“My house. I figured it would be nice to be somewhere quiet to catch up.”
“Awesome.”
“We can walk. It’s not far from here.”
“I’m not being tossed into the Benedetti dining room?”
Nantes chuckles. “Nah. I didn’t even tell them. I know they can be a lot.”
“Not in a bad way.”
He glances at me with a soft smile. “It’s surreal seeing you here.”
“I feel the same.”
As we walk down a cobblestone path, I take in all the activity happening around us. “Is there some kind of event going on or something?”
“No, this is normal heading into the weekend. Deo came back too.”
“No shit?”
“No shit. He brought his man with him and they took over things. Completely revamped, and we’re more profitable now than we have been in decades.”
“That’s impressive. Those business skills paid off then, huh?”
“Apparently.”
“And you said his man? Is he gay too?”
“Fun fact: we all are. Giuls, too.”
“Wow. Low-key I kind of thought Giuls might be. Sometimes I noticed the way he looked at guys when we’d go out.”
Nantes nods. “He was more comfortable about it than I was. Oh, and Brogan.”
“What about her?”
“Him. Or them. Brogan is trans masc and nonbinary.”
“Oh. Did I use the wrong name?”
“No, they kept their birth name. Felt it was androgynous enough.”
I nod, thinking back. “See, that makes a lot of sense. I don’t think we had the language for it back then, but Brogan never seemed settled. Like their skin fit wrong.”
“That’s exactly how they explained it, Doc.”
“Good for Brogan. Are they happy?”
“Far as all of us know. Deo is closest to them and reports nothing but good things.”
“They were close as kids too, right?”
“Thick as thieves, as Nonna always said.”
“How is Nonna? Well, I hope.”
“She’s doing great.” He pauses in front of a sidewalk leading to a cute cottage-style house. “This is it. My humble abode.”
