Déjà hopped out of her car and met them on the sidewalk. A thick three-ringed binder was tucked under her arm. She eyed Cosmo’s door like Zedd was hiding in the bushes beside it. Which Cosmo wouldn’t put past him, but there were three of them against him, and Micah had already scared Zedd away once.
Micah looked as apprehensive as Déjà, clutching his luggage bag to his chest. Cosmo marched past them both and tore the note from the door. It was a little hard to read in the twilight, but Zedd had written in big angry Sharpie letters.
Cosmo cleared his throat and read aloud, “‘I hope there’s enough space in your body locker to fit in the guard dogs you have wrapped around your finger.’” He pursed his lips at the page. “Clearly he means Royce and Micah.‘You win. I don’t want to be anywhere near you. Keep your boyfriends away from me, and I’ll stay away from you.’”
It took reading the note three more times before the words finally sunk in. Cosmo looked up. “I win? I win!” He laughed and bounced on the balls of his feet. “Micah! You scared Zedd away for good.”
Micah scratched his head, a furrow between his brows. He took the note from Cosmo and chewed on his bottom lip as he looked it over. “I didn’t really do that much. And mentioning a body locker still seems like a threat.”
“Oh, that. No, he’s referencing a conversation we had back when I was planning my funeral party.” Cosmo kissed his cheek. “You might not think you did much, but you did what no one else could in the last three years.”
“Damn, Micah.” Déjà punched his shoulder. “Way to go.” She snatched Cosmo’s arm and pulled him into a hug. “Thank god!”
“I guess he did look pretty scared when I told him to leave the gallery. He ran all the way back to his car,” Micah said. “Still doesn’t make sense, though. He had a black eye and his fingers were in splints. What are the odds your new director kicked his ass?”
“Clarence? Please. Zedd is always injuring himself at his gigs. He plays with fireworks and falls off the stage. No, it was all you, Micah, and I know exactly why.” Cosmo took the note, then unlocked the door and ushered them inside. He took Micah’s luggage bag and set it on the bed. “I hate to say this, because it’s horribly unfair to both me and my past lovers, but it’s because you’re the first man I’ve dated since Zedd. I was with a trans femme person before this, and two women previous to her. None of them lasted long because Zedd didn’t see them as threats. He should have because I thought for sure Marla would gut him like a fish. She didn’t. She ghosted me like the others. And I thought you would too.”
“Never.” Micah locked the door, then tested the front window. After drawing the curtain, he opened his luggage bag and pulled out an alarmingly large filet knife and a roll of duct tape. He glanced at Cosmo, then taped the knife under the coffee table.
Déjà made a slight noise and looked like she was trying to school her face into a neutral expression. Cosmo leaned to her ear. “Stop staring. It’s his ‘comfort knife.’”
“And he brought it foryou? Aww.”
Cosmo could think of all kinds of comforts to give Micah in return, if he was interested. Starting with pasta. He switched on the TV, and Pinhead’s pasty, nail-studded face splashed across the screen. “Hellraiseragain. Oh, but this is one of the awful straight-to-DVD installments.” He handed the remote to Déjà. “Change it to whatever and make yourselves at home. I’m going to start dinner. Don’t ask to help. I’m cooking for you.”
Déjà kicked off her heels, then sat on the bed and flipped channels. “Not sure I can make myself more at home than Micah just did by taping a knife under the table. You two are so cute it’s sickening. You know that, right?”
Micah scrubbed at his arm, sat on the bed beside Déjà, then stood and peered through the curtain again. Cosmo sighed, then set a pot of salted water on to boil and took out the cutting board. Maybe Micah would relax once he had some food in him and was satisfied that Zedd wasn’t lurking. This should be a celebration!
Cosmo crushed cloves of garlic with the flat of a knife, then minced them and began peeling the skin off the shallots. Thank goodness he made this dish regularly enough to have all the ingredients needed for a bigger batch. Though he wasn’t sure if the amount of cheese in the fridge counted as “criminal.”
When the water started to boil, he poured in the penne and pulled out a skillet for the sauce.
Déjà stopped in the kitchen and leaned against the wall, staring at her phone. She tucked a lock of black hair behind her ear. “Were you at Rye’s party?”
“Yes. Micah and I danced, and he made so many romantic pledges that I’m going to have to make a list on the fridge to keep track of which ones he’s fulfilled.”
“I thought that was your hair I spotted in this pic.” She frowned and swiped across the screen.
Cosmo wasn’t sure he should ask, especially since he thought he knew the answer, but he said, “You and Rye did get together, didn’t you? But you broke up.”
She glanced up at him, her eyes suddenly watery. “Yeah. Couple months ago. You know how it goes. You get into a fight over something ridiculous that doesn’t even matter, then you say things you don’t mean just to hurt them. They do it back to you, and before you know it you’re alone on your couch eating ice cream out of the tub.”
Yes, Cosmo knew exactly how that felt.
“Or standing in front of the open fridge eating shredded cheese out of the bag.” Micah stopped beside Cosmo, then pulled a wooden spoon from the utensils container and stirred the noodles.
Déjà chuckled. “I’ve done that too.”
Apparently no one had heard Cosmo when he said he wanted to work alone in the kitchen, but he could hardly be upset that they were here keeping him company.
There’d been times when Cosmo had waited for one of his inamorates to reach out first after an argument, to apologize, and he would have taken them back. But they didn’t, and Cosmo had believed that meant they didn’t want to have anything to do with him. That had happened with Déjà too. But maybe they’d all been waiting forhimto reach out.
On the other timeline, Cosmo had thrown himself into Micah’s arms after their breakup. On this snagged thread, it had been Micah finding Cosmo. They both still wanted each other.
“Do you still love Rye?” Cosmo asked.
Déjà shrugged, but a tear rolled down her cheek. She blinked rapidly, her false lashes wet. Cosmo set down his chopping knife and pulled her into a tight hug. “Call them. The longer you let this go on, the harder it will be to repair. Or go crash their party. I won’t be offended if you leave before dinner. It just means Micah will have to eat more pasta.”
