Chapter 18 #2
I didn't miss the way Jason's eyebrows had shot up, a few lines appearing across his forehead. I wondered what was going on. There was obviously a story here.
"Hey," I said. "It's good to meet you. Where do you know Emi from?"
"Oooh, Emi is it? It's nice to meet you too, Lucas. Didn't know Emilio had a boyfriend. You sly dog!" the latter was addressed to Emi, as Eddy shoulder-bumped him playfully.
"Hey, Lucas," Jason's greeting was considerably cooler, more assessing. Perhaps this was the ex then?
"What's with attitude, babe?" Eddy pulled a face at Jase.
Jase's lips were a straight line. Yeah, he was not happy. More than ever, I was convinced he had to be an ex.
"Maybe we should all go have a drink," said Emilio. He looked... not worried exactly, but uncomfortable. The stiff set of his shoulders and wary expression looked unnatural on him. There might have even been a bit of guilt in that.
"Yeah, maybe we should. Looks like we have a bit to talk about," Jason's tone was clipped.
This was not looking like a great idea, but it seemed I wasn't being asked my opinion.
Eddy chattered excitedly about the animals they'd seen already, seemingly oblivious to the seething undercurrents.
Oh well, I guessed whatever was going on would come out during our drinks.
Hopefully it wasn't going to blow up our day which had been pretty much fantastic until now.
Once we were inside the kiosk, which fortunately had a bar because I had a feeling we were going to need some fortification for the conversation that was about to go down, we found a free table.
As we sat, Jason surprised me by saying, "My shout. What are you having?"
"Beer, thanks."
"Me too."
"My usual, if they have it," said Eddy.
Jason went to the bar to fetch our drinks.
While he was gone, we talked casually about random things, nothing heavy.
Eddy seemed like a good guy. I learnt that he and Emi had met and struck up a conversation at an art exhibition not long after Emi emigrated here, and had become good friends although they moved in different circles.
By the time Jason came back with the drinks, we'd established a friendly rapport.
Jason smiled at his boyfriend as he placed a fancy looking cocktail in front of him. The smile disappeared as he turned to us.
"So..." a puddle of beer slurped over the glass as Jason planted it down forcefully in front of Emi. Then he directed his attention at me, placing my drink onto the table more carefully. "Lucas, how did you guys meet?"
It seemed like a loaded question although it shouldn't have been, but there was something about his manner that flashed a warning.
"Ah, well, Emi was my dance instructor for a while," I said cautiously. I smiled at the memory. "And he's bloody good at it."
Emi flashed me a grateful glance. He fidgeted restlessly in his seat.
"Oh yeah, I've seen him dance. He's amazing," Eddy chimed in.
"Don't you think that's a little inappropriate?" asked Jason, sternly, ignoring Eddy's comment and glaring at Emi.
"Oh, we didn't get together until after the lessons were all done. The lessons were gifted to me..." I defended Emi.
"I know."
Now that stopped me cold. "H-how do you know?"
Jason glared even harder at Emi. "Did you tell him?"
Emi squirmed. "Of course, I told him. I just haven't told him who you are."
"Who he is?" I frowned, totally confused. I'd thought he was an ex.
Jason turned to me.
"I'm Aunt Macie - most of the time. But Emilio filled in while I was on holiday. He was the one who answered your email."
"Eeeeee!" Eddy clapped his hands in glee. "Cute! Another one!"
My mouth simply fell open. That explained who Jason was and I guess I could understand why he was a bit prickly. I didn't understand Eddy's reaction though.
Jason narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend.
"Can you not? This is serious!"
"And so are we," said Emilio. I found my hand clasped in his warm fingers and resting on the table in full view. "I did tell him. And we didn't do anything until after we'd ended our professional relationship."
"It's no different than us," pointed out Eddy. "You were the one who sent me the gift voucher for that restaurant where we met. You need to chill."
"I just don't want it to become a thing, y'know."
"Hey, really? Is that how you guys met?" I chimed in, hoping to segue the conversation.
Eddy and Jason exchanged soppy looks. Jason's features softened.
"Yeah," he said. "It actually was... it wasn't meant to..."
Eddy jumped in, eyes bright, clearly eager to share their story. "I wrote to Aunt Macie asking for help with my douchebag boyfriend who never paid me any attention..."
"You wrote in specifically about Valentine's Day," Jason corrected.
"Well, yeah, but he was a douche all the time, anyway.
Jase - as Aunt Macie - sent me a gift voucher for this cool Thai restaurant - actually we should so go there with you guys - and Jase came by to check the date was going well, only Mitchell didn't come at all...
anyway, Jase had dinner with me instead and that was the start of us. "
"Yeah, but..."
Eddy shook his head. "Nah-ah. If it's good enough for us, it's good enough for them. Emilio's a good guy and I like Lucas already. Emilio's been a one-and-done kind of guy the whole time I've known him. If Lucas has made a serious man of him, he totally deserves this."
"It wasn't intentional," Emi said seriously. "Remember, I was out of the picture by the time it came to sending Lucas the voucher for lessons. If Eddy hadn't called me, I would never have met Lucas at all."
"That's true," admitted Jason. "But wasn't Lucas..." He broke off, but it didn't take a genius to guess what he'd been going to say. I filled it in for him.
"...chasing another guy? Yeah, I was. But he was a dick.
Thank god I came to my senses! Anyway, it all worked out for the best, if I hadn't written in, I'd never have met Emi.
" I sent a smile Emi's way. He sent one back, eyes crinkling at the corners.
Fuck, he looked hot with his twinkling eyes, wind-mussed hair and a couple days growth of dark stubble.
"Ugh, get a room you two!" Jason face-palmed.
"Oh, hey. This is great!" Eddy was excited. "We can double-date! And you guys should totally come over to our place, shouldn't they, babe?"
"Actually, yes. Emilio - you forgot to give me back my Aunt Macie instruction folder. You know, the one I lent you when you were standing in for me."
"Why don't you guys come over for dinner next weekend," suggested Eddy. "You can bring the folder with you."
Emi's eyes asked a question. Did I want to hang out with him and his friends? Fuck, yeah!