“I have no idea what I’m in for, do I?”
“Nope, but I’m proud of you for being adventurous.”
“I’m not afraid of butt stuff, I’ve just never had a partner suggest it.”
“And you didn’t? I heard a lot of straight guys are always trying to get girls to do anal.”
“I’m pretty big into consent. Kind of a therapist thing.”
He laughs again as he starts the car. “Fair.”
“Besides, I’ve had anal sex, but I wasn’t on the receiving end.”
“Also fair. I’ve known plenty of straights who liked to be pegged though.”
“How does that conversation come up?”
“Alcohol.” Nantes chuckles. “Late nights in medical school. Fascination with things not often talked about.”
“Not my colleagues. We keep all our secrets to ourselves.”
“I have a friend who’s a therapist and they have a therapist. She told me it’s common.”
I nod, fastening my seat belt. “It is. I’ve found other ways to deal with the stress.”
“Not in therapy?”
“No.” By killing bad guys. “I used to hold on to it all and it affected my health. I had trouble sleeping for years.”
“I’m glad you worked through it.”
He didn’t ask how. That’s good. I don’t know how I’d answer.
“Hope you’re hungry. Nonna probably has a feast planned.”
I pat my belly. “Works for me.”
On the drive back, we blast Nantes’s playlist with hits from our teen years, singing at the top of our lungs like kids. I can’t believe we let our friendship go dormant when it feels this good. I’ve thought of him plenty of times over the years, but I guess I thought too much time had passed, and that it was better to remember us how we used to be than be disappointed, but I was wrong. We’ve picked up right where we left off, but we’re better now—wiser, more mature, and we have adult money.
Nantes pulls onto the property and stops in front of the main house. I guess dinners are still held here.
“Do you have dinner together every night?” I ask as we exit the car.
“No, it’s a couple of times a week now. Always on Sunday unless we have a good excuse to miss it.”
“That’s nice. I hope you know you’re lucky to have a family like this.”
“I do. I’m grateful. I took it for granted when I was young, like all people do, but they keep me grounded.” We walk towards the house together. “In fact, when I first got my residency, I guess my head got a little big, and Nonna put me right back in my place. She called me out and said a man’s integrity was more important than his title, his money, his things. How we treat each other is all that matters. Then she threatened to knock me off my high horse if I didn’t get down on my own.”
I chuckle. “Nonna is savage.”
“She is, but it was the wake-up call I needed.”
As we enter the house, the scent of homemade sauce tickles my nose, and I’m hit with a wave of memories of just how many times I ate dinner here. It was so common that they just assumed I’d be here and always made enough.
Nantes pauses, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Oh, one sec.” I watch him reading his screen, a slight smile tugging at his lips. “It’s my friend, Lex. He does DJ gigs on the side and invited me out to a club he’ll be working at tonight.”
“Tonight?”
