Did Ramin make him happy?
A thousand times yes.
“You’ve seen him. He’s a good man.”
Angela laughed. “I’ve seen him. And I’ve seen the way you look at him. And I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
Noah covered his face. “You make us sound like lovesick teenagers.”
They were at heart, though. Weren’t they? Maybe they always had been.
“It’s sweet. You used to look at me that way.” She glanced toward the bathroom. The door was still closed, and the fan was still running, and Noah wished he could gather up all of Jake’s pains and take them for himself, so Jake wouldn’t have to feel them. “Jake likes him, too.”
“Better than he likes me these days.”
It escaped his lips before he could stop it.
He hadn’t meant to say it out loud.
“It’ll get better.”
“Yeah.” Or Jake would decide it was too much and move away. Noah’s chest clenched up again. But even so, he couldn’t stop hoping.
“You should’ve seen them, Angie. When I walked back in they looked like they were planning world domination. Either that or Jake was trying to talk him into buying him something.”
Angela smiled. “Probably that Lego set from yesterday.”
“Probably.” Noah sighed. It wasn’t fair. Angela was moving forward with her life. Why couldn’t Noah?
“Listen. I know the timing isn’t the best. I know there’s a lot we need to figure out as a family. But I need to see where this goes.” He swallowed and waited for Angela to argue—she always had a counterpoint to make—but for once, she acquiesced.
“All right.” Angela took a deep breath. And then she smirked. “I guess I can hardly blame you for taking my advice.”
“Your advice?”
“Yeah. I told you I was worried you’d be lonely. So here you are. Fixing it.”
That wasn’t what this was. Ramin wasn’t some… some balm to ease him losing Jake.
He didn’twantto lose Jake.
Still. This was progress, at least.
He glanced toward the bathroom. “Jake’s been in there awhile. You mind staying? I’ll go find him some medicine.”
“Grazie,” Noah told the pharmacist. He’d picked up medicine for nausea and for diarrhea to cover all the bases. Well, all the bases he could think of right now.
As he turned his steps back toward the hotel, he passed another one of those condom vending machines, the sun nearly blinding him as it reflected off the glass front. Noah slowed his steps. Ramin had mentioned not having condoms in Noah’s size. And Noah hadn’t brought any himself. He hadn’t expected to need them.
Not that he was expecting to now. It just seemed like maybe he should have his own bases covered, too. But this vending machine didn’t have XXLs.
Plus he wasn’t going to buy them on a street corner in broad daylight. He was going to buy them in a store, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with the shopkeeper and praying he didn’t run into anyone he knew, like a proper Midwestern boy.
He went straight at the crosswalk, since his sign was lit, and ended up on a slightly different route back to the hotel. He passed a bustling coffee shop, a cute clothing boutique, some kind of home goods store, and a fancy butcher shop. One storefront caught his eye. The windows had blackout curtains on them, all except one, which had a Pride flag instead. The door was covered in blackout, too, but it had a brightAPERTOsign.
The back of his neck prickled. Was this… an adult store?
He’d never actually been in one. Not out of prudishness. He’d simply always gotten what he needed from pharmacies. Or better yet, online shopping, where you didn’t have to avoid eye contact with anyone at all.
