Breaking up roots (One Night Stand, Book 3)

Chapter 8: Farce

I don't usually add warnings before chapters, but this is quite an angsty one, so... be prepared for the drama.

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After the second bite of the steak, Zane put his fork down for a moment and wiped his lips with the napkin. "This is delicious, Maya."

The woman gave him a cheerful smile in return.

"Dip it in the sauce. It tastes a hundred times more amazing." Kai elbowed his boyfriend and pointed at the withe-ish blob on the plate. Zane followed his instructions and hummed with delight. "You have to give Zane the recipe, mom."

"And what will I bribe you with so you come back next time?" Maya yipped, extracting a chuckle from her son.

"I don't think I would be able to pull it off as majestically as you did," Zane complimented the woman's skills. He knew from experience that it wasn't easy to achieve the perfect cooking point on this type of stuffed dish.

Next to him, Kai snorted. "Nonsense, I've seen you cook all sorts of things and you always do great."

"You're looking at me with kind eyes," he muttered to the boy that never failed to make his heart flutter.

Kai tutted with disapproval and addressed his mother again. "Don't even listen to him."

Maya giggled. Zane couldn't help but stare at her with fondness. Not only did she seem a lovely person and mother, Zane could see the resemblance between the woman and her son in their features, even in some of their gestures and mannerisms. The scene was adorable.

"What is he? Your servant?" Said a not-so-tender voice.

Zane snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Ray, whose icy gaze was currently locked on his son, waiting for an answer.

"No," Kai responded. "We hang out at each other's places a lot. We often cook and eat together."

Mr. Smith cocked an incredulous eyebrow, then returned his focus to the food before him. Zane watched as Kai's chest deflated through a long, angry sigh. The tension in the air was obvious, even to Zane. Every time the man opened his mouth, Kai's body would go rigid and the emotional turmoil would take its time to fade completely from his muscles.

Zane was disconcerted. So far, Ray had yet to speak a single cordial word. He understood the initial commotion when he stepped into the house 'unannounced' and revealed himself as Kai's new partner. Even Maya had been shocked. But whereas the woman had promptly accepted Zane into her heart, her husband didn't seem to be so sympathetic.

Judging by the irritable state Kai had displayed when he came out of the house to find his sister and boyfriend around the car, Zane presumed that Mr. Smith's hostility didn't change when he was not in sight —which was disquieting. Zane could understand the man being wary of him; he was a stranger after all. But what reason could he have to be like this towards his own son as well?

Zane caught Ray staring at him several times throughout the dinner. The boy rarely felt intimidated by other people's eyes; but this time, he did. Zane tried not to look away too fast but neither too slowly that the man would misinterpret his behavior as a rebellious act.

"What I would have never imagined," Maya commented while talking to her daughter. "Is that the mysterious friend that was helping you would turn out to be your brother's boyfriend."

Nya's grin suggested the conversation would finally move towards safer ground, but once again, Ray had something to add.

"No one would have guessed that."