Page 40 of Yours, Forever

"Excellent. Now, what can I get you?"

"Can I ask for a special? You don't have it on the menu, but it should be easy to make." Max gave Luke one of his charming smiles.

Both Javier and I smirked; it seemed both of us expected Max to come up with something… unique.

"Sure." Luke grinned. "What would you like?"

"A chorrillana. Great Chilean bar food. Imagine a poutine, okay? The popular chorrillana version has a bed of fries, with fried hot dogs cut up and tossed on top, a few fried eggs, and thin-sliced beef, like the one you'd use for hot pot. Pan fried, of course. And caramelized onions to top it off."

"Wow." Javier laughed. "That's a new one."

I smiled and shook my head. Javier locked eyes with me, and we bonded over our mutual admiration of Max's random eccentricities.

My husband lifted a single finger to indicate he wasn't done. "Now, if you want a fancier version, use thinly sliced steak and proper sausage, something closer to chorizo. I can text you a couple of pictures."

"No, no, I think I got it." Luke frowned, more in awe than frustration. "The incredible part is that it really sounds easy to make with what we have here in the kitchen."

"Right? I'm not saying you should add it to the menu and name it after me…" Max let the sentence fade, letting us fill in the blanks.

Luke, Javier, and I chuckled in unison.

"Okay, okay." Luke retreated, already on his way to the kitchen. "I'll get you one. See if it's something other people might like. Maybe it'll make it onto the menu."

We didn't get to comment on much when Luke left; both Javier and Max's phone rang at the same time.

"Oh, what do we have here?" Max held his screen in front of his face— it was a video call. "What are you guys doing?"

"Hello!" A voice yelled through the speaker. "We heard Javier is with you. We feel left out."

"The FOMO is too high," another said.

Javier leaned over to me. "I muted my phone to help with the echo. Want to see?"

I nodded and peered at the screen. Three main video boxes filled the screen, one with Max in it, and the other two held three people total. In the corner, a tiny floating box contained Javier and I.

Max's smile, this time, was one of his genuine ones. "He surprised me just like you are now."

"Who's that?" The beardless masc said. Him and a beautiful femme peered into their camera, sharing one of the call boxes.

"Is that Eva? I love your hair!" Her grin lit up her eyes.

"That's Gabe and Lina," Javier whispered my way. "And the guy with the beard is our friend Jake."

"Isn't she alluring?" Max said. "But I told you guys I wanted to wait to introduce you to each other."

Max, always so generous with compliments, tossed that one out like nothing. It was easy to ignore it. I was too focused on how he hadn't introduced me to his friends… on purpose.

I still wasn't sure what to make of it, or why it made me feel strange.

Gabe shrugged. "And I reminded you that I had no choice when I wanted to do the same. You all cameen masseto the lakehouse to meet Lina. It's only fair, and considering that Javier gets to meet her…"

"I'm sorry, darling." Max met my eyes over the phone. "I didn't want to overwhelm you with my exuberant friends."

"You're the worst of us all." Jake snorted and stroked his wonderful blond-red beard.

"So with me around all the time, she has plenty to deal with, doesn't she?" Max countered.

Ah, that was better. I didn't like to think he'd been actively trying to keep his worlds separate.