If it didn’t work for my mom and dad, how would it work for me? Mom was the most understanding and caring person on the planet, and Dad had loved her more than anything. Well, next to Red’s, anyway.
“Is Amos still as cute as he was in high school?” Sam asked.
“He looks the same, but older.”
“Deftly side-stepping any editorial comments on his appearance. Smooth, Brewer.” Jason chuckled.
After my friends exchanged some looks, they resumed their discussion about dates for games.
Amos: Have you died from disgust? I don’t blame you.
Mickey: Nearly. Ham and baked bananas? That’s vile. Worse than that gelatin concoction you sent me yesterday. [barf emoji]
Mickey: I’ve got Thursday off. Want to come over and hash out this menu?
Amos: Sounds great! Text me your address. I promise not to bring any bananas and ham.
Mickey: I’ve got a house rule. You’ve got to be the first to eat any food you bring.
Amos: No savory gelatin dish either then. Got it.
I chuckled, then once again noticed the fresh silence. I sighed. “What?”
“Are you going to see him soon?” Alex asked.
“I don’t know. Probably. We need to get together and plan out the menu so we can start sourcing food.” I’d been putting off making those plans. The texting was kind of nice. It was easy to forget he was Amos Flynn of Sparky’s Diner. Instead, he was Garth, the charming guy I’d met with hilarious commentary about culinary disasters and weird Bigfoot memes.
At my friends’ probing looks, I set down my phone and held out my hands in a pleading gesture. “Okay, fine. I told him I’d invite him over to my place to plan the menu because people wouldn’t stop staring at us when we met at the coffee shop with Bo last week. It’s unnerving. We both want to do a good job with this because it means a lot to Bo.”
“You should share your cheese with him,” Sam suggested as they picked up a leftover speck of the cheddar I’d brought.
“That’s a great idea,” Jason said.
“No way.” The only people who knew about my hobby were my closest friends and family.
“You don’t have to tell him it’s yours. Find out what he thinks and get an honest reaction. You don’t believe us when we tell you it’s delicious. Maybe you’ll believe someone who doesn’t know you made it,” Finn suggested.
I couldn’t argue with his logic.
“A dairy litmus test. Not a bad idea.” Alex gave me the same look he used when we were in the thick of a battle and one of us did something unexpected that created a fun challenge for him as our dungeon master.
But what if Amos didn’t like it? Then again, I did have some pretty good chèvre in my fridge. “We’ll see.”
“I like this for you. You’ve been a hermit, outside of D&D, since you broke up with Brandon,” Finn said.
“You mean when I got dumped? Again.”
My friends shot looks at each other that I couldn’t quite decipher.
“Okay! Let’s get back to scheduling, or else we won’t play again until March.” Alex leveled a stare at each of us before returning to his calendar.
I snuck a glance at my phone and smiled at the dancing bananas GIF Amos had sent.
NINE
AMOS
“You have arrived.”
