Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 6

you?"
    "I don't know yet, I'm thinking of maybe leaving the country for a while."
    "Why? You didn't do anything wrong, right?"
    "Nothing I regret, but I need to distance myself from everything."
    "Then take me with you, please?"
    Javier spoke without thinking, and he could see the surprise in Esteban's face. At that moment, Raul put a tray with beverages on the table, and anything Esteban was going to answer was forgotten for the time being.
    CHAPTER 4
    After they finished eating, Javier excused himself to go to the restroom, and as he walked away from the table, before he could stop himself, Esteban followed him with his eyes. He'd seen pictures of Javier Lozano, but nothing had prepared him for meeting him in person. He knew Javier was handsome because he'd viewed the wedding pictures Diego had shown him, but Esteban never met anybody like Javier before. It wasn't only a matter of physical beauty, although Javier's bone structure reminded Esteban of the Hellenistic sculptures he had admired at the Vatican.
    Javier oozed charisma and didn't know it, so he acted almost shy and without any pretense.
    He felt attracted to him as if they were both magnets, everything about the younger man appealed to him. He'd resisted temptations before, but nothing like this. And Javier was not helpless, he wanted to be with him, or rather next to him. Esteban still remembered how his whole body thrilled when Javier asked him to take him with him.
    A few minutes after he left, Esteban could still picture Javier in his mind with his short wavy chestnut hair framing his face and his expressive light brown eyes, which looked at Esteban with a mix of adoration and tenderness.
    Raul waved a hand in front of his brother's face, winced, and exclaimed with an index finger pointing to Esteban. "Dear God! Esteban, you're leaving the church because of him."
    The statement caught Esteban unaware, because in all honesty it didn't cross his mind Javier had anything to do with his sudden choice. "No. I'm leaving the church because I don't think I can do anything to change it for the better."
    "Yeah, right. Say whatever you want, but I'm not stupid, man. And for your information, I never bought that he was Mauricio's roommate only."
    With those words he walked away to toss a paper cup in a nearby wastebasket. When he came back to the table, Esteban stood in front of him, face to face, and said slowly but firmly, "Raul, don't mess with Javier, are we clear? If you say anything offensive to him, anything at all, you will have to deal with me, got it?"
    "Yeah. Threatening your brother over him, and you are still denying it?"
    One of the reasons Esteban thought his friendship with his brother was positive, regardless of being tough at times, was because Raul didn't play games. He'd always said what he thought, especially to loved ones. Even if his opinion might hurt some feelings, and Esteban had a lot to learn in that sense.
    "Raul, you can mess with Diego all you want, because when Diego can't take it anymore, he beats the hell out of you."
    Raul raised a hand and clarified. "We beat each other, but he plays dirty, scratching like a girl. The whore made me lose a girlfriend, because my girl wouldn't believe I got all scratched in a fight with another guy."
    Esteban held a grin, and continued with a serious expression. "See? You called him names, and wondered when Diego reacted. The truth is I have to pick up some letters Mauricio left for me with Javier."
    "Letters? Written by whom?"
    "By me. He's returning the letters I sent Mauricio during the last twenty years."
    In that moment, Esteban had another question to ponder. What if Mauricio left the letters with Javier on purpose, so Esteban had to meet him, and check on his well-being? Yes, that probably had been the plan, because Mauricio could have returned those letters to him during any of Esteban's visits. On the other hand, if he didn't meet Javier before, it had been all Esteban's fault. At first, he avoided the encounter because he had been jealous, and later because his spirit knew what he confirmed today, that Javier Lozano could be his perdition.
    He returned his attention to Raul, noticing his brother's unusually thoughtful expression as he sat back in his chair. Sitting in front of him, Esteban asked, "Raul, what's wrong?"
    Raul looked at him and said in a serious tone. "I'm stupid after all. All these years, I thought something was going on between Diego and you."
    Diego and Mauricio