Ramin
When can I see you again?
Noah held back a grin, but not very successfully.
Whencouldhe see Ramin again?
But no. He needed to focus on Jake. He’d have to ask for a little time. He’d have to—
“Is that Ramin?”
Noah hadn’t even noticed Jake clamber back onto the bed until Jake grabbed onto him to look over his shoulder.
“What? Uh. Yeah, buddy. I was just about to tell him you and I were busy.”
“Can he come to the Lego Store with us?”
“You just saw him this morning,” Noah said automatically. He needed to focus on Jake. Spend this time together, just the two of them.
“So? I can see him again. I bet he likes the Lego Store.”
Noah was ready to say no. Though if he and Ramin were going to have any kind of future, Ramin would have to get used to being flexible, to shifting plans if they needed to shift, to taking Jake’s needs into account, too.
Maybe it was better to find out if he could do that sooner rather than later.
Noah thumbed his cross. “You like Ramin, huh?”
“Yeah. He has an awesome face. And awesome tattoos!”
Noah laughed. He liked Ramin’s face and tattoos, too. And his hands. And his mouth…
Noah needed to rein himself in.
He glanced toward Angela’s door. She’d just told him she was worried about throwing too much change at Jake.
But she was doing the same. And she hadn’t been the one to hold him while he cried about it.
Noah deserved to move forward too, didn’t he? And unlike Angela, he was inviting Jake along for the ride.
“All right, buddy. I’ll ask him.”
“Tell him they probably have Spider-Man ones!”
Noah
Depends. Want to go to the Lego Store this afternoon? With me and Jake?
He says they probably have Spider-Man.
A light rain had swept through around lunchtime, but the streets were already dry again. The air smelled crisp and fresh as Noah strolled down the streets, Jake’s hand in his.
“I like your socks,” Jake said.
Noah was wearing bright pink ankle socks with his white sneakers, along with a white polo shirt and black shorts that fell below his knee. He thought they might try to take a tour of the Duomo after the Lego Store; they’d only walked by the outside on the Death March of Fun. The Duomo’s dress code said no knees or shoulders showing. With a start, he realized he hadn’t mentioned it to Ramin. What if Raminshowed up in those shorts of his, the ones Noah liked, the ones that were definitely above the knee and technically against the dress code?
Not that Noah didn’twantto see him in those shorts again. Or out of them.
Except he was with Jake. This was a family outing. Not a…hookupfelt crass. Rendezvous?
