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“I understand,” Emilio said, reaching for her small hand and taking it between both of his.
She nodded and sniffled. “Okay, good.”
“Thanks, Alley. I’m sorry to make you go through this.”
“Don’t apologize.” She cleared her throat. “Seeing the way you are with him…. You’ve grown into a good man, hermanito. A strong man. I’m real proud of you.” She stood up and kissed Emilio’s cheek. Then she straightened her skirt and said, “Let’s go. Jim and Spencer are probably already in line for ice cream, wondering where we are.”
Emilio climbed to his feet and wrapped his arm around his sister’s waist. They walked to the entrance door in silence and then he pulled it open, holding it so Alicia could go in first.
“If Spencer ever needs to talk, you tell him I’ll understand. You tell him….” She swallowed hard. “You tell him I’ve been there and I came out good on the other side, yeah?”
Chapter 13
“HOW long were we at dinner?” Emilio asked as they drove home. “Two, three days?”
Spencer laughed. “Oh, come on. It wasn’t that bad.” He thought about it for a few seconds and added, “Actually, I had fun tonight.”
Surprisingly, that was true. Despite Spencer’s initial reservations about meeting Emilio’s family, and the unforeseen Peter fiasco, dinner had been really nice. Jim seemed like a good, albeit quiet, guy. Alicia was very sweet and very talkative. Emilio had been attentive and wonderful and everything anybody could possibly want in a boyfriend.
With that thought at the front of his mind and heart, Spencer twisted his body sideways and looked at Emilio. “Thank you,” he said.
“Why’re you thanking me?” Emilio asked as he quickly jerked his gaze toward Spencer and then refocused on the road. “You paid for dinner. I should be thanking you.” He cleared his throat and said, “Thank you.”
Spencer snorted and grinned. “See? That’s why I’m thanking you. It was a, uh, stressful night, but you made it fun anyway.” Spencer sighed softly. “I don’t know how you do that. It’s like you’re magic.”
“No magic,” Emilio said. “Just a regular guy.”
He reached his hand out and Spencer took it, hanging onto it for the rest of the short drive home and thinking Emilio was the furthest thing possible from being just a regular guy. They pulled into the driveway and Emilio squeezed his hand before pulling away to take the keys out of the ignition.
“Alicia liked you a lot,” Emilio said, twirling the keys on his finger as they walked to the door. “And I think you and Jim have a lot in common. But we’ll have to wait until the next time we see them for you to figure out what all it is. I’ll make sure to bring a gag for my sister.”
“She wasn’t that bad!” Spencer said.
Emilio raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “Uh-huh.” He unlocked the door and they stepped into the house, locked up behind them, and turned off the porch lights before heading for the bedroom.
“Anyway, Jim and I talked when you two were in line for ice cream. Did you know he plays chess? He said they’d have us over for dinner so we could have a little match.”
“No, I didn’t realize that. Is that something you like to do?”
Spencer shrugged. “I used to. Haven’t played in years, but I’m looking forward to giving it a go again.” He paused and then said, “He’s much older than your sister.”
Emilio yanked his shirt off and tossed it into the laundry basket. Then he sat on the bed and began taking off his shoes. “Yeah. Alicia is thirty-two and Jim’s in his midforties, I think.” He stood up and unbuttoned his jeans, hooked his thumbs in the waistband, and pushed them down along with his briefs, and then scooped everything up and put it away.
As he always did when faced with a nude Emilio, Spencer ran his gaze all over the bronze, muscular body and sighed in appreciation. “Your parents didn’t care that she married someone so much older?” he asked.
“Nope.” Emilio strutted over and lifted Spencer’s sweater vest up over his head. “And they won’t have an issue with your age either. Quit worryin’, they’ll love you.”
It wasn’t until Emilio was pushing his shirt off his shoulders and Spencer’s pants and underwear were already at his ankles that he realized he wasn’t hard. For the first time since he’d met Emilio, he was standing beside his naked body and his body wasn’t reacting at all. Instinctively, Spencer moved his hands over his groin, covering himself. Damn it. He had hoped he had gotten over this. He was about to turn around and find pajama pants when Emilio rubbed his palms over his arms and down to his hands.
“What’re you doing?” he asked.
“Nothing, I, uh, nothing,” Spencer stammered. Lord. He sounded like a buffoon or a teenager, and because he was neither, he knew he’d have to answer the question honestly. He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and said, “It’s not nothing, actually.” He willed himself to drop his hands, to stop hiding, but he couldn’t. “We should—” He gulped and opened his eyes, forcing himself to meet Emilio’s gaze. “We should talk.”
