He clutches his chest in mock outrage. “You would never!” He holds up the bread. “Okay, lean back. Open your mouth. I’m going to toss it and you’re going to catch it like the competent professional you are.”
“This is so dumb.”
“That’s what makes it fun. Ready?”
I lean back, open my mouth, feeling absolutely absurd.
He tosses the bread. It hits my nose.
“Okay, that was my bad. Terrible throw.” He’s laughing now. “Again.”
“Rodriguez—”
“Come on, we’re getting the perfect catch. For content. For posterity.”
He tears off another piece and I’m laughing now too, protests dying because this is absurd and fun and exactly what I needed. Something that isn’t heavy.
This time the bread goes wide left, hitting the wall behind me.
“Okay, I’m terrible at this,” he announces to his phone. “Third time’s the charm though.”
“Three tries and then I’m done.”
“Deal. Ready?”
I lean back again, mouth open, and I’m aware this probably looks crazy but I don’t care.
Rodriguez winds up like he’s throwing a pitch and?—
A flash goes off.
We both freeze.
“Did someone just take our picture?” I ask, bread falling onto the table.
Rodriguez looks toward the restaurant entrance where a guy with a professional camera is already walking away quickly.
“I need to text Cap,” Rodriguez says, already typing. “Before this hits social media.”
My stomach drops. “Roman.”
“Yeah. He needs to hear it from me, not see it online.” His fingers are flying. “Don’t worry. He’ll understand. We weren’t doing anything wrong.”
But wrong doesn’t matter. Appearance matters. Context matters.
And that photo is going to look like something it absolutely wasn’t.
We’re both aware now of being watched, of phones potentially pointed at us, of every laugh being documented by people who don’t know us.
Rodriguez pays, waving off my protests and we leave quickly.
Outside, he pauses on his crutches. “Hey Doc, just s—tonight was fun. You needed it. I could see it on your face when you showed up.”
“Yeah. I did. Thank you.”
“And don’t worry about the photo. Cap knows you. He trusts you. Anyone who matters knows we were just being idiots.”
“It’s not the people who matter I’m worried about.”
