“No!” I whined, letting out a rough breath as Gray pulled into the parking lot at Marzena’s. Another throwback from my visit to California, where he and Miles had teased me for not knowing something they felt like I should have known. SomethingIwondered if I should have known.
“Do you not have the internet?”
“I googled it but…” The results had talked about chemicals and cleaning VCRs, and I had never even seen a VCR in real life so I didn’t understand what that had to do with me, and I definitely didn’t understand what it had to do with the conversation we were having.
“Respectfully, Wesley. DoesColinknow what poppers are?”
Grayson put the car in park, but didn’t make a move to get out. I rolled up the window and unlatched my seatbelt.
“I haven’t asked him.”
Grayson narrowed his eyes, like he’d somehow sniffed out the fact that Colin was just as inexperienced with men as I was, but even deeper in the closet.
“And he hasn’t brought it up? When it comes to any of the stuff you’re doing together?”
“What do you think we’re doing?” My eyes went a little wide. “He’s old, I know. But he’s not VHS old.”
“What?” Grayson barked out a laugh, shouldering open the door and setting off toward the restaurant. I clambered out and caught up with him a few feet away from the car.
“What’s funny?” I asked.
“I don’t know if I want to tell you.” He slung an arm over my shoulder, groaning when he caught sight of Miles and Henny in front of the door, wrapped in each other with their mouths pressed together. “You’re so young and impressionable.”
“Tell my brother.”
“Hey!” Grayson shouted, visibly startling Hendrix, who practically threw himself across the sidewalk. “There’s kids here.”
Playing along, I covered both of my eyes until I heard Miles’s laughter get louder. We were close and I let my hands fall to the side, the moment passed, but Hendrix’s face was so dark red I worried he’d be embarrassed for the rest of the night.
“You’re fine, Henny,” I promised, offering him a hug. “Mom gave me the birds and the bees talk when I was thirteen, but I still don’t understand what pollen and honey have to do with getting a girl pregnant.”
“The humor clearly skipped a generation with you,” Miles said to my brother, giving Grayson a hug, then me.
“I’m funny,” Hendrix protested, taking Miles’s hand into his like it was a practiced move. I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to not think too long on what it was like to hold Colin’s hand, even though we’d only ever done it in the privacy of home, most of the time lying beside each other in bed.
Would he ever want to hold my hand in public?
We’d both struggled coming to terms with our individual attractions to men, then to each other, but we’d never talked about the idea of being in public with each other. I’d have to bring it up next time I talked to him, not because I was pressed about it, but I just wanted to know where he stood on the matter.
“Sure you are, buddy.”
Miles held the door open and gestured for all of us to go in front of him. As soon as the bells on the handle jangled against the glass, Marzena appeared from the kitchen, floral apron covered in flour, her blue eyes impossibly round and bright.
“Kochanie,” she greeted Miles with a kiss on the forehead, which he dipped down to allow. She hugged Hendrix, then surprised me by pulling me in for a hug and kiss like I was part of the family too.
My spit caught in my throat and I cleared it, blinking back what might have been a flurry of unexpected tears. I’d left Brixton to get away from David because I was scared and nervous about what had transpired between us. California was only supposed to be an escape from a truth I’d tried to ignore, but the longer I was here, the more it felt like coming home.
“Your friend is already here,” Marzena said to my brother, leading us toward the extra-large booth we’d crowded into on my first visit.
“Friend?” I asked, honestly surprised that Hendrix had friends besides Miles. He wasn’t the most social person I’d ever met, a bit of a stick in the mud actually.
In my pocket, my phone vibrated and I pulled it out, recognizing Colin’s name on the screen at the same time Grayson looped his arm back around my neck, tugging me toward him. I lost my balance, the sound of surprise that left my mouth at the fall obscuring the sound of shock that quickly came, when I followed his stare to the back of the restaurant, finding Colin sitting alone in the booth, a drink in hand.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Colin
I triedto say no to dinner with Hendrix and his boyfriend, but he’d refused to accept no for an answer, saying something about how it was a conversation he and I once shared over a lunch that had prompted Miles to bring him to the Polish restaurant in the first place. It was special to him, and to Miles, whom I’d only met for the first time the week before at Wesley and Grayson’s housewarming party, and he knew I didn’t have a lot of friends. He wanted me to come out and at least have a good meal.
