Page 81 of Two for Charging

So, he told her about their excursions to Pike Place Market, the architectural boat tour in Chicago, the ribs in St. Louis, and the delicious, if not authentic—according to Luca—pizza in New York. Then, while he was at it, he told her about the suits and the Berkeley cheese.

“Aw,” she said when he finished. “What a great roommate.”

Chris nodded so fast his neck twinged. “Right! But for some reason, now when people say he’s my roommate, and even when I say so, it makes me feel…I don’t know, gross and sad.”

“Because you have a crush on him and want to be more than roommates.”

He stared at her. “I do?”

She frowned, cocking her head to the side. “You said you were feeling sexy stuff about him, right?”

“No, I mean…this is how a crush feels? Like I would do anything to make sure he keeps living with me? Like he’s the best person I’ve ever met in my entire life? Like I want to lick him all over, including the not-sexy places?”

Mara, who had just taken a sip of her own tea, snorted it all over the table. “Well, yeah, dude.”

“Oh my God,” Chris said. “Oh my God.”

“What?”

It figured he would be stupid about crushes too. “Is there a word for a guy who’s never had a crush in his life until he’s twenty-three and then falls head over heels for his best friend?”

All of a sudden, Mara’s expression cleared. “Yes! There is!”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah.” She beamed at him. “There totally is, Chris, you’re a genius.”

“Really?”

“Wait right here.” She got up and left the kitchen, leaving him alone with his tea and the sudden wild hope he wasn’t broken.

Chris got home from the shelter late, too late for a pregame nap, much less a long, involved conversation with Luca. He kept the pamphlet from Mara safe in his jacket pocket and decided later would be soon enough. He had so much to work through in his scrambled brain anyway. Rushing it wouldn’t help.

Of course, then he found out Luca had picked up his suits from Leonora’s shop and was in the middle of cleaning out the dishwasher. He’d rolled up his sleeves to do it, revealing the corded, ropy strength of his forearms.

“You are my favorite person on the entire planet,” Chris said, because it was true, and he didn’t have to feel weird about it anymore.

Luca scoffed.

Chris wasn’t kidding, not even a little bit, but Luca didn’t do big declarations. Chris would have to find a different way to go about things.

“Hey, do you want to go out to eat with my family again when we’re in Montreal?” he asked. “We could do a roommate date after if you want, but I can’t not see them.”

Startled, Luca paused in sorting the silverware. “You are not staying the night with them?”

Chris thought about squeezing into his creaky old twin bed at his parents’ house and listening to them squabble over breakfast. Then, he thought about standing on the deck of a boat with Luca, taking in the sparkling night sky together. “Nah. I’d rather spend time with you.”

A rare smile blossomed across Luca’s face, though he tried to hide it in the silverware drawer.

Chris’s heart beat double-time, and he let himself enjoy the sensation.

“Ready to break the losing streak tonight?”

“It has been two games; it is not a streak. Besides, we already decimated Chicago once.”

Chris offered his fist to bump. But before Luca could return the gesture, he reconsidered and pulled Luca into a hug instead, and then they had to get changed into their suits.

He decided to go with the black suit for tonight. The gray one seemed classier, somehow, and he wanted to save it for when he met up with his family.