After encountering the mysterious boy in the high school bathroom, Keith's thoughts went in shambles. He knew he was up to no good, especially since nothing Ivan spoke now sparked any interest for him.
Besides, Keith found Ivan getting duller and more predictable in their phone calls. Whenever he asked if something was wrong, Ivan would just leave the question hanging or change the subjects. Keith didn't know if this was the right time for him to express his frustration over Ivan's unpleasant attitude because everything felt too early. Hell, even talking to Ivan on the phone now with his miserable flirtatiousness felt way too ahead of time. Talking to Ivan now without Keith rolling his eyes seemed almost impossible.
"Baby, what are you thinking about?" Ivan said. "Say something, babe."
Well, apart from me really wanting to end this conversation? "Nothing," Keith said.
"Come on," Ivan replied. "You barely said anything since we called. Tell me something."
"Um . . . there's nothing for me to say, really," Keith retorted. "I'm still wondering if you're fine."
There was a short silence after that. Keith heard Ivan breathe in, and he closed his eyes, anticipating a displeasing response.
"I'm totally fine," Ivan grunted, and Keith didn't like the sound of his voice. "Unless you keep ignoring my calls ... or decide not to talk to me."
Heat started to rise in Keith's chest. He braced himself. "Well, you did notice that I was at school, and I wasn't intentionally refusing to talk to you, didn't you? Come on, Ivan."
"Well, that's clearly just an excuse!" Suddenly, Ivan ended up almost yelling, and Keith almost shouted back. He kept his anger in check and forced himself to lie down on the bed. Ivan proceeded, "If I were you, I would find time and prioritize this whole thing. We are just starting, and both of us should not fuck it up!"
"I am not trying to fuck anything up, Ivan," Keith said, trying his best to not explode. "I just have things to do! It's school, Ivan—what do you expect? I just moved here, and I need to settle some stuff—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Ivan said, mockery stinging his voice. "You have a life to live there and I don't have any. I know I'm such a miserable, needy, petty boyfriend and I know everything's my fault. I know I am the one who is actually fucking it up right now. Alright, Keith, I get what you mean. Sorry for being such an asshole. Feel free to find better guys there and please forget me when you fuck them—"
"Ivan, please—" Keith tried to say, but he knew Ivan wasn't listening.
"Sorry. Goodbye." The line went dead, and Keith let out a groan.
He put his phone aside and squeezed his head as all thoughts inside his head whirred like crazy. He knew for sure he couldn't persuade Ivan any longer. What did Ivan expect, anyway? Why would he be the one to mess things up while Ivan was the one to rush too quickly at the start? The worst was probably Ivan trying to make him feel like shit, like everything was his fault.
For a moment, he really did wonder what happen to Ivan in LA. As far as Keith knew, Ivan did have his group of friends, and he did fine before they even meet each other. Their meeting was brief and quick, and Ivan having such disastrous attachment to Keith so sudden was really irrelevant. Then suddenly Keith felt inconsiderate; shouldn't he be more accepting and tolerant towards Ivan's attitude? Was he an impatient person that would never make it to a good relationship? Well, all relationships went through shit and rainbows, right?
He felt worse because all along he was thinking about the boy who'd gone mad in the gents. Keith smiled as he recalled the boy's face on top of his lap and their awkward encounter when Keith fell due to his numb legs. The boy had stayed to give Keith a massage, and it drove him crazy. He flushed just thinking about it.
Ivan hanging up on him seemed like a breakup, like Ivan really giving up on this whole thing. But Keith knew it wasn't over yet, and boy how he really wished it was. He also knew for a fact that he could always tell Ivan that whatever they were having was not making a good progress, and he wanted to just stop here.
No, Keith couldn't make himself say the words. However, he didn't want to lead Ivan on.
Fuck. Being single was definitely better, he thought.
"Sweetheart," Tessa called dramatically as she stood at the opened bedroom door. "Lunch's ready! I made risotto today, and I exactly know that hungry look on your face. Come on!"
Keith chuckled, following Tessa out of the door. She knew how to constantly look elegant and stylish even in the simplest fashion. She looked gorgeous with her long hair tied into a huge bun, and her almost skin-tight T-shirt highlighted her curves. Maybe it was something by the way she carried herself—God, Keith admired this woman so much.
The dining hall was located at the back side of the mansion opposite of a huge kitchen. The room was filled with golden wallpapers with orange geometrical shapes, and it matched well with the light orange tiles of the floor. There was a fully-decorated aquarium with an impressive size placed against the wall, but there was no living organism in it, just tiny small sea creature toys that bobbled up and down to the movement of the air bubbles inside. The opposite wall was occupied with huge arch-shaped windows draped with lavish auburn curtains with small floral patterns. In the center of the room, a long rectangular glass dining table for ten was placed, and above it was a golden crystal chandelier.
Only then it hit Keith that for a home for one, this place was quite over-the-top.
Tessa placed two plates and a casserole filled with risotto on the table. Keith was sitting at the end of the table with Tessa, and from here the silence in the house was slightly gloomy. The curtains were opened to let the sunlight in, and Keith could see hills and shady trees outside the lawn. About twenty feet from here was a start of the woods, and he didn't know how large the land stretched.
"Eat, eat, eat!" said Tessa, putting the risotto onto Keith's plate.
"It's beautiful here," Keith said. "It's . . . amazing."
Tessa put some food on her plate as she spoke, "It definitely is. But living here alone seems peculiar, you know?"
Keith tasted some of his lunch, and he was impressed. Tessa was also a good cook. "This is nice," he said.
"Thank God," Tessa replied. "And we have a lot of this just for the two of us."
Keith smiled, and he couldn't help asking the question that had been in his mind for long. "Tessa . . . is all of this from your own pocket?" He gazed towards the entire room before speaking again. "I mean . . . it must've costed a lot. Not that I don't think you can afford it—"
"Not entirely," Tessa cut in. "This is an old building, Keith. A friend of mine . . . it belonged to him. He was a wonderful architect, so he and his magician lover decided to build this house together. Most parts of this building are actually made of magic."
Keith almost choked his food hearing that. He pressed on, "Are you serious?"
Tessa nodded. "Yes, of course. But . . . something happened between the two of them, and long story short, my friend simply gave this land to me."
He couldn't help glancing over the walls again, still found whatever Tessa said hard to believe. Keith knew about the existence of magic as he mother had told him that before, but actually just knowing this mansion was made with one was definitely unreal.
"What do you mean by this house being made by magic?" Keith asked.
"The structure, the walls . . . every part of it was formed from some complicated magical spells. It wasn't by a swish of a wand and the whole thing came up, no, but it did take only three weeks for them to assemble this place. This was where they were supposed to be united, to live their happily ever after life, but circumstances had been cruel to them." Tessa looked over to the hilly horizon out the window, her eyes looked somewhat melancholy.
Keith's next response was automatic. "What happened?"
The next time Tessa breathed in, her eyes seemed teary. "The lover left, leaving my friend heartbroken."
"Why?" Strangely Keith's heart started to race.
"Well, the lover thought their love was forbidden when it was clearly the purest love I had ever seen in my life. Being an influential magician that he was, power was one thing he had to control, so being in love with a man sort of made things complicated."
Keith thought his heart had dropped to the floor. "Both of them were guys?"
"Yes, my darling." Tessa turned to look at Keith again and smiled. "Assuming that you want to know the whole thing, my friend insisted that I took this land. His lover went away without a trace, and I was the only one that he loved left, besides your mother. He was our childhood friend, by the way."
"Oh my God." Keith let out a gasp, still staring around, as if he could spot any signs of magic. Why didn't he know about this before? "What about his family?"
"Um, you can say he was sort of shunned off by them because of his sexual preferences. The werewolf pack we were born in was the boring, traditional kind, Keith. His father was the Alpha, to make things worse. Nobody saw our friend's true values, because he was one of the best and the most potential leader of the pack back then."
Suddenly Keith wanted to know everything, even though that might mean that they were going to sit there the whole day. "So . . . the three of you were from the same pack?"
Tessa laughed. "Yes, we were. Your grandparents, Keith, were very nice. They didn't understand the prejudice, especially after feeling bad for this boy since they'd been treating him like their own son back then. So your grandparents, your mother and I left the pack to live as solitudes. We brought him along, too, and we were raised for a couple of years by your grandparents when we were teens until he went to architectural school. Your mother and I had left to England during the time. After graduation, our friend decided to live on his own."
"So he left?"
"Yes," Tessa answered. "He did. We contacted for a while, and the last time we heard from him was that he was very contented with his new life. He led a small pack back then, I think."
Keith added more risotto on his plate, his eagerness for this story bewildered in his mind. "He could sell this land, you know?"
Tessa grinned, and joined adding more food to her plate, too. "I know, but money doesn't seem important to him when his lover left. He also insisted that I didn't sell the land. He suggested bringing your grandparents to live here too, and I did offer, but they refused."
"Does Mom know about this house?" Keith asked.
"Of course," Tessa said. "See, Keith, that's why your mother had been a little bit paranoid back then to know about your sexuality. I freaked out when I first found out as well, because our friend didn't have it well back then in our former pack. Now that Wren's also confident of you, I'm certain you'll be alright as well." Tessa caressed Keith's cheek, her face filled with delighted smiles. "Oh, how he'll love to get to know you, Keith! I wish he's still here."
"Oh my God, please don't tell me he's dead," Keith retorted. "Please."
Tessa pulled back, staring into her plate again. "Well, he wanted everyone to think that way after that, especially that brat who walked away." She exhaled a heavy breath before speaking again, lifting a spoonful of risotto to her mouth, "But he only went off. Missing. He didn't tell us where he went to, and until now we didn't know. Nobody knows, and most of his friends thought he was dead. Some swore they saw him killing himself out of heartbreak. He almost did, I knew, but I persuaded him. Thank God."
"When did this happen, Tessa?" Keith suddenly felt like he was going to break out in tears. What a tragic love story, he thought.
"When you were about three, I think," Tessa said. "You were very young."
If one of them didn't walk away, both of them would be living such a wonderful life here, and Keith might visit this guy here now. He imagined this man would probably become his father figure, especially after he lost his.
No. Keith didn't want to remember anything about his father. Not now.
He cleared his throat, taking the napkin to wipe his mouth. "What a wonderful lunch," he said. "I'm surprised Mom hasn't told me anything about him."
"Well, your mom, as far as I know, doesn't really like to recount the past."
Keith agreed, but that had been the reason why being with Mom felt so distant, sometimes. She would always give Keith instructions, and were always strategical and systematic about everything. They rarely talked, not after Dad died. Most of the deep-stuff talks were done with Tessa, but Keith didn't really mind. One day, his mother would open up, especially after the marriage . . . hopefully.
He also didn't even need to ask although he noticed how Tessa refused to her friend's name all along. Assuming his name would only worsen the yearning, Keith kept the question to himself. Now he knew . . . this house was a gift. Maybe the guy would return, completely healed from his heartache, and proceeded to assemble up the life he used to have here.
Keith looked out to the empty lawn again, eyeing the spacious ground, the urge to run outside suddenly coming into him. "The yard outside's a good place for Wren and me to practice."
Hearing Wren's name, as usual, lightened up Tessa's expression, bringing out smiles out of her face. "Oh, I agree. It's beautiful out there . . . God, how I miss you and him training."
"Oh, knock it off," Keith said, chuckling. "You only miss him."
"Hey!" Tessa responded, pouting her lips, her face suddenly flushing. "I really do miss the two of you being together . . . well, I miss him all the time, that's true." She giggled, and Keith couldn't help rolling his eyes.
His phone vibrated in his pocket, so he pulled it out and set it on the table. "It must've been wonderful . . . finding out he's yours."
"We started out slow," Tessa said, wiping her mouth with the table napkin. "I didn't know at first—he initiated all the flirting and suddenly it clicked. Suddenly I was all attracted to him when he told me about us mating."
"He told you?" Keith asked. "I thought mates kissed each other to find out the bond."
"They do, Keith, but Wren told me first. God, I'm embarrassed remembering my reaction. It was incredibly awkward, and suddenly it's like you know you have to kiss next. But once the words were out of Wren's mouth, I knew it was right. I kind of had voices in my head that said maybe it wasn't true because it seemed too good to be true, but deep in my heart I know it is."
Keith smiled, but it still seemed unsettling. He knew he didn't want to argue about it now, but he couldn't help it. "I know, but how different it is to be attracted to someone you find attractive and to be attracted to your mate? Is there a difference, really?"
"I kind of wanted to compare it too, but after the bond seals the two of you, nothing matters anymore. Suddenly I forget what it's like to swoon over the boys I've swooned for before. It's a powerful thing after you kissed your mate."
If the mate bond is true, I just want to have a bond with someone I really like . . .
Keith didn't notice himself grinning alone, his mind having the image of the boy he encountered in the bathroom. What was his name? Why his attractiveness seemed so surreal to Keith? How did he know the right ways to throw Keith's emotions off the balance, by just making simple gestures and smiles?
His phone vibrated again on the table, and he knew who it was. Ivan's tiny profile picture popped up on the lock screen of his iPhone, and beside it came a long, winding text message. Keith buried his face in his hands, his elbows on the table. Once again, he felt guilty thinking about some other guy in school while he should've been thinking more about Ivan.
Tessa apparently saw Ivan's picture on the phone screen. "Ahem," she started. "Is that your potential pair?"
Keith snatched his phone away and hid it under the table. "Not—"
"Uh, uh, come on, you don't need to hide it from me, darling," Tessa said, lifting up her index finger. "Plus, what's the deal? He's cute, anyway."
He couldn't say anything. Well, maybe if he tried enough, who knew if the mate bond would come between him and Ivan? There were a lot of cases where mortals fell in love shape-shifters, and most of them were fine. Maybe he needed to be more enduring for now.
Even though the guy he'd stumbled upon in the bathroom seemed to be way hotter . . .
Keithgulped, sipping a glass of water before saying, "Thanks for the lunch, Tessa."