Page 46 of After Midnight

“Just you,” Dillon said and laughed at my perplexed expression.

Not wanting to sound rude, I waited until Allen went into the kitchen to help his husband, then said quietly, “There’s enough food here to feed twenty people, and your father is still cooking.” I wanted to laugh but still felt uncomfortable.

“My dads don’t do anything halfway,” he said matter-of-factly. “Brunch is an event in this house.”

“Obviously,” I said but schooled my expression when Kalen came into the nook carrying a huge skillet flipped over onto a platter.

“Please, Dominic, have a seat. Clearly, my son has forgotten his manners.” I sat as he put the platter down and said, “Okay, cross your fingers.” He lifted the skillet to reveal a restaurant-perfect frittata.

I clapped before I could stop myself, and the man beamed.

When he disappeared back into the kitchen, Dillon leaned over and whispered, “You’re now on his favorite people list. He takes great pride in his frittata presentations.”

I chuckled. “Well, it is impressive, just look at it. I bet it tastes even better.”

Dillon’s dads both returned then, one holding a wine bottle and the other carrying a tray of wine flutes filled with orange juice.

“Care for a little Champagne in yours?” Allen asked, handing me a flute.

“Yes, please. I’m a huge fan of mimosas.”

“A man of good taste, that’s a rarity in this day and age,” Kalen said, uncorking the bottle and topping off my drink.

He dished out the frittata onto our plates, but the rest of the food was self-serve. As we ate and I listened to the three men tease one another, I was surprised to find I was enjoying myself immensely.

After we finished eating, Allen politely refused my offer to help clean up and began taking the plates and leftover food to the kitchen. When he returned, we all sat around the table with our mimosas, and the conversation turned to me.

“So, Dillon says you work at the comedy club as a bartender,” he said.

I nodded. “Yes, I’ve been working there since I turned twenty-one. One of the regular comedians there is a longtime friend of mine.” Did they think I wasn’t good enough for Dillon because I bartended? I straightened my back, sitting up straighter. I wasn’t ashamed of who I was or what I did, and I wouldn’t pretend to be someone I wasn’t, either.

“And you’re in school as well?” Allen continued.

“I am,” I replied and forced myself not to smile at the poorly disguised third degree. Before he could ask, I volunteered the answer to the most obvious next question.

“I’m a business major at the University of Denver.”

“Oh, that’s a sensible degree,” Kalen said, sounding interested. “Do you know what area you want to pursue?”

“Somewhat,” I replied. “My fathers were both techy people. I like the technology side of things, but not enough to do codingor anything. I think I’d like to work on the admin side of a tech company.”

Both men’s expressions changed when I mentioned my fathers, plural, and I was shocked Dillon hadn’t told them already I was the product of a two-father home.

“Well,” Allen said diplomatically, “it sounds like you’ve made some good plans.”

“So, what kind of tech did your fathers do?” Kalen pressed.

I chuckled internally and was impressed they hadn’t jumped onto the two dads reveal more directly. I could tell they wanted to, though, so I decided to share more.

“Both of my fathers were involved with gaming platforms. They started a company, building the back-end elements for several video games still popular today. When they sold it, they were absorbed into a company that got sold to another company, and before they passed away, they were working for Comtech.”

Both men raised their eyebrows when I namedropped the huge gaming company, telling me they recognized it. That was surprising since only investors and gamers tended to know about the mega tech company.

Kalen looked over at me sadly. “I’m sorry to hear they aren’t with you any longer.”

I shrugged. “Thank you, they’ve been gone for a while. But they were great parents while I had them.”

There was the typical awkward pause then. One I’d become accustomed to as people digested my loss before figuring out how to move the conversation forward. As usual, it tended to be easier for me to break the tension, so I asked, “What do you two do for a living?”

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