Carmine smacked his lips.
“I love Noah’s cooking. I’m very lucky.”
“He’s always been the same,” she replied. “When he first came to live with us, he asked me to teach him everything I know. Every Christmas he would want at least one recipe book.”
“What kind of a kid was he?”
Her eyes misted over for a second.
“Too troubled too young.”
Carmine could have bitten his tongue.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
“Don’t be,” Noah said. “Everyone knows what happened. I would have been fucked if it wasn’t for Ashley.”
She took another swig from her glass.
“He’s always had to bear such a lot of responsibility,” Ashley continued. “That has made him into the man he is today.”
Carmine didn’t need to stare Noah’s way to know he would be deeply uncomfortable with all this.
“How about you?” Ashley asked. “I hear you’re a local boy.”
“That’s right. Brockton born and bred.”
She regarded him. She might be friendly on the surface. However, he sensed he was being sized up at the same time.
“It must be odd being in Brockton again.”
“So weird. I was in the states for a long time.”
“Noah tells me you’re not out to your parents.”
“Ashley!” Noah shouted.
Carmine sat up straight.
“I don’t mind,” he said. “It’s true, I haven’t told them. I left when I was so young that it didn’t come up. I’m going to rectify that very soon.”
“Sorry for prying,” Ashley replied. “I can imagine how difficult it is no matter when. I think you’re very brave.”
Carmine nodded. They were kind words. Yet Carmine felt like a net had closed around him. Everyone had an opinion about his relationship with his parents. If Noah had been talking to Ashley about it, he must be getting annoyed with it all.
He took a healthy swig of his wine.
The meal went without any further hitch. As usual, Noah’s cuisine was top-notch. Later that night, they were snuggled up in Noah’s bed. Carmine was woozy. He and Ashley had finished the bottle of wine and hit the cans of gin and tonic she’d brought with her.
“When you finish with football, you should open a restaurant,” he said lazily.
“Only if you design it for me.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal.”
They lay in silence for a while. The TV from the spare room blared out. Carmine wasn’t sure if Ashley needed that to fall asleep to or she was covering up any noises coming from their room.
“What did Ashley mean about responsibility?”
