Page 15 of His Last Chase
“Always, my friends. We’re happy you enjoy our food. Now sit, eat.” Luis motioned to the chairs. Didn’t have to tell any of us twice.
“Have I missed anything over the last month?” Seltzer asked the group between bites.
“Chase has his first boyfriend,” Rhone announced.
“Fuck, dude, way to out a guy.” I shook my head, but damn man.
“Sorry, didn’t know it was a secret.” Rhone at least had the good sense to appear chagrined.
“Secret or not, which it’s not, it’s my story to tell.” It was rare I had anything to share so having him steal my thunder made me want to smack him upside the head.
“Congrats, Chase,” Seltzer said. “Didn’t know you went for the big D.”
Was it hot in here or was it just me?
“Lay off, Seltzer,” David spoke when I was clearly unable to. “Not everyone fits a label or needs to.”
Seltzer held his hands up. “My bad. Tell us about him.”
“You know him.” I believe David thought his reply would throw Seltzer off but yeah, it didn’t.
Silence…which wasn’t always good, and this was a spotlight I didn’t care to have on me.
“Spill it, dude.” Seltzer’s demanding tone left no room for BS.
David glanced at me, and I nodded. “It’s my godfather, Casey. I set them up and they hit it off. End of story.”
Yeah, not as much as we’d hoped.
“Wait, isn’t that dude old?” Fucking Seltzer. Zero filter.
And there it was.
“Age is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.” I threw my napkin down, pulled my wallet out and tossed a hundred on the table. “My life. My choice.” I turned to walk away but Seltzer stopped me.
“Wait, Chase. I didn’t mean it like that. You know I’m not the pretty wordy one of us.”
“Yes, that sentence alone proved that much,” Rhone teased him. “Come on, guys, sit down. We’re family, not enemies.”
“Sorry, Chase. I didn’t mean to upset you. Please sit back down. Let’s finish dinner and you can tell us about it. About him,” Seltzer pleaded. Back to that whole I avoid confrontation like the plague thing.
“Not much to tell. It’s new. Like David said, he set us up, we hit it off and there you have it.”
“Chase, you’re our brother and we’re all protective of you. You didn’t sow your proverbial oats like we did.” Great, Seltzer, way to announce I was avirgin to those who had no clue. You know, like the wait staff surrounding us.
“Dude, no,” David rubbed his temples. “Not cool.”
“Maybe I should be the one to leave since I keep putting my foot in my mouth.” Seltzer stood but Jeremiah pulled him back down.
“Take it like a man, big mouth, and let him talk.” Go Jeremiah!
“Sorry.”
“Look, I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know how to define my sexuality. I like him, he likes me, and we’ll see where this goes.” That was the best and only way I knew how to word it because I had zero fucking clue what I was doing.
“I can respect that.” Huh, respect from Seltzer. Who knew that even existed? Generally speaking, Seltzer and respect didn’t fit in the same sentence.
Chapter Four