Page 24 of A Layperry's Hope
“If anyone has further questions or would like to discuss anything with me, I will be instating an open door policy in myoffice here in town. Any time I am in, you are free to come speak with me.”
Timalah raises his hands. “That will be all. OurTorallehhas spoken. So it will be.”
“So it will be,” a few people say in agreement. People start to disperse, going back to their homes or gathering together to talk.
I turn towards Miles only to freeze when my eyes lock onto a very strong, toned pale pink chest. I look up and meet this person’s eyes. They stare down at me, a wide smile across their lips.
“Hello, Christian. It’s wonderful to officially meet you,” he says, grabbing my hand and shaking it. “Ghenie has been keeping us away, not wanting to spook you but we thought it was time to officially introduce ourselves.”
“Umm?”
“My name is Scrintum,” he says in explanation. “I’m Ghenie’s dad and behind you is Plun. He’s Ghenie’s father.”
I swallow around the lump in my throat. “It’s nice to meet you too,” I say out loud instead of turning around and running as far and as fast as I can. Shit, shit, shit. I’m not good with parents! They’re going to see right through me and remind Ghenie of what an ass I am!
“Nice to meet you,” Plun says, resting a hand on my shoulder. I turn around so I can look at him. He’s tall with dark green skin and a beard to match. “Ghenie sure is taken by you, son.”
“Don’t embarrass them,” Scrintum says quickly, reaching past me and slapping Plun’s arm. “Don’t listen to him, Christian. Ghenie is just as enthralled by you as you are of him. Very normal. Nothing extravagant. Nothing to worry about.”
“You’re making things worse, love.”
“Am not!” Scrintum looks up at me. “You’re not freaked out right now, right? Tell him.”
I look at him, then at Plun, then back at Scrintum. I swallow and run my fingers through my hair. I open my mouth to respond but nothing comes out.
“See! Now you’ve done it, Plun! You’ve scared him speechless!”
Plun chuckles softly, moving around me so he can stand beside his mate. He wraps an arm around his waist. “I’m sorry, Christian.”
“It’s fine,” I finally manage. “I’m just a little surprised, that’s all.”
Plun hums and nods his head. Scrintum jumps back in. “We can be a little much but we’ve seen how happy Ghenie has been lately. It would be a shame not to officially meet the reason for that smile.”
My heart skips a beat. The confirmation that I make Ghenie happy does something weird to my insides. He makes me happy too. More than I can say.
“I’m glad he’s happy. That’s all I want. Really.”
“I believe you,” Scrintum says. “Please don’t run away again.”
“Scrintum! We promised not to bring that up!”
“Shit, sorry. Pretend you didn’t hear that.”
“Didn’t hear what?”
Scrintum giggles. “Good man! I knew you and I would get along.”
“Father? Dad?”
Both of them freeze and turn slowly to face Ghenie like children caught with their hands in the cookie jar. It would be comical if I wasn’t so tense from meeting them.
“It’s not what it looks like. Umm, we were actually fucking! No, shit. Sorry. That’s weird,” Scrintum says, covering his face with his hands. I burst out into laughter at what he’s just said, surprised that’s his go to for getting caught.
Maybe I don’t actually have anything to worry about with these two. Maybe they’re just ordinary people who happen to be Ghenie’s dads and not someone I need to try to win over.
Plun hums, squeezing his mate even harder. “We were just saying hello to Christian.”
“And this is going… well?”
