“So it takes a while for renewals to gothrough?”
“Ifthey go through.” Dylan opened the dishwasher and began to stack it with the rinsed crockery Angelo passed him. “Delayed renewals don’t matter so much because claimants continue to get paid. It’s when a renewal gets lost, fucked up, or cancelled that things get shitty. People get pretty pissed off when they can’t feed theirkids.”
“I’ll bet. I heard someone yelling at one of your colleagues when I came in that firsttime.”
“Yeah, that happens a lot at this time of year. Clients expect us to fix everything for them, but when we’re dealing with a broken system, we just can’t doit.”
Angelo washed the curry pot and set it on the draining board. “At least you’re there for them at all. Where would they gootherwise?”
Dylan shrugged. “I’m there because I get paid to be. Most of the other advisors arevolunteers.”
“They pay you for a reason. And I know for a fact that you work way beyond your nine-to-five, so take that look off yourface.”
“Whatlook?”
Angelo dried his hands and stepped into Dylan’s personal space, swiping at his frown lines with his thumb. “You’re always so worried that you’re not doingenough.”
“How do you knowthat?”
“Dunno. But I ain’twrong.”
Dylan didn’t deny it. Angelo let his hands travel to Dylan’s soft hair and toyed with the silky strands. They seemed to be back in that vortex where the air between them was ever shifting, tying them closer, bonding them. How was it possible that he’d lived a whole lifetime withoutDylan?
No answer was forthcoming from his subconscious, or Dylan, and the moment passed. Angelo’s hands dropped to his sides, and Dylan turnedaway.
By the time the kitchen was cleaned down, Angelo was flagging. Eagle-eyed as ever, Dylan slipped an arm around his waist and guided him to the living room, laughing when Angelo fell face first onto the squishycouch.
But his expression sobered quickly. Angelo sat up and patted the space beside him. “What’sup?”
“Hmm? Oh,nothing.”
“Liar.”
Dylan poked his tongue out. “Amnot.”
“Yeah, youare.”
Dylan sighed. “It’s hard toexplain.”
“Try?Please?”
“It’s just that even though you’re tired and still recovering from the pneumonia, and I know the ME never goes away entirely, I can see how much better youare.”
“And that upsetsyou?”
“Yes. Because it reminds me how wrong I got itbefore.”
Angelo was lost. He leaned against Dylan when he finally sat down and lolled his head on his shoulder. “I don’tunderstand.”
“When we met at the club a few weeks after you first told me about the ME, I thought you were better, but I know now that you weren’t, that you were stillstruggling.”
“Oh.” Angelo could barely remember the last few weeks he’d worked at the deli and couldn’t imagine how he’d fooled Dylan into thinking he was anything close to okay. “Well, that’s my fault, isn’t it? Not yours. How would you have known any different when I was so used to keeping it all tomyself?”
“I don’t know,” Dylan mutteredbleakly.
Angelo sighed. That Dylan cared for him so much had proved a lifeline, but Dylan didn’t deserve to be angsting over it like this. “I’m always going to struggle. There are things I can do to feel better, but I’m never going to be like I wasbefore.”
“Like you were on your Instagramprofile?”
