Chapter 43 - Dean’s POV

“Hunter?”

“Joey?”

The two said in unison. My head snapped when I heard the name “Hunter.” This isn’t the first time I heard the name mentioned before and in the instances I heard his name, it’s always followed by how people thought he’s Jax’s father.

“Oh, wow, Joey, it’s really you!” he said, sounding surprised and excited. They hugged each other, making Vince frown, but he said nothing. Joey must have realized Vince did not like her behavior, so she put some distance between her and the man.

“Uhm… Hunter, this is my fiancé, Vince Henzon. Vince, this is Hunter. She’s Via’s friend. She met him when she was in Malta,” Joey introduced the two men standing.

My brows knit at Joey’s introduction. I remember Ocean once said that Via has someone in her heart and that person is someone she met in Malta. Could it be this person? I studied him through the rim of my water glass. He’s tall, strawberry blonde, tanned. Judging by his body build, he must be a surfer. He’s a looker, yes, but he’s no match to me.

Joash must have noticed what I’m doing since he’s trying so hard not to laugh. He stuffed his mouth with food when I glared at him.

“It’s nice meeting you, Hunter. Let me introduce to you my friends. Stefan Lewis, Joash Yu, Phil Corpuz, and Dean Aguilar,” introduced Vince.

“It’s nice meeting you all.”

“Why don’t you join us, Hunter?” My forehead creased when I heard Vince’s invitation. What’s he up to? Hunter indulged Vince and took the seat in front of Joey and beside Phil.

“So what brought you here in Manila, Hunter?” Joey asked as she ate an appetizer.

“Oh, I met with Via. We just had dinner,” he said, smiling.

I straightened my back, and my eyes trained on him. He and Sky had dinner? Did I hear it right? I noticed that Joash and Phil perked up too.

“Via? Like Sylvia? You had dinner with her?”

“Yup, Sylvia. Your best friend.”

“You had dinner together?”

“Yeah, we just finished. She and Jax left early since she does not have a nanny and Jax is not feeling well because he’s teething.”

“You had dinner with Via? Here?”

“Yes, Joey. I had dinner with Sylvia. Here. What’s up with you?”

“Nothing. I have not seen her in a while, so I’m surprised that she hung out with you.”

The rest of us quietly listened to their exchange. Oh, so it’s true, Sky was not in touch with Joey either. It’s probably because of Vince. She avoided her because if Vince knew her whereabouts, then Vince would definitely let me know.

Hunter chuckled at Joey’s answer. “Oh, don’t be jealous,” he waved his hand in front of him. “We talked about business. I asked her to work with me and she accepted.”

“You? Work?”

“Hey, you make it sound like I’m a bum.” Hunter pouted and sounded hurt.

“What do you do, Hunter?” I asked, joining their conversation.

“Oh, I have a startup gaming software. Via’s so good with the marketing stuff, so I asked her to hop onboard,” he explained.

“How did you meet Via again?” Joash asked before taking a swig of his beer.

“Oh, we met in Malta three years ago. My friends and I just graduated from college, and we celebrated by traveling to Malta, then Italy and Spain. We met Via in Blue Lagoon, then she joined our group when we toured Malta.”

“I see,” said Phil, who was nodding beside him. “Uhm, Hunter, I hope you don’t mind me asking. Are you Via’s son’s father?”

Hunter gave a chesty laugh at Phil’s question. “I get that a lot. Must be the eye color, huh? But I’m not. Jax’s dad is a gigolo Via met in Malta.”

I choked on my steak at his answer. A what?!? A gigolo?!? Did I hear it right? “What, I’m sorry?” I could not help but ask. I had to clarify.

“A gigolo. An escort, male prostitute.” Hunter expounded. Joey squirmed in her seat, her face flushed. While my friends almost fell from their seats for laughing so hard.

“Via said, Jax’s father is a gigolo?” clarified Joash as he tried to catch his breath.

“Yup. Mr. Sex-on-a-stick, right Joey?”

I once again choked. From my beer this time. Some of it even got out of my nose. Is this guy high? He’s not making sense anymore. Sex-on-a-stick? What the fuck?!?

Joey elbowed Vince, who laughed so loud, he made people from other tables turn their heads. He wiped the tears from his eyes, but he continued to chuckle.

“So yeah, Via said she met Jax’s dad in a bar, a day before her flight back home. The details are not clear to me, but she said she’s not sure of the going rate, so she left him—”

“A hundred euros.” my friends finished Hunter’s sentence in chorus, which made him frown.

“Sorry, we heard about that hundred euros before, but we did not know the entire story until now,” Stefan explained in between chuckles. He cleared his throat several times to be more formal but failed in each attempt.

I felt conflicted. I did not know if I should feel angry, insulted, or embarrassed that she mistook me for a gigolo. Fuck, what made her think of that? No wonder she left me money. I glared at my friends, but they ignored me. They continued to giggle like annoying teenagers.

The night dragged on, my friends not letting the opportunity to make fun of me pass. Hunter seemed confused but did not bother asking. As we were all leaving, I took the chance to talk to him.

“Hunter, you said you have a startup company?”

“Yes. A small gaming company my friends and I started.”

“Hmm… I’m all for supporting young entrepreneurs. Are you looking for investors?”

“Uhm… any investment is welcome. Our passion for coding and gaming fuels our business, but things are not so green yet. Are you interested in investing, Mr. Aguilar?”

“20 Million USD, enough?”

“Wow! Of course, that would help us expand for sure!”

“That’s great but I want you to tell me something before I invest…”