Theyarejust friends, but sitting around the family table with Rafael almost feels like there could be something more one day. Maybe even?—
“Nothing is going to change, Maman,”Thomas mutters in French.“Please don’t compare us. Samuel and I are serious.”
“Who are you to talk about my relationship?!”Julien spits back.
Thomas says whatever he wants and nobody ever tries to stop him. He isn’t the perfect man he pretends to be, and he sure as hell isn’t Julien’s fucking puppet master.
Thomas glances at their mother before switching to Italian.“You make me sound like some kind of villain, but I am just looking out for you.”
“Nobody asked you to look out for me!”Julien throws his arms up to punctuate his point. It’s so much more satisfying to do so in Italian than in French.“I’m an adult, I can decide who I want in my life.”
“Boys,” Maman says in warning. “It is rude to speak a language the rest of the table does not know.”
“I’m not a villain either, Thomas,” Rafael says in English.
Thomas seems surprised, his eyes wide and caught, like he hadn’t expected the other Ferraro driver to also speak Italian.
Maman gasps. “Thomas, are you insulting your brother’s guest?”
Thomas sets his utensils on his plate with a clatter. He stands up suddenly, and his lap napkin falls to the ground. “Rafael,could I speak to you for a moment?” He leaves without turning around, even after Maman calls after him.
Rafael watches him go before quietly setting his own fork on his plate. “I’m sorry. Please excuse us.”
His chair scrapes across the wooden floor as he stands. His hand connects with Julien’s shoulder for a brief moment before it slips away and he follows Thomas to the salon.
“What was that about?” Matthieu asks the table.
“I have no idea.” Julien strains his ear, but he can’t hear anything.
“I reckon I know.” Sam forks another piece of duck from the serving plate though everyone else has stopped eating. “Just leave ‘em to it.”
If Julien won’t let Thomas tell him what to do, he sure as hell won’t listen to Sam. He springs up, dropping his lap napkin over his dirty dish in his haste. As Julien rushes out of the room, he ignores the calls of the people at the table.
“—confused.” Rafael’s voice carries down the hallway. He sounds exasperated.
“And Julien islessconfusing?”
“Well yeah, actually.” Rafael shrugs as Julien slides to a stop behind a pillar. “Look, I get it. It surprised me too. We just click.”
Thomas scoffs. “Oh yes, I definitely believe that.”
“I know what it looks like?—”
“You do? You know what itlooks like?!It looks like you confessed your love for me onlymonthsago.”
What?
“Yeah, I know.”
What?!
“Afteryearsof me chasing you.Yearsof bending over backwards for you. You ignored me until you saw me happy with Samuel.”
“I didn’t even think of men as anoptionuntil that point. When you were with him, I—I got confused. I wanted it to be me.”
“I bet you were so fucking happy to seehim,” Thomas spits. “To know there was a younger, morenaiveversion of me to finally claim for yourself.”
Julien can’t listen any longer. He doesn’t deserve this. He needs to leave.
