David snorted.
“Seriously, though.” Christopher chewed on his lip. “I wish I’d made more time for you and your mom. Maybe things would’ve been different.”
“Dad…”
“It’s fine.” Christopher waved his hand in front of his face, accidentally smacking his phone. The picture went chaotic and dark once more as he recovered. “You know, I always wanted to be a good provider. But I wish I’d known that meant being there, you know, physically.”
David stared at his phone, stunned. Yeah, his dad had been a workaholic, but David had never felt he’d gone without when he was growing up. And he’d learned the value of hard work from both his parents, even if their marriage hadn’t lasted.
“Anyway, enough of that,” Christopher said. “I actually called for a reason. Two reasons.”
“You mean other than kicking me when I’m already down?” David cracked.
“I’m sure it’s not that bad.”
David pulled off his beanie. At the look on his dad’s face, he tugged it back on.
“I stand corrected.” But Christopher chuckled, and David grinned. At least they were back on more familiar footing, teasing each other. “Okay. The first thing.”
His dad’s voice went all scratchy; David’s hackles rose.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Yes, yes, everything’s fine. But I ran into Marcus the other day.”
David nearly dropped his phone as his hand went temporarily numb. “Really?”
“Yeah. He asked how you were doing.”
“What’d you tell him?”
“I told him you were doing well, that you were back home for a while but were moving to California soon. Is that okay?”
David puffed up his lips and blew out a long breath. “Yeah. It’s fine. How was he doing?”
“Married! Can you believe it?”
David could.
Years ago, David thoughthe’dbe the one marrying Marcus. He was the first man David had fallen in love with, and David had fallen hard. He’d dated some after coming out, but nothing serious, not until Marcus. He’d seen a future for them.
But then he’d gotten the job offer from JPMorgan, and asked Marcus to move to Chicago with him, and Marcus had said no.
No.
He couldn’t leave his home, his family, no matter how much he loved David.
And that had been that. David had spent his first year in Chicago nursing his broken heart. And he’d never loved someone as hard as he’d loved Marcus. Maybe he never would again. But he didn’t regret chasing his dreams. He’d make the same choice in a heartbeat.
That wound was healed. It was.
“I’m glad he’s doing well,” David finally managed. He wasn’t sure why his dad was even bringing Marcus up, except that Christopher had really liked him. He’d been nearly as upset about the breakup as David—but at least David had long since gotten over it. “So what was the other thing?”
“Oh!” His dad cleared his throat. “I’m kind of seeing someone.”
“You’re joking.”
“No! It’s the truth.” The smile that crossed his dad’s face was unlike any David had ever seen before. It made him look like a shy teenager again. David looked a lot like his dad; he wondered if he ever smiled like that. What would Farzan think if he saw it?
