Chapter Sixteen
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Ilias
“Ilias! Can you give me a hand?” Dominic’s voice blasted through the house, and I wondered whether my brother had ever considered a career as a drill sergeant. He certainly had the attitude of one.
“Ilias!”
“I’m coming,” I said as I pulled open the bedroom door, still buttoning my shirt with one hand. I was supposed to be having dinner with Oscar that evening, and if my brother put a spanner in those plans, I was not going to be impressed.
He’d be coming home to a shark in his fucking bathtub, then he could explain to Teddy why he couldn’t keep it as a pet. I wasn’t sure where I’d get a shark, but I could improvise. I stuck my head around the living room door, trying to keep my irritability in check.
“What?”
“Here,” Dominic said, handing me one of the twins, Sam. “Can you just hold him for a second while I sort Matti. We’ve had an explosion. And keep an eye on Nico.”
I wrinkled my nose, grateful I didn’t have to deal with that. Sam tugged at the collar of my shirt and tried to stick a wet, sticky finger in my ear, which I ignored. Nico was lying on the floor in a pair of Star Wars pyjamas, playing with a wooden set of trains, not unlike the kind I’d had as a kid.
“You okay, buddy?” I asked, walking over to him and bouncing Sam on my hip, who was now sucking on his own hand. Presumably so he could stick it back in my ear.
“Yeah,” Nico said, not looking up from his collection of trains. I noticed he’d connected several of them together using the magnets on the ends of each piece.
“You making a giant train?”
“Yeah.” Nico looked up at me and grinned. “Wanna see if it falls off.”
I raised an eyebrow at my nephew’s attempts to facilitate a train crash, then decided I wasn’t getting involved. Mostly because I had vague memories of doing something similar. Something wet and slightly slimy brushed against my cheek.
“Really, mate? Come on, I just had a shower,” I said, looking at Sam who burbled happily and grinned.
“You look nice,” Louisa said, appearing through the living room door. “Big evening plans?”
“Just meeting a friend for dinner.”
“That sounds fun.” She held out her hands and scooped Sam out of my arms. “Let me take him before he drools all over you. Nico, it’s nearly bedtime. You can have fifteen more minutes, then it will be time to brush your teeth.” Nico whined, and I wondered how easily he’d be torn away from his apocalyptic train visions.
“Where are you going?” Louisa continued, pivoting back to me. “Anywhere nice?”
“Er, this place Oscar recommended. Raphael’s. It’s a Mexican place.”
“Oooh, sounds amazing. If it’s good, you’ll have to let me know, and I’ll drag Dom. It’s been ages since we went out for dinner.”
“And leave me here with the hellions for the evening?” I grinned, listening to Nico make explosion sounds from behind me.
“I can ask Astrid to stay,” Louisa said.
“I’d be fine. And if you come back and I’ve been tied to a chair and your kitchen has been ransacked, you’ll know never to leave me unsupervised again.”
Louisa laughed. “So this friend…”
“He’s just a friend,” I said, feeling a twinge of guilt about lying to her. Louisa wasn’t as bad as everyone else, but if I told her, she’d probably tell Dominic, then all sorts of very unfun shenanigans would occur. What Oscar and I had was so new and fragile that I didn’t want to do anything that might damage it, so I’d keep up the little white lies to my family for as long as necessary. “Someone I know from work.”
Louisa hummed but didn’t say anything. “Okay, well, have fun. I’ll see you later.”
I took the permission to escape, planted a kiss on Sam’s cheek, said goodnight to everyone, and hurried up to my room to grab the last of my stuff.
Luckily, I wasn’t running too late, and it didn’t take me long to grab an Uber and head towards the centre of London. When the car pulled up outside a bar, I frowned because this definitely didn’t look right.
“Hey,” said a familiar voice from behind me. I turned to see Oscar waiting for me, looking all sorts of handsome in a pale blue shirt and dark jacket, an umbrella tucked under his arm.
My chest lurched, the sensation catching me by surprise. It hadn’t been that long since I’d last seen him, but suddenly it felt like I was a man dying of thirst who’d finally seen water for the first time in days.
“Hey,” I said, swallowing hard.
“You made it okay?”
“Yeah.” I glanced up at the building. There was music pouring out the door, and even from out here the lighting looked dim. “Is this really a restaurant?”
“Sort of.” Oscar gave me a wry smile. “I thought it was my turn to take you somewhere secret for once.”
He reached for my hand, and a bolt of lightning shot through me as our fingers connected. It sent me reeling, but there was no time for me to adjust before I found myself being led into the bar and through a maze of tables and bodies to the far side where a giant man in a dark suit was leaning against the wall.
“Oscar Moore, party of two. I booked in earlier,” Oscar said. The man muttered something into an earpiece, then nodded at him, gesturing for us to go through a door I’d only just noticed.
“Oh my God,” I muttered as we descended some stairs, trying to take in all the details. The decoration was currently very sparse, but in the distance, I saw more light, and there was the very faint sound of a guitar. “Are you taking me to a secret restaurant? How did I not know about this place?”
“Do you know about everywhere in London?”
“No, I guess not.” I grinned at him, still holding his hand. “How do you know about it? You’re not that cool.”
Oscar laughed. “My brother Lewis told me. His partner Jason brought him here when they started dating, and apparently, it’s something of a favourite. I’m surprised I managed to get in.”
“Have you been before?”
“Only a couple of times when Lewis has been staying in London,” Oscar said as the décor slowly shifted into something bright and vibrant, and the corridor began to fill with the delicious scents of cooking meats and spices. I took a deep breath and felt my stomach rumble.
“I thought it might be nice for us to come together… so we can catch up… and just, er, just enjoy ourselves.”
He looked almost nervous, and I wondered why. It wasn’t like this was anything different from what we’d done in Hawaii.
Except we were at home, in the real world, and that made everything we did real too. Okay, now I understood why he was nervous.
Oscar pushed the door open, unleashing the music and the clattering of plates, and the chatter of patrons, and the sizzle of food. The restaurant wasn’t large, but it had an instantly warm and welcoming vibe, and I already knew I was going to love it.
“Welcome to Raphael’s,” said a charming man with a lightly accented voice and salt-and-pepper hair and silver rings on his fingers. “I am Raphael, and you must be Oscar Moore and guest. Please follow me, and I’ll take you to your table.”
We followed him across the small room, my head constantly turning as I tried to take in all the details. But my thoughts were thrown by an unfamiliar voice calling, “Oscar?”
Oscar stopped and turned, and because I was still holding his hand, I turned too. Sitting at a nearby table, tucked into a corner just out of the way, was a slight man with bright pink hair and a beaming smile who was waving at my date frantically. Next to him were two other men, and my jaw dropped when I realised who the fuck they were.
One of them was Henry fucking Lu, superstar actor and Hollywood darling, and the other was his brother Jason, TV star turned theatre actor. What the fuck was going on?
The man with the pink hair beckoned us over, and I followed Oscar in bemusement.
“I thought it was you!” the man exclaimed excitedly. “I didn’t know you were coming here tonight.”
“It was a last-minute thing,” Oscar said, then he glanced at me and realised I was doing my very best not to stare. “Oh, fuck. Ilias, this is my brother Lewis”—he pointed to the pink-haired man—“his partner Jason, and Jason’s brother, Henry. Everyone this is Ilias Verrati, my… boyfriend.”
Oscar looked at me with a worried expression like he was wondering whether he’d said the right thing.
I nodded and swallowed, dialling my charm up to eleven. I’d always found it was the best thing to do when I was nervous.
“Boyfriend makes me sound like I’m about twelve.” I grinned. “It’s lovely to meet you all.”
“Fuck, are you here on a date?” Lewis asked.
Beside him Jason chuckled. “I told you not to bother him.”
“I know, but I couldn’t help it,” Lewis said. “Sorry, I’ll let you go.”
“You can join us if you want,” Henry said, giving us both an easy smile. “I’m sure Raphael won’t mind.”
“Hen, they’re on a date. They don’t want to spend their evening stroking your ego,” Jason said as he rolled his eyes at his brother. “Don’t mind him, he’s just being needy because he got a bad review.”
“Don’t tell them that,” Henry said. “I’ll lose all my charm and mystery.”
“You never had any of that to begin with,” said Jason.
I held back a nervous laugh, still slightly stunned by the situation. Raphael appeared behind us, swooping in to distract the party at the table to give Oscar and me a moment to talk.
“We can get our own table,” Oscar said quietly. “I’ll take the fall. This was supposed to be dinner for us, and I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable or forced into a situation you didn’t want.”
“Thanks.” I smiled at him softly, squeezing his hand tightly. “I am tempted to say no, but on the other hand… how many chances am I going to get to have dinner with Henry Lu? Also, why the fuck didn’t you tell me your brother is dating Jason Lu?” I grinned at him playfully, hoping he’d know I was teasing.
Oscar chuckled. “Honestly? Because it kind of doesn’t feel like a big deal anymore. It was a bit weird at first, but now Jason is just Jason. He’s a really nice guy.”
“Again, that is weird as fuck, but I’ll forgive you… as long as I get some food because I’m starving!”
“Okay, we’ll join them. But maybe tomorrow we can have lunch? Just us. I want to see you again. And I’ve got a work thing to talk to you about.”
“Oh?” My interest was suddenly piqued. “Where are we going now? Somewhere glamorous I hope.”
“Sort of. Marcus wants us to review a load of British seaside hotels. The hotels will be nice but the weather less so.”
I shrugged. “It counts.”
I leant over and pressed a kiss to his cheek, breathing in the scent of Oscar that I’d missed so much over the past few days. Over his shoulder, I saw Lewis smiling as he pretended to be very interested in his drink.
Raphael was very happy to put a table together for us, summoning some black-clad waitstaff to help pull some chairs over and bring some extra glassware. The other three seemed to know him quite well and were joking and chatting with him about football, food, and Raphael’s partner, Tomas, who apparently ran the bar upstairs.
I understood why they liked the restaurant because after only five minutes Raphael had made Oscar and me feel like we were at home. The restaurant had that small, vibrant feel—like it was run with love and passion and care—I craved.
I found myself seated between Oscar and Henry, listening while Raphael talked through the menu, asking the others what they’d ordered, and making recommendations. When I’d told him I was happy for him to choose what he thought was best, Raphael’s face lit up like my niblings at Christmas, and he bounced off towards the kitchen like I’d just made his day.
“So, Ilias,” Lewis said. He was sitting opposite me and giving me the biggest smile I’d ever seen. “What do you do?”
“I’m a freelance travel photographer and occasional writer, mostly for magazines and websites, but I sometimes do things for travel companies and hotels.”
“He’s amazing,” Oscar said from beside me. “You should see some of the shots he took when we were in Hawaii.”
“Oh my God, you have to tell me about that,” Lewis said. “I’m so jealous! You go to all the best places.”
“We could go if you want,” Jason said, giving Lewis a fond smile that made something funny pull in my chest. It was how I felt when I looked at Oscar. “When my run comes to an end.”
“Maybe… I’ll need to check the diary.”
“Edward won’t burn Lincoln down if you take a couple weeks off,” Jason said, and Lewis chewed his lip. I got the feeling I’d just walked into an ongoing conversation and was the only person at the table who didn’t really understand the context.
“A holiday would do you good, Lew, and you’d love Hawaii,” Oscar said. He turned to me. “Have you got any photos from Manua Kea with you? Or from Kona?”
“Just a few,” I said with a wry smile. I had everything uploaded to my Dropbox, which was connected to my phone. I pulled up a folder of photos I’d edited and showed them some of my favourites like the Milky Way cutting through the dark sky, the amazing food from Nakoa’s in Kona, an underwater shot of a shoal of glittering fish, and the sunrise over the trees from our last morning… the one where Oscar had kissed me.
I glanced over at Oscar while Henry and Lewis were talking to each other about one of the photos. There was a soft expression on his face that reminded me of the one Jason had given Lewis, and it made my stomach clench. I’d barely seen him that week, but it felt like no time had passed.
I reached my hand under the table and brushed my fingers against his thigh. To his credit, he didn’t jump. He just looked down, and when he saw my hand, he smiled, then reached down to squeeze it.
Our food appeared a few minutes later, an epic spread of pork belly carnitas tacos, baja fish tacos, mole fries, and a big plate of carne asada with drunken black beans, blue corn tortillas, and a bright, sharp chimichurri that hummed on my tongue. Raphael had said it wasn’t quite authentic, but it was something one of their chefs had made one night with some leftovers and he couldn’t resist sharing it with everyone because it was so good. I had to agree and made a mental note to come back here as many times as possible.
The conversation eased into subjects like work and life and travel, including an in-depth discussion of bucket-list destinations. It surprised me how easy Henry and Jason were to talk to because there was always that myth of the superstar.
Jason was funny and down to earth, and I could see why Oscar had said he was just another guy. Henry seemed to have boundless energy and a touch of ego, but it was tempered by good humour and an endless ability to laugh at himself. It felt very different than dinner with my family.
“So, where are you off to next?” Lewis asked as we finished off the last of the food. I wondered if I’d still have room for pudding. “Are you off to review somewhere else for your queer couples feature?”
“Not yet,” Oscar said. “I need to pitch the rest of the destinations by Friday. Then next week, we’re off to Cornwall.” He gave me a slightly sheepish smile. “Sorry, you don’t know many of these details yet. It was only finalised this afternoon.”
“You don’t have to tell us then,” Jason said. “Wait until you get back.”
“When are you back?” Lewis asked, frowning.
“Why?”
“Because it’s Mimbles’s sixtieth at the start of May, remember? I know she said she didn’t want a fuss, but we thought we’d do a small family party or something. Leo’s brother co-owns a restaurant near Nottingham, and they have a separate dining room for functions and parties. I already spoke to someone there and booked it for Sunday lunch. They’re going to do us a cake as well. I put the details in the group chat a couple of weeks ago.”
Beside me Oscar froze, and I got the feeling he’d totally forgotten it.
“Er, yeah. I remember,” he said quickly, reaching for his drink.
“Liar,” Lewis said with a grin. “You forgot all about it. Don’t worry, I won’t tell your own mother you forgot her sixtieth birthday. Seriously, it’s fine. I’ll send you all the details. Just come for lunch, and all will be forgiven. Oh, and bring Ilias. Everyone would love to meet him.”
I stared as four pairs of eyes turned on me. Bollocks. Oscar and I had only just started this thing, and now I was expected to meet his family. I felt panic welling up inside my chest, and I looked at Oscar, hoping he’d see the fear in my eyes. I knew it wasn’t rational, but I wasn’t ready for this. I’d never done a family event with a boyfriend before, and it felt like there was a crushing weight on my chest.
“We’ll come,” Oscar said. “On one condition—you don’t tell anyone we’re dating. This is all very new, and we’re not even sure where this is going. I don’t want anyone to put pressure on us.”
Lewis opened his mouth, then closed it and shrugged. “That’s fair.” Then he chuckled. “Nobody in our family is ever open about their relationships, are they?”
I got the feeling there was a story there, and it was a nice distraction. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Oscar said, seizing on the new topic and running with it. “Lewis hid Jason from us for what, six months?”
“I didn’t hide him! I just… didn’t want you to know…” Lewis flushed the same pink as his hair, and Jason leant over and kissed his temple. “At least I wasn’t Eli… I didn’t get punched in the face when I brought my boyfriend home.”
I snorted. “Was that the one you told me about? No, wait I think that was the pasta salad lady.”
“Oh my God! He told you about pasta salad lady?” Lewis asked. “He really does like you.”
“Wait a minute. We were talking about you, not me,” Oscar said, and the two of them descended into friendly bickering. A new warmth flickered inside my heart as I watched Oscar.
I couldn’t believe how quickly he’d stepped in to change the subject, to make sure I was comfortable. Heat pooled in my gut, and I reached out to rest my hand on Oscar’s thigh.
He placed his hand on top of mine, letting it rest there.