Anthony was in seventh heaven. Five guys had already been auctioned and each one was hunkier than the next. So far, the highest bid had been five hundred dollars for Jared Banderas. Brazilian boys were hot, and in Anthony’s opinion, Jared had been worth every cent he’d gotten. Anthony glanced at the flyer in his hand. Two more bachelors were going to be auctioned off and then it was Max’s turn.
Anthony began fidgeting in his chair as he gazed around the crowded auditorium. Both parents and students were here, all dressed in their very best. He recognized a handful of faces, but most of the room was filled with strangers. He was starting to get nervous and the palms of his hands were sweating. What was Max going to think when he heard one of his bids come from a guy? And what was everyone else going to think? He was out to his friends, but he wasn’t out to everyone at Peppington Prep. Would they be shocked to see a guy bidding on another guy? Even though Anthony didn’t want to, he knew he’d have to explain that he was bidding for a female friend. Otherwise his bidding on Max might stir things up and the auction could come to an end.
“What are you doing here? Didn’t you get the memo saying this was a straight auction?”
Anthony looked up from his flyer. “Hello Felix.”
“Where’s your sidekick?”
“Paige couldn’t make it tonight, so I’m going to bid for her.”
“You’re bidding for Paige? Yeah, right,” Felix sneered. “Who do you think you’re fooling? You’re going to bid on Max for yourself. You’ve wanted him since the night I brought him to your party and now you think you’ve got the perfect way of landing him.”
What was the deal with Felix? He was all over him at his birthday party and now he’d reverted back to his nasty self. Was he jealous that Anthony was interested in Max? “Believe what you want, Felix. You always do.”
“I wouldn’t be too confident of winning, Anthony. Anything can happen at an auction.”
With those words, Felix disappeared and Anthony forgot all about him as the next two bachelors went for two hundred and three hundred dollars. Then Max was standing on stage, wearing a tuxedo and looking ultra handsome.
Suddenly, Anthony felt a pang in his heart. It wasn’t a painful pang, but more of a wistful, longing pang. A pang of regret. Of sadness. Of hope. He really did have deep feelings for Max and even though he’d tried not to let those feelings grow, they had. Day after day, week after week, his feelings had gotten stronger and stronger until they were a part of him. He hadn’t realized that until just now, staring at him up on the stage.
Until tonight, there was nothing he could do with those feelings. But in just a couple of hours, he was going to tell Max how he felt. And either his news was going to be joyfully received or he was going to have his heart broken.
Ms. de la Vega was the auctioneer and she opened the bidding for Max at one hundred dollars. A female voice called out one hundred, followed by another voice that offered two hundred.
Anthony raised his hand and offered five hundred dollars. “Before everyone gasps,” he quickly explained, “I’m bidding for a friend. Paige Crane. She couldn’t be here tonight, but she sent me in her place. She’s had her eye on this bachelor for quite a while and hopes to win him tonight.”
There. After hearing those words, there was no way Max could not know that Paige had feelings for him. If he didn’t, he was pretty dumb.
“Five hundred dollars,” Ms. de la Vega announced. “Do I hear six hundred? No? Then the bid is at five hundred dollars. Going once. Going twice…”
Yes! Max was going to be his! The plan had worked. This had gone so much easier than he thought he would. And cost less than what he’d expected.
“One thousand dollars!” a voice called out.
Anthony spun around in shock, his head whirling to where Bianca Torres, wearing a floral print evening gown in black and pink silk, was sitting, a smug smile on her face.
What?!
“Two thousand dollars.”
Anthony’s head whipped in the opposite direction, where Rachel Torres, looking fabulous in a shimmering silver lamé gown with a beaded neckline, had just topped her sister’s bid, a determined look on her face as she glared at her twin.
“Three thousand dollars,” Bianca called out.
“Four thousand dollars,” Rachel said.
No, no, no! This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Max was supposed to be his. The bidding was supposed to be over. What was going on?
Colleen, who was wearing an antique ivory silk gown, slid into the empty seat next to Anthony and he grabbed her arm. “Why are they bidding on Max?”
“Felix.”
He should have known! “What about him?”
“I overheard him at the punch table. He’s pitted the twins against each other.”
“How?”
“He told Bianca that the only reason she hasn’t made it as a star is because Rachel is holding her back. And he told Rachel that the only reason she hasn’t made it as a star is because Bianca is holding her back.”
“And they believed him?”
“You’ve always known they don’t have much in the brains department.”
“I always thought Rachel was a smidge smarter than Bianca.”
“Felix told each one separately that she’s the more talented twin, but that everyone thinks they’re a package deal, so Bianca needs to step out of Rachel’s shadow and Rachel needs to step out of Bianca’s shadow…and what better way to do that than by dating Max since his father is the current hot celebrity chef in America and it’s only a matter of time before Max starts getting his own coverage and TV show. That’s why they’re bidding on him.”
“They’re going to ruin everything!” Anthony wailed.
“How much money do you have?”
“Paige will kill me if I bid five thousand dollars and we win him. Originally we’d planned on only going to a thousand.”
“Last time I was over at Casa Torres, Papa Torres told the twins that they had to cut back on their spending. There’s no way they can offer more than five thousand dollars. Offer six thousand.”
“But I don’t have six thousand dollars!”
“I’ll get my mom to give me a check. She needs a couple more tax write-offs this year.”
Anthony gave Colleen a hug. “You’re an angel!”
“You can thank me with an outfit from the L & F spring couture line.”
“Done.” Anthony jumped out of his seat. “Six thousand dollars.”
“Six thousand dollars,” Ms. de la Vega shouted out as the auditorium gasped and Max’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Going once, going twice…sold to the gentleman in the fifth row!”
Anthony collapsed in his seat while the auditorium burst out in applause and the twins stormed out of their seats. Up on stage, Max tipped the side of his head with his hand and bowed in Anthony’s direction.
Anthony smiled back at Max while at the same time wondering, Now that I’ve won him, what do I do with him?