Naomi returned with a less hangdog-looking Calvin and introduced him to the group. Then she hurried off to take care of other guests.
Calvin graciously shook Afra’s and Theo’s hands and was practically a gentleman, even when Afra dragged Theo away to find a bathroom to clean off the lemonade.
“So,” Calvin said with a long, slow look at Ari. “You’re Ari.”
“Indeed.” Ari wasn’t sure what to make of this man. He had already deduced him to be Jax’s roommate, “Hobbes,” who had a stamp of approval from Murph for being a “good’un.”
“You look different in person.”
Ari arched an eyebrow. “You’ve seen my picture?”
Calvin snorted. “Your video. Mind you, the quality on that thing isn’t great, but….” He shrugged.
“I assume you’re referring to the video with Jax.”
“Yeah, that one.” Calvin gave him another assessing look. “You ever own a puppy?”
What? “No.”
“Puppies are cute and lovable, but they’re also a lot of work, vulnerable, and get easily attached. And the thing is, you can’t just get rid of the puppy when it chews on your favorite shoes, right? You have to keep it because it needs you to survive.”
Was this really happening? Surely Calvin didn’t think of Jax as a puppy?
“So you better be sure that you want that puppy before you take it home, all right?” His gaze was intense.
“If I fully understand your meaning, you are comparing one of your closest friends to a dog.”
“Well, he did follow me home one day,” Calvin grumbled. That was rather unshocking news, though it did raise the question—had they slept together?Werethey sleeping together?
No, they couldn’t be. No one could sleep with Jax and be this blasé about Ari’s obvious interest in doing the same.
Ari opened his mouth to pry more of the story out of Calvin, but a cup with a familiar-looking drink appeared in front of his face.
“I had to make some adjustments based on supplies, but here.” Jax sat down in the vacant chair at Ari’s right and looked back and forth between Calvin and Ari. “So, you two have met. That’s great. I’m sure you have plenty to talk about and all of it is about me. Do I want to know what was said, or should I just move things along and live in ignorance?”
Never one to waste an opportunity so neatly presented to him, Ari smiled and said, “Calvin was just about to tell me the story of how you met.”
“Oh, was he?” Jax shot a suspicious look at Calvin, who didn’t dispute Ari’s claim. “Well, it’s not that interesting a story—”
“That’s a lie,” Calvin cut in.
“No, it isn’t. We met when I was doing some research, and then Hobbes got sick—” A shadow passed over Jax’s eyes, and Ari had a fair guess what sickness that might have been. “—and someone had to look after Captain Tribby—that’s the cat—so I said I would do it. But Tribby’s diabetic, so it’s kind of hard to just pop by.”
“What Jax is trying to get at is that he moved in while I was weak in the hospital, and I haven’t been able to get him to move out.”
Jax laughed. “Squatter’s rights, old man.”
“The cat likes him better anyway,” Calvin said heavily. “So we’re stuck with each other now.”
“He loves me, really,” Jax said.
Ari believed him. It would be difficult not to.
“He grows on you. Like a fungus.” Calvin gestured at Ari’s hand. “What’d he make you?”
Ari opened his mouth to answer, then realized how embarrassing that would be and raised the cup to his lips instead.
Naturally Jax had no such compunctions. “It’s a Sparkling Conversation, Hobbes. You should try it sometime.” He gave the man a gentle shove. “Somewhere else, maybe.”
