A sleepy Dino stumbled out of his bedroom, also wearing boxer briefs.
“Man,” Silas said. “Check out the endless parade this morning.”
Dino rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. “Did he go?”
“He went.”
“I thought he stayed, but he was gone when I woke up.” Dino yawned and blinked a few times.
“I thought you and Rodrigo were going to the movies?”
“We did.”
“You met Shaun at the movies?”
Dino blinked, then shook his head, heavy with bedhead curls. Obviously, he’d been up most of the night. It should have been annoying. It wasn’t.
“We hit Chances after,” Dino said. He sniffed the air. “Coffee?”
The sheer hopefulness in his voice made Silas laugh.
“Let me,” Silas said. “Drinks at Chances after a movie on a work night. Has anyone ever mentioned you have a leap-before-you-look problem?” Silas handed Dino a mug and took a sip of his own coffee.
Dino raised his left arm over his head. His shoulder popped. He took a swallow of coffee, then leaned forward, wagging his eyebrows. “Thing is? It was such a good leap.”
“Oh, I know,” Silas said. “I could hear the splashing.”
Dino choked, sputtering. Silas grinned while he recovered.
“Oh God. You could?” Dino said, wiping coffee off his chin.
“No,” Silas said. “I didn’t.”
Dino chuckled. “Oh, good. All I could think of was ball gags, and that’s not really my thing.”
“You’re terrible. Also, dare I ask how my name came up?”
“Huh?” Dino said, slurping more coffee. His eyebrows rose and he swallowed, eyes a little too wide.
“Dino.”
“What?” Dino shrugged, trying for the picture of innocence. Which he totally didn’t pull off.
“Please don’t set me up. Especially if you bring the guy home first.”
“I just thought you’d like him. But it turned out I liked him more for me. He wasn’t right for you.”
“I know I’m going to regret this, and yet I cannot stop myself.” Silas leaned against the counter. “Why wasn’t he right for me? Please tell me the answer isn’t the tattoo because I’d cheerfully lick Shaun’s tattoo.”
Dino almost snorted more coffee. “Okay, I’ll add ink to the list of turn-ons. But no, he was a bit too much of a taker. Even in conversation.”
Silas blinked. “A taker?”
“Your default setting is give.” Dino pointed with his mug. “I’m not setting you up with someone who doesn’t give back.”
“That’s either really sweet or super-patronizing. Also, if Shaun’s such a taker, why bring him home?”
Dino leaned forward. “I was in a very giving mood last night.”
“I totally walked into that.”
“Anyway. Scratch Shaun off the list. What about that guy from Monday?”
“What guy?” Silas said, but his face burned.
Dino stared. “Park guy? Abs guy. Mr. Casually Shirtless and Super-Hot. Tanned Running Man. Mr. ‘Hi, I’m the Next Cover Model for Men’s Health.’ Mr. Just Enough Scruff. Mr. You Know You Want Me To Grab Your Hair and—”
“Oh my God, stop.”
“Come on. Patterson Park. You made us lunch. Him smiling all sorts of smiles at you?” Dino leaned back. “I know you remember this. Tell me you remember this.”
“Oh. Right. You mean Brian.” Silas’s face burned all the hotter.
“Hold up.” Dino stared. “You know his name? How do you know his name?”
“He came over and talked to me after you went back to work.”
“I beg your pardon?” Dino held up his free hand. “Why have I not heard of this before now?”
“It wasn’t a long conversation.” Silas had been too tongue-tied to get much out, and he’d pretty much fled after Brian had introduced himself. Because Brian was indeed everything Dino had said. But he intimidated. And confused, because Silas was, well, Silas. Dino might call Silas cute, but Silas didn’t play in Brian-level leagues.
“But you got his name. Did you get his number?”
Silas glanced down.
“You did!” Dino clapped his hands together “Way to reel one in, Little Man! Did you text him?”
“No,” Silas said. “Not yet.” He’d looked at the contact information on his phone a few times, though. Brian. No last name. Runs shirtless. Abs.
“Text him.”
“It’s only been a couple of days, and I’m not good at this stuff. I mean, for all I know he talked to me to get your number.” When Brian had approached, that had been Silas’s initial thought. “First thing he asked was if you were my boyfriend. You were wearing your work tank, Mr. Giver. It’s a good look for you.”
“No. He was making sure you were single,” Dino said.
“You seem awfully certain,” Silas said. “You do know I don’t generally get asked out, right? Especially not by guys like him?”
“That’s because they think you’re too smart for them.”
“Right. Men’s Health cover models are totally known for their lack of confidence in the face of computer nerds.”
“You put out massive smart vibes,” Dino said. “It’s a fact.”
“Well, vibes or not, I haven’t called him, and I don’t know…”
“Call him,” Dino said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Saying that is begging the gods to punish you.”
Dino stared.
“Fine,” Silas said. “If I agree to text him, will you agree to brush your teeth? You have death mouth.”
“You’re mean, Little Man,” Dino said, but he threw back his coffee and rose.
“And you’re almost late, Big Man.”
“Shit!” Dino glanced at the clock.
“Here,” Silas said, opening the fridge and pulling out a container. “Leftover stir-fry from last night. And it just so happens this bagel isn’t for me.”
Dino took the stir-fry and hugged Silas with his free arm. “What would I do without you?”
“I’m not sure it’s what so much as how often or without planning,” Silas said, and Dino laughed. Then he nabbed the bagel, stuffed it in his mouth, and ran back to his room. Within moments, he had his work tank top on and hit the stairs, smelling of toothpaste, mouthwash, and hair product, the bagel already half gone.
Silas got down to work, grinning to himself.
Then he eyed his phone.
“What the hell.” He pulled up the contact info for Brian and drafted a text.
Chapter Eight—December
“That rocked.”
Silas found it impossible not to smile. Dino’s delight was contagious. Every step of the journey so far seemed to make him happier. Even waiting out some snow in the Toronto airport first class lounge before their connection brought only enthusiasm.
The complimentary espressos hadn’t hurt their energy levels, either.
They’d boarded first, of course, and the hostess had hung their tux bags in the closet nook before they’d settled into their sideways seats with privacy walls and little desks and pillows.
For Dino the whole thing had been a brand-new experience. Looking across the aisle at him four hours later, Silas felt a wave of gratefulness. Dino grinned, packing everything back into his carry-on, genuine enjoyment clear in every little motion he made.
“Seriously amazing,” Dino said. “I was comfortable the whole time. I didn’t even know that could happen on a plane.” He pointed down. “I fit in this seat. I even feel rested.”
All I feel is anxious. But it wasn’t entirely true. The anxiety would come later. It was more an uncomfortable familiarity had Silas on edge: ease, priority access, front of the line, special treatment, strangers calling him “sir” or “Mr. Waite.”
It felt like putting on a uniform he’d decided to never wear again and enjoying the fit despite himself.
But with
Dino beside him, sharing the experience, it seemed less hypocritical somehow.
“It is pretty cool,” Silas said. He wouldn’t rob Dino of even a moment of fun during the trip if he could help it. After all, in just a little while, they’d be face-to-face with the Waites.
Dino eyed him. “You okay?”
Silas sighed. How the hell were they going to make it through this whole trip given his non-ability to fool people? At least his parents had shitty perception modifiers. They’d be evenly matched.
“It’s okay.” Silas put his phone and headphones into his backpack and zipped it up. “Just the usual dread. You have to be careful showing joy around my parents, you know. They’re joy vampires.”
“Joy vampires.” Dino’s grin didn’t dim a bit.
“Joyless joy-sucking joy vampires.”
“Wait.” Dino raised a hand. “If they’re joy-sucking vampires, how can they be joyless?”
“Oh, they don’t use the joy. They hoard it. They don’t want other people to have it.” Silas leaned forward. “I told you already. Conservatives.”
Dino laughed, and to his surprise Silas laughed as well.
The woman behind them chuckled, too. Silas glanced at her. Whoops. “Sorry.”
“Preaching to the converted.” She raised a hand.
The pilot turned off the seatbelt sign with a ping, and people started standing up. Dino took a second to catch Silas’s eye. “I’ve got your back, Little Man. No joy vampire is gonna get you.”
“I know.” And he did know. And it helped.
* * *
Manny and Elisha were waiting for them outside the luggage carousel. The moment he saw his sister, Silas grinned and broke into a little run, his wheeled bag tipping and tilting behind him. She met him halfway across the tiled floor, squealing and throwing her arms around him.
He hugged her tight, his satchel half-falling down to his elbow and his tux bag awkwardly banging against his shoulder before he finally pulled back.
“Look at you!” he said. “Your hair! You look freaking amazing!”
Manny and Micah, his older brothers, had the darker blond hair of their father, but Silas and Elisha sported the softer, truer blond their mother still maintained in her sixties, thanks to a regular salon schedule.
But Elisha’s hair, longer than he’d ever seen her wear it, had highlights and darker auburn accents. She looked like a million bucks. She even had a bit of a tan, which she rarely did.
“Thank you,” she said, grinning. “All Anne’s idea.”
“I love Anne,” Silas said. Anne had been Elisha’s best friend for years. The three of them had hung out sometimes when they were younger. “I love you. It is so good to see you, Bride. Can I call you Bride? I’m going to call you Bride.”
She swatted his arm, then she looked past him. Her eyes widened for a second, and then she smiled. “You must be Constantino.”
“Call me Dino,” Dino said, and Silas took a step back to make room. Dino gave Elisha a big hug. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” she said.
Then Silas’s brother stepped forward, hand out in front of him.
“Manny.”
Silas tried not to stiffen at his brother’s voice. Manny was staring at Dino, the barest of frowns marring his otherwise blank expression. Manny and Dino were about the same height, but Dino took up more space. Silas had always thought of his eldest brother as the epitome of big, burly jock, and had pictured Manny and Dino as opposing chess pieces in his head, but now he realized he needed to shift the scale somewhat. If Dino was a king, Manny ranked bishop at best.
Manny, for his part, stared Dino down like an algebra problem without enough defined variables.
“I’m Dino,” Dino said, and he shook Manny’s hand. They didn’t let go. Something seemed to be happening, and Silas looked back and forth between them—Manny’s impeccable suit and overcoat on one side, Dino’s comfortable jeans and winter jacket on the other, hands locked together.
Why weren’t they letting go?
“Let’s get on the road,” Elisha said, breaking whatever it was.
“We had to come for you ourselves,” Manny said, pulling some sunglasses from his pocket and sliding them on. “Elisha picked the only resort without a car service.”
“We could have taken a cab,” Silas said.
Manny shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous, Silas. Come on.” He strode off, leaving them to follow.
Elisha said it was only about half an hour in Manny’s SUV to the chalet, and a small part of Silas hoped they’d travel in silence, but Manny didn’t last two minutes.
“So, Dino,” he said, once they’d pulled out of the airport parking lot. “What is it you do? I don’t think we know. Silas didn’t really tell us anything about you.”
Silas rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to reply, but Dino squeezed his hand. “I’m a personal trainer, Manny. I work at a gym in the Village, Body Positive.”
“Ah, of course.”
Silas prickled and opened his mouth again, but Dino stopped him with another squeeze.
“And Silas says you’re into politics or something?” Dino said.
Silas had to bite his bottom lip. He couldn’t see Manny’s face from behind him, but his brother’s shoulders rose.
“I’m a Member of Parliament for my riding.” Manny glanced up to the rearview. “United Conservative Party.”
“Ah, of course.”
“Is Anne here?” Silas said, leaning forward. It was getting way too close to confrontational in the car. Activate deflection mode.
Elisha turned in the passenger seat. “Weather delay. They’re arriving late tonight.”
“You’ll love Anne,” Silas said to Dino. “She’s got this online channel, Nothing Without Anne. It’s incredible. She’s a force of nature.”
“She’s definitely forceful,” Manny said.
“Anne and Manny don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things,” Elisha said lightly, though Silas could hear her smile.
“Nothing Without Anne?” Dino said.
“It’s a riff on ‘nothing about us, without us.’ She’s a disability activist,” Silas said. “Remember the video about accessible sex toys I showed you?”
“Jesus Christ,” Manny said.
“Oh! The lightweight dildos and stuff?” Dino grinned at him. “Yeah.”
“That’s Anne,” Elisha said.
“Very cool.”
“Yes. So cool.” Manny reached over and turned on the radio.
Country music filled the car.
* * *
A floor to ceiling glassed-in fireplace dominated the front room of the chalet, with cozy nooks of chairs arranged around it. The overall decor balanced modern and country, and the end result felt homey and welcoming. Silas liked it, even if he’d never choose it for himself. He appreciated Elisha hadn’t picked somewhere larger, like Jasper or Banff, even if it meant a kind of a small-town vibe.
The woman at the desk didn’t blink when Silas checked into the single-bed room with Dino. He handed over his card for incidentals, pleasantly surprised.
Dino eyed the large entrance hall, especially the dining room, which looked only sparsely populated. Beside it, a smaller room was cordoned off, a sign denoting it reserved.
“Hungry?” Silas guessed.
“Yep.”
They picked up the keycards for their room and turned to go.
“For dinner,” Manny said, tapping away on his phone. “Charlotte researched a list of places up to snuff. It’s not a long list, but we’ll find something acceptable.”
“Hang on.” Elisha pulled out her own phone. She frowned. “You might be on your own, Manny.” She started tapping. “Reception is crap here. Make sure you go on the Wi-Fi.”
Silas checked his phone and sure enough, he had no service. He took a second to connect to the chalet Wi-Fi with the password in the keycard envelope, passing the card to Dino so he could do the same. As soon as his phone connected
, a message popped up from Elisha.
Tell Manny you’re gonna call it an early night. Meet us outside in twenty minutes.
Silas sent her a thumbs-up and then fired a text to Dino. Follow my lead.
“We’re wiped,” Silas said. “We’ll eat in the chalet restaurant, Manny, then crash. It’s two hours later for us.”
“Right,” Manny said, not sounding the least put out about it. He didn’t even look up from his phone. “I’ll tell Charlotte it’ll just be the rest of us.”
“Craig and I are going to skip, too,” Elisha said. “We need to be ready to pick up Anne and Nelson when they arrive.”
Manny grunted. “Fine. See you tomorrow, Leesh.”
He turned and left. Silas waited until Manny was near the exit before he said, “Bye, Manny. Nice to see you, too.”
Elisha snorted. “Go get settled in. We’ll hit somewhere off Charlotte’s list of approved eateries.”
“Done deal.”
In the elevator, Dino held up his phone. “What’s the plan?”
“Elisha wants to sneak out to have dinner,” Silas said. “You, me, her and Craig. No Manny, and definitely no Charlotte.” He smiled. Alone time with Elisha? Or at least, time with Elisha without his parents or brothers? Win.
“Awesome,” Dino said.
“You know what? This could work,” Silas said. “You’re a good date.”
“I get that a lot.”
“Don’t let it go to your head, Big Man. A good date for me is not a high bar, remember?”
The elevator pinged for their floor.
Chapter Nine—July
Silas closed the door to the apartment, leaned against it, hung his head, and exhaled a breath from somewhere roughly around his toes.
Dino popped up from the couch. “How’d it go?”
“Jesus!” Silas jumped, banging his head against the door. “Ow.”
Dino winced. “Sorry.”
“It’s almost midnight,” Silas said, rubbing his head. He pushed off the door. “Why are you still up?”
Dino stretched. “I couldn’t miss date night. You didn’t bring him here. Did you go back to his place? Or are you taking it slower than that? First base? Second base? Did he take you someplace nice? How was it?”
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