3
Ty
As we made our way through the aquarium, I chatted with Liam about my family, friends, studying, sports, exercise. I fell into conversation with him the way I would have with Jesse, as though we were old pals. Not that I ever struggled to make conversation, but the way Liam listened so attentively, it encouraged me right along from one subject to the next, until I found myself droning on in front of the African penguins about some shit I’d heard on a podcast.
“In a zoo in Denmark, this female king penguin abandoned her egg, and a pair of males adopted it and hatched it together.”
“I can’t imagine why you would share that fact with me,” Liam said, his smile expanding.
“Oh shit. It’s weird to bring that up. Things that fascinate me, I guess, considering—”
“Your own interest in hatching eggs?” he teased, which got me laughing. “Just kidding. I totally understand that, Ty. The way animals pair off doesn’t necessarily work the same way as it does in humans, but it does remind us that we’re not on our own…or unnatural, as some like to suggest. Can make coming to terms with things that much easier.”
“Yeah, it does,” I confessed, appreciating his willingness to listen. “Anyway, sorry for going on like that. I’ll keep doing that, ya know?”
“Doing what?”
“Rambling until you interrupt me. In case you haven’t noticed, I like talking.”
“I noticed.”
“Sorry.” I scrunched up my face, feeling like such an ass for not giving him a minute to get a word in.
“I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I enjoy watching you talk.”
I laughed. “Way to sound like a serial killer.”
“Is that what that sounded like?”
“Eh, just a smidgen, and by smidgen, I mean…one hundred percent what a killer would tell me.”
“I just meant I was enjoying the conversation.”
“That’s not what you said. You said you enjoyedwatchingme talk.”
“Well, your mouth has a particularly sexy way of moving when you speak.”
A stir of sensation swirled in my chest and warmth filled my cheeks as I reveled in his compliment. “Is this how friends talk to each other?” I asked, challenging his assertion that this was as much as we could be.
“Being honest with each other? Yes, I think so,” he said with a wink. “Did you want to go on about penguins?”
“Uh-uh. I want to hear about you. What are your plans now that you’re Mr. Retiree?”
“Mr. Retiree, huh? Is that what I am now? Traveling is definitely in order. Not gonna stick around my place in Chicago, especially not this winter.”
“Gonna see the sights? Where to? London? Paris? Greece?”
“I’ve actually been around the world, so maybe see some places in the US. The idea of being homebound for a bit sounds nice.”
“Looking for adventures closer to home?”
“More like trying to avoid adventures. Live a more sedate life.”
“You don’t seem like the sedate type.”
“You can’t imagine me sitting around on my recliner, getting a beer belly, and catching up on soaps?”
“Catching up on soaps? This isn’t the nineties. Most of the soaps have been canceled, Liam. MaybeKeeping Up with the KardashiansorReal Housewivesor some other Bravo-related series. But you can binge-watch a series. I love me someX-FilesandBlack Mirror.”
