Page 88 of Seer

“Of course,” Greg said. “It’s good to see you both.”

They smiled at him.

Ruben said, “And this is Greg’s, uh...”

“Boyfriend,” Greg supplied, moving his hand up so most of his arm was across my back. I’m sure he could feel how tense I was, both physically and through our connection.

“Right. Sorry, Cal.” Ruben shot me an apologetic glance.

I shrugged. “No worries. It’s pretty new.”

“Cal, this my daughter Karla.”

She gave me a half wave.

“And Karla’s best friend Fantine.”

We said hi.

“And,” Ruben stretched his hand out toward Butch. “This is Karla’s boyfriend Brantleigh. Brantleigh, this is Greg and Cal.”

“Uh, hi.” Butch’s eyes darted back and forth between me and Greg, and his forehead furrowed.

I wondered if Karla had told Butch he needed to impress Greg. Would he be able to refrain from taunting me like he’d done in the coffee shop?

Would it matter? Either way, I’d make sure Karla knew what kind of man she was dating.

And Greg would never let anyone who’d insulted me be allowed in on the secret.

I relaxed. Greg whipped his head toward me, and I gave him a big smile. I looked at Ruben. “Actually, Brantleigh and I went to high school together. He was going by Butch back then, though.”

Butch gave a nervous laugh. “Uh, yeah. Just a childish nickname.”

“Oh,” Karla said, wrapping her hands around Butch’s bicep. He had muscles, I’d give him that. She said to me, “I hope you can tell me some juicy stories about Brantleigh’s teenage years.”

I smiled. “Oh, I have stories all right.”

TEXT CONVERSATION

SATURDAY, APRIL 1

Cal

Well, we might already be magic-married, but Greg and I are going public as boyfriends

Felix

Congrats! I was hoping he’d pull his head out of his ass. I take it the date went well?

Cal

It was pretty eventful, but yeah

Felix

Great! Once you figure out what’s happening with this killer, we’ll all have to go on a triple date

Steve