Jax raised his eyebrows.
“You think I couldn’t recognize the look on Miranda’s face? What’s the problem?”
Jax outlined everything, and Rebecca laughed. “Oh, is that all? Well, I think I might know a few people and can pull some strings.”
“Yeah?”
“On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“Come for dinner.”
“Oh, I can definitely do that.” Jax thought of Ari, with whom he’d had dinner every night for the past week. “But uh, only if I can bring someone along.”
“Oh?” One of Rebecca’s eyebrows arched high. She looked positively eager for some gossip.
“Yeah.” He rubbed his neck. “Have you ever heard of Aria Darvish?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
JAX LEFTthe math department with a spring in his step. He wouldn’t have thought it possible when he arrived two hours before, but Jax actually felt light in this space. As he hurried down the steps and out of the building, eager to burn some energy, he fished his phone from his pocket.
Ari had tried to call him half an hour ago and left a text asking Jax to call him when he could.Nothing serious.
“Jax,” Ari said, all warmth and affection. “What are your plans for the day?”
“Well, now that I’ve slain some bureaucratic dragons, I thought maybe I would see what my handsome and talented boyfriend is up to tonight.”
“Handsomeandtalented? Anyone I know?”
Jax smiled despite himself. “Maybe I’ll introduce you later… if you finish what you were going to ask me.”
Ari cleared his throat. “I ran into one of my old professors at the conservatory this morning. Several of the faculty are going out to dinner tonight, and they asked if we might want to join them.”
Jax’s heartbeat sped. On the one hand, he was pleased to get a chance to meet some of the people who had shaped Ari into the musician he was. On the other hand, the last time they’d had a dinner with outside influences had been an absolute shitfest.
They’d only just found and forgiven each other again. Did he want to risk it so soon?
Then again, if it was going to be a nightmare, better to find out now. Right?
“Jax?” Oops. Apparently he’d deliberated for too long. “If it helps at all, I promise to throw the first punch if any of my old acquaintances call you a whore.”
That startled Jax into a laugh. “Don’t you dare. You’ll break your fingers.” He paused. “Kick them in the privates instead.”
“Joking aside, you have my word that this won’t be like the dinner with my parents. I don’t know everyone who’s coming, but I like and trust the majority of them. I think they’ll like you.”
Jax was getting pretty good at decoding what Ari didn’t say, and the subtext here was pretty clear—they’ll love you because I do. In the end, that decided it for him. “All right,” he agreed. “What time, and what do I wear?”
ARI HADoriginally planned to pick Jax up at his apartment, but Jax texted him an hour beforehand that he was on the phone with the admin at the college, and since he might be late, he’d meet Ari at the restaurant.
Part of Ari wondered if he didn’t have cold feet—he couldn’t exactly blame Jax if he did—but in the end, he decided the least Jax deserved was the benefit of the doubt.
It turned out he needn’t have worried. Their group was still congregating in the lobby of the restaurant ahead of their reservation when Jax blew in, liberally dusted with snowflakes, cheeks red with the cold.
He lit up further when he saw Ari, and Ari knew that he must be doing the same, but as much as he found public displays uncomfortable, he couldn’t help himself. When Jax was close enough, Ari grabbed his hand and pulled him in to kiss his cheek. “You made it.”
Jax was even redder now, but he squeezed Ari’s hand and grinned. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
