Bremmer's serious voice slices through the air.
"We are." Anson looks at him for a solid few seconds, then at Dunlop. "I realize this may be a shock to you both. It certainly was to me. But I can't remember the last time I was this happy."
"That's great, Dad," Dunlop says with a smile that says he means it.
I discreetly direct my gaze to Bremmer. He's frowning into his drink. I can understand why he's holding out, that he's likely to have a ton of feelings and concerns he's entitled to have, but it sucks all the same.
"I also think it's great," Kelsey pipes up, nudging Bremmer not subtly at all. "Love is love is love is love."
Robbie's jaw drops. "Love?"
Before I can answer, Anson swoops in, placing his palm over mine on the table. Bremmer notices, and his jaw starts ticking.
"Yes. At least, it is for me." He pulls his chair back and faces me. "Before these guys showed up, I was going to say the words, Jarvis. I deliberated whether saying them at a cemetery in front of Adam was appropriate and decided that it was. But I don't want to wait a second longer for the right time. I'm with the people I love most in the world, which means this is the perfect moment to tell you how I feel. I love you, Jarvis. I love your strength. I love your quirks. I love your approach to life. I love all the things we do that are so obscene even Kelsey won't make hand gestures in public for. I love all of you, baby.All of you."
There's not a dry eye at the whole fucking table. Even Bremmer sniffs a little.
"I love you, too, Anson."
"The Filet Mignon, sir," the waiter says, placing a plate in front of me as two other servers do the same to the others, but it does nothing to dampen the beauty of the moment.
They leave, and we start eating, but a heaviness lingers in the air. It's great that three out of the four are on board with Anson and me, but I can tell Anson is worried about Bremmer by the way he keeps glancing his way.
I take a leaf out of my brother's book and ask him point-blank, "Do you have a problem with me and your dad being together?"
His eyes land on me, dark and intimidating, but I don't back down or make myself small. He's entitled to his opinion, and whatever he says, I'll respect it. But I am not going to let anyone make me feel bad about what Anson and I have. That applies to strangers online as much as it does to people I know.
He's so intensely focused on me it does freak me out a little. Internally. I'm doing my best not to let it show. Anson's hand on mine is the strength I need to help me do just that.
"Honestly?"
I nod. "Yep. Lay it out there, Bremmer."
His jaw ticks away with clock-like precision, and I tense, expecting the worst.
"Honestly. I'm…fine with it."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. Sorry if my face doesn't match that. Kelsey says I sometimes have resting brooding face."
"Kelsey says with love," Kelsey corrects.
"Well, you've got that going on now," I tell Bremmer, slightly pissed he gave off that impression.
"I'm sorry. Today is just a hard day for me. For everyone here. I was so in the Adam zone, discovering you and Dad are together and doing things even Kelsey refuses to communicate through hand gestures has thrown me for a loop."
"Are you sure that's all it is?" I push. "Because if there's anything else, like our difference in age or wealth, now's your chance to table it. Anson and I are big on communicating."
"Way to go, Dad," Dunlop says, lifting his glass to his old man. "Proud of you."
Bremmer witnesses the exchange, and a tiny grin emerges. "I'm proud of you, too, Dad." Then he turns to me. "And I'm genuinely happy for you both. I don't have any problem with the age or money thing. But I'm sure you're both smart enough to know the rest of the world might."
"The rest of the world can go shove it up their asses," Kelsey snaps. "If you two ever want to clear things up, I'm extending an open invite to come on my podcast."
"We won't be doing that," Anson and I say at the same time.
We look at each other and smile, the rest of the table fading away. I'm glad our families are cool with it—even if Bremmer did give me a mild heart attack for a minute there—but what I care most about is this man, making him happy and hopefully being with him for a very, very long time.