“I was pretty surprised too,” Noah said. “Where are you headed?”
“Bellagio. I heard it’s nice?”
He’d picked Como on a whim—it was the next train when he showed up at Milano Centrale—but his seatmate had talked his ear off about how great Bellagio was. She lived in Milan but was headed to Como to catch a soccer game, and after giving Ramin advice on what to see, she’d spent the rest of the ride explaining Italy’s Serie B football league to Ramin in intricate (some might say obsessive) detail.
“We are too!” Jake shouted, grabbing Noah’s shoulder to pull himself up so he was kneeling on the chair. “Nonno and Nonna live there.”
“Nonno and Nonna?”
“My grandparents,” Angela said, peeking over Jake’s shoulder.
“Oh. Cool.” Great. He’d interrupted family time. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I’ll just—”
He glanced around, though the only seat he could see was the one next to Noah. Then again, standing the whole time wouldn’t be so bad. Or being dragged behind the boat in a little life preserver. Or keelhauled.
“What? No, sit with us.” Noah thumped the plastic seat next to him. “We’re all headed the same way.”
Jake was nearly bouncing out of his seat. “Yeah, and you have an awesome face!”
The compliment was so unexpected, so absurd, Ramin couldn’t help but smile.
“No one’s ever told me that before.” He reached for his wrist, but the move chafed his plastic-wrapped chest. Why the fuck did he get a tattoo yesterday? He reached up to twist his studs instead. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“Positive,” Noah said.
Ramin covered a wince and sat, accidentally knocking his legs into Noah’s before he could snap them together. Noah was wearing longerkhaki shorts today, and with the way he was sitting they pooched up in the front. Either that or it was just full, and—
No, nope, definitely not thinking about Noah’s Ark. Ramin’s own shorts were a proper gay five-inch inseam. He hoped his goosebumps didn’t show.
“Dad? Can I have your phone?” Jake asked.
“Remember what you agreed to on the bus?” Noah asked. “No screen time until the way back.”
Jack harumphed and crossed his arms, kicking his feet. He looked like the human equivalent of a Muppet, all loose limbs and goofy expressions, especially with one of his front teeth missing.
On Jake’s other side, Angela was checking something on her own phone.
“Sorry for crashing your party,” Ramin told her. “I know you’re trying to have family time.”
“It’s fine.” She gave him a wry smile. “You’re in charge of entertaining them, though.”
Ramin laughed. “Deal. Jake said your grandparents are in Bellagio?”
“They own a wine store there.”
“Really?” That sounded kind of amazing, actually.
“You should come with us,” Noah said, before turning to Angela. “Ramin knows a ton about wine.”
Angela nodded, but she also gave Noah alook, and Noah gave her alookright back.
Ramin and Todd used to have their littlelooks, too. What did this one mean?
A final announcement played over the speakers, but Ramin couldn’t make it out over the hubbub. Then, with a soft lurch, they were off. Ramin closed his eyes for a moment to enjoy the breeze in his hair, the sun against his face. The water was bottle-green all around them, reflecting the tree-lined mountains hemming them in. He took a deep breath of mountain air and sighed it out. When he opened his eyes, Noah was watching him.
“What?”
“You looked really content is all. You didn’t used to smile so much.”
