Sugar

60.

Y'all were hating on Stella in the last chapter as if she wasn't the reason Dallon was gonna confess his feelings to Brendon at the beginning of the book (before Brendon confessed his feelings first).

After ordering another cup of coffee, Dallon asks Stella why she and her husband are getting a divorce and she starts tearing up a little.

"I'm sorry if that question was too personal. You don't have to answer, of course." "No, it's alright. We're getting a divorce because my husband says that he fell out of love."

Dallon looks at the blonde woman in front of him and he just can't figure out how someone could fall out of love with such a beautiful and kind person.

"I'm sorry you have to go through all of this," he says and Stella shrugs.

"Well, stuff like that happens and I'll make it work. I'll have to, for my son." "How does he feel about it?" "We haven't told him yet... I'm afraid that he won't take it well."

Dallon nods and takes a sip of his coffee. He couldn't imagine what Stella was feeling like and he kinda hated it because that he couldn't help in any way, even though he wanted to.

After going to Paris together, he'd started to think of Stella as a friend and he really just wanted her to be okay.

"We're gonna tell him tomorrow. We're also gonna tell him that he's going to live with me and that he won't see his dad a lot, anymore because he's moving to Chicago."

Stella starts tearing up again and Dallon pats her arm.

"I'm so sorry," she says and Dallon frowns.

"No, it's alright. I get that you must be very emotional. And stuff like this is really, really hard."

Stella nods and takes a deep breath.

"I should get home, though. There's still a lot I have to do..." "Alright. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call." "I won't. Thank you. And you should really talk to Brendon about why he gets annoyed when you go into the office on short notice."

Dallon nods and smiles.

"I will."

After that, Stella gets up and walks away and Dallon just finishes his coffee.

He's just about to get up when someone sits down in front of him.

"Hi there, sir. I'm Sharla Martin, I'm a reporter for the New York Daily News and I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second."

Dallon just raises his eyebrows.

"About what?" "Well, I think everyone here just saw the blooming love you and the woman who just walked away and I was wondering if I could get some information about this so that Daily News can provide the real, honest story."

Dallon clears his throat and looks at the table, thinking of what to say.

"Alright, uhm... The only info I can give you is that I am gay and that the woman I was talking to is nothing more than a colleague and a friend."

The reporter writes it down and looks at Dallon again.

"Alright. So she's nothing more? Not a secret fling, or anything." "Again, I'm gay. I like men." "And are you having any luck, in love?"

Dallon grits his teeth.

"Look, I don't want to talk about this, okay? If you want an interview with me you can contact my assistant."

Dallon gets up and walks away, without saying anything else and he knows that the reporter is gonna write some dumb article about him that isn't even true. But honestly, he doesn't know if he really cares.

He just walks to his car and sits down in it, closing his eyes and just pinching the bridge of his nose.

He drives away and puts the radio on, just listen to the music and humming along a little.

When he gets home again, Brendon is sitting in the living room and he doesn't even look up as Dallon walks in.

"I'm back, babe," Dallon says, but Brendon doesn't answer.

"So apparently Weston came by at work, that's what Stella wanted to talk about," he continues, but when he still doesn't get an answer, he just walks into the kitchen and sits down there, to calm down a little.

He thought it was pretty unreasonable for Brendon to ignore him because Brendon knew that Dallon couldn't help it when he had to go into the office.

After a while, Brendon comes walking into the kitchen and just wraps his arms around Dallon's waist.

"I'm sorry for being such a dick..." He mumbles and Dallon just kisses the top of Brendon's head.

"I can't help it that I have to go into the office so suddenly, all the time. It's because I have responsibilities, with owning a company. And I don't do it because I don't want to be with you, or something because I really do and I hate having to go into the office all the time, but I have to."

Brendon just nods and rests his head on Dallon's chest.

"I'm sorry." "It's alright, honey."

Dallon turns around and wraps his arms around Brendon, all the annoyance he'd felt earlier just leaving his body.

He just really loved Brendon and he hated the fact that they'd gotten so annoyed with each other.

"There's probably gonna be some dumb article about me in the Daily News..." He mumbles and Brendon looks up at him.

"What did you do?" "Nothing, really. This reporter came up to me because she thought Stella and I were a couple and I was like 'she's a friend. I'm gay.' and she started asking about if I was dating anyone and I told her I didn't want to talk about it."

Brendon rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"I can't wait to see what they're gonna say about you." "Me neither. I'm sorry if this is gonna bring more attention to us, though..." "That's okay. I shouldn't have started dating a famous CEO if I didn't want to be in the spotlight in any way."

Dallon nods.

"If it becomes too much, you gotta tell me, though." "I will, babe."

Brendon smiles and kisses Dallon softly.

"But I think I can handle, as long as I'm with you."