“Tonsil-tangling friends with benefits?”
“That works.” He laughed along with Tucker before sobering again. “But dinner... I’m not so sure.”
“It doesn’t have to be that complicated. Heidi was your friend too, back in high school. She’d like to say hello. And maybe it will defuse Walker. He said to ask you, so I think he’s...trying. Not sure what’s going on with him.”
“Do the boys know?” He tried to hide how curious he was by taking a bite of the sandwich, which was very good, crusty sourdough with good quality turkey, cheese, and spicy mayo. If Tucker was trying to win him over, there were far worse ways to go about it than plying him with food.
“About my sexuality? Yeah. Heidi and I talked it over, and after my rift with my family, we didn’t want them hearing secondhand rumors from cousins, didn’t want to send the message that I was ashamed.”
“Smart. And brave. That can’t have been an easy conversation.” Not that he’d expected Tucker to shy away from it—he’d already proven himself to be honest and caring, especially where his kids were concerned.
“Actually, it wasn’t too bad. Kids understand way more than we give them credit for. And they were getting to that age... I wanted them to know that whatever identity they had, no matter where they landed on the sexuality spectrum, that it was okay and that they would be loved no matter what.”
“You’re a good dad.” Luis’s chest expanded with an emotion he refused to name. Damn. Tucker wasn’t just a good dad but a great one. And Luis had had a pretty awesome one himself, so he knew exactly how lucky Tucker’s kids were. He’d had too many friends with disastrous coming-out stories to not know how blessed he was that his dad had had a beloved brother who happened to be gay and that Luis’s parents’ support had never been an issue for him.
“Thanks. It was important to me that they know that not everyone shares my family’s narrow-minded views and to create an environment where they could tell us anything. Which is why this thing with Walker is so troubling. Something’s going on, but if he won’t tell me what, I can’t fix it.” Tucker frowned, and Luis reached across the desk to pat his arm.
“Hate to tell you, Papi, but you’re a dad, not a magician. You’re not going to be able to fix everything. All you can do is love him and be there. He’ll talk eventually.” He was probably not the best person to be giving parenting advice, but he’d put his own parents through the ringer enough times, holding back some hurt until he was ready to voice it.
“I hope you’re right.” Tucker studied his lunch like it might have the answers he needed. And damn it, there went Luis’s chest again, trying not to feel things for this man.
“I’ll think about dinner, okay? The one thing I don’t like about work travel is how slow the evenings are unless there’s a crisis.”
“Well, we don’t want a crisis. And let me be your distraction?” Brightening, Tucker waggled his eyebrows.
And okay, if dinner got him more of the kissing that Tucker seemed on board with, then it might not be such a terrible idea. “Deal. Speaking of my boredom, you don’t have to wait until Wednesday to distract me. I know tomorrow’s going to be long day, but you want to watch a movie tonight or something?” He put heavy emphasis on the “or something” part. Movie might be nice, but if Tucker wanted to skip it in favor of Luis’s hotel room, he wasn’t turning that down either.
“Football booster meeting.” Groaning, Tucker pushed his sandwich aside. “And I’d blow it off to hang out with you, but with Walker acting strange...”
“You better go be a dad. I get it. I can wait until Wednesday.”
“Good.” That apparently settled, Tucker leaned back in his chair, easy as if they had lunch together on the regular, conversation bumping between work stuff and his worries about Walker. It would be too damn easy to get used to moments like this. He could handle craving Tucker’s kisses, but he had no clue what to do with all these softer urges he inspired.
Chapter Ten
By Wednesday, Luis still had no clue what he was doing pursuing anything with Tucker, let alone something that required dinner with the family. Tuesday had been a long, grueling day of supervising the burn, providing data and guidance to help make determinations about personnel and resources needed. Wednesday was mop-up crews and debriefings, and by the time he reached Tucker’s driveway, he was both tired and antsy, a combo he could do without.
“I brought cookies from a bakery I found in Bend.” Luis held up a box. “I wasn’t sure whether Heidi or Isaac drinks wine. And then I was thinking coffee, but—”