Page 7 of Unicorn Unashamed

“Yeah.”

“How’re you liking it?”

Simon wrinkled his nose. “It’s very wet.”

Josh laughed. “Yeah, that’ll happen half the year. I tend to walk and use the bus a lot instead of driving, and I swear, I get drenched like twice a week. The worst thing is if you get soaked and then have to get on a bus or something. People blast the AC like crazy, which means it’ll be ninety degrees outside and you’re freezing to death.”

“It’s the same in California,” Simon said, looking a little more at ease. Go Josh, Raymond thought. “Stores like being frigid. Half the time I leave the house, I have to take a sweatshirt with me.”

“I feel that,” Josh said. He held up his fist. “Solidarity.”

Simon chuckled and bumped.

“I have to say,” Curtis said, turning to Raymond, “I’m glad to see that you still have a fanbase.”

“Fanbase?” Raymond asked.

Curtis grinned and nodded at Josh. Raymond’s ears went red. Of course Curtis was already at it.

Josh just laughed. “I won’t deny that. Raymond’s great. Best trainer I’ve ever had. And, you know, a good friend too, I guess.”

Raymond slanted a smile his way, trying to tamp down how good he felt whenever Josh complimented him. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Curtis looked from one to the other of them, and then, still grinning, turned back to Josh. “Okay, so I feel it is my solemn duty to share some choice Raymond stories, now that I have an audience.”

Raymond groaned. “You have to start with the embarrassing stories? Really?”

“As I said, solemn duty.”

“Uh-huh. In that case, I have a few stories of myself to share, about you.”

Simon lit up. “Yeah? Any of them about him not being so perfect all the time?”

“Oh, rest assured,” Raymond said, pleased at Simon’s interest. “I have plenty about him being very less than perfect.”

“No fair,” Curtis said. “You can’t just steal my thunder. It was Raymond storytime hours first.”

“Awesome,” Josh said with fervor. He leaned forward. “Please go on.”

Curtis grinned triumphantly as Raymond groaned, sinking back into his seat.

***

Josh was having a stupidly good time. Curtis was a funny guy, and he and Raymond bounced off each other really well. It was obvious they were close—the two of them practically finished each others’ sentences. They also seemed to have a relationship built on roasting each other, which was a hilarious way to learn more about Raymond.

And it was interesting getting to see Simon slowly become more comfortable and relaxed as the dinner progressed. Curtis kind of seemed to be gently nudging him into conversation, and Josh figured it helped that neither he nor Raymond were acting like crazed fans.

Josh was all for helping Simon feel as relaxed as possible. It wasn’t exactly difficult to pick up on the fact that Simon was wearing a heavy-duty scent blocker; and it was one Josh recognized as basically the strongest that could legally be prescribed. It was something that Josh was only able to notice because he was a unicorn himself and recognized the scent, but… Simon was probably in the middle of his virile period, just like Josh was. And considering how miserable and uncomfortable he seemed at the start of the meal before he warmed up some, Josh was guessing that Simon’s virile period wasn’t as easily weathered as Josh’s own.

So yeah, he was all for keeping things light and easy and the spotlight thoroughly away from a guy who already had to deal with so much of it. It wasn’t like it was a hardship to encourage Raymond and Curtis to keep talking.

Curtis was currently in the middle of a story about a time that he and Raymond went grocery shopping together. A story about grocery shopping.

And it was still a good time!

“—we literally say goodbye to the lady, walk maybe six feet, and then some guy comes up to us to ask us, or shall I say Raymond, a question.” Curtis snickered. “And that was random stranger number three trying to flirt with him.”

“According to you,” Raymond grumbled. “It didn’t seem like they were flirting.”

“You never think someone’s flirting with you,” Curtis said rolling his eyes.

Josh hurriedly took another bite of his pasta to occupy his mouth so that he didn’t let out anything embarrassing or incriminating. Because Josh could definitely attest to the fact that flirting thoroughly flew over Raymond’s head. He didn’t flirt with Raymond a lot—or he tried not to, at least. Josh was firm in his thoughts that Raymond was a good friend and a professional, and Josh didn’t want to ruin the relationship they had. But he was so into Raymond that sometimes he couldn’t help it, and things slipped a little into flirty banter on Josh’s end. The only saving grace was the fact that Raymond never noticed.

Then again, if you weren’t interested in someone…

Which hurt more than Josh liked to admit, if he was being honest. He had to reach for his water, swallowing around a sudden lump in his throat.

He was being stupid. Raymond didn’t like him and that was just how things were. The only reason why it currently made him kind of want to cry was because his hormones were completely out of whack.

Best to just sit back and enjoy the night and the company.

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