“Of course,” Aiden’s mother said, smiling fondly at her son. “Hard to separate a boy and his dog.” Apparently it was easier to separate a boy and his boyfriend, though, because as Aiden headed down the hall to envelop the new arrival in a typical Aiden hug, his mother stepped casually in front of Cade.
Cade had been too shy to follow Aiden as quickly as he should have, so it was his own fault he was separated from his tiny herd. He should have known the lion would capitalize on the opportunity.
“So, Cade,” Mrs. St. John said, shifting so Cade couldn’t follow Aiden without taking alongroute around her. “It’s nice to meet you. I suppose it’s a sign of Aiden’s growing independence that we don’t meet his new friends as quickly as we used to. It might be geography, of course. Purdue isn’t that far, and we’ve been down for dinner at least once since you and Aiden became close, but still, it’s far enough to make excuses, I suppose.”
Cade had no idea what the proper response to any of that was. He wasn’t even sure therewasa proper response. “I guess?” he tried.
Mrs. St. John nodded as if she couldn’t agree more with his pithy analysis. Then she frowned thoughtfully. “Of course, Aiden made a point of bringing Will up to meet us as soon as it was convenient. And if wehadn’t delayed our flight, westillwouldn’t have met you. So there’s definitely a difference, wouldn’t you say?”
Maybe Aiden took pity on me, Cade thought, but he didn’t say it to Mrs. St. John. “That does sound different,” he agreed instead. Then a boisterous yellow dog bounded into the hall, and they both turned to watch Aiden fall to his knees for hugs and sloppy kisses.
“Keep him out of the front of the house,” Mrs. St. John warned. She turned to Cade. “They’re lovely dogs, but they shed horribly. I don’t want my guests to walk away covered in yellow fur.”
“Come meet Percival,” Aiden invited from his crouch. Upon hearing his name the dog redoubled his greeting and managed to knock a laughing Aiden over so he was sitting on the floor. “Cade, save me from the wolf!”
Given that it would be an opportunity to savehimselffrom the lion, Cade didn’t object. He eased past Mrs. St. John and headed down the hall, and when Percival saw the opportunity to make a new friend, the dog squirmed off Aiden’s lap and bounced toward Cade.
“Take him to the back,” Mrs. St. John said. Obviously it was Cade’s fault the dog was in forbidden territory.
Aiden grabbed Cade’s hand and dragged him through a glass-paned doorway, and as soon as the dog followed, Aiden shut the door behind them. “I’m so sorry,” Aiden whispered. He was standing close, gripping Cade’s hand. “I swear, I didn’t know she was going to be here.”
“Youwantedme to meet them,” Cade accused.
“Yeah, I did. But I wanted it to happen in a way that would make you feel comfortable, which you obviously don’t. I didn’t plan this, I swear.”
There was no point making things even worse by having a fight about it. Especially since the only line of argument Cade could really take would be that he was an antisocial loser who needed to be carefully prepared for even the most casual of interactions. So he crouched to talk to the dog for a bit, and when he stood back up he was as covered in yellow fur as Mrs. St. John had suggested he would be. He looked over at Aiden and saw that his chocolate-brown sweater was as newly hairy as Cade’s gray sweatshirt. The sweatshirt would be easier to clean, at least.
It made him feel a little better. He wasn’t the only socially unacceptable creature in the house. Cade was a distraction that keptAiden away from his parents, and Percival shed inappropriately. Neither one of them was doing it on purpose, but it meant that neither one of them was welcome in the front of the house.
Cade was fine with that. Aiden had his hand again and was gently pulling him down the short hallway they were in. “Come meet Belinda,” he said. “And then we can go out for lunch or something. Ten or fifteen minutes with Mom, just enough so we aren’t rude, and then we can go. Okay?”
Ten or fifteen minutes sounded like a life sentence, but Cade supposed he had no choice. None that wouldn’t hurt Aiden in ways Aiden didn’t deserve to be hurt.
So he forced a smile that was probably as fake as Mrs. St. John’s, and he managed to make a little bit of small talk with Belinda as the three of them sat on the stools by the breakfast bar. But then the kitchen door banged open and a broad-shouldered man in a gray suit stepped through it. Same hair, same eyes, same open, enthusiastic smile—Cade knew who it was even before Aiden stood up with a happy exclamation of “Dad!” and crossed the room for a big hug.
Cade took a deep breath, then regretted it because he felt instantly tempted to take a lot more. He’d never had a problem with hyperventilating in the past but apparently this day was all about new experiences. He controlled his breathing and stood, and by the time he was upright, Aiden and Mr. St. John were there in front of him.
“Dad, this is Cade Martin. Cade, my dad, Andrew St. John.”
“Cade.” Mr. St. John made the word sound like an endearment. “It’s really good to meet you. Aiden’s been a bit….” He stopped and smirked at his son. “What’s the right word, Aiden? How would you describe the way you’ve been talking about Cade for the last couple months?”
“Obsessive?” Aiden suggested.
Mr. St. John nodded thoughtfully. “Yup, I think that works.” He turned his attention back to Cade. “Aiden’s been a bit obsessive about you lately. It’s great to have a chance to meet you so I can share the enthusiasm.”
No pressure there. Cade smiled queasily, and Aiden slipped an arm around his shoulders. “He’s a bit shy,” Aiden said. He didn’t sound apologetic, just matter-of-fact. “And we didn’t think you guys weregoing to be here, so he wasn’t exactly braced for the big ‘meet the parents’ event.”
Mr. St. John leaned in and spoke conspiratorially to Cade. “When I first met Nicole’s parents, I spilled a glass of red wine in their all-white living room. I got the couchandthe carpet.”
“My grandma still keeps an eye on him whenever there’s food or drink around,” Aiden said with a grin.
Cade tried to relax. These were kind people. Mrs. St. John was… well, she wasn’tthere, right then, so she wasn’t his immediate problem.
Of course, they eventually had to go out and sit in the living room with her, but with Mr. St. John and Aiden both there, the warmth overcame the cold, at least enough that Cade didn’t feel frostbitten. And true to his promise, Aiden got them out of the house after about ten agonizing minutes.
“You survived,” Aiden said as they practically ran down the stairs at the front of the house.
“I’m not sure about that,” Cade replied. “I may still go into shock.”
