“C’mon, time for a break. I’ve been working on the damned podcast all afternoon, and I’m taking you out for dinner.” He kept his tone light. Ryan was more than happy to pay. He owed Iz so much, but his friend wasn’t the type to demand it. “Gotta spend the trust fund while we can.”
Iz’s lips twitched, some of their sparkle returning. “That’s right, let the DeMarco fortune pay for our Sonoran dogs.”
Sonoran dogs? Damn, Iz only ate Sonoran dogs on bad days.
“You’re a cheap date.” Hell, Ryan could afford the Sonoran dogs on his earnings as a bartender. Of course, they might be in for more of these cheap meals in the next several months if his father followed through and he couldn’t find a way to balance the budget.
“You know it!” A ghost of a smile tipped up Iz’s lips.
“Fine, but you’re driving.”
“Like I’d get on that death trap with you. Grab your wallet.”
Ryan did and met Iz in the parking lot.
“What’s up?” Ryan asked as Iz drove to their favorite food truck about a mile away. While Mama O’s had the best, this was closer and almost as tasty.
Iz sighed and was quiet for a moment.
“It was a rough day. I didn’t feel like dealing with anyone else’s bullshit tonight. I just want my damned Sonoran dog.”
“Okay. Wanna talk about it?”
Iz had come out as non-binary their sophomore year in college. Their outward expressions of gender changed too. Gone were the tees they’d both lived in when not in school uniforms. In their place, bold-patterned feminine shirts and lots of glitter and rhinestones. Iz tried makeup, too, often getting help from mutual friends.
It took about a second for Ryan to get on board. The doubt in Iz’s eyes almost broke Ryan’s heart. After an initial moment of confusion, the little pieces throughout their lives suddenly fell into place. It made sense, all of it. Ryan had smiled at his friend, and neither had looked back.
“Nah. I’ll be fine, but a quiet night will help.” Iz tapped their fingers against the steering wheel in rhythm to the music. The city lights flashed by, and traffic was light.
“One quiet night, coming right up.”
“So…what did your brother want?”
It was Ryan’s turn to sigh.
“That bad?”
“Yes…no. Alex said he’d owe me a favor if I went out with this woman Mom has been trying to convince him to date. He thought they’d see it as a…what do they call it?”
“A sign of good faith?”
“Yeah, that.”
“Do you think it’ll work, or will she become one more number in your contacts you never call?”
“It’s worth a date to find out, I guess.” The last time he’d dated someone pre-approved by his family, she’d been more interested in their contacts than in him. He hadn’t repeated the experience in years, instead amassing an impressive list of one-night stands and short flings.
“I don’t envy you. I mean, my family ain’t perfect, but the level of control your dad has…That shit is messed up.”
“You don’t need to tell me.”
“And I’m too afraid to tell your dad.”
They both laughed. Alessandro DeMarco only tolerated Iz. It had been that way forever. Few people were good enough to be in the inner DeMarco circle. Once it was apparent Iz wasn’t going anywhere, it became not worth fighting about. Besides, Ryan was only the spare, not the heir. Alex’s connections were much more important.
His father may have never understood their friendship, but there was a lot about his younger son he didn’t know. If he’d bothered to show up more, he’d know Iz had always been in Ryan’s cheering section. And his grades wouldn’t have been half as good if his friend hadn’t been proactively arranging study groups among their friends.
“Do you think your aunt will give me more hours?” Ryan asked as they pulled into the abandoned lot their favorite food truck occupied on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from noon to eight p.m.
