Settling Down (5 page)

Tim rolled his eyes and took a long sip of his water. “Poppa, please, I was ten. Now I don’t kiss anyone who don’t want kissin’.”

Jae nearly choked on his coffee. He’d learned two things already in the two hours Raphael Bertrand Myers, Jr. had been in town. One, the bear of a man lived on Scotch, demanding one right after introductions were made at eight in the morning. Two, talking to his father made Tim’s Southern accent come out full and thick like molasses.

It was adorable.

His parents were at home, settling in while Jae and Tim picked Raphael up from the airport. They would all have dinner the next night. That combination was going to be interesting as hell.

Reggie and David, who both insisted they come along to meet Tim’s poppa for breakfast, exchanged looks and the same half-laughing expression that was very clear on Jae’s face. They were having just as much fun listening to the two Southerners banter as he was.

“So Jae Seong….” Raphael lowered his glass and aimed his hazy blue eyes at Jae.

“Just Jae, sir.”

“Jae, right. The boy here has nothing but good things to say about you, but just to make this clear—you hurt ’im, I’ve got a bullet with your name on it.”

“Poppa!” Tim glared at his father. “Ain’t you supposed to save that warning until you say good-bye? Jesus!”

“No worries, Tim. Not the first time my life’s been threatened.” Jae motioned to Reggie and David. “I’m afraid you’d have to ask these two to find my body first.”

Raphael slapped David on the shoulder. “Good men. Thank you for keeping an eye on my boy. Lord knows I’ve been worried about ’im since he left. He’s never lived out of Georgia his whole life, and since I can’t look out for ’im, you know….”

“Poppa, I’m not a kid anymore. All grown up, even run my own business and everything.” Tim gave his dad a fond smile, and Jae reached for his hand. They all understood Raphael’s worries, given what Tim left behind. And they were all sworn to silence about any mention Max was also in town, lest Raphael make good on his threat to “blow his balls off.”

“No worries, Mr. Myers,” Reggie added as the waiter came by with their entrees. “He only gets hurt when he asks for it.”

Tim’s eyes grew wide, but Raphael snorted and shook his head. “If it’s fine with y’all, I’d rather not hear about what he gets up to in the bedroom. Some things a parent really don’t need to know.”

Reggie nodded. “My goof. And quit glaring, Tim, I’m sorry.”

“I swear, y’all got no filter.” Tim waved dismissively and started on his belgian waffle.

“You good with that, boy?” Raphael asked, cutting into his steak and eggs.

Tim didn’t even look up. “Pricked myself before we got to the airport. I’m good.”

Raphael could have come off as so smothering with his worries, but Tim barely reacted to it, like it was as natural as breathing. Jae marveled at the ease between the two. No wonder Tim didn’t worry about showing off his shop in the morning. Gloria demanded to meet the man as well, but she needed to sleep off minding the shop the night before.

Raphael didn’t so much as twitch when Tim opened the door for everyone and Jae ordered Tim’s meal. They still didn’t refer to each other as Sir and pet, but he deferred to Jae more than with his parents.

And it was normal. This week would be fine. So far so good.

“So you’re staying at a hotel downtown, then?” David asked as they ate. “Loads of places to visit there. Reggie’s got the hookup with some discounted tickets to some of the attractions.”

Reggie nodded. “Hell, a hookup? You want company, I can even tag along when Tim gets back to work. Shame he can’t just close up for the week. But the hotel sounds nice.”

“Oh yeah. From what the boy keeps telling me, his apartment is too small for him, never mind my big ass.” Raphael patted his stomach. “I definitely want to get my money’s worth around here.”

“You ain’t that big, Poppa,” Tim said casually, spearing half of the steak from Raphael’s plate onto his own, replacing it with the small bowl of fruit Jae thought he’d ordered for himself.

“What the—?”

“Eat the damned fruit. Don’t even know why you got such a big ol’ hunk of meat, anyway. You know your heart doctor would have a fit if she knew.”

Jae blinked. The worry worked both ways indeed.

Raphael glowered and grumbled but speared some of the fruit on his fork anyway. “You think I could relax on my own damn vacation.”

“Love you too, Poppa. Don’t forget the water.”

POPPA CAME
over to Tim’s apartment the next day in a cab. Tim didn’t realize just how little room there was in his space until he watched his father attempt to navigate the stacks of boxes that lined the doorway and walls.

“How the hell do you live like this, boy?” Poppa grumbled once he got to the tiny living room. “Sneeze too hard, and you’ll cause a damn avalanche.”

“I ask him the same thing all the time,” Gloria replied as she came out of the bathroom, turning off the light. “Not all of us are rent-boy skinny.”

“And this is Gloria,” Tim deadpanned. “Gloria, this is….”

“Raphael Myers, charmed.” She walked over to Poppa and extended a hand. “I can’t wait to hear all about Tim as a boy.”

Poppa grinned and hoisted a brown bag. “Just show me where I can set this here Scotch down, and you won’t be disappointed.”

“After dinner,” Tim said quickly, rushing past them both, taking the bag out of Poppa’s hand and into the kitchen area. His eyes landed on the open laptop that had the countdown until delivery was to arrive. “And we’ve got fifteen minutes.”

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing working for my boy?” It was as if Tim weren’t fluttering about, and that was almost a comfort. It was always like this for Tim back home. Poppa was rock solid, answering Tim’s worries and weirdness with calm and the occasional pointed comment. Just enough to reel him back to reality.

“This damn couch can only seat one big butt, so you take it.” Gloria pointed to the two-seater IKEA special and unfolded a chair for herself.

“Girl, you callin’ me fat?”

“I’m calling it like I see it; now park it.”

Poppa threw his head back and laughed as he did as he was told. “I think I’m startin’ to see why y’all get along. She reminds me of your momma.”

“Don’t let her charm fool you, Poppa. She’s a menace,” Tim said over his shoulder as he started pulling down plates and glasses. They may be having delivery, but he would be damned if they would eat out of the cartons. No, sir.

“I was looking for work, and he was looking for a clerk for the grand opening of the store. So I applied. We chatted, and by the end of the day, I invited him home for dinner. My husband loved him too.”

“And two years later, I’m still putting up with her.” Plates out and stacked, Tim turned his attention to the folded table in the linen closet. It was bigger than the TV tray he usually used, so he hoped it would fit just fine.

“Oh, Tim, how’s Jae’s folks?” Gloria was already on her feet as he approached, hands out to help with the table.

“He’s taking them out to a show tonight. Poppa and I were invited, but I know how much he hates musicals, so I bowed out.”

Poppa shuddered. “No offense, but if I wanted to be sung at, I’d go to a concert.”

It was a miracle, but they managed to get the table to fit right up against a wall of boxes. “Y’all got enough stock to last to the apocalypse.”

“You’d be amazed at how fast some of this stuff sells.” Tim rushed back to the kitchen to check the timer right as his phone rang with a text. “Ah, dinner’s here. One sec.”

Tim was returning with bags of Italian when he heard Gloria roar in laughter. “Are you serious?”

“I swear on my Mary’s grave. He was out in the middle of the family reunion, barely standing in a pair of her heels and trying ta talk like someone out of
Steel Magnolias
. Half the clan was laughing, the rest… well….” Poppa sighed.

Tim finished for him. “We’re not all that close to that half no more.”

“Aww, I wanted a funny story.” Gloria pouted and started to stand up, but Tim held out a hand.

“You got the eggplant, I got the Caesar, and Poppa got the lasagna. I’ve got it.”

He got to work on fixing the plates as Poppa launched into the “kissing Bobby Lee Jenkins” story he told Jae and the others the day before. Tim wondered if it was too early in the show to text Jae to check in with him. He would have liked to see
The Music Man
with his Sir, but family obligations were that. Tomorrow, his other day off, looked pretty booked for Jae as well. His folks wanted to see a couple of museums they always checked out. Tim was, of course, invited.

It seemed to be a good idea. Poppa wouldn’t want Tim hovering over him the entire week anyway, and Reggie had extended an invite to him to check out the sights around the hotel. Still didn’t feel right, but it had been a day, and he missed Jae’s presence so much.

After moving everyone’s meals to plates—and shifting part of his salad onto Poppa’s plate—Tim started serving. Thank goodness, other than Poppa’s side eye at the extra greenery, neither fussed at being fussed over. No need to explain anything; they both understood him.

“Gloria brought over this pretty tasty-sounding red. Now if I can remember where I hid the corkscrew….”

“What, you don’t know where everything in that kitchen is?” Gloria teased, then poked Poppa with her clean fork. “I swear the man could tell you the location of every single product we have downstairs.”

“I cannot!” Ah, he’d already taken it out and set it near the sink. Good.

“Hey, Tim, where are the Feeldoes?”

Without missing a beat, the words just fell from Tim’s lips. “Against the left wall, next to the dildo harnesses, below the double-ended ones.” He paused and then glared at Gloria. “Bitch.”

“I ain’t sure I even want to know what the hell any of that was or meant or anything.” Poppa joined in the chuckling. “But that sounds like my boy. Always organized, always on point. Straight-A student, you know. Could have gone to any college he wanted, and where did he end up?”

Tim frowned as he brought over the wine and started to fill glasses. “Poppa….”

“Georgia Southern, not even an hour away from his momma and me. Couldn’t bear the thought of leaving us for long.” Poppa looked up and smiled. “It just makes this move seem so big, you know. I miss having you around.”

“Even though I’m a big ol’ pain in your big ol’ ass?” Warmth spread through Tim, and he couldn’t help but return the smile. God, he missed home.

Fuck Max for taking it away from him.

But if he hadn’t moved away, he wouldn’t have met Jae.

“You two are gonna put me off my dinner.” But Gloria was also grinning. “Now sit down and eat, Tim. I’m starving, damn it.”

Tim gave the kitchen counter one last sweep to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything else, then filled his own glass, sat, and enjoyed dinner with his father and his best friend.

Besides, he had his share of embarrassing stories about them both.

JAE CHECKED
his phone right as they left the theater. No messages from Tim. That had to be a good sign he wasn’t in distress, but he still wanted to hear something about the dinner he was having with Raphael and Gloria.

Sun squeezed his elbow. “Checking the time?”

“Of course not, Sun, he’s probably checking on his boyfriend,” Jonghyun said from Jae’s other side.

“This must be serious, then.”

Jae shoved his phone back into his pocket. “It’s quite serious, Mom. He’s got a key to the front door and everything.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh my, so he could just drop in whenever he wanted?”

“Well, unless we’ve talked about it beforehand, he usually calls first.” Tim appearing anywhere uninvited? Perish the thought.

“Oh, that is good to know.”

Before he could ask why, the phone buzzed. Pulling away from Sun’s grip, he checked the ID.

Tim.

“Excuse me, I should take this.”

Jae found a spot outside without another word, so eager was he to hear Tim’s voice. “Hey.”

“How was
Music Man
?”

“I wish it was playing next week so I could take you. It was so good. How was dinner?”

“You know, for eating with my dad surrounded by boxes of sex toys, not as embarrassing as I thought it would be. I still would have liked to have been out with you, though.”

There was his pet, needing him. Jae felt the corners of his mouth stretch and thought he looked like a fool grinning that hard out in public.

“Tomorrow. Tomorrow you will be.”

“Jae?” Sun called at his back. “It’s getting late. I think we should be getting home, shouldn’t we?”

Ah, right. He looked over his shoulder and held up one finger. Wait. Just a little bit longer. “Ask your dad again if he wants to join us, alright?”

“The answer will probably be no.”

Was that a hint of defiance? “Ask anyway.” Jae made sure there was enough of a command in that statement that Tim would have to comply.

There was a second’s pause, and then Tim replied, “Yes, Sir.”

“There’s a good pet. I’ll talk to you tomorrow morning.”

As he hung up, Sun came around to face him. “You call him a ‘pet’?”

Shit. She did hear that. How close was she standing? “It’s a… pet name, Mom. Where’s Dad?”

She pointed at the group of people that had him surrounded. They were laughing, probably at a joke he just told. “Being your father. And that is a very odd pet name.”

“Well, it works for us.” He offered his arm. “Let’s get him home before he runs his battery out.”

Jonghyun’s eyes lit up as they approached the group. “Ah, my family. This is my wife Sun and our son Jae-joon.”

Before anyone could respond, Mom snaked her free arm around Jonghyun’s arm. “Pardon us, but we need to head home for the night. It is nice to meet you.”

And like that they were pulled away from the group. Mom knew how to shut down a crowd just as well as Dad could work it.

“Sun, they were all locals.” Dad looked over his shoulder and waved. “I think they’ll be trying out the restaurant when they’re back home.”