Page 21 of Eternal Devotion

He didn’t speak and continued to frown at the beverage.

“Are you going to tell me about yourself, or do I have to pry it out of you?”

Mordecai managed to look both poised and shy at the same time. He twisted the mug between his palms and wet his lips. “What do you want to know?”

“Anything. Why the big move to Canada? Why Branvilla Estate of all places?” I chuckled. “No offense intended. There’s nothing wrong with the place.”

“There’s nothing right about it, either.”

“You said it, I didn’t.”

Mordecai scanned the café before his gaze settled on me. “I’m here due to… a family obligation. The estate was arranged without my knowledge. It’s… temporary.”

My hope dwindled. “Temporary? That’s vague.”

“It’s complicated to explain.”

“Family issues are usually messy. I get it.” I didn’t, but I could respect his unwillingness to elaborate. I had my own family problems, and none of my closest friends had a clue how deep those troubled waters ran.

“Do you have parents or siblings back home?”

Mordecai stared into his cocoa, a forlorn look in his eyes. He had yet to take a sip. My question earned a slight shake of the head, so I dismissed that line of inquiry too.

“How about this? What do you do for fun?”

“I…”

When he floundered again, I laughed. “You’re one tough cookie, Mordecai. You don’t have any interests or hobbies?”

“I enjoy history.”

“There we go. We have something in common. What part of history?”

“All parts?” He raked his teeth over his bottom lip, and my attention slipped to his mouth, to that sneaky tooth before it vanished. “European history, to be more precise. The Renaissance era up until modern day? No. Maybe as far back as the medieval period. The French Civil War, the Spanish Armada, the Thirty Years’ War, the English Civil War, the Scientific Revolution, the Industrial Revolution. I don’t know.”

He chuckled and continued. “Influential people too. Alexander the Great, Leonardo da Vinci, King James, Frederick the Great, Oscar Wilde, Alan Turing—”

“Aren’t they all gay?”

Mordecai glanced out the window, a faraway look in his eyes. “I believe so. The evolution of our world is fascinating. I regret that I’m less educated about the new world. Rather, America. My studies are specific to where I’ve lived.”

“Makes sense. Did you study history in school?”

“No. Self-taught, mostly.”

Instead of elaborating on what he had taken in school, he rolled the mug of cocoa between his palms. My drink was nearly gone, and Mordecai had yet to take a sip.

“You’re not drinking.”

“It’s keeping my hands warm. I’m… not a fan of chocolate.” His gaze flicked to mine, then away as though ashamed.

“Well, why didn’t you speak up? They have other things on the menu.”

He brushed my concern aside and diverted the conversation away from himself. “You’re a gamer.” He said the word like it was new or radical. “What does that entail?”

“Mostly I play massive multiplayer online role-playing games. Better known as MMORPGs, but I also play DnD, as you now know. Console games too. I have Xbox and PlayStation, but they mostly gather dust nowadays. Sold my Nintendo 64. Tried the Wii but hated it. I’ve always gamed, but the true addiction started when I was in high school with World of Warcraft. You’ve heard of that, right?”

Mordecai shook his head.