Nate frowns. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s uh—Jack and I need to talk,” I sigh.
“About what?”
I pause and he takes a bite from an empanada, waiting patiently for me to elaborate.
Which I do. Telling him everything from our mother and Tham trying to reach me Saturday afternoon to my conversation with Tham on Sunday.
“You think he might be telling the truth? That him and your siblings didn’t know?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Tham was kind of manipulative when we were kids. I don’t know if I can trust him.”
He nods slowly, his eyes lost in front of him and hands playing distractedly with the empty container.
“But he did call Jack, which he said he was going to do,” I say leaning back to rest on my elbows. “Now I don’t know what to expect.”
“He won’t be mad,” Nate says confidently. “The worst case scenario is that he’ll ask to go. And we’ll all have to follow.”
I turn my head to look at the window where the sun has set, leaving just a small line of orange on the horizon. I didn’t notice how high on the hills the building was, and the view of the whole city and the sea a little farther.
And I wonder if Jack is sitting on our deck with Ikram, looking at the sunset and thinking about what to do.
“If we all go, it’s going to be a mess,” I state.
“Why?” He asks, moving to sit next to me, our shoulders flushed together.
“Because our parents are so homophobic that they erased Jack from their life and he’ll go with Ikram. Because we’re going to be stuck in that toxic environment for a few days and I’m not sure any of us will come back unscathed. Because you and I, it’s—it’s new and I don’t want them to somehow poison it.”
He slides his arm around my waist, pulling me against him and I let my head fall on his shoulder.
“They can’t,” Nate shakes his head. “I know I won’t let anything they say get to me. Ikram won’t either. If we all have to go, then we will. And if wehave time we’ll go on more dates. Hopefully those times, we won’t keep our clothes on”
I giggle when his nose nuzzles softly in my neck.
He’s right. It’s probably what Jack will want. Go there, and have the chance to talk to them one last time. Maybe talk to our siblings too. But we’ll all be together, and it will be fine. Because Jack and I will have each other. Because we’ll have Ikram and Nate. And Evie will probably follow because she’s a control freak but also a good friend who willneedto make sure that Jack is taken care of.
Because now we’re not alone.
36
DAMNED GRAY SWEATPANTS
Nate: Those shorts are killing me, sweetness.
Prudence: You’re not wearing shorts.
Nate: No. Your shorts are killing me.
Prudence: … You’re notwearing my shorts.
Nate: Oh my god. The sight of you wearing those shorts.
Prudence: Come on, you can barely see me from your seat.
Nate: I’ve seen you from the house until we boarded the plane. It was enough to torture me.
Prudence: You’re one to talk!
