“Cool.” Ramin didn’t know what else to say. Once upon a time, looking at Todd’s face had been one of his favorite things. But that was the past. “Did you need something else from the house? Farzan or Arya can—”
“No!” Todd’s voice was so emphatic, Ramin nearly dropped his phone.
But now he was quiet. He ran a hand through his hair, fixed his beard.
And then: “I miss you.”
Ramin was so surprised, hediddrop the phone. “Sorry. Uh. Say again?”
Surely he’d heard Todd wrong.
“I miss you.”
Okay, he’d heard right, but what the actual fuck? Ramin glanced atthe wine bottles lined up on the counter. Maybe he should open one for this.
“You miss me?” he repeated.
“I hate how things ended between us.”
“You ended them,” Ramin reminded him, keeping his voice even. A statement of fact, not an accusation.
“I know. I just… I was feeling insecure and, I don’t know, trapped, and I projected a lot of that onto you. And I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Trapped? By me?” What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Ramin had never done anything but support Todd. Listen to him. Give him space to live his own life, even as they tried to build a life together.
Once, Ramin would’ve wondered if he was wrong, if he’d been suffocating Todd and not realizing it, but no. He could see himself clearly, more clearly than he had in a long time.
He’d been a fucking great partner.
Todd frowned. His forehead turned ruddy.
“Trapped by turning forty soon,” Todd said. “I guess I just didn’t expect my life to be going this way. And then you jetted off to Italy, and you’re having adventures there, and I realized it wasn’t you. It was me. I was the one who was boring. I’m sorry. And I was thinking… maybe we could give this thing another chance? I could even come join you there. We could go clubbing together.”
“Cl—” Ramin sputtered.
Todd. Wanted to come to Italy. To go clubbing. With him.
He’d dumped Ramin in the middle of a restaurant, told him he was too boring to marry, and now he wanted to goclubbing.
Fucking Todd.
Ramin cleared his throat. “Hey. You rememberLegally Blonde?”
“I’m a gay millennial. Of course I do.”
“You remember how you dumped me in the middle of a restaurant?”
Todd’s flush grew darker. “Of course I… oh.”
Ramin saw the lightbulb go off.
If Ramin was Elle, then Todd was Warner. And there was no way Ramin was getting back with such a complete bonehead.
“I guess I deserve that.”
Ramin didn’t argue.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I do want you to be happy. I hope you know that.”
