Page 112 of Better Late Than Never

With a fond smile, he said, “Never.”

He told me a few more stories about their adventure to Morocco and Gibraltar. “Today, we kind of took it easy and stayed near home. We went to the beach in Sanlúcar this morning before it got too hot, but that’s about it.” With another laugh, he added, “We had lunch at Burger King today just because the boys wanted to say they’ve ordered beer at BK.”

“Ha! Did they like it?”

“Oh, yeah. Savannah wanted to turn up her nose because she’s not a fan of fast food, but even she enjoyed it. We’re having dinner at a local café tonight that she picked out, so she’ll be happy.”

“Good idea. Which one?”

“I can’t remember the name, but it’s an Italian place somewhere in Sanlúcar. If it’s good, I’ll let you know.” He smiled. “Maybe we can use them for takeout.”

“Perfect.”

His smile held, but then it faltered, and he dropped his gaze for a moment. When he shifted a bit, he seemed nervous, and I suddenlywasnervous.

Before I could ask what was up, he said, “So, um…” He cleared his throat. “I told my kids about you.”

My stomach flipped. “You… You did?”

“Yeah.” He laughed, and I thought he blushed. “I did tell them to keep it quiet. They know how this shit works with the military, so… Anyway, they won’t out us.”

“That’s good. What do they think about it? Did they even know you were into men?”

“They’ve known I’m bi for a long time, so they weren’t surprised. But they, um… They want to meet you.”

My spine straightened. “Come again?”

He fidgeted a little on the other end. “They’re curious about you, and I don’t even have any pictures of us, you know?” He laughed nervously. “So if you’re game…”

“Oh.” I had no idea what to say. “But we’re… they’re… I mean, what do they know about us?”

“I obviously didn’t tell them we’re just hooking up,” he said. “But they caught on that I was seeing someone, and after I swore them to secrecy, I said I’d met you. I didn’t tell them much except that we’d been seeing each other and traveling a bit together.”

“And they’ll keep it on the downlow?”

“Absolutely,” he said with a sharp nod. “They know how the military is.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek. “And they… They really want to meet me?” That was a lot easier than the question I couldn’t quite ask out loud:Do you really want me to meet your kids?

“They haven’t shut up about it,” he said with a laugh. “They’ve only ever known me with their mom, so they’re really curious about me seeing someone else.”

“Oh.”

But how serious do they think we are? And how serious doyouthink we are?

My heart pounded.

How serious do I want us to be?

I was too much of a coward to ask any of those questions. I was also intrigued by the idea of meeting Connor’s sons, and what could I say? I fucking missed him. I’d made peace with not seeing him while he was on leave, but this was my chance to do exactly that. I didn’t even care that we wouldn’t be having sex. I just wanted to see him.

So, yeah, Alex—how seriousdoI want this to be?”

“Sounds great,” I said despite my nerves and my racing mind. “I can come by after work tomorrow if you’re home.”

“We’re just doing Cádiz tomorrow morning, so we’ll be here by the time you’re off work.” Connor’s sweet, hopeful smile was the best thing in the world. “See you then?”

“Yeah.” I returned the smile. “See you then.”

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