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twenty

*NOEL*

W hen I arrive at Mateo’s place, he is sitting on his sofa with Lynn, drinking tea with her. That’s a rare view. I can’t remember the last time he so casually hung out with a potential date. They must have clicked somehow.

Mateo’s apartment is small, but he has a talent for using space well. It looks much more spacious than it is because he uses everything so well.

“I am glad you dropped by,” Lynn says, taking out her notebook. “Tell me when you are free. Aden got in contact with a good lawyer. I am going to organize the first meeting.”

I still feel guilty for bothering Aden and his co-CEO, but Lynn doesn’t look like she minds. As for Mateo, he looks incredibly happy. Both he and Sterling were very vocally pleased that I decided to accept Aden’s help.

“I think I could squeeze in Friday morning,” I tell her. “Or is that too soon?”

“No, that should work. That way, you can kick everything off before the weekend. You are meeting Aden’s family, right?”

I groan. “Yes, I am so nervous.”

“Don’t be,” Lynn says, in her usual dry manner. “He barely visits them anyway. Even if you make the worst impression, it won’t matter.”

“Oh, I am not nervous about them! They hurt my man. As far as I am concerned, they can go fuck themselves,” I exclaim. “I am nervous I won’t be able to stand up for Aden. I have to deliver!”

“I don’t think Aden expects you to defend him,” Lynn points out.

“That doesn’t matter. I am going to be his shield for once!”

Lynn blinks at me. “You have the weirdest sense of logic”—a sudden smile curls her lips—“but I can kind of see how that clicks with Aden. He can be weird, too.”

“I take it that’s a good thing?”

“It is,” Lynn says. “He has been more his usual self since he met you. It’s almost like the time when he built the company, and we started to work together.”

“Do you have some intel on the brothers?” I ask.

“Why, you want to harass them?”

“Maybe a little.”

Lynn smirks. “Well, Oliver is my ex. He is really trying to get closer to Aden again. He lacked a bit of backbone, though. Not sure if that’s changed.

Kayden was extremely mean to Aden. I still remember when I met the family for the first time, and thought, how much of an asshole he was.

I ran into him a couple of years ago, and he had changed, but I don’t think that really matters to Aden. ”

“But he wasn’t the one who…” I pause. I am not sure how much she knows, and I am also not sure if it’s okay to talk about it in front of Mateo.

“I will go and order us some food,” Mateo says before getting up and giving us some privacy.

“Wow, the man can read the room,” Lynn says. “I am impressed!”

“He has always been very aware,” I point out, eager to talk well about Mateo, so that he will hit it off with Lynn properly. “Plus, he definitely has a backbone.”

“I figured,” Lynn says, smiling slightly. “So, you wanted to ask something about Kayden?”

“I am not sure if it’s okay to talk about it,” I admit.

“Let me think… the worst they did to Aden.” She pauses. “There was plenty of bullying and harassment. But I think the breaking point for Aden was when he got busted for being gay.” She looks at me thoughtfully. “Your lack of surprise shows me you know that already.”

“But it wasn’t Kayden, right?” I ask.

“I don’t know. Could have been Martin. He is the second youngest after Aden, and he really looked up to the older brothers.

He might have outed Aden just to impress them, but I can’t tell for sure.

” She hesitates. “Listen, this family can be very kind. Aden’s mom, for example, is a sweetheart, and the brothers really grew and changed.

But Aden has a different reality. For him, that’s probably the pit of hell.

Just promise me you will be there for him. ”

“I told you already, I am there to have his back, not to kiss up to his idiotic brothers.”

Lynn grins. “I had a feeling you would say that. Not one to shy away from a challenge, huh?”

“What can I say… I have learned how to kick annoying guys off me early on. I am not scared of his brothers. I just want to be there for Aden.”

“You will be fine,” she reassures me. “Thank you for doing this for him, Noel.”

I try not to show it, but her words really mean a lot to me. Aden is picky with his friends, and he told me she is his only true friend, his best friend. I want her to like me, but I want her to like me for me, not someone who puts on a show. Fortunately, she seems to approve of the real me.

The only things helping me get through this awful work-filled week were my date with him on Wednesday, which we spent at his place with him cooking for me, because there is nothing this guy can’t do, and my meeting with the lawyer.

Anticipating the meeting kept me on the edge of a nervous breakdown for days, until the meeting actually happened, and it was so uneventful, even bordering on boring, that it blew my mind.

The man was friendly and polite, and just collected all the data, plus told me what he would do, how he would go about it and what he needed from me.

He also looked pretty pleased and confident, telling me it was a relatively easy case for him to handle.

Talk about boosting my confidence and helping me regain some hope for my situation.

Besides, there is also knowing I am seeing Aden for a whole weekend. It doesn’t even matter that it’s with his family.

“Did you bring everything?” Aden asks. “If not, I can lend you something.” He pauses, angling for something in his pocket. “Oh, and I forgot this here.”

I blink when he hands me a key. “What’s that?”

“A key.”

“Yeah, I see that.” I grin. “I mean, what does it unlock?”

Aden looks at me, completely confused, before he gestures at his front door.

“Wait a moment?” I blurt out. “This unlocks your house for me?”

“Yes, obviously. What else would I keep locked up and you’d need a key for?

” Aden puts his notebook into his bag, closing it safely, before grabbing two books.

“You are often working late, and sometimes your shift ends before I come home. I want you to be able to come here and wait, if you want to.”

While Aden seemingly is about to move on from this conversation, I can barely grasp it. “Aden…”

“Hm, anything wrong?”

“This is big,” I mutter. “This is so big.”

“Listen, Noel.” He puts his books aside and takes my hand. “You don’t need to take it if it’s too much for you.”

“No, I want it! It’s just… isn’t it too soon? Should you trust me that much? I could do God knows what when you are away and I am here.”

“Would you?” he asks.

“Of course not!”

“Then it’s fine,” he says. “Listen, I know we are going fast, but we did that from the first moment on.”

“True,” I admit.

“I want you to have this key, so you are safe. You work two rather dangerous jobs in a dangerous part of town, and live in an equally dangerous area. I’ll just feel better to know you are here, or that you at least know you have the option to come here.

I am not asking you to move in with me.“ He pauses.

“Yet. I just want you to know that you are welcome anytime.”

I can’t believe any of this. What is even happening? When I started dating Aden, I was so insecure about this potential relationship. I wanted to go slow, yet not even a couple of days later, he introduced me as his boyfriend, and I landed in bed with him.

And now he is handing me the key to his home.

A small voice in the back of my head keeps telling me it can’t be true. That he is mocking me or just doing this out of a mood, that a guy like him would never date someone as worthless as I am.

You are worthless. I should never have had you.

At least make yourself useful.

I shake the thought off, thinking about what Lynn said to me, and how she reacted to Aden and me dating. I think about our talk at the playground where he opened up to me. He obviously has his own demons, and he jumped into this relationship just like I did. It’s the same risk for him.

“Thank you.” I carefully attach the key to my keychain. “I would give you a key to my place in return, but I really don’t want you to hang out there.”

Aden chuckles. “If I want to wait for you somewhere, I will visit the drag queen bar you showed me.”

“That’s a great deal!” I beam.

“So, are you ready?” he asks. “We should get going. The drive takes us a couple of hours.”

“I am ready. Could you just lend me a second shirt? It was my roommate’s turn to do the laundry, but he got drunk instead.”

“Yeah,” Aden frowns. “And see, that’s exactly why I gave you the key.

Do your laundry here instead.” He walks off only to return a couple of minutes later with a nice-looking shirt that’s probably too expensive for me to wear.

But I decide to for once not give a shit about it and just be thankful for his generosity.

“Aden, does your family know I am your sexy boyfriend?”

Aden smiles. “I told Mom. The rest can figure it out themselves.”

My heart takes a leap of joy that he wants to officially introduce me to his mother. Actually, he already did that, but now I am going to meet her in person. “So, no hiding it?”

“No hiding it.”