“Andyou”—Corbin turned his attention to Al—“You gorgeous thing must be the mysterious Alexander Leon that I was asked to make a rush order for. Corbin Lahey, sociology slash English double major, Target cashier, and freelance petty criminal extraordinaire. Enchanté, Monsieur.” He held his hand out for Al to shake, just as Jude and Ezra had.
“Enchanté?” Al asked, glancing at Jude.
“It’s French for ‘nice to meet you,’” Corbin said.
Before Al even thought to ask what “French” was, Jude leaned over and whispered, “One of the seven thousand we were talking about before.”
“Oh.” Al understood. Neither of them defined “monsieur” for him, but given the context clues, he figured it was probably the French word for “dude.”
Corbin wiggled the fingers on his hand to indicate that he was still waiting for that handshake. Al smiled apologetically and took his hand. Like with Ezra, Al did not feel anything particularly remarkable when his bare skin touched Corbin’s, but that was not a surprise now that he knew for certain that Jude was his True Mate.
“Hello,” Al said politely. “I am Al Leon. I am a homosexual from Greece. My car broke down when I was driving on land, and that is how I became acquainted with Jude. We are now mating. I am doing engineering at this school.” He dropped the handshake and grinned wide. “Nice to meet you, dude!”
With his introduction having been expertly delivered, Al turned to look at Jude for approval. Jude was looking back with a completely deadpan expression. A Mississippi went by, and finally he sighed, giving Al a thumbs-up. Al beamed. He was excellent at being a human.
“Well, you just get straight to the point, don’t you?” Corbin grinned and took his hand back, crossing his arms. He spent another few moments studying Al quite intently, then turned his attention onto Jude and said, “He is definitely an upgrade from your last boy toy. I’ve always been a sucker for a pair of baby blues, but I swear, in this light this man’s eyes look almostpurple. Love. It. Good catch, babe. Didn’t think you had it in you.”
He winked at Jude, who did not appear to be feeling enjoyment at Corbin’s words.
“Uh-huh, thanks,” Jude said, but he did not sound thankful. “Do you have what I asked you for?”
“So touchy!” Corbin clicked his tongue and took his backpack off, setting it on the table. “You should tell your boyfriend to lighten up,” he said to Al.
“He is of a proper weight for the length of his human body,” Al said, confused. “He does not need to become lighter.”
Corbin raised an eyebrow, then snorted. As he took a seat at their table, he said, “It’s a turn of phrase, hon. It means that he should stop being such a grumpy piece of shit.”
“I am not excellent at English idioms,” Al admitted, a little embarrassed.
Corbin waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry, hon. I study English at a university level and even I don’t get it all the time. I’m taking a class on Shakespeare right now, and oh-em-gee, it makes me want to jump off a bridge.”
“Yes, English is very stupid,” Al agreed wholeheartedly.
Finally, someone agreed!
Corbin’s gaze lingered on him, a flicker of something mischievous—nearly hungry—in his eyes.
“Your pronunciation is wonderful, though,” he said. “How long have you been learning English?”
“Five days.”
Corbin frowned at him.
“He means five months,” Jude interjected. Al scoffed. Whether the way humans told time was stupid or not, he knew that spending five months learningonelanguage was a humiliatingly long time. Did Jude want him to seem stupid in front of his friend? That did not make sense. Embarrassing him on purpose was something Al’s brother would do, not his sweet human Jude.
“Only five months?” Corbin asked, eyebrows raised to his hairline. He placed his elbow on the table and rested his chin in the palm of his hand, grinning slyly at Al. “Nowthatis impressive. I guess you’re not just a pretty face. What else can you do, huh?”
Oh, of course. Al had forgotten that humans were bad at many things. He felt relief. Jude wasn’t making fun of him—he was just making sure his story was believable.
“Are you gonna give us what we came here for, or are you just gonna flirt with my boyfriend all day?” Jude asked Corbin, saving Al from having to answer. His arms were crossed and his expression was unamused, which made Al feel fluttering on the inside.
Corbin rolled his eyes. “Have you always been such a stick in the mud, Jude?” He then held up a hand and said, “Actually, don’t answer that. I’ve known you almost my entire life, and I can say with certainty that yes, you have definitely always been a stick in the mud.”
“Have not,” Jude said defensively. Corbin gave him a flat look.
“Do not let this man fool you,” he told Al. “We were neighbors as kids, and I remember he once refused to have candles on his birthday cake because he thought it was a fire hazard.”
“I was seven, we had just learned about fire safety at school, and my brother told me that if our house caught on fire, I’d be the last one the firefighters would save because my room was on the top floor, but I shouldn’t worry because ‘there was still a chance they’d get to me in time.’ It was a perfectly reasonable concern.”
