All Chapters of Appealing To His Gaze : Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

Devin's Pov People swarmed the hall like bees in a hive. Voices overlapped, footsteps clattered, fabric rustled. Someone barked about the cake tiers not aligning, another panicked over misplaced corsages, and a poor man sprinted by holding a tray of glassware that jingled as if seconds from shattering.In the middle of it all stood Stella, her shoulders stiff, her breath coming short. She clutched a clipboard like a weapon, eyes darting everywhere.I slid in behind her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and leaned close to her ear. “If you keep glaring at the flowers like that, they’ll wither.”Her lips twitched, fighting a smile. “Don’t start with me, Devin. These people are supposed to know what they’re doing.”“They do,” I said, lifting a flute of champagne from a passing tray and pressing it into her hand. I grabbed one for myself and clinked gently against hers. “They’re just performing for you.”I paused, then continued “They're a theater of panic… and you’re the star audience m

Devin's Pov The villa hummed with the faint chatter of the last stragglers from dinner heading home. I had barely shaken off the sting of my father’s words when…“Oh, this is my boyfriend, Marcus.”“Marcus, this is Devin. Devin, Marcus.”Adrian announced with all the flair of a showman introducing his co-star.“Marcus here is my better half, though he likes to claim otherwise.”Marcus gave a polite smile and a firm handshake. “Nice to meet you.”“Yeah,” I muttered, forcing something resembling a smile. For reasons I couldn’t put into words, the words boyfriend and better half cut deeper than they should have. I excused myself quickly, leaving them to their scotch and company. I retreated into the villa before either of them could read the shift in my expression.By then, it was night already, the corridors glowed with warm lamps. The air smelled faintly of roses from Stella’s obsession with floral arrangements. I pushed open the door to my room, loosening my tie, only to find glowing