“So. You survived meeting my mom. We’ve got to stop springing our parents on each other.”
Farzan snorted. “Turnabout is fair play?”
“She likes you. I can tell.”
“Yeah?”
“I like you too.” David shifted to rest his head against the back of the couch, looking right at Farzan. “I like you a lot.”
“Me too.” Farzan was tempted to lean in and kiss David, sickness be damned, but then David’s face scrunched up and he sneezed into the crook of his elbow.
Probably safest to keep his distance for now.
Instead, he asked, “Want me to make you some tea?”
thirty-four
Farzan
Aw,” Ramin said, reaching for his mimosa. “That’s sweet.”
Farzan shrugged and cut his French toast. “Like you wouldn’t do the same for Todd.”
Todd grinned, but Ramin blushed. “Maybe. I’m not as good a cook as you, though.”
“Don’t worry, honey. I make a mean grilled cheese sandwich. And canned tomato soup.” Todd leaned in and kissed Ramin on the lips, which only made Ramin’s dimples deepen and his blush darken.
“No PDA at brunch!” Arya said, tossing a sugar packet. They were all seated on the patio of a spot Arya had found for them in the West Bottoms, not in the strip of restaurants and bars near the American Royal, but on a little side street close to the river, nestled between a warehouse and an auto-repair shop. The mimosas were bottomless, and the French toast was excellent.
They used to brunch all the time, when they were all in their twenties, before they had busy lives, stressful jobs, or, in Ramin’s case, a live-in boyfriend.
“Is that a rule?” Todd asked.
“It is now,” Arya said.
Truth was, brunch was sacrosanct. They didn’t get to do it very often, and when they did, it used to be just the three of them. But things were serious with Todd now. Moved-in-together serious. They couldn’t leave him out, but now they had to figure out how all this worked.
If Farzan and David got that serious, he’d want to bring David with him, too.
“You just made that up,” Todd teased, but Ramin rested a hand on Todd’s.
“Iranians don’t do PDA,” he said. “Even the straight ones.”
“All right, all right,” Todd said. “I’m just glad I finally rated an invite.”
“You’re practically family now,” Farzan said, before Arya could get another dig in. For friends—teammates—they certainly liked to snipe at each other.
Arya opened his mouth anyway, but Ramin cut him off too.
“So David’s doing better now?”
“Yeah, it was just a twenty-four hour cold. He’s all better.”
“I hope he thanked you appropriately.” Arya stabbed a breakfast potato on his fork and brought it to his lips, licking the spud lasciviously.
Farzan rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut. David might have indicated he wanted to do something a little special and sexy, but Farzan didn’t need any thanks. He was glad to take care of David.
He’d still take a little sex, though. Theystillhadn’t gotten a chance for a repeat of their postgame session. Juggling two schedules in the service industry, plus David’s studying and Farzan’s work on the restaurant, made it hard to find time to fuck. Farzan was the boss, and technically could take time off whenever he wanted, but he’d already missed a whole day taking care of David. He needed to show everyone he was dedicated.
