Page 76 of Meet You Half Way
“Hey, we’ll keep in touch with them,” I assured him, needing him to know I would help him with that. Hell, I loved that adopted aunty and uncle of his nearly as much as Mateo did. “I’ve already set Giulia up on Zoom so we can video call them as soon as we get to Paris.”
“Dante gave me a farewell gift,” Mateo added, a shy smile on his face. “A Saint Christopher pendant.” I noticed then the small golden disc on his chain, the engraved image of the saint with the words ‘go your way in safety’.
“The patron saint of travellers,” I said, sliding my finger under the gold disc so I could look at it. “It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, it is. And what about you? When is your big farewell happening?” he asked, his fingers lingering on the chain as I dropped it.
“We had to make it for Wednesday,” I told him. “Only day we could all make it in to the station.” As I had fully anticipated, I had copped an absolute ribbing from the guys ever since Mateo had shown up at the station and blew up my life. I don’t think a day had gone by where one or all of them hadn’t introduced me as ‘this is Jamie, he’s terrific in bed’. I had no doubt my farewell was going to be very much along the same lines. Though secretly I loved the ribbing because it was words said by my Mateo. Not that I would ever tell any of them that.
“That’s only two days before we leave for Paris,” Mateo replied.
“I know, darling,” I grinned, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Plenty of time for me to pack. I travel light.”
“I should probably warn you that I don’t travel so light,” he grimaced.
“Really? I never would have guessed,” I teased, grinning as his cheeks lit up. “Don’t forget we’ve also got that barbecue at Kel and Bill’s tomorrow night.”
“I remember,” Mateo smiled. “I love your besties.”
“Well that’s good because they love you too,” I assured him. “In fact, Bill has a really unhealthy crush on you so be a little on your guard about him.”
“Sure he does,” Mateo choked on a laugh. Oh, if only he knew.
“You ready to go?”
“I am,” he smiled, letting me take his hand and lead him out to where my car was parked on the street.
The drive to Paddy’s was short and it was hardly any time at all before I was opening his car door for him. He gripped tight to my hand as I led the way inside, feeling just the faintest intake of air from Mateo as we stepped out in public. He was still getting used to being out with me but there were always those unwelcome remnants of his past fears that came out for a brief moment, usually forgotten as soon as I squeezed his hand in reassurance.
For a small town like Esperance, the people here were pretty easy going about Mateo dating a guy. Nick assured me he’d never had any real trouble being openly out around here and I was so glad that was his experience. And now Mateo’s too as the bartender gave him a friendly hello as we ordered our drinks.
The guys were already there, gathered around the pool table and commandeering the old velvet sofa like usual. Nick’s arm was entwined around his boyfriend’s waist and the huge smile on his face told me how pleased he was that Ajay was in town.
We made our way there now, Mateo pulling me along beside him.
“Good to see you, Ajay,” Mateo said, smiling with a friendly nod at Nick’s boyfriend.
“You too, Mateo,” Ajay beamed. “Like my top?” he asked, gesturing down at the charcoal henley he was wearing.
“Love it,” Mateo grinned, sharing some silent communication with Ajay while Nick looked on with an indulgent smile.
“Ajay this is Jamie, my boyfriend,” Mateo continued, turning to me to make the introductions.
“Nice to meet you, Ajay,” I said, holding my hand out to shake his.
“You too,” Ajay grinned. “I’ve heard a lot.”
“Now you make me sound like an old gossip,” Nick returned, sharing a grin with Ajay. And man they were cute together. They really were perfect as they shared a smile that was just for each other. Ajay was gorgeous too, just quite a bit younger than I had expected but that was no surprise given I already had five years on the three high school best friends in this group. Now I was starting to feel old.
“Have you four stopped your jabbering yet?” Rob called as he chalked up a pool cue. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
“Always so impatient,” Nick chided. “But how is this working with five of us here?”
“Hmm, I didn’t really think that through,” Rob mulled, eyeing each of us in turn. “Oh wow. I just realised my posse of gay friends has expanded exponentially. This is looking great for me.”
“Ajay’s not gay,” Nick pointed out which had me huff out a laugh.
“That might be true but he’s certainly not straight,” Rob continued with a wink as Ajay took the pool cue out of his hand.
