Reap What You Sow 🌈

Chapter 40

Emilio looked at his phone when it vibrated. A text from Mateo. Frowning, he opened it. It was typical for Mateo to say that everything was okay and Emilio was just about to sigh in relief when he saw the second text. Whether he wanted to — I don't know  —date or something. 

Right. He stared at it for a few moments, then shook his head in confusion and put his phone away.

Dating Mateo. Yeah, no way.

He didn't even know how to picture that, nor did he feel any need to picture it. And now? Man, he hated this. First, he had already made things fucking awkward with Juan through their little experiment between the sheets and now that things were finally back to normal, this was going on. He was left with no one to just hang out with.

However, he didn't want to be alone and he neither wanted to wait until Juan was done with those bitches. He grabbed his phone and sent Alex a text asking if she was up for a game of GTA. Losing himself in a game was exactly what he was in the mood for and if it did end in sex with her again he knew she would just act normal afterward.

At least she wouldn't come up with the ridiculous suggestion to have a date.

. . .

Juan failed to find the distraction he needed and eventually, he excused himself to Kate and Shay and went toward the roof terrace. Emilio was gone.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair. Should he just go to sleep? He already knew that countless dark thoughts would keep him from sleeping.

Dana had broken up with him...

He understood. He fucked up; he never should have drunk so much that he would cheat. With Emilio of all people. Still, he'd thought that Dana and he were moving in the right direction again. That she was going to forgive him.

Apparently, she couldn't.

The thought that their relationship was over now made him panic. He almost couldn't breathe, felt light-headed...

Calm down, he told himself sternly. He couldn't be alone right now, so he sent his brother a text. Surprising him with a visit was a bad idea; he had a pretty good idea of how his brother spent his evenings. He knew that Mateo would send whichever girl away if Juan needed him, but rather avoided them.

Mateo sent back a text pretty quickly, telling Juan that he couldn't come over himself because he had already had a few glasses of alcohol, but that Juan was welcome. And so, he stuffed a few things for the night into a bag, assuming he wouldn't stay sober, and got on his bike.

As soon as he got to the lobby, he called to say he was there. He'd visited his brother a few times, but they went to the bar. Mateo shared the number of his hotel room and Juan took the stairs.

The door was already ajar. He pushed it open; his brother was sitting in a corner of the room, his laptop on a small table.

"Hey."

Juan closed the door behind him and stepped inside. "Hey."

Mateo studied his face and nodded toward the minibar. Juan pulled open the little fridge, grabbed a bottle of beer, and sat down next to his brother.

"You look like shit."

"Thanks," Juan answered, rolling his eyes. Then he sighed deeply. "Dana broke up with me."

"Oh? Why?"

Juan leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "I cheated."

"With Emilio."

Juan clenched his teeth. Mateo already figured it out. Nothing ever escaped him. It gave a wry feeling that the whole thing didn't even seem to surprise his brother.

"Dana said something like that the other day at the party. And Emilio said some weird things too lately ... And he just kissed me, so it isn't that hard to figure out."

Juan lowered his bottle in bewilderment. "He kissed you?"

Mateo shrugged. "He came here to tell me he had another apartment. Which I already knew.   I wanted to know why he didn't want to share a house with me and in the end, he kissed me, said it was because of that, and walked away. So yeah—I guess he has feelings for me or something."

Juan raised an eyebrow. "You think? He's head over heels with Rory."

The name Rory caused a dark look in Mateo's eyes. For a moment, he wondered if his brother was jealous. Then, he shook it off. It was already a miracle that Emilio was in love for the first time in his life. He didn't expect it to happen to his brother as well in the next five years.

"He deserves better than that asshole," Mateo huffed.

"He's a good guy. He doesn't let other people walk over him; E needs that."

"He's trying to change him."

Just a little. Letting Emilio reflect a little more on his behavior toward others wasn't something bad. However, it felt like an endless discussion; Emilio's behavior didn't differ much from Mateo's. Perhaps his brother felt attacked when someone criticized Emilio.

"What did you say?" Juan asked. "When he kissed you?"

"Nothing. Before I realized what was happening, he was already stomping away."

So that was the reason why Emilio had been so moody. He was already fretting over something that had happened on Monday, and now he'd kissed another man, too. And not just any man; someone he couldn't push out of his life.

"I sent him a text saying I'm okay with it and I asked if he wants to date or something."

Juan choked on his beer. "You want to date him?"

A kiss meant nothing to Mateo. He knew he easily kissed five girls in one night. That there was occasionally a guy among them didn't surprise him either. But that he wanted a date?

Mateo shrugged. "Not necessarily. But I don't know—maybe it will help him. And I think it could be fun to date someone. Never done that, so why not with Emilio?"

Because Emilio would probably rather cut his tongue out than make out with a guy again.

With Rory, things had ended badly. Even a toddler could figure out that Mateo and Emilio wouldn't have a happily after ever either. Knowing Emilio, he wanted to switch back to women in his bed very soon.

"Did you get a middle finger back or nothing at all?"

"Nothing."

For some reason, Juan smirked. He wondered if Mateo was waiting for a text. "It would be fucking weird if you guys started dating, though."

"How so?"

Because he just couldn't picture it. Two people who never dated, who until recently thought they were straight, and who would now have an awkward dinner together. "I don't know. You've known him for twenty years."

Mateo shrugged. "You've known him for twenty years, too. Yet you thought kissing him while you were in a relationship was a good idea." 

Juan stiffened, glaring at his brother.

"What? He didn't force himself upon you, did he?"

"No..."

"Well then. It's your own fault. You're not going to get pity from me." He grinned and turned the laptop screen to Juan. "Pick out a movie, before you also expect ice cream and chocolate from me."

Juan rolled his eyes but still felt a faint smile come to his lips. "I'll find us a good tearjerker."

Mateo threw an empty can of Coke at his head, which Juan dodged, chuckling.

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