However, as the mayor's third son, he knew that was unlikely. The flashes from cameras belonging to low-selling newspapers followed him around, and he often got invited to events he didn't care about. People recognized him on the street, and sometimes details about his private life ended up in the news. He had a kind of unwanted fame that he wished he could escape. But what could he do? Being the mayor's third son came with its challenges. At least he was grateful not to be the eldest; his older brother received most of the attention. 

Arlen is 5'7". He is the shortest in his family, with his brothers and father being taller, and even his mother surpasses him in height. Because of this, he has always been treated like a child, even at twenty-six years old. Arlen has black hair that reaches his ears, and he wishes it would grow longer—ideally down to his neck. With his light blue eyes and fair skin, people often call him pretty when he goes about his daily activities. He receives attention from both guys and girls, even though he makes it clear that he prefers men. 

"Look who finally showed up," Nick said as they approached. "It's typical of Justin to be late, but I didn’t expect that from you, bro. Don’t tell me Justin’s influence is getting to you?" he teased them. 

"Not really; we got stuck in traffic coming from his place," Arlen replied softly. 

"Yeah, he crashed at my house," Justin added, giving a quick glance at Cade before turning to smile at Arlen, who is his boyfriend. 

Justin is the son of the owner of the university they all attended. Standing at 6'0", he has brunette hair and deep-set black eyes. Justin is known for always getting what he wants, no matter the method, which has made his siblings have a strong dislike for him.

He first met Cade, Brennon, and Nick at a party some time ago, but they only became close friends after seeing each other frequently at the university. Justin typically surrounds himself with wealthy and influential people, often mentioning that his great-grandparents founded the university. It's no wonder he was eager to befriend the three of them after learning of their background.

"Showing off your relationship, huh?" Nick teased with a smirk. 

"Of course we're not," Justin replied playfully before focusing completely on Cade, giving him all his attention.

He has had a crush on Cade since their first meeting but isn't sure how to express his feelings. Cade is incredibly attractive, and Justin often finds himself lost in thought while looking at him, making him feel shy in his presence. However, he's uncertain if Cade feels the same way; most of the time, Cade wears a neutral expression and speaks very little. Though there are occasional smiles directed at him from Cade, Justin still feels hesitant about confessing his feelings. He just wants to be certain first. 

"Did you just get here?" Justin asked Cade, his expression and voice soft. No one seemed to notice, not even his boyfriend Arlen, who held onto him lightly. 

"No, I arrived about thirty minutes ago," Cade responded while gazing into Justin's eyes. He appreciated the softness he saw there. 

"You’re always on time for everything," Justin remarked, giving Cade a small, genuine smile that he reserved just for him. Cade nodded and glanced at their linked arms, feeling a frown come on. 

"We left my house late; that's why we couldn't avoid the traffic," Justin continued, keeping his gaze fixed on Cade. He was well aware of where Cade’s attention lay and was determined to do whatever it took to make Cade lose interest in Arlen. 

At least that’s what he believed. 

"Got it," Cade replied with a stiff tone as he sipped his drink and looked away. He hated how Arlen was constantly at Justin's place. It bothered him that they never seemed to shut up about it. 

Justin turned his attention to Arlen and flashed a practiced smile he had perfected for him. 

Justin had met Arlen months ago, and they quickly became friends. However, that friendship soon turned into a one sided crush and a problem for justin. He could tell Arlen was starting to have feelings for him—it was obvious. So he introduced Arlen to their group in hopes that being around more people would help him forget about Justin. To his surprise, he later discovered that Arlen was Nick's younger brother. Since then, the five of them had been hanging out together. 

Justin was okay with everything until he realized, in his opinion, that Cade had begun to like Arlen. He caught Cade giving Arlen subtle glances and was convinced he wasn’t imagining it. Nick sometimes joked about how Cade would ask goofy questions regarding Arlen. This made Justin extremely jealous since he had a big crush on Cade ever since they met, only for Arlen to come along and take him away. 

Justin enjoyed being friends with Arlen and held no ill will towards him, as long as he didn’t cross any boundaries with Cade. Cade was his and his alone; he had no intention of sharing. 

So, Justin made a plan to confess his feelings to Arlen. He believed that Arlen would agree since it was clear that Arlen liked him. Justin hoped that by starting a relationship with Arlen, Cade would lose interest in him. Then, he could later break up with Arlen and pursue Cade. 

That was his strategy. 

Justin gently tucked Arlen's hair behind his ear and flashed a smile at him. When Arlen smiled back, Justin leaned in and kissed his cheek, causing Arlen to blush. “Did you all know that Arlen blushes easily?” Justin asked the others, glancing over at Cade, who seemed distracted by the crowd of people mingling around them. 

Nick and Brennon exchanged a quick glance at Cade before taking a sip of their drinks. Nick felt completely thrown off by the question about his brother, while Brennon was left wondering how he was supposed to know that kind of information. 

"Cade?" Justin inquired, curious if Cade had noticed Arlen's blush. He silently wished for a "no" as the answer. 

Cade shifted his gaze from the crowd and focused on Arlen, who avoided eye contact. Then he glanced back at Justin before returning his attention to the sea of people. "That's nothing new." 

"Oh, really?" Justin replied, surprised yet pleased with the response. Was he starting to dislike Arlen? 

Meanwhile, Arlen couldn't force himself to look away from the table in front of him. He felt embarrassed by Justin's question and even more so by Cade's reply. Nothing new? Why did Cade always sound like he disliked him? Did he have something against him? 

The atmosphere grew tense. Nick cleared his throat awkwardly while Brennon became absorbed in his drink; he desperately wanted to smoke his cigar. 

Arlen quickly glanced at Cade, locking eyes with the intimidating man who stared back blankly before frowning slightly and looking away. Arlen felt a strong desire to leave with Justin; he no longer wanted to be near Cade who now disliked him for no reason.

Justin observed this brief exchange and frowned. Why couldn’t Cade focus on him instead of Arlen? He decided he would make more effort to keep them apart. 

“We’ll be back,” he said to the two men who seemed eager to escape the tense atmosphere. “I’ll show him around.” With that, he took Arlen’s hand and walked away. 

“It gets so uncomfortable when the tension rises like that,” Brennon remarked once they were out of earshot. 

“Arlen looked really freaked out just now. Since when does Cade scare him?” Nick asked Cade, his tone protective. He knew his brother wasn’t one to be intimidated unless given a reason, so seeing his reaction surprised him. 

Cade gulped down the last of his wine. “I didn’t notice, and I don’t care,” he replied before heading off. He needed some fresh air.