Allen tried to laugh, but failed. “Yeah.”
Rick wasn’t what Allen expected. He wasn’t loud or arrogant, and he wasn’t trying to impress him. He was just there, talking as if it was normal, and Allen felt oddly calm because of it.
Rick shifted forward slightly. “Do you want me to move so you can have the table to yourself?”
Allen blinked. “No.”
Rick’s eyebrows lifted. “No?”
Allen swallowed, then shrugged. “I mean… you don’t have to. You’re already here.”
Rick watched him for a second, then nodded. “Okay.”
They sat in silence again for a moment, but it wasn’t an empty silence. It felt loaded, as if something was there between them that Allen couldn’t put a name to.
Rick spoke again. “So, you’re twenty-two.”
Allen blinked. “How do you know that?”
Rick’s mouth twitched. “Lucky guess.”
Allen narrowed his eyes. No way was that a lucky guess. “That’s not a lucky guess.”
Rick smiled, and there was something smug in it this time. “You said you were in school when the song came out. You don’t look thirty.”
Allen stared at him, then laughed despite himself. “Alright.”
“How old do you think I am?” Rick leaned back again.
Allen hesitated to answer, so he shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Rick’s eyes stayed steady. “Go on. Guess.”
“Older than me.”
Rick gave him a look. “That’s a safe answer.”
Allen exhaled through his nose. “Thirty-five?”
“Close.” Rick’s smile shifted.
Allen’s stomach flipped. “Forty?”
Rick nodded once. “Yeah.”
Allen stared at him. Forty wasn’t old. Not really. But it was older than Allen expected when he’d looked at him from across the room. Rick didn’t seem bothered by the age-gap. He just said it like it was a fact.
Rick tapped his fingers lightly against the edge of the table. “Does that bother you?”
Allen blinked. “What?”
Rick’s gaze held his. “The age.”
Allen’s mouth went dry. He hadn’t said anything or reacted in any way, but Rick had noticed. Allen shook his head. “No. I just… didn’t expect it.”
Rick nodded. He looked down at his hands for a second, then back up. “Most people don’t.”
Allen didn’t ask what he meant, but he wanted to. “So why are you here?” Then immediately regretted it because it sounded like he was accusing him. “I mean. In this café. Not—”
