Mano didn’t respond. He looped the chain around his neck, fingers working at the clasp. “What kind of shitty clasp is this?” he muttered.
“Let me help.” Ody stepped closer, angling to his side, and reached for it, his fingers brushing his.
Mano pulled away instantly. “I can do it myself,” he said, but kept fumbling.
Ody watched, eyes dropping to his hands. Mano’s fingers kept missing the clasp. “Seriously, you can’t even see it. Let me do it.” He stepped closer, moving behind him.
“What are you doing?” Mano snapped, turning around.
“You’ll never get it like that. Just let me.” This time Ody didn’t hesitate. He gently took the chain from his hands. Standing just behind him, he fastened the clasp at the back of Mano’s neck with ease. He caught a faint, clean scent from his skin. “Done.”
Mano turned sharply. “The old clasp was better than this.”
“It was broken. It didn’t close right. That’s probably why it fell off. Didn’t you notice?”
“You got a problem with it?” Mano shot back.
“No. I just asked.”
They held each other’s gaze for a moment before Mano gave him a dismissive once-over and turned to leave.
“Mano?”
He didn’t stop.
“We’re playing basketball with some friends. If you want to—”
“I don’t.” The answer came instantly.
Ody blinked. “We’re one short. I thought maybe—”
“I said no.” He walked away without looking back.
Ody stood there for a moment, then exhaled and headed home to grab his car.
The court was already buzzing when he arrived.
“There he is,” Steve called out, his buzzcut highlighting a sharp jawline and a confident grin. “What happened to the guy you said you’d bring?”
“Never mind. He can’t make it.”
“Oh, come on, there are seven of us,” Steve said, letting out a breath.
“Let Chris rotate in the second half.”
“I’m good with that,” Chris said, pushing a hand through his blond hair as his blue eyes flicked toward Ody.
They started three against four.
“Pass!” Steve shouted.
Ody passed the ball and Steve dunked it. They slapped hands and kept playing. After the game, they dropped onto the marble bench, wiping sweat from their faces.
“So?” Chris said. “Tell us about yesterday’s date.”
“Katerina brought this guy she was seeing,” Ody said. “He was kind of aggressive, like he didn’t even want to be there. They broke up after that.”
“Damn.”
