I shake his hand. “Lovely to meet you, Walter.”
“You too.” He winks at me, his face adorably jolly. “And you seem to know the man who returned to the table looking like you kneed him in the crown jewels, but have you met…” Walter gestures to the opposite side of the table with an open palm.
“Adamir,” the shyer one next to Bo says, extending his hand across the table and knocking down a few game pieces in his path. Bo immediately begins fixing them.
“Hi, Adamir,” I say in a reassuring tone. “Great to meet you.”
“Jeremiah, but you can call me Jer,” the buff one next to Adamir says, extending his hand. “And this is my husband, Kevin.”
“Good to meet you both,” I say, shaking both of their hands. A small apology in my eyes each time, knowing they most likely feel the sensation of curled fingers tickling their palms as our hands part. At least handshakes are typically aone-time thing.
“I do have to say that you areglowing,” Kevin says, his hand curled under his chin. “Let me ask you—we have a bet going. When youmetBo, were you in a particularly dark room? Or are you just a very kind, charitable soul?”
Bo laughs from the end of the table, crossing his hands over his chest, a tilt of pride to his chin.
“It was averywell-lit room,” I say with a quick wink to Bo. “Too bad I didn’t get to know him first, though.”
They all get a kick out of that one.
“I like her,” Walter says, jabbing his elbow into Bo as he returns to his seat.
“Me too, oddly enough," Bo says, his eyes tracing me from head to toe. The way he says it is so sincere and raw, you’d think that he’d choose to have me here rather than be forced by our circumstance. I feel the sentiment lock itself away in the hollow of my chest, like kindling being placed into a wood-burning stove.
Preparing to say my farewell, I take another glance around the room. I can’t help but notice how odd of a group this is and long to know what brought them all together. What pieces of Bo they know of, and whether they’d be willing to share them with me. “So, how did you all meet?” I ask no one in particular.
“I met Bo in a support group. Matching cancers, I’m afraid,” Walter tuts. “But both of us are still kicking—though some kick better than others these days. I’ve still got both legs.” Walter barely gets the joke out before he begins laughing—a wheezing, happy one that I really enjoy.
Bo bites his lip, shaking his head with a slowly unfurling smile.
“He’s been waiting to tell that joke,” Bo says, watching me with an attentive focus as he bends across the table and places dice in front of Caleb. He’s enjoying me meeting his people, I realise. He’s deciding whether I fit.DoI fit?
“Bo and I met at Waterloo,” Adamir says, putting up two fingers to signal his turn to speak like he’s currently in class. “Bo was the TA in my freshman year economics course.”
Professor Bo? I could be into it. Yep—I checked with downstairs management. I am.
“Bo and I work together,” Jeremiah says simply.
“Jer is my boss,” Bo adds, placing a token on the table. “He’s trying to be humble, but he’s the head guy in charge.”
“Right, well, sure. But here I’m just your coworker, friend, and,” he picks up an imaginary sword from his belt, “warrior,” he says dramatically, slashing his sword down.
“Damn, I want onhisteam!” I say, laughing.
“Aw, she sounds like me when we started,” Kevin chimes from next to me. “I’m here because Bo needed another member and my husband voluntoldme to come. No complaints, though. I like to be dramatic when given the chance.”
“When did this start?” I ask, my eyebrow raised at Caleb.
“I believe the text was…” Jer interjects before Caleb gets the chance to answer. “Hey, Jer, I have cancer—shrug emoji.Going to need some time off. Maybe forever—question mark emoji.Before you ask, because everyone keeps asking, if you want to help, you can play DND with me. I’ve always wanted to play. Need at least five guys, and I already have three. Maybe Kev could be in too? Anyway—fingers crossed emoji—I’ll hopefully be back to work soon.”
I, slack jawed and onlyslightlyamused, gape at Bo.
He looks at me, smug, and shrugs. “I did what I had to.”
“You cancer-guilted your friends into playing Dungeons and Dragons?”
“He definitely did,” Walter says. “And Ihadcancer.”
“I just wanted to play,” Adamir says quietly.
