12. Rory
RORY
He asked me on a date.
Silver fox Lex, man of my dreams, asked me on a date.
Oh my god!
I wiggle in my car and silently scream like a schoolgirl.
Okay. Calm down.
I know he didn’t say it was a date, but going to dinner is a date thing…
But how do I explain this to Brendan? He already told me to stay away from Lex but he doesn’t know him. Not really. I mean, I don’t either, but he’s nice to me and so damn sexy.
“S.O.S. After work,” I text Vera, and she’s going to fucking hate that it’s so dramatic and vague, but she deserves a little payback after embarrassing me.
I laugh all the way back home and find Brendan waiting outside for me.
“Hey, you did it!” he screams and hugs me off the ground as soon as I get out of the car. “How was it? Did you go see Vera?”
“I did, and it was nice. It took me a while to get out of the car, though.”
“That’s okay, baby steps, right?”
“Right.”
“Well, hey. Since it’s such a nice day out, I was going to do some yardwork. Why don’t you go check on the fairy garden? I think I saw some prickers growing in there.”
“Those bastards!” I gasp and hurry to the backyard with Brendan laughing behind me. Pixies do not like prickers.
I kneel down and grumble at the mess. Brendan hands me my gloves before he gets the weedwhacker out and starts trimming around the fence.
So, I focus on my garden. Some of the pixies have been working in their houses, but the outside is a mess.
After I pull the bad weeds, I water the plants and houses with a sprinkle from the hose and wipe them down with a cloth.
It’s hard to keep a pixie village clean, and before long, I’m covered in dirt and sweating, but it feels good to see the garden looking so fresh.
“I’m going to take a shower and relax in my room for a while,” I tell Brendan as I stand and brush the dirt from my pants.
“Okay. I’m going to mow the lawn.”
“Will you start in the front so you can see if someone comes in?” I ask.
“Sure, pixie.” He wipes my cheek.
I hurry into the house and laugh when I see how dirty my face is. Hopping into the shower, I wash up quick and head to my room. Maybe I’ll work on my blanket while I watch some ridiculous rom coms.
The sound of a door slamming has me jumping.
Fuck.
I fell asleep again.
Next thing I know, Vera comes storming in and slams the door. “Rory Leslie Byrnes. That was very mean of you.”
“Maybe next time you won’t embarrass me in front of my date.”
“I thought you weren’t on a date.”
“We weren’t. That’s on Wednesday.”
Vera cocks her head and screeches as she pulls me into her ample bosom. “Awesome. I told you he liked you! Oh! You need me to help you decide what to wear.” She starts looking around my room. “You need some skinny jeans and a crop top.”
“We’re having dinner, not going to a club.” I laugh. “But that’s not the problem—”
“So you wear a sweater over it and take it off when the time is right to show him your rockin’ bod.”
“My god. No! Well, maybe, but no!”
“Maybe some mascara. It really makes your eyes pop.”
“No, Vera!” I shout and grab her by the cheeks so she stops running around like crazy and looks at me. “Yes, I need your help with an outfit, but I have two other more pressing issues.”
She softens. “Having sex?”
I shrug. “Yeah, that’s one thing.”
“Rory, you tell him up front if you’re not ready, and if he tries something, you tase the fuck out of him.”
I laugh loudly. “He wouldn’t push me.”
“I don’t think he would either, but I just met him.”
“He’s only been nice to me.”
“I like him for you. He’s got that seriously possessive Daddy vibe.” She waggles a perfectly sculpted dark eyebrow.
“Vera…” I whine again. “What does that even mean?”
“That he wants to own you in every way.”
“Is that a bad thing?” The idea of him owning me is enticing.
“Normally I would say yes, but I know you, Rory. You want to be taken care of and protected. You want to be the center of someone’s universe.”
That does sound amazing, but I’m already a burden.
“Don’t get that look.” She glares at me. “You are not a burden.”
“Can you read my mind?” I tease.
“Yes, now what’s the second issue?”
“Brendan.” I sigh.
“He knows you’re gay.”
“It’s Lex that he has an issue with.”
“Why?”
“Brendan has been doing some work for Lex, and he told me to stay away from him because he’s dangerous.”
“I can see that. He’s probably in the mob,” she deadpans.
“Seriously, why would you even think that?” I gasp.
“He wears a suit to get coffee. His watch cost more than my car, and I’m pretty sure he has a driver.”
I don’t know much about fashion, but he does look good. Expensive would be a better way to describe him, but really, the mob?
“He’s a businessman,” I defend.
“That’s the vaguest answer ever. Now I’m sure he’s in the mob.”
“Vera, this isn’t a crime drama.”
“It might be.” She shrugs. “So anyway, Brendan doesn’t want you to date him?”
“Yeah, but I want to. You have to help me get out of the house so I can see if this is real.”
“You got it, bestie. Now let’s go shopping.” She grabs my hand and leads me out the front door. “Brendan,” she shouts. “I’m stealing Rory.”
“Okay,” he shouts back. “Call me if you need me.”
“Where are we going?” I ask but let her drag me to her car.
“You need a haircut and a new pair of skinny jeans.”
“What’s wrong with my hair?”
“Rory, babe. It’s too straight to get this long. You look lazy instead of effortless like Brendan.” We climb into the car.
“Stupid Brendan with his perfect hair,” I grumble.
“The man is lucky.”
“Okay, so how do I tell Lex that he can’t pick me up at my house because Brendan doesn’t like him? Brendan works for him, and if Lex found out that Brendan doesn’t like him, I don’t want him to get fired.”
“Or murdered,” Vera adds helpfully.
“Stop,” I whine.
“Just tell him that Brendan is super protective after what happened… Oh shit, does Lex know?”
“Yeah. But not everything.” I sigh. “I thought he might not want me because I’m damaged—”
“Rory,” Vera warns.
“Well, I am.”
“You are not. Either way. Go with that, and if he gets upset, that’s not a good sign for him anyway.”
“I suppose.”
“Where’s he taking you?”
“The Jade Palace.”
“I’ve never heard of that one.”
“Me neither.”
“We’ll look it up. Now, I’m thinking black skinny jeans.”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“Nope.”
I heave a resigned sigh and let her dress me up like a doll.
Lex wasn’t happy when I told him I’d meet him there.
I chickened out, all right! How was I supposed to tell him that my brother doesn’t like him?
As I pull up to the Jade Palace, Lex is waiting outside, and he looks fucking delicious. He’s got on a suit, which is normal for him, but he’s also wearing a long black peacoat that makes his shoulders look even bigger, and I want to climb him like a tree.
Does he want me?
Like that way?
Cause I want it that way.
His sexy-as-fuck glower turns to a lopsided grin when he sees me, and my poor little gay heart doesn’t stand a chance.
“Hello, Rory. You look very nice.”
“Thanks. You do too.”
“Should we go in? I don’t want you to get cold.”
“I’m fine, but I am hungry.”
“Good thing.” He opens the door for me. “Mei makes the best everything.”
As soon as we get inside, a short plump woman with jet-black hair comes over to us.
“Where have you been, sunzi? It’s been too long.”
“I’m sorry, Laolao. I’ve been working.”
“Always working.” She pulls him down to kiss his cheek and then she turns to me. “And who is this handsome young man?”
My cheeks heat at her kind words.
“This is Rory. Rory, this is Mei.”
“Nice to meet you, Mei.”
She waves a hand. “Call me Laolao.”
I have no idea what that means, but I nod. “Okay.”
“Come sit.” She takes my arm and leads me to a table. “You are too skinny. Your chef,” she scoffs the word at Lex. “Isn’t feeding him enough.”
“He isn’t one of my staff.”
“You bring him here. I’ll feed him right,” she orders, and Lex grins affectionately at her before he shocks me by speaking Chinese. She doesn’t answer but nods her head.
I sit down, and Lex slides in next to me instead of sitting across from me. He’s not keeping a respectable distance either. In fact, the man spreads until his rock-solid thigh is right up against mine.
“What to drink for you?” she asks me.
“Oh, um, hot tea.” And then she’s gone. “She didn’t leave menus,” I whisper.
“No menus!” Mei shouts from behind the counter.
Lex smiles. “She does have menus, but she’d never let me order off of one.”
“But I wanted fried rice.” I try not to pout.
He smiles indulgently at me. “I already asked her to make some for us.”
“Is shrimp,” she calls.
“You’re not allergic to shellfish, are you?” Lex asks, and he looks worried all of a sudden.
“No. I’m not allergic to anything, but I don’t like rosemary. It tastes like eating a piney weed.”
He chuckles. “I don’t like cilantro. It tastes dusty to me.”
“I’m pretty sure they use it in Chinese cooking,” I tease him.
“Usually as a garnish, and Laolao knows I don’t like it.”
“What does Laolao mean?”
“Basically Grandma.”
“It’s sweet that she lets you call her Grandma. What does sun—” I can’t remember what she called him. “That thing she called you mean?”
“Sunzi is a form of grandson.”
“You must come here pretty often if she’s adopted you as her grandson.”
“Not as often as I like, but I helped her with some things a few years back, and when she found out the only family I had left was Mal and my daughter, she adopted all of us.”
“Mal visits more than you.” She returns with our drinks.
“Well, he’s not running an empire,” Lex says.
“You come more and bring him.” She points to me and leaves.
“I think she likes you.”
That makes me smile. I’ve been missing a mother’s love for a long time.
“What made you sad?” Lex growls, and he looks like he’s ready to murder anything within reach.
“I forgot what it was like to have a mom.”
Lex tucks me under his arm and soothes. “I’m sorry, rabbit.”