Chapter 18 #2
“Same for me, thanks,” Raum tagged on, and Marmee took down their drink orders and left them alone to contemplate the menus.
Ezra waited for Raum to comment about the not drinking thing, but he didn’t, head bent to the menu and his frame relaxed.
“You’re not going to ask?” Ezra said, pretending to read the menu, but he was really watching Raum out of the corner of his eye.
“About the alcohol thing? Nope.” Raum caught him looking, a slow smile overtaking his handsome face. “I figured you’d explain if you wanted me to know.”
He faced Raum directly and decided to lay out all his cards, metaphorically speaking at least. “I’m on some meds that make drinking problematic. So I tend to avoid it most of the time.”
He waited. Raum merely looked at him patiently, eyes warm. No judgment so far. He decided to share a bit more. “An antidepressant, and one for anxiety, and I have ADHD and I take meds for that, and well…”
“And well?”
“I’m autistic.”
Ezra held his breath, waiting to see what Raum would do. A heartbeat passed, Ezra clutching the menu in his fingers until the crinkle of the laminate made him relax his grip.
“Okay,” Raum said. “Thank you for telling me. That takes a lot of trust and I’m honored you shared with me.” He tipped his head to the menu, a tiny smile lifting his lips. “I really like the five-cheese lasagna they’ve got; I get it almost every time I’m here. What were you thinking about getting?”
Ezra breathed, relaxing, and a bit dazed.
He’d never met anyone who took those revelations that well—not that he had ever told a prospective hookup about his neurospicy brain.
The last boyfriend disappeared when he was a teenager and making moves at eighteen to get himself treated and medicated for depression and ADHD, the ex too preoccupied with appearances and under the misguided belief that Ezra was merely being difficult for the attention.
Plus Ezra was leaving the fold of his very rich family, and the ex wasn’t a fan of poverty.
Raum took the revelation in stride and didn’t ignore it, either—merely acknowledged his words and went about making sure Ezra was comfortable.
“Thanks,” Ezra murmured, and Raum gently leaned into him from shoulders to hips, making Ezra smile. He coughed a bit, then eyed the menu, actually looking at it for the first time. “The braised ribs look delicious.”
Ezra
Dinner was laid back and relaxed, especially as time went on and Ezra figured out how to let go and just exist in the moment.
They talked about lots of things, mostly their shared love of history and the classes they took in college.
The food was fantastic and Ezra asked for a couple of meatballs without sauce to go.
Luckily their server didn’t question him and gave him the small bag with the to-go cup inside along with the check.
The server brought the POS terminal to the table, putting it down in front of them, and Ezra was faster with his card, tapping the card reader with his credit card.
Raum gave him a mock glare, but spoiled it by smiling, his brown and gold eyes twinkling in amusement. “I was the one to ask you out. I don’t mind paying.”
“I got to it first,” Ezra replied, grinning. “You can pay next time.”
“I’m very happy to hear there’s going to be a next time.”
“Our first time is still going, too, so we don’t need to end it now.” Ezra went for blunt and was rewarded by the heating of that intense gaze.
Marmee stood patiently as the terminal went through the payment steps, and Ezra made sure to hit the highest button for a tip, making their server smile wide.
Ezra was thankful that he didn’t need to use his tip calculator on his phone to sort out the tip.
Marmee bid them a good night and left them alone to sort themselves out.
Most restaurants in the US weren’t using POS terminal systems yet, and he was so glad he was in Canada where paying the bill was so easy.
Raum waited patiently for Ezra to put away his wallet and grab his kitty-bag.
The hour wasn’t that late thanks to the early dinner, and the sun had just set when they slipped out of the restaurant and walked together down the sidewalk, neither of them in a hurry for Raum to summon another ride.
Ezra was people-watching when large fingers gently gripped his hand and twined their fingers together.
He blushed fiercely, unable to stop his grin, thrilled to be holding hands with Raum as they walked down the street.
He held Raum’s hand and enjoyed it for a solid minute before a voice called out to them from a side alley as they passed.
“Raum.”
They stopped, and Ezra watched in bemused fascination as Raum dropped his head into his free hand and sighed, loud and exaggerated.
Raum was between Ezra and the alley so he wasn’t able to see who spoke Raum’s name.
Ezra tried to peek around him but Raum started walking again, gently tugging Ezra along with him, outright ignoring the person in the alley.
Ezra, ever curious, turned and looked over his shoulder at the exasperated sidhe in the alley, who rolled his eyes at Raum’s antics. “It’s Saemund! Hi! What are you doing in the alley?”
“Noo,” Raum groaned, but he stopped and turned around, and they waited for Saemund to catch up to them on the sidewalk. Saemund was dressed the same as when Ezra saw him last, though his long hair was up in a bun the same as his grandson’s. “What’s he done now, Grandpa?”
“Can’t a grandfather stop by to see his favorite grandson on a whim?” Saemund replied, sounding a bit cagey.
“You can see I’m on a date, in town, and you could have called. What’s Dad done now?” Raum asked, sounding fond and deeply aggrieved at the same time. Ezra recognized the tone from dealing with Dr. Royal all the time back in college. She was a master of the fond-exasperated-aggrieved tone.
Saemund glanced around and came closer, whispering. “He’s in the lab and your mother is out for the evening with her friends.”
Raum sucked in a sharp breath. “He’s alone in his lab and Mom isn’t home.”
Saemund nodded. “I did try to distract him, but the dear lad has got a wild idea in his head and he’s running with it. It’s your turn. Goddess knows I’m not interrupting your mother’s night out.”
“So you’re interrupting mine,” Raum bit out before stopping himself and turning to Ezra. “I am so sorry to do this, but family emergency. I need to handle this. I can get you a ride back to Sacred Threshold.”
“What’s going on?” Ezra asked, concerned. “Nórr is in his lab? Is it dangerous? I can help. I handle dangerous situations all the time.”
“Such a lovely boy,” Saemund declared. “Raum, bring him along. You heard him, he’s an expert.”
“I don’t want to get you entangled in my family drama,” Raum started, but Ezra wanted to know what was going on and a lab sounded like lots of fun, even with the dire implications from Saemund. He silently pleaded, eyes wide, holding Raum’s hand tight.
“Goddess, that expression is dangerous,” Raum muttered under his breath, caving. “Fine, but we’re getting a ride to Mom and Dad’s house.” He said the last bit to Saemund, who pouted for some reason, then shrugged.
Raum pulled out his phone, pulled up the rideshare app, and summoned a car. They moved to the edge of the sidewalk, and minutes later a large van pulled up at the curb next to them.
All three of them piled into the van, and Saemund commented, “It’s been awhile since I was in one of these. How novel. What’s this strap?”
Their driver, an older woman, looked back over her shoulder and pinned Saemund with a sharp glance. “A seatbelt. I am not moving until you put it on.”
“Of course, of course,” Saemund replied, but he was confused by the belt and Raum leaned over and belted his grandfather in the seat before leaning back and doing the same for himself. Duly warned, Ezra did his belt as well and waited.
The driver huffed, checked once more over her shoulder, and then pulled out into traffic.
Ezra leaned forward to peer past Raum and address Saemund. “When was the last time you were in a car?”
Saemund grinned, shrugging one shoulder. “Aside from now? Back before seatbelts were a thing.”
“Then how did you get around the city? Did you walk everywhere?”
“We can talk about it later,” Raum interjected, his voice heavy with some hidden meaning that Ezra was dying to pick apart. “Let’s just get there and see if I can talk some sense into my father.”