“No kidding? That’s amazing.” Noah blew out a breath. “I couldn’t wait to get away from everyone in school. Leave it all behind. Move away from home. Then I realized it was my parents I was trying to escape more than anything.”
Ramin raised his eyebrows but kept his mouth shut. He remembered Noah’s mom had been… kind of awful. She taught Spanish at Northland, and she certainly hadn’t kept her opinions on Muslims and the Middle East and the “Axis of Evil” to herself.
Thankfully, before Ramin could get sucked into an awkward conversation about Noah’s parents, their bottle came in the hands of an older gentleman with a bow tie. It was topped with red foil embossed in gold and featured a simple, elegant label with a sketch of the winery on it.
“This looks fancy,” Noah muttered.
“This is a very special wine,” the sommelier said, emphasizing theveryand thespecial. “You have excellent taste.”
Noah beamed at Ramin, but Ramin just blushed. Impressing Noah had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he just looked like he was trying to show off.
The somm opened their bottle and poured Ramin a tiny taste.
Sweet fuck.
Okay, fine. Itwasvery special. A luscious ruby, notes of raspberry and vanilla, a hint of tobacco that absolutely coated the sides of Ramin’s mouth. He sat back in his chair. “Wow.”
“Wow?” Noah grinned.
“Wow,” Ramin agreed, smacking his lips. The finish kept going and going.
The somm poured them both proper glasses. “Enjoy, signori.”
“Grazie,” Ramin said, but he kept his eyes on Noah as he tasted the wine. What if Noah didn’t like dry wines? Oh God, what if he only liked saccharine Missouri wines?
But no. Noah took a long, slow sip, the muscles of his neck stretching as he tilted his head back. His Adam’s apple bobbed. His jaw worked. And when he swallowed, he sighed.
“Wow is right.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ve never had anything like it. It’s so…” Noah’s lips pressed together. They were already turning purple. “Special.”
“Yeah.”
Okay. This had been a good idea after all.
Noah raised his glass. “Hey, we didn’t toast. Here. To…”
Noah studied Ramin for a moment, his brow furrowing and then relaxing as another smile blossomed.
It should be criminal for any straight man to have a smile like that.
“To old friends,” Noah finished.
Ramin raised his glass and met Noah’s eyes. They were a deep, dark brown, but the setting sun revealed honeyed streaks deep within. Ramin hoped Noah didn’t think he was staring, but youhadto make eye contact when you toasted. Otherwise you’d get cursed with seven years bad sex, and that kind of curse would ruin his plans to get fucked into the European Union.
“This is so good,” Noah said after drinking again. “Seriously. You pick all the wine at your restaurant?”
Ramin shook his head. “I’m a silent partner. Farzan’s the one who runs it. And his boyfriend does the wine list. He’s a master sommelier.”
Shit.Ramin hadn’t meant to out Farzan like that. Though he supposed he was about to find out if Noah was a secret homophobe.
Please,pleasedon’t let Noah be a secret homophobe. That wouldn’t just ruin dinner. It would ruin some of the only good memories he had from high school. Ones that didn’t include Farzan and Arya, at least.
Ramin held his breath.
But Noah just nodded. “That’s a big deal, right? Being a master sommelier?”
