shoes to fill, and I couldn’t disappoint her. As of right now, Alainment Enterprise is behind three casinos and twelve other companies. Clubs in LA, a publishing house in New York, and even an electronics division. You know the ALA headphones?”
“For sure,” Mateo said. Rob had three pairs and swore up and down they were the best on the market.
“We set those up too. Booze, gaming divisions, all of it. Stepping up to the plate was honestly the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done. But I’m glad I did it. I c
ouldn’t say no to my mom, not when she was...” Arthur caught himself and cleared his throat.
Mateo didn’t miss this, and he stopped putting away some of his clothes in the Bric’s luggage set Arthur bought him. He closed the trunk and turned around. “When she was what?”
“When she was dying. She had breast cancer. She knew for a long time, and she refused to tell anyone until she couldn’t physically run the company. Not me, not my brother Joseph, and certainly not my dad. She was stubborn. Horribly stubborn. And I know she didn’t doubt me, she just wanted to see her own project through until the end.”
“I’m sorry,” Mateo said. He walked closer to the bed and took a seat. “My dad is almost there.”
“What do you mean?”
This was it. All over the internet, he’d read that sugar daddies didn’t want to be encumbered with the baggage of their babies. It wasn’t Arthur’s job to listen to Mateo complain about his life outside of their arrangement. When they were together, he had to be nothing but fun and personable.
On the other hand, Arthur had just opened up to him about something that was clearly still a sore subject. He’d presented the environment that made Mateo feel safe enough to talk about these things.
He took a slow breath before he said anything. “He has Alzheimer’s. It’s really bad. He doesn’t remember what time he’s in. Sometimes he fights with my mom thinking she’s someone else entirely. He’s hit me a few times, it’s just... it’s not good, y’know?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going through this?”
“I don’t want to kill the mood when we’re together. Being with you—it’s like escapism. For just a little bit of time, I get to be someone else. I know my mom can take care of my dad, and I know we’re financially more secure than before, so visiting you feels good. I forget all of the bad things happening. And now I feel like a disgusting sap, I’m sorry.” He laughed and mentally chastised himself. This weekend was about having fun and cheering Nicola up, not worrying about the future and what might happen later on down the line.