“Oh, shit.This is Tate.Tate, this is my friend Charlie; I know him from, damn, way back.”
“Way, way back,” Charlie corrected.He cocked his head at me.“Are you also training to heal the world and delight insurance companies?”
I set down my knife and fork, and tried to smile.“Definitely not.”
His nod was approving.“That’s a relief, I didn't think I recognized you.So you and Kai are...”
The question hung there, jagged and impossible.It was ridiculous, but it almost felt like the volume in the whole room dimmed, slightly.As if everyone present was suddenly fascinated to hear the answer.
“Neighbors,” I supplied, before Kai could say anything.
Charlie laughed.“Got it.Man, for a minute I almost thought you guys were on a date.”He nudged Kai in the shoulder.“Thought you’d found yourself a daddy.”
Kai’s eyes were fixed on me, his expression unreadable.He opened his mouth.
“I live next door to his parents,” I said, quickly.Trying to ignore the way Kai’s stare narrowed.
“Do they still live up in that neighborhood with the killer view and the retirement village vibes?”Charlie seemed blind to the fact that his friend was glaring daggers across the table.
As the recipient of said-daggers, I found myself wishing I could be so blithe.
“Yeah,” Kai confirmed, coldly.
“Well, remember me to them, won’t you?”
A nod, delivered with a tightness that I couldn’t quite believe Charlie was blind to.
“And call me, asshole.We need to get you out, away from the fossils up the hill.”He glanced at me, an afterthought.“No offense, Todd.”
“None taken,” I told him.It didn’t seem worth correcting his mistake.
Charlie winked, as though I’d confirmed myself a willing collaborator.“We need to get my friend some action for the summer.Dick or pussy, it doesn’t matter which.”
“Admirably flexible,” I agreed, dryly.
It was easier, I decided, simply not to look at Kai at all.That way I didn’t have to think about his expression, to decode it.
“All work and no play,” Charlie said, squeezing Kai’s shoulder.“Don’t make me come up there and drag you down, before you wither away.”
“A narrow escape,” I suggested, earning another grin.
“Anyway, our table’s ready, I think.”Charlie beamed at me.“Good to meet you, don’t let him bore you with the Junior Doctor 101 stuff.”
I risked a look at Kai, then regretted it.“I’ll steer the conversation onto safer ground,” I promised.
“Wise,” Charlie agreed, and then - just as rapidly as he’d appeared - he was gone.
It was too much to hope for, that Kai’s sour mood would’ve left with his friend.Retrieving my knife and fork, I concentrated on carving out a chunk of steak.
“Neighbors,” Kai said, finally.
Meat secured, I guided a slice of green bean onto the fork’s tines.“Trust a wise old fossil,” I told him, my attention still focused on the maneuvers on the plate in front of me.“Some things are easier left unexplained.”
“Is that so, ‘Todd’?”
I glanced up at him.“I’ve been called worse.”
“I’m tempted to call you worse right now.”
