Winner: The Mathesons Book 4

by Declan Rhodes

  I nearly jumped out of my chair when the knob on the door to the conference room turned. Yanking my hand out of my lap, I did my best to smile when Angelo’s face appeared.

  He announced, “Hot, steaming coffee! This should help get us through the rest of the evening.”

  I sighed, knowing what I wanted to do with Angelo for the rest of the evening, but I also knew that he’d never allow it. As far as I could tell, he liked looking at me, but it all stopped there. He was smart enough to avoid an entanglement with me that would likely end in a matter of weeks or with luck, two months.

  “What do you think of Tony in the clip? He’s a budding little star if you ask me.”

  “I loved it. I think we should offer his services to make the company’s commercial even if we don’t win.”

  Angelo sipped and looked at me. “I won’t listen to anything like that. We’re going to win. No questions asked.”

  Somehow, we managed to focus on our work for the rest of the evening. The next couple of hours passed by without awkward bumps or touches. When the clock reached 11:00, Angelo’s voice rose in triumph. He said, “I think we’re about finished for tonight, and I think we’re right on schedule. Don’t you?”

  I had to agree. “Yep, a few things to wrap up tomorrow, and then we’re good to go.”

  Angelo stood and spread his arms wide. “I think this deserves more than a simple ‘good job’ handshake.”

  Looking up at him, I smiled. If his mind was halfway down the path mine was on, a close hug would mean playing with fire. Fortunately, I trusted that Angelo wasn’t succumbing to my charms. We were safe.

  I wrapped him in my arms, and it was a hug like any other until we pulled close, chest to chest, arms wrapped tight, and my eyes opened wide with my face over Angelo’s shoulder. He was hard.

  Shifting my hips slightly, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. It was always possible there was some kind of art equipment in his pocket. Angelo had all sorts of devices I’d never seen before.

  I was right in what I felt the first time. He was hard, and I started to swell as soon as I confirmed it. Quickly pulling back, I stammered, “G…great night, Angelo. Thank you.”

  10

  Angelo

  The big day finally arrived. I was confident about the work Jamie and I completed, but I was also nervous as hell. Holding my right hand out in front of my body to assess my condition, I noticed that my fingertips quivered due to the nerves.

  The few times that I had to speak to an entire class in college were some of my worst memories. At Star One, I knew that it wouldn’t be any better.

  Jamie, on the other hand, was at his cockiest. He trash-talked the other teams. He approached Madison and said, “It’s a good thing we’re going last because those guys doing the judging won’t be able to concentrate on what comes next. They’d already be thinking about placing the victory crowns on Angelo and me.”

  Madison chuckled and turned away.

  I reached out and tugged on Jamie’s elbow. I wanted to keep my fingers moving on up to his bicep, but I knew that I had to stay focused on the moment. I suggested, “Why don’t you tone it down a tiny bit? I’d like to still be friends with some of these people when it’s all over.”

  Jamie turned and grinned at me. “Yeah, you’re a little like my twin, Benji. He knows when to reel me back in, but we strike a good balance together. I’ll turn the volume down a notch.”

  I sighed with relief. We’d worked far too hard on the project to have Jamie scuttle our chances with a big mouth.

  As we sat through all of the rest of the presentations, I knew that the final decision would be a close one. About half of the projects didn’t approach the quality level of ours, but two or three of the others came close.

  I sat on my fingers to resist the temptation to bite my nails. As the team before us finished up, Jamie leaned against my shoulder and asked, “Are you ready? I know you’re nervous, but do it just like we rehearsed it last night. You were great. We’ll knock ‘em dead. There’s no way that we can lose this now.”

  I said, “Speaking in public makes me feel like I want to vomit. I hope I’m not turning green. Maybe I should have taken something to quiet my stomach.”

  Jamie’s response was sweet. He reached out and rubbed my shoulders. It felt damn good, and I closed my eyes and hummed softly. I imagined us alone together, just the two of us, and we were somewhere on a beach.

  Suddenly, they called our names, and I had to embrace the present. Jamie tugged on my arm. “It’s showtime!”

  The response to my artwork made me smile from ear to ear. Admittedly, some of Jamie’s words were a little cheesy, but they were enthusiastic, and that was the key. The scene with Tony and our exploding orange was the icing on the cake. The whole room applauded when we closed the presentation with the popping of our magical piece of fruit.

  While they were still clapping, Jamie reached out and grabbed my right hand before delivering a classic “bro” hug. He whispered, “Ridiculous, I know, but I don’t think the room’s ready for something more.”

  While we turned back to the gathering of our fellow competitors, bosses, and executives, I thought, “More?” I wanted to ask Jamie what he meant by that. Suddenly, the contest was secondary. Did he mean that he felt something?

  The worst part happened next. The three executives judging the competition told us that they needed time to deliberate, and after about twenty minutes, they would come back with a winner. Twenty minutes sounded like an eternity to me.

  As soon as the executives left, Jamie spoke up. He was loud enough for at least half of the room to hear. “I don’t know why it will take them twenty minutes. The answer is obvious. No one else even came close. We’re ready to accept congratulations.”

  I wanted to crawl under one of the desks. If Jamie turned out to be right, his comments were fine, but if not, they’d be humiliating. I’d never live it down among my art friends.

  After the room filled with groans, Jamie turned back to face me. “Did I lay it on a little too thick?”

  “Yep, you had the volume turned up to eleven. That was too much. Why don’t you talk about something else to take our minds off this until they come back? Or you can talk to the other teams about something other than the competition.”

  I watched Jamie contemplate what I said. After a short moment of thought, he asked, “How did you learn to make cannoli? Your mom said those were put together by you and Tony. They were impressive. I’m all thumbs in the kitchen.”

  With a soft chuckle, I said, “That’s only half the story. We filled the shells. Ma did the hard work. She used a secret family recipe to get the shells perfectly thin and crispy. They’re so fragile that Tony and I always break a few when we stuff them. Many times, she told me that we’ll learn the secret to her shells someday so that they can carry on through the next generations, but she hasn’t spilled the beans yet.”

  I breathed a little easier. Jamie was successful at distracting me.

  A question came to my mind about growing up with so many brothers, but before I could ask it, a hush fell over the room. The executives were back, and they held three manila envelopes. I’d heard about those. They contained certificates and details on the prizes for each of the top three teams.

  Hal Ensign spoke for the trio of judges. He said, “We all agreed that the quality of projects keeps rising from year to year. This time the standard of creativity was significantly better than ever before, and consequently, our decision was the toughest we’ve had to make yet. At least half of this year’s teams would have won last year.”

  After that comment, a huge sigh rippled through the room. I whispered to Jamie, “Damn, that makes me wish I’d competed last year.”

  He shrugged. “It’s an exaggeration. I competed last year, and several teams did great work. Now pipe down and start rehearsing your victory speech in your head.”

  I didn’t have any speech rehearsed. If we did win, I knew that I
would be speechless. Words would be irrelevant. I’d be lucky to squeeze out a simple, “Thank you.”

  After Hal announced the second place team, we were one of nine left in the room. Madison was on the second place team. I finally started to think like Jamie. Maybe we did win. A sharp tingle raced up my spine.

  The next moments crawled by in super slow-motion. Hal said, “And the time has finally arrived. I’m pleased to make this announcement.”

  Jamie gripped my thigh. It was a natural act, but then the gentle kneading of the flesh on the inside wasn’t. I wanted to hold up a hand to stop the announcement so that I could figure out what was up with Jamie. Instead, Hal Ensign plowed ahead leaving my brain overwhelmed.

  “The winners are James Matheson and Angelo Moretti!”

  I sat in stunned silence while Jamie immediately jumped out of his seat. I ran the words back in my head to make sure I understood the announcement. Finally, Jamie reached out for my hand and tugged me forward toward the podium.

  Like he’d been at my family’s restaurant, when the spotlight shined on Jamie, he was sweet, charming, and gracious. He thanked everyone in the room, spoke humbly about himself, and lauded me for my way of thinking about and producing art.

  I followed him to the podium and mumbled, “Thank you.”

  Star One scheduled a takeover of a local bar to celebrate the end of the annual project. We had a couple of hours at the end of the workday to go home, clean up, and dress for the evening out. Before we left the company’s building, Jamie said to me, “And you’d better show up. I can’t handle the winner’s circle all by myself. It’s big enough for two.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be there, but don’t expect me to say much. I clam up at times like this.”

  He said, “Just smile, wave, and look pretty. That’s all you need to do.”

  With suggestions from Tony, I dressed in dark blue jeans and a crisply-ironed button-up shirt. It was classic business casual down to my loafers. Tony said, “You look great even if you are my brother. I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of women want to take you home.”

  I winced when Tony said it. Someday, I’d have to come out, and my gut instinct told me it might be sooner rather than later.

  When I found him at the bar, I saw that Jamie dressed up one notch beyond me. He wore a sports jacket with khakis. Recognizing the difference immediately, he spoke directly into my ear so that I could hear him above the noise of the crowd. “I’m not trying to upstage you. We’re both wearing what makes us comfortable. I honestly didn’t think I’d say this to you since the atmosphere was a little edgy when we first met, but you look great.”

  I didn’t have time to respond. I wanted to dispute the assumption of edginess, but Jamie’d already disappeared into the crowd.

  The parade of well-wishers from the office seemed endless. Pete said, “I think I should fall on my knees or something and beg your forgiveness. You hit it out of the park, bud, and look at your partner. Did somebody slip you the magic formula to tame the savage beast?”

  Leaning forward to be heard above the crowd, I said, “Aw, I appreciate that, but we all worked hard. Anyone could have won in the end. We got lucky. I think it was our exploding orange.”

  Pete shook his head. “Seriously, I’m a fan now of both of you. As you’re grabbing all the best rewards, please leave a few crumbs for the rest of us. We’ll be eternally grateful.”

  I laughed and sighed. Pete stepped to the side and let the next of our colleagues move forward to shake my hand. Glancing around the bar, I saw Jamie surrounded by a small crowd, too.

  The congratulations were great, but I knew what I wanted, and that was the chance to talk to Jamie. We had unanswered questions between us, and I wanted at least a few of them answered before the night was over.

  After racking up three rounds of drink offers, I excused myself to retreat to the bathroom. I needed to catch my breath. The evening was intense, and I needed the space to exhale. Fortunately, the bar’s restroom was clean, and it appeared to be empty.

  I stared into the mirror above the lavatory to look at myself. It was still the same Angelo staring back, but I looked exhausted. My appearance was no surprise. I wanted to sleep for a week.

  Just as I turned to the urinals, I heard the stall open behind me. Before I had the chance to unzip, Jamie said, “Angelo! Aw man, it’s crazy as shit out there. Don’t you think? We won, but man, enough with the genius talk. I’m only an ordinary guy.”

  I skipped doing my business and turned around. In the brighter light of the restroom, I noticed that Jamie looked tired, too. The thought of us sleeping together until 10:00 a.m. the next morning danced around in the back of my mind.

  I said, “You did a great job. Maybe you are a genius. You might coin the next ten catchphrases that sweep the country.”

  Wiping his hands dry after washing them in the lavatory, Jamie stepped toward me. I didn’t know what would happen next, and whatever it was, I knew that he was blocking any of my routes for escape. I swallowed hard, inhaled, and looked into his eyes.

  With a low whisper of, “Damn, Angelo. You make me crazy,” Jamie reached out and wrapped my body in a full, tight hug.

  That part wasn’t a surprise, and it certainly wasn’t unwelcome. What shocked me was the fact that his face didn’t aim for my shoulders. With his head tilted slightly to the right, I saw what Jamie aimed for, and I followed his lead.

  Our lips met. Jamie’s muscular chest crushed hard against my body, and, for a moment, it felt like heaven. The tip of his tongue probed into my mouth. I didn’t want it to end—ever.

  It didn’t last for more than sixty seconds before Jamie pulled back with a bright smile on his face. Mine registered a healthy dose of shock and confusion.

  Reflexively, I pulled my arms up, pressed hard against his chest, and broke the hug. Following instinct, I didn’t say a word on my way out of the restroom. I heard my name, “Angelo…” in Jamie’s deep voice just before the bathroom door closed behind me.

  11

  Jamie

  I heard the disbelief in Benji’s voice on the phone. “And then you kissed him in the bathroom? That’s kind of an ick from the beginning, but I’m sure that he was shocked. I would have been.”

  “But it was a good one. You know. Angelo’s lips are soft and kind of full. Then that warm, wet…”

  “Jamie, it’s kind of gross to listen to my brother discussing something like that. Maybe you should get together with Mason and share those stories sometime. He could tell you all about Kyle’s anatomy with a smile on his face. I keep my intimate life a little more private.”

  I laughed. “Aw, man, aren’t you going to show me a map of the veins on your man’s dick?”

  Benji was somewhat of a prude in conversation. I liked to tease him about it, and I always imagined my twin brother was a tiger in bed. That innocent look on his face would never fool me. He was cute as hell, and he was like an adorable little worm dangling in the water waiting quietly until the biggest fish in the pond noticed him, and Benji lured him to his doom.

  “Uh, no.” After a brief pause, Benji asked, “Do you really like him? I mean this is kind of a record for you to still be interested in a guy after weeks have gone by and you only got one little kiss.”

  “Yeah, I think I do. What the hell should I do? Is there some great advice you can share, or do I need to call Tate and listen to him debate the choices for an hour before he finally comes up with the right one?”

  “Talk to him. That’s my suggestion. It’s not that complicated. Catch him at work or call him on the phone. After listening to everything else that you’ve described, I’d bet he’s into you, too.”

  We switched topics and talked about the rest of our lives. After a few minutes of catching each other up with the news we’d heard from other members of our family, Benji said, “I’ve got to go. This paper is due in three days, and fortunately, I’m running out of ways to procrastinate. I’ve already cooed at little Tilda
over video chat while I talked to Guy and Lily. Talk to the guy, Jamie. It’s simple as that.”

  Everything always sounded so easy once I finished a conversation about it with Benji, but I only had to take one step forward to feel like I was suddenly running into roadblocks again. I wasn’t known for my skill at talking to potential boyfriends. Was that how I was thinking about Angelo? Potential boyfriend?

  With my phone still in my hand, I trudged to the kitchen of my loft apartment and leaned back against the island. I could call Angelo and talk, but I’d put two to one odds on screwing something up that way.

  I wasn’t known for my talent at maintaining a relationship either. I had a serious one way back in college, but nothing lasted more than a month since. I wasn’t even sure that I’d made it that far with anyone. Shaking my head, I knew that I should walk around with a big, red “Warning” sign flashing on my forehead.

  I was close to a decision about talking to Angelo when we found ourselves called to a meeting with Charles Blackmoor the next morning at work. When I read the email summons, I shivered. It meant that it would likely be Angelo, one executive, and me in a small conference room together.

  Blackmoor was the vice president in charge of the creative side of Star One. That essentially meant that he was the real second in command. The president was often too busy schmoozing with other heavy hitters in the industry to bother with the day to day activity in his own company. He let Charles Blackmoor oversee the rest of the employees.

  Reading the time on my computer screen, I saw that only ten minutes remained before our meeting. My palms were starting to sweat. It made me nervous to realize I didn’t have any way to plan for what would happen. Blackmoor’s email didn’t offer any details.