Running From Him (ManxMan)

Chapter 20: I'm The Bell Of The Ball's Best Friend!

Santiago's POV🤵🏽

The creation of the dance had been quite stressful right before it officially started. Jasmine's last-minute nerves kicked into high gear when it would only be hours before the party would officially start. Yet, now that the party had finally begun, one would never be able to tell that the elegant decorations and peaceful mood lighting were done under panicked fingers. Nor would they know that a now poised and calmly sultry Jasmine had been screaming at us a mere 2 hours before.

The party looked perfect.

The room had a long, rectangular shape. It was covered in a deep bluish, purple hue from the coloured lights. Long and wide pieces of fabric were draped along the walls, creating a cozy and expensive feel to the room. There were large round tables that were all placed on one end of the room, leaving the rest of the space for dancing. Behind all of the seating tables for dinner, there were the tables for drinks and snacks, and on that end were the doors that led to the kitchen.

The DJ was on the end furthest from the tables and luckily, his music was actually good. When Mason was scrolling through Instagram a while back, he saw an ad for a DJ and when we heard his mixes, we knew that he would be perfect.

All in all, the party had turned out wonderfully. I was leaning against one of the walls, the guests had barely started to arrive and I did not want to be the one guy sitting at a table alone, so I was the one guy standing alone. I subtly glanced to my right, my eyes on Clark who was talking animatedly to the tall Asian man that had his arm thrown over Clark's shoulder. Liam. I knew about Clark's boyfriend, we have been friends for so long so it would have been weird that I didn't know. Clark did not bring him up that often but it was often enough that I knew that he liked the guy.

I sighed, scowling into my drink.

It was definitely unhealthy to be crushing on a taken man, I shouldn't be going after things that I couldn't have. When he and I had started hanging out, I had thought of our relationship as completely platonic, but by the time I realized that I might really like the guy, I was already too deep and he was already talking about how sweet Liam had been the night before. This would be too much for me, I wouldn't be able to handle the moment that I was really crushed and I knew it. But still, my heart sped up thinking about Clark and dropped when I saw him happily kiss his boyfriend. I looked away from the couple, my gaze crossing over the room in search for something, or better yet, someone, to distract me. My eyes landed on Daniel and the moment I saw that he wasn't talking to anyone, I rushed over to him.

"Hey, Daniel." I smiled widely, walking up to him to stand awkwardly by his right side. Although there always seemed to be that slight tinge of awkward during all of my social interactions, Daniel didn't mind and gave me a wide smile of his own.

"Hey," He replied back, pulling me in for a bro hug. "I haven't seen you since Jasmine let us go and get dressed." I chuckled and Daniel's smile widened.

"Man, that day seems like ages ago!" I laughed.

"Honestly, how can four hours feel like four years?" Daniel asked with bright eyes.

"When Jasmine becomes in charge of your life." Mark answered as he walked up, startling Daniel and I a bit with his sudden appearance.

"Hey, Birthday boy! Are you enjoying the festivities?" Daniel asked after he pulled Mark into a hug. Mark hugged him back before pulling away and tapping Daniel's shoulder twice.

"As well as I can with this stuffy suit on." Mark sighed under his breath, causing Daniel and I to laugh. Mark immediately laughed along because of how irritated he had sounded. "It really isn't that bad but I would have preferred my own button down."