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His pain hurt my heart.

Timothea, as if sensing the shift in mood, left quietly.

Jai blinked. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m the one who’s pushing.” I pointed to the calamari.

“Yeah, sure.”

We each took a piece. Then we split the chicken souvlaki, dolmades, spanakopita, keftedakia, and rice. He indicated I should keep all the roast potatoes, and I magnanimously offered him the larger portion of the Greek salad. We dug in and several minutes passed as we devoured our food. Apparently, the veggie hot dogs and burgers of lunch were long forgotten.

Jai wiped his lips with his napkin. “I can’t believe I’ve never been here. This is amazing.”

“That’s what Foster said when we discussed restaurants in the area. I’m trying to vary between fast food and nice dining while not breaking the bank.”

“We’re going Dutch tonight.” He wrinkled his nose. “Can they split the platter for the bill?”

“I doubt it.” I had no idea if this was true or not—but I wasn’t going to let him pay for tonight. “You can pay next time. When was the last time you went to Fifties?”

“Never.”

I blinked.

“We didn’t eat out often.” He held up his hand. “I lied. Arnav took me there. I had an amaretto milkshake.”

“They make the best milkshakes. We need to go again. Do you have tomorrow night off?”

“You’re here with me now, and you’re already planning to see me again?”

“That’s what friends do—they make plans. Normally I’d invite you over to my house to hang out, and I’d go to your place. You’re obviously worried about the optics of being seen with a camper’s father, and my place is currently a hotel room. Nice view, cute microwave, and an adorable mini-fridge. King-sized bed and friendly staff round out the amenities.”

“I hope the friendly staff aren’tinthe king-sized bed.” He pressed his fingers to his lips as color crept back into his cheeks. “That was very impertinent of me.”

I hooted. “I think that’s awesome. I’ll have to tell Aaron, the manager. He’ll laugh.” I cocked my head. “I knew you had a bawdy sense of humor.”

He paused with a forkful of calamari in the air. “How do you know that?”

Shit.“Because you just have this magnetic personality. I know you don’t see it.Not untiltook that away from you, but I believe you can get it back.”

“Not until…? Oh. Him.” He shoved the fork into his mouth.

I bit into a dolma.Don’t push him. Let him come to you. You don’t always have to be in a hurry to solve the world’s problems.Except I did. I saw injustice, and I stood up to defend. I witnessed wrongs, and I wanted to right them. Seeing people hurting also hurt me. I just had to be careful to only lash out at those causing the pain.

Jai swallowed. “His name was Gary. We met in our final year at UBC. We…hit it off. Then we applied for, and secured jobs at, the same accounting firm.” He wrinkled his nose. “I didn’t love working for high-net-worth clients, but I did enjoy the challenge and complexity of the files. Gary…? He was all about wining, dining, and securing bigger deals. He was flashy. I was…not.”

“You mean you were reliable and hardworking. Not looking for credit.”

He blinked. “Yeah, sort of.”

“I know the type, Jai. Like your ex. I’ve met them. Taking credit for other’s work. Coasting along doing the minimum while appearing to do more.”

“Yeah.”

“So what happened?”

Jai bit his lower lip. “He discovered something about me. Something incredibly personal. And he…shared that knowledge. With everyone. I meaneveryone. I was ostracized, and I decided I needed a fresh start. I packed up my car and headed east.”

His words hit me. Hard. Because unless he was talking about being gay—which he very well could be—he was also talking about being exposed as a pup.