“But can’t we enjoy this for now? Who knows what the future will bring.”
Farzan finally looked at him again. Really looked.
“So what do you say?” David held his breath.
Farzan swallowed. And then, finally, he nodded. “Boyfriends. For real. For as long as we have.”
It was David’s turn to smile, a smile so big he thought his heart was trying to escape out his mouth, but it didn’t have the chance. Farzan leaned in, smashing his lips over David’s, cupping David’s face in his hands, tracing the fresh slit in his eyebrow with his thumb. David sighed into the kiss, pressed Farzan against the wall, gripped his hips tighter.
He was just about to suggest they go make out in his car when the door to Shiraz Bistro swung open, setting off an electronic chime andletting out a burst of warmth. David stepped back to see Farzan’s mom watching them with a smirk on her face.
“Ah. Maman.” Farzan’s voice cracked. He cleared his throat. “Everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine,” she said.
Farzan swallowed. “I better get back to the kitchen.”
But he leaned in and kissed David one more time before sliding away, whipping the towel off his shoulder to casually drape it in front of his groin.
“See you,” David said, watching him go.
Persis winked at him and followed her son inside. David let himself into his car. While it warmed up, he ran his fingertips across his lips. His cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
Boyfriends.
Yeah. They were boyfriends now.
thirty-one
Farzan
Boyfriends?” Arya gasped, squeezing his cardboard cup so hard the lid popped off, sloshing steaming herbal tea over his hand. He hissed and shook it off. “Shit.”
Ramin handed Arya a couple napkins, then grabbed more to mop up the table. They were in the very back of Farzan’s favorite coffee shop in the River Market.
Well, ex-favorite. It had been his favorite, until a bigger (still local) coffee shop had taken over, and the vibe was still great, but the coffee had gone downhill.
Still, it was walkable from his apartment, and easy enough for Arya and Ramin to get to over a lunch break.
“Boyfriends,” Farzan said, dumping two packets of sugar into his espresso. He didn’t used to need any, because the old owners had made a darker, rounder roast. This one was sharp and bitter. “For real.”
“That’s good, right?” Ramin said, sipping his own tea. One good thing about the shop—it had decent Darjeeling. “I mean… how do you feel about it?”
Farzan sipped at his espresso, trying to cover up what he knew was a goofy smile. “Good.”
“That’s it?” Arya said. “Just ‘good’?”
“I mean, I like him. A lot.” Farzan felt his smile turning uncertain. “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t kind of nervous about the future.”
“I get that.” Ramin’s mouth twisted back and forth. “You know you can… I mean… I’d miss you—we’dmiss you—but if you wanted to follow him to California or wherever…”
“What he’s trying to say is,” Arya interjected, “we want you to be happy. Always. Even if it means leaving Kansas City.”
But Farzan shook his head. He loved his friends for that, but he couldn’t leave them. Or his family. Or the restaurant he’d just taken over.
“You guys don’t have to worry about that,” he said. “You’re stuck with me.”
Ramin grinned, and Arya relaxed into his chair, slinging his free arm over the back and resting a knee against the table. As a gay man, Arya had always taken hissitting in chairs weirdduties extremely seriously.
