Page 32 of Adonis

“No, no. It’s alright.” Trevor waved Nick off. “Like he said, I should have realised… that’s why you had me do tuna noodles when I made bolognese the other day. I’m sorry, Connor.”

“Like I said, it hasn’t been an issue,” Connor said. Trevor cooked so many vegetables and sides that even without the cut of meat, dinners left him satisfied and then some.

“Let’s go out for dinner,” Trevor said. “Pizza can be leftovers for when we’re hungry, and we can have a nice restaurant dinner.”

Laurence’s fighting stance loosened. His arms relaxed, no longer folded so tight. “Let’s do that.” His tone said,you’re on thin ice.

They all piled into Trevor’s bigger car. Laurence, high off his victory over Trevor, quashed Nick’s objections and planted himself in the seat next to Connor. He chattered loudly about how oblivious Trevor was.

“Keep it up, and you’ll be sitting in the car while we eat,” Trevor warned him as they entered the town.

Laurence bristled.

Connor nudged Laurence with his elbow. “Leave him be,” he said softly to Laurence. “He looks guilty enough.”

They went to the World’s End, one of the few restaurants that stayed open during the off-season.

As they stepped in the front door, a waitress passing with empty dishes stopped in the middle of the floor. Her eyes locked on Connor, recognition sparking. She turned on her heels, practically running into the back room. A sense of foreboding filled Connor.

Trevor approached the greeter, an older lady who was happy to inform them that there were spaces available.

“Right this way.” As she stood up, a man emerged from the back kitchen dressed in black chef’s wear. He leaned down, whispering in her ear. Both of them looked right at Connor.

Connor sunk his hands into pockets and released a slow breath, mentally preparing himself.

The chef straightened, and the lady stood beside him with an uncomfortable expression. “I’m sorry, but we cannot seat you,” she said.

A quizzical look crossed Trevor’s face, but Edith cast an accusing look right at Connor.You ruin everything, her stormy gaze seemed to say.

Connor stared back, hoping to convey a mix of,yeah I know,andscrew off.

She jerked her gaze away from him as if repelled, making Connor think he’d only communicated the latter.

Edith put her hand on Trevor’s elbow. “We can try the Madison,” she said.

“It was free a moment ago?” Laurence quizzed.

Like father, like son.

Connor bet Nick immediately knew as well. Connor could just leave them to it, bugger off for a few hours, but everything he knew about Laurence and Trevor said that they’d be more upset by him offering.They’ll say no anyway.

“Several staff members are part of the LGBT community,” the chef said in a gruff voice. He jutted his chin at Connor. “That’s not happening.”

Trevor’s shoulders tensed. Laurence’s face reddened. Not in the way it did when he was embarrassed by Connor and his mom fighting and he sank down; it was like in the kitchen when he’d gotten mad at his dad. He puffed up. Set a fiery gaze on the man five times the size of him, and opened his mouth—not happening.

“Let’s go,” Connor said, catching Laurence by the elbow. The last thing he wanted was word getting around that Laurence was defending known-and-accused bigots.

He dragged Laurence outside and waited for the others. It felt colder than it had a minute ago. He released Laurence to stuff his hands into his pockets, not letting it get to him. He understood. It was expected. In fact, fair play to the restaurant for looking out for their staff like that. They didn’t know the accusation was false.

Despite what he told himself, his gut sizzled in embarrassed. In front of Edith or Nick? So what. But Trevor and Laurence?

The rest of the family exited behind him. His poker face was firmly in place when they did; the same could not be said for either Trevor or Laurence.

“The Madison, then?” Trevor said into the awkward silence.

“We could go to Sandy’s place,” Connor suggested. He didn’t want them to be embarrassed at the Madison, too. He didn’t want Trevor or Laurence to have any nasty surprises of being barred for simply being in Connor’s company. And maybe they would serve them, or maybe they would go with public opinion and not let Connor in. It felt more likely they would be refused service.

“Why not?” Trevor said. His hand went to the small of Edith’s back, an apparent move for comfort. Laurence’s comfort came from glaring at the restaurant. Nick watched Laurence with a worried frown. He no doubt had seen Laurence ready to go to war inside.