He walked around to his laptop and sent a message to his supplier for parchment, frames, and a few other necessities before turning the computer off and shoving it into his bag. Outside the door he could hear José's team moving around. Off in the distance, a saw started rumbling, someone was hammering something, and laughter erupted
from time to time.
"Hey, Ronin."
Ronin looked up to see a woman José had
introduced as Marley, the painter. "Marley, what's up?"
"Did you figure out what you needed yet?"
Ronin nodded. "Yeah. Even sent out for supplies."
"Perfect timing then! The team and I are heading over to Anatolis for lunch. Savaro feeds us for free whenever we drop in. You in?"
"You're going to drive all the way to Eros to eat lunch?"
Marley nodded, her eyes wide. "Are you kidding?
Have you tasted that man's honey buns?"
Ronin thought of the sexual innuendo in that and chuckled. "Can't say I have."
"Pack up your things. You're in for a treat!"
She grinned at him then bolted out the door screaming, "Hey guys! Ronin's in!"
The group cheered and he shook his head with a laugh. José had said they'd welcome him but he never in a million years thought they would be this nice. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he grabbed his bag, unplugged his cell phone from the wall and walked out into the hall.
"You going to meet us at Anatolis?" Keith the plumber asked.
"Sure. I drove here and I really don't feel like leaving the rental car here," Ronin explained. "Anyone need a ride over?"
"Presley! You need a ride?" Marley hollered.
The ebony woman in the hard hat and tool belt rose from where she was and allowed the tape measure to slide in with a thwack. She pushed the brim of her hard hat up and smiled with a nod. "Who wants to give me a ride?"
Ronin laughed. "All right, Presley. You're with me."
"Score. Let me grab my stuff."
* * * *
The ride back to Eros was interesting to say the least. Presley found a hip-hop station broadcasting out of Mousa and cranked it. She was dancing in her seat like crazy.
"Come on, smile, Ronin. It's not the end of the world," she encouraged.
Ronin laughed. "I know."
"José has changed," Presley explained.
"Changed? How do you mean?"
"I don't know." She shrugged and turned off the radio. "He's been a little quiet lately."
"And that's new?"
"Yes. The old José was funny; always making jokes. He was a bit of an airhead and we loved him that way. I mean, we still love him but lately he's been so… I don't know how to say it."
"And you all think it's because of me." It was more of a statement than a question.
"We know it's because of you. He really likes you, I think, and he's afraid if he shows the real José you'll leave and not give him a chance. I'm just being all nosy but I don't think you deserve him if you force him to change who he is."
Ronin was stunned. After they'd made love and had spoken and stolen kisses he never thought José was being any different than the nervous man he'd met days before.
He really liked José and the thought of being the cause of some unhappiness for this man was more than he could stand. "I didn't ask him to change who he was, Presley.
Really."
"Then something happened. I've known him since—I can't even remember. That's how long it's been.
He's never like this around a man before and most of it isn't good."
"I'll talk to him."
At Anatolis, Ronin glanced at the clock. It was the time of day Leroy should be in school. When Presley
climbed from the car, Ronin watched as she leaned forward to peer at him.
"You coming?" she wanted to know. "The last person in has to buy the tequila shots on party night."
Ronin managed a smile but shook his head. "No. I have something I need to do first. You guys have fun."
"All right. Suit yourself."
He watched her enter Anatolis then reversed from the parking spot. He turned the car east and didn't stop until he pulled up before José's house. He took a breath, jogged up the front steps, and rang the bell. When José opened the door, Ronin walked by him into the house, kicked off his shoes, and continued to the kitchen.
"Ro?"
He said nothing. José's footsteps came down the hall and soon José was leaning easily against the doorframe, watching him with worried brown eyes.
"¿ Qué pasa?"
"What does that mean?" Ronin wanted to know.
"It means, 'what's wrong?'"
"Did you change who you are because of me?"
Ronin asked.
"What?"
"Did you change who you are because of me?"
"Where's this coming from?"
"Did you?"
"Ronin, for God's sake."
Ronin folded his arms over his chest, the same way his father used to when the boys were in trouble. "So that's a yes."
"It wasn't that big of a change."
"It's big enough. People have noticed."
"Who cares what they think? Ronin, you're acting as if I cheated on you or something. Me making some changes in my life isn't that big a deal."
"But do these changes make you happy, José?"
Ronin watched José's shoulders rise and fall dramatically with a breath before he pushed off the doorframe and walked closer. He gripped Ronin's hips and looked up into his face. "I made the changes because I don't want to screw this up like I did my past relationships. I'm thirty now and I've never had a serious relationship. I don't want my hang-ups to cost me this chance with you."
"But José, the people who love you are worried."
Ronin searched his eyes. "They see these changes as something negative. And what's the use of you making these changes when you're miserable?"
"I'm not miserable."
"But you will be. You're going to wake up one morning and realize these things are what make you, you.
They are what make your
