Page 65 of Out of Nowhere

“What was that sigh for?”

Dex hadn’t even realized he’d sighed. “I was just thinking about Gary.”

Seo-jun frowned, as though trying to place the name. “You mean the virtual assistant you made?”

“Yeah. I’ve had to completely disable him. I couldn’t figure out what the issue was.” Even as he said the words, his mind was running over possibilities.

“Maybe putting it aside for a while and trying later will give you a new prospective,” Seo-jun said comfortingly. Dex knew it was more that he’d taken on more than he was capable of and the mistakes he’d made weren’t fixable. He would have to start all over, and, as he didn’t have the heart for it, he was glad Jase hadn’t asked him to do that. He probably didn’t want to waste the expense when Dex obviously didn’t know what he was doing.

“Hey,” Seo-jun said. “Look at me.” When Dex did, Seo-jun studied his face, and Dex imagined what he saw—a loser. “Tell me what’s really bothering you. Is it really all about Gary?”

Dex’s cheeks heated because it really was, and how stupid was that? For a moment, he thought about lying. Making up something more plausible—Lord knew he had more serious matters going on with his sister. But staring into the dark depth’s of Seo-jun’s eyes, he couldn’t do it.

“The whole thing was just…embarrassing. I should have been able to make him work. I thought I could, but what I ended up with was a mess that caused a lot of aggravation to my coworkers.” He shook his head like the motion could knock the memory of that out of his brain.

Resting his hands on Dex’s shoulders, Seo-jun said, “Well I, who can barely manage to surf the internet correctly, truly marvel at what you accomplished. You created something that could communicate and follow orders. Just because you ran into problems with the way it followed orders doesn’t make it any less extraordinary, and I’m sure everyone else feels the same way.They all talk about how smart you are. Hell, just the other day Sean was saying that he hoped Salem could do half the things you could because you always solved his issues within minutes.”

Slowly, Dex felt the knot that had formed in his chest melting away under Seo-jun’s kind and logical reassurances. When Seo-jun pulled Dex into a hug, Dex nuzzled his neck before kissing the soft, fragrant skin there. “I guess I have some issues that stem from being abandoned by my father,” he admitted. “Not being good enough, you know? And the thought of seeing my family stresses me out.”

Seo-jun kissed the top of Dex’s head. “We’ll get through it. Anytime you feel overwhelmed, just say the word and we’ll go someplace private and make out.”

Dex couldn’t help laughing as he squeezed Seo-jun tighter. “That would probably work.”

“Of course it would. Nothing feels better than this.” Seo-jun loosened his hold and brought their mouths together, quickly wiping thoughts of anything but Seo-jun from Dex’s mind.

Chapter Thirty-nine: Seo-jun

Dex wasn’t kidding about his family; they really were a lot. His mother was always on the phone, trying to get something done for her church or something else she was involved in, and Garfield was pretty pretentious. One of the first things he did was show Seo-jun his collection of cars in the garage. Seo-jun wanted their approval, of course, but in the long run, it really didn’t matter if he didn’t get it. He just didn’t want Dex to be unhappy.

Seo-jun and Dex had been given a room at the back of the house that overlooked acres of property with the majestic, snowcapped Rocky Mountains in the distance. On their first morning waking up there, after a restful night in the king-sized bed, they’d sat out on the balcony having coffee while watching the sun come up and a flock of turkey vultures perched in a partially dead cottonwood tree. Seo-jun was a bit fascinated with them, as he’d rarely seen vultures, and never any that looked quite like them before, with their bald, red heads and dark bodies.

“They’re ugly, but really cool at the same time,” he mused, watching the birds. When they flew, their bodies formed a V.

“Yeah, I agree. A flock of vultures is sometimes called akettle. I think awake, too.”

“I getwake, butkettleseems an odd word to use for them,“ Seo-jun said.

Dex shrugged. “I know. Weird, but also kind of fun to say. ‘Hey, look at the kettle of vultures in that tree!’”

Smiling, Seo-jun nodded, looking out at the hunched birds. “I’ve seen California condors. I like the red head on these. They really do resemble turkeys, in a way.”

“The only other kind of vulture is the black vulture,” Dex said.

“Is bird-watching an interest of yours?” Seo-jun asked.

“Not really. I’ve just always found birds of prey interesting.”

After they finished their coffee and got dressed, Dex and Seo-jun went downstairs to have breakfast and found Bea flitting around the big house, giving orders to “the help” like she was directing a Broadway show. Anna was sitting in the dining room while a lot of hustle and bustle went on in the large kitchen. She immediately handed the baby, who was whimpering and sucking on his hand, to Dex.

“Don’t you dare tell me that he’s hungry,” Anna said to them. “He’s been fed. I don’t know why he’s so unhappy.”

As if to illustrate that unhappiness, Sky began to wail. Anna cursed, but Dex rocked him back and forth in his arms, soothing him until he quieted.

“Why do you make that look so easy?” Anna asked. “My own child hates me.” She sniffed her t-shirt. “Gross. I smell like spit up.”

“Go take a shower. He’ll be fine with us,” Dex said.

Anna was out of the room before Seo-jun could blink again.

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