He sobered and muttered, “Sure, of course,” with his gaze fixed on the road.
I turned my hand over and squeezed his knee lightly. “Sorry. But let’s not overthink it. See what happens.”
“Okay. I like that idea. We were always pretty good together.”
Images filled my mind of just how good we’d been. Griffin was wearing a new cologne tonight, but under that I detected the familiar scent of his skin. I pulled my hand back and focused on my driving.
The restaurant had a middle-of-the-road ambiance with paper tablecloths but real napkins, murals on the walls picked out in gold paint, and a wonderful aroma of toasted coriander and cumin in the air. We were shown to a table in one corner, passing a dozen customers along the way. A middle-aged man did a double take at Griffin and lifted a hand as if to wave, but didn’t speak up. Griffin nodded in his direction as we passed.
The server handed us menus and hurried off to help a beckoning elderly man. Griffin turned to me. “I have no idea what’s good, personally. I picked it off an online review site. They liked the spicy Malabar lamb curry.”
“Sounds good. Are you getting that?”
“Not this time.” He gave a small shrug. “My throat’s still recovering from last night. I’ll have… fire-roasted eggplant raita and chapati.”
“I guess those growls you do come at a price.”And yes, I have listened to those songs of yours. Occasionally.
“Some. You have to know the right technique and develop the diaphragmatic breathing to support it. And I do try to rest my voice for a few days after a performance.”
“I wouldn’t want you to strain your throat.”
Griffin met my eyes and poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue. “I don’t mind for the right reasons.”
I blinked. “Down, boy.” That might’ve been aimed at Griffin or my dick. Speaking of being half-hard under the table. “We’re going to have a nice meal and a movie before we think about throats.”
“Yes, sir.” Griffin smothered his grin with a sip of water.
Any hope I had of resisting him was fading fast.
The server coming to take our orders at least gave me a moment to take my eyes off that man and his mouth. Although debating spice levels did nothing to defuse the teasing look on Griffin’s face.
When we’d ordered, I straightened my shoulders. “Hey, did you hear Kerry’s heading home?” The young woman had been with us for four weeks after a spinal fusion surgery with complications, getting the rest she needed before starting her real physical therapy.
“She must be thrilled,” Griffin suggested. “She was bored out of her skull.”
“She’ll probably miss her personal Griffin Marsh concerts.”
“Hah. She’ll have a lot of better things to do.”
I leaned his way. “In case I haven’t said, I really appreciate how you’re not just half-assing your hours but working hard to make life better for our residents. It’s not always easy to live in a nursing home, and you brighten their days. Especially for people like Harvey and Owen.”
“I feel so bad for them. Like, all those years together, committed but forbidden by law to marry, and it counts for nothing.” He paused as the server came to take our orders, then when she walked off, continued, “I have to say, I don’t get why they don’t just do the wedding, now it’s legal. I mean, it sucksto have that forced down your throat by the straights, but at the same time, they’re clearly in ittill death do you part. Why not use the law on their side?”
“They have good reasons,” I told him. “It’s not my place to explain their decision, but they’re pretty firm about it.”
“Sucks.” He rotated his water glass between his palms. “Let me know if I can help. I got ordained in California online one time, for this friend who thought they were going to have to do a quickie wedding. They didn’t, but it’s not that difficult, if Harvey and Owen don’t want to deal with pastors and judges.”
“I’ll keep it in mind, thanks.” I didn’t mention that wouldn’t help.
The server set plates of steaming food on the table, setting my mouth watering.
Griffin thanked her, then said, “I don’t suppose the next time a room opens up you can just sneak Owen and Harvey in as roommates? I haven’t seen that Mr. Zhukov around since the day Harvey arrived. Would he even know?”
“Phoebe does the room assignments, so no I can’t.” I didn’t want to think about work right now, especially the crap I couldn’t fix. I took a big bite of curry and hummed my pleasure. “Oh, fuck, that’s good. Tell me about your show yesterday. Who all was there?” I’d ditched the local music scene for the last twenty years, but I wanted to hear Griffin talk about doing the thing he loved.
He described his night performing on the Rock— a local venue I’d only vaguely heard of— sometimes setting down his fork to gesture, his eyes bright and smile wide. I felt a pang I hadn’t been there to see him. And to share the drive, because when I asked how he got a ride there and back, he said only, “Grabbed aLyft. The driver was a fan. That was cool,” with something in his eyes that didn’t look happy.
I wanted to know what created that shadow across his face. He’d tell me if he wanted to, though, so I segued into favorite movie scores and movies. I insisted you couldn’t beat the combo of music and Johnny Depp’s cheekbones inPirates,while Griffin had a bunch of favorites I’d not only never seen, but never heard of.
