“Nah, let’s wait. Give him a few more minutes.” Noah inspected the menu for the umpteenth time, although they all knew he was going to order Gloria’s classicBlue Collar Breakfast Board,and then steal bites from Joe’s plate of pancakes when he was done scarfing it down.
“He’ll never change, you know?” Xavi frowned, looking at Joe. For some reason, he’d woken up pissed today. He’d slept like shit, his scars itching more than usual. It happened sometimes when there was a shift in the weather. “Unless we teach him a lesson and start without him, he’ll never change.” Xavi sighed as he leaned back in the booth, crossing his arms in front of him, the latest tattoo on his biceps still healing. Xavi had lost count of the number of times they’d had this exact conversation. Probably as many Sundays as they’d gone to Gloria’s.
Joe shook his head as he played with the neckline of Noah’s T-shirt. “Is that what you do to your students,mano? Teach them lessons?” Joe winked. Shit, his friend knew him so fucking well. Xavi, or Mr. Bernal, as the kids called him at school, was notorious for being a softy, and to be honest, he was okay with that. Most of the kids at the high school in Riverside, where Xavi had taught English for the past three years, had enough shit going on in their lives as it was. They didn’t need him to add another ton or two to the pile. Xavi’s classroom was a safe place for all students, and whatever you carried with you, whether it be grudges, prejudices, or feuds, was left at the door and never brought into the classroom. Needless to say, Xavi was the most popular teacher at school. Not just because he was openly gay or because of the wild, mostly exaggerated, tales that preceded him every year he welcomed a new class into his classroom. No, Xavi was popular because his students knew where he stood. He was popular because he was himself and because he encouraged every one of his students to be the same. True to themselves. He couldn’t help smiling at the irony of that, when he recalled his own high school days as an outsider. If it hadn’t been for Lulu and Joe, he was almost certain he wouldn’t have made it through.
“Sometimes I do…” Xavi pushed the bowl of sugar around the table.
“Liar,” Joe coughed, and a hint of worry instantly washed across Noah’s face.
“You okay, baby? You’re not getting sick, are ya?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m good,corazón,” Joe laughed, then blushed as he shifted in his seat. Ugh, that was the worst thing about people in love. They were so fucking obnoxious. Especially when you weren’t in love yourself or whatever…
Joe extracted himself from Noah and leaned in over the table as his gaze locked onto Xavi’s. “Besides,mano, you don’t want him to change. Not really. Youlikehim just the way he is, dontcha?” Joe smirked knowingly.
Like.They both knew that was a fucking understatement if there ever was one. Xavi more thanlikedLulu. Borderline obsessed was more like it. He had been ever since that day in school when Lulu had blown into detention, singingCabaretlike he was born to do nothing else, singing his way right into Xavi’s eleven-year-old heart with his breathy ‘bleibe, reste, stay.’ Nothing would ever come of it, though, never could because that would mean Xavi would have to come clean and tell Lulu how he felt about him, how he’dalwaysfelt about him, and that would never happen. Xavi would rather read nothing but fuckingtheCatcher in the Ryefor the rest of his life before he’d admit to that.
“Shut up,” Xavi hissed through his teeth, but Joe just smiled, his eyes bright with trouble just like they’d been that day eighteen years ago when he’d waved at Xavi in the school library and sealed their fate.
“Baby, c’mon.” Noah, the eternal peacekeeper in the group, tugged at Joe’s T-shirt, pulling him back against his chest. “Give the guy a break. Unrequited love is serious business.” The words were spoken with such tenderness, such empathy,and it still blew Xavi’s mind that someone who looked this tough and, to be honest, a little scary, could be such a gentle soul. Then again, Xavi was aware that to people who didn’t know him, he looked pretty scary too, with his buzzed head, countless tattoos, and leather jacket.
“Sorry,hermano.” Joe bit his lip, then leaned back against Noah, disappearing into his fiancé’s embrace. “I just think you shou—”
“I have a stalker!” A panting, exasperated whirlwind of flowy garments plopped down next to Xavi out of nowhere. “You haven’t ordered? Why didn’t you order? I’m fucking starving. Gloria?!” Lulu’s greyish-brown eyes looked wild as he started pulling off his knitted gray hat, then the blue-and-purple tie-dye scarf Xavi had given him for his twenty-seventh birthday two years ago.
Right away, Xavi could tell something was off, and that it wasn’t just Lulu being his loud and dramatic self as usual. Aside from the nervous air surrounding him, there was a look of panic in Lulu’s eyes. But there was something else, too. At first Xavi couldn’t pinpoint it, but when Lulu removed his winter coat, he realized what it was. Before Xavi could stop himself, the words spilled from his lips. “You smell different.” Great.You smell different.Fucking fantastic, Xavi.Joe snorted while Lulu frowned at him, then lifted his arm to sniff his own armpit.
“Oh, yeah.” Lulu shrugged. “I changed my perfume.”
“Oh.” Xavi swallowed. “I liked the old one.”Coño, what the hell? I liked the old one? Get a grip, Xavi.
Joe eyed him, then leaned in over the table and sniffed Lulu. “Yeah, I agree. This one is too…” Joe waved his hand as he appeared to be searching for the right word. “Too pineapple-y,” he finally decided.
“Did you guys not hear me?” Lulu slammed his fists against the table. “I have a fucking stalker!” So, he was serious, apparently. It wasn’t just some line from a new play he was rehearsing for.
“Youdon’thave a stalker,” Joe groaned, rubbing at his forehead. “And no, we didn’t order, because we were waiting for your dramatic lazyculo.”
“Take that back!” Lulu gasped, looking mortified, as he clutched his actual pearls. “I amnotlazy.” He pouted, then turned to Xavi, that protruding bottom lip doing unspeakable and very unfriendly things to Xavi’s insides. “Joe’s being a meanie. You don’t think I’m lazy, do you,osito?”Lulu leaned closer, wrapping his hands around Xavi’s upper arm, clinging to him like he was in true distress, and to top it off, he batted his long, lush eyelashes. His warm breath against Xavi’s chin sent fire racing through Xavi’s body, the proximity of his best friend so overwhelming Xavi almost had to get up and leave.Osito.When Lulu fucking called him that, Xavi melted. He melted into a pool of goo, and Lulu fucking knew it.Osito.Teddy. As inteddy bear. Because Xavi’s last name was Bernal, and Bernal meant someone whowas bearlike in stature. Which wasn’t too far from the truth, actually. Hence,oso. Osito.Fuck his motherfucking pathetic life.
“Lay off,hermano,” Xavi croaked, looking at Joe, who just shook his head, mumbling something unintelligible. Lulu sniffled next to him, clinging to him, his slender body trembling. Lulu was a good actor, he had to give him that, but something wasn’t quite right. Behind the dramatic exterior, something was definitely up.
“I do,” Lulu insisted, sniffling again. “Idohave a stalker.” He looked up from Xavi’s shoulder, pushing out his round chin defiantly. Glancing at Joe, he continued. “He comes by every night at rehearsals. He brings me flowers. He won’t take no for an answer when he asks me out for dinner. He even follows me home at night. I have a stalker.”
“You mean Xavi?” Joe snorted.
“Baby…” Noah shook his head at Joe, genuine worry lingering in his hazel eyes.
“Por Dios, no!” Lulu blurted. “Xavi’s not my stalker. I wish! He’s my fairy god daddy.” Lulu blushed, pretending to swoon against Xavi’s side, and when Lulu said and did shit like that, it was hard to take him seriously.
“Stop it,” Xavi said, easing Lulu off him. “Be serious for a minute. Do you or dontcha, Lulu?” Something shifted between them then as Lulu’s gaze dipped to Xavi’s mouth, then back up to his eyes.
“I’m serious,oso. I swear. Idohave a stalker.”
“What the fuck are you talking about,muchacho? Why haven’t you told me?” Within a split-second, Joe shifted into full-on police officer mode.
“I’m telling you now!” Lulu countered. “I wasn’t sure, okay?” He deflated into his seat. “At first he was nice, and I was kinda flattered, you know?”
Joe narrowed his eyes, his shoulders tense as he leaned in over the table, looking straight at Lulu. “At first? How long has this been going on exactly?”
