  &quot;You take care, James, and remember to ask Joshua to attend your father s birthday party.&quot;
  &quot;Okay, I will. On both counts. I can t guarantee Josh will be able to make it, though.&quot;
  &quot;It s all right. Just check with him.&quot;
  &quot;Of course.&quot;
  James accompanied his mother out to her car and waited for her to drive away before heading back into his kitchen and continuing with his tasks. He had many things to do, and he would have to deal with them as quickly as possible if he didn t want to be late for his dinner date with Joshua later. They had made the plan earlier that morning before Joshua had to go back to his apartment and change his clothes for work. The more he thought about Joshua, the more excited he got. Maybe this would turn out to be the relationship he had been wishing for. As nervous as he felt about introducing Joshua to his family, he 

  &quot;I…I guess if he…well, as long as he doesn t go overboard, I won t mind accepting a few things from Toby.&quot;
  Joshua guffawed. &quot;Just don t forget your best friend when that happens. You need to share.&quot;
  &quot;Of course, I won t forget about Justin. Or Javier. Maybe Vincent, Calvin, and Keenan, too.&quot;
  Joshua glared at David. &quot;Me! I m talking about me.&quot;
  &quot;Oh, I don t know about you. You re getting on my nerves.&quot;
  Joshua pretended to be hurt. &quot;Is that how you treat your best friend in the whole wide world?&quot;
  David chortled. &quot;Fine. You can be included in the list.&quot;
  Joshua snorted. &quot;How magnanimous.&quot;
  &quot;I am, aren t I?&quot;
  &quot;Smug.&quot;
  The two of them stared at each other in silence for a brief moment before they burst out laughing. Then David got up and made his way toward the office door.
  &q

  &quot;What?&quot;
  James should learn to filter himself better. &quot;Ugh, I m dating someone at the moment.&quot;
  His mother appeared rather bewildered for a brief moment while she removed the lid off the earthenware pot before grabbing a spoon for James from one of the drawers and occupying the chair next to him. &quot;Oh! Are you referring to that blue-eyed redhead? What s his name again? Joe? Josh?&quot;
  &quot;Joshua Wallace, Mom.&quot;
  &quot;Oh, right. That sounds wonderful. How many dates have you had?&quot;
  James blushed as he slurped on the delicious chicken herbal soup. &quot;One official date, but we met each other many times prior to that in a professional capacity.&quot;
  Lydia nodded, obviously excited. &quot;When are you two going to get married?&quot;
  James almost choked on the soup in shock. &quot;Mom! One date! It s too soon.&quot;
  Lydia scoffed. &quot;Fe

&quot;You take care, James, and remember to ask Joshua to attend your father s birthday party.&quot;
  &quot;Okay, I will. On both counts. I can t guarantee Josh will be able to make it, though.&quot;
  &quot;It s all right. Just check with him.&quot;
  &quot;Of course.&quot;
  James accompanied his mother out to her car and waited for her to drive away before heading back into his kitchen and continuing with his tasks. He had many things to do, and he would have to deal with them as quickly as possible if he didn t want to be late for his dinner date with Joshua later. They had made the plan earlier that morning before Joshua had to go back to his apartment and change his clothes for work. The more he thought about Joshua, the more excited he got. Maybe this would turn out to be the relationship he had been wishing for. As nervous as he felt about introducing Joshua to his family, he was also quite thrilled about it. Joshua was an awesome man. Everything would be fine. It was just

Chapter 15