“Hey.”
“Just keeping it real.” He placed his hand on my thigh. “Thank you for coming to get me.”
“My pleasure. Truly. Now, when was the last time you went to Stavros’s?”
He regaled me with the few times he’d gone over the years. Usually with his mother. He also made it clear calamari was a hard no, and I wasn’t allowed to have it either.
Since that particular food wasn’t my favorite, I didn’t have a problem with that edict.
By the time we were seated, and Stavros’s niece Timothea had taken our order, my nerves were ratcheted up to maximum.
Finn held his hand out.
I grasped it.
“Unless you’re planning to tell me that you never want to see me again, then there’s no reason to be nervous.”
“How do you know I’m nervous?”
“Oh Jesus, Ulysses. I know you by now.”
“How did you know to follow me? Where I was headed?”
“An unlocked phone screen. You might want to be more careful in the future.”
I considered. “If I didn’t have confidential information on it—although deeply layered under encryption—then I could just give you my password.”
“Like I gave you the spare key to my place?”
“Oh yeah. I used that this morning when I left. I should give it back to you.”
He waved me off.
I didn’t argue.
“Two colas.” Timothea put the glasses on the table and grinned. Her blue eyes sparkled. “And your meals should be up shortly.”
Finn squeezed my hand. “No rush.”
She glanced down. “Yeah, I figured as much. Oh, new customers. I have to go.” With that, she headed toward the door and the new arrivals.
I followed her with my gaze and cocked my head.
Finn turned—obviously to see what had caught my attention. He chuckled. “That would be Stanley and Justin. Must be date night because they don’t have their two kids.” He pivoted his attention back to me. “Justin’s one of the handsome gingers I mentioned allthose months ago. I warned you Mission City has several very attractive gay redheads. Fun fact—Justin looks nearly identical to Stanley’s ex-boyfriend, Maddox. We all thought Stanley getting together with Justin was a hoot—because obviously the guy has a type.”
“Stanley?”
“Yep. Although, to be fair, Justin sort of got thrown in his path.” He sobered. “Stanley’s younger brother died, leaving his beloved son behind. Stanley stepped up to take care of the boy. Justin happened to be Angus’s counselor and, well—” He shrugged. “Sometimes we don’t see love coming, and it catches us off guard. Later, after the men formally adopted Angus, they adopted a little girl—Opal. They now have this amazing life that came out of a profound tragedy.”
I held his gaze.
“I responded to the call from Angus about his dad.” He tightened his grip on my fingers. “The man was dead, but Angus kept begging us to do something. Those calls—” He swallowed. “I hate when nothing can be done. Won’t stop me from doing my job, though. I want back out into the field. Real bad.”
Taking in the story proved tough. “Family’s what we make of it, right?”
He blinked. “Uh, yeah.”
“Do you want kids?”
