Page 20 of Leo

“Here goes nothing,” I mumbled, raising my hand to knock on the door. It swung open before I made contact, revealing a tall, well-dressed Asian man with two corgi dogs on leashes. “Uh, hello.”

Another person, short with brown hair, came up behind him and offered a smile, “Hi, are you looking for Isaac’s place?”

“Yes, I’m Leo,” I replied, holding my tray higher since the corgis were circling my legs.

“Hi, Leo! I’m Christian,” the tall man replied with more enthusiasm than I would expect, almost as if he recognized my name. “This is my partner Z, our dogs are Spock and Captain.”

“We were just taking them out for a potty break,” Z explained.

Stepping aside to let them pass, the two of them waved and hurried down the hall. Oddly, I felt like their hushed whispers were about me, but had to assume I was being paranoid.

“Leo,” Isaac’s deep voice had my head whipping to find him in the doorway. He looked damn fine in a red sweater over a collared shirt and dark jeans. “You’re here.”

We stared at each other for far too long, but I didn’t know what to say.“Hi, I wish we were alone so you could make me come on your couch again,”was not appropriate in front of my family and his friends.

“Great to see you again,” Cam interjected, breaking our awkward spell. She took the tamales from me and squeezed past Isaac to get inside, “I’ll take that.”

“Hi, Mr. Quintel,” Nacho chirped, following his mother.

When I went to go with them, Isaac stilled me with a hand on my upper arm. I thought he was going to kiss me when he leaned down, but I was only half right when he pecked my cheek. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too,” I admitted. I felt my cheeks heat and was glad for the excuse to walk past him into the condo.

Isaac’s touch was almost too much. I wanted more, but I could see and hear a lot of people. Cam was cooing over two babies and Nacho was on the floor by the dining table with Dezi and a couple bulldogs. There were some more people I couldn’t see past the group assembled around the babies.

“Are we the last ones here?”

“Last ones I expected before dinner, I think,” Isaac told me, turning into the kitchen to open the stove. “The turkey will be ready soon, and then we’ll eat.”

“Leo?” A familiar voice called my name and I turned to find an acquaintance with blue hair I couldn’t miss.

“Cielo?” I greeted them, opening my arms for a hug. I hadn’t seen them in a year, though that was when I tried out the kink club their partners owned. “I didn’t know you would be here.”

“I didn’t know you were the Leo that Isaac mentioned,” Cielo’s eyes widened. “Because he said there was a Leo from Dezi’s pre-school coming.”

Despite feeling like Cielo was covering for something, a thrill ran through me at the idea of Isaac telling his friends about me. Plus, it was nice to know another person in the group of strangers besides Isaac.

“I do have Dezi in my class a couple days a week,” I smiled, noting how sweet Nacho was with her. He was making sure the bulldogs didn’t knock her over while they snorted and licked at the children. “My nephew goes to the same school, but he’s in kindergarten.”

“The one you nannied for. Nacho, right?” Cielo asked, and I was surprised they remembered.

“Yes, and that’s my sister, Camila,” I pointed to where she was standing by a willowy blond and a giant of a man holding the newborns. Cam loved babies. “Who is everyone else?”

“You have to meet Q and A!” Cielo introduced me to their partners, a married couple much older than us. Both men were fit, though Q was bigger and bearded where A had a narrow waist and clean-shaven face. Cielo whispered to them when they were closer, “Daddies, this is Leo.”

“Leo, so nice to meet you.” Both men held out their hands for me to shake, and I saw a significant look pass between them.

“Leo and I went to college together,” Cielo added pointedly. Now I was certain Isaac had mentioned me as more than Dezi’s teacher. “And he’s a member of X Club, but I haven’t seen you there in a while.”

“Finishing my degree and starting my career has kept me from going out much,” I hedged. Not wanting to admit it was hard to see happy Daddies and their boys when I was forever single. “Plus Nacho kept me busy.”

“Good thing Nacho is in kindergarten now,” Cam interjected, looping her arm with mine. I had no clue how much she overheard, but enough to know it had to do with my personal life. “Hermano, come see the babies.”

“They are adorable,” Cielo nodded and followed us, leaving their Daddies to watch over the dogs and children. “I don’t know if you’ve ever met Ash, but they’re married to Jefferson.”

We stopped in front of the couch, where two people I had to assume were Ash and Jefferson held a newborn each. “Hello, are you vaccinated?” The blonde said by way of greeting.

“Preschool teacher, so yes,” I told them. “Who are these adorable bundles of joy?”

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