I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing, concentrating on him, on this moment, on not crying.I'm so sorry, Charlie.
In front of us, the wolf gave a low whine. He looked like he wanted to get out of the cage and rush to Charlie and comfort him.You and me both, pal.
Charlie cleared his throat. "So, you don't look down on me or...pity me?"
"Of course I pity you. That was a terrible thing you shouldn't have had to deal with. But this doesn't change anything between us. I'm sorry he abused your trust. I won't make you talk about it, or go back to counseling if it wasn't helping. Hell, I would never make you do anything — and I'm sure I couldn't even if I wanted to. I'm just glad we're getting to know each other."
"And dating."
"That's what I meant by 'getting to know each other'."
"Well, I'm glad, too. I feel like I'm learning what it really means to have a boyfriend. It's different from what I thought — and a lot better."
"I'm glad to hear that," I managed. I was going to start bawling any second.
The wolf reached up to scratch at his side of the partition. It was so in tune with Charlie. No wonder Charlie considered the animal to be his friend.
Charlie cleared his throat. "Doyou think Sahil would get him out for me?" he asked in a soft voice as he reached as close to the wolf as he could get. There was a space between the fence on our side and the chain-link fence on the wolf's side; they couldn't actually touch each other. Charlie laid his palm against the outside of the fence, and the wolf sniffed at the air, then settled a little.
"Have you met Sahil? He'd do anything for you. He'd pull the moon down from the sky if you asked him to."
Charlie laughed, a single short, strained chuckle, but it did me good to hear it. He could still laugh. "Nobody can do that to the moon."
"He'd try, for you."
Charlie gave me a small smile, like the idea pleased him.
It was going to take me time to get used to what he'd shared. But at the same time, I'd known there was something unpleasant in his past that he had to deal with. Maybe now I could help him carry that burden, if he ever wanted my help. At the least, I was honored by his trust and faith in me. It sounded like he'd already talked about it far more than he wanted to. That he'd shared it with me, even though it was obviously difficult, meant a lot.
It wasn't his fault, and I hoped someday he'd see that. But whatever happened, I wanted him to keep moving forward, to be happy. I wanted to help him with that.
Maybe we'd never talk about this again. Maybe he'd change his mind and want to discuss it with me. Either way, it was his decision, and I'd support it one hundred percent.
"Where would he go?" Charlie said softly, focusing on his animal friend. "He's too old and alone to be in the wild. He wouldn't make it."
"I'm sure Sahil could find somewhere like a sanctuary, or maybe let him hang out on Grant's estate."
Charlie laughed again. "A wild wolf?"
"Why not? He's your friend, isn't he?" I gestured to the wolf.
"It would never work." Charlie sounded excited, though. "He wouldn't."
"Oh, yeah? Well, what do you say we ask him about that when we get home? A fiver says I'm right and you're wrong."
"Really? You're going to wager on how my friend spends his declining years?"
"No, I'm going to wager on Sahil's willingness to do anything for you, which means I can't lose." I rolled my eyes, sounding slightly disgusted.
Charlie grinned, looking proud. "You're jealous."
"Jealous? Over Sahil? As if."
"He likes you, too," Charlie promised, slinging an arm around my shoulder. "Just not as much as he likes me."
"Yeah, thanks for the reminder. All you have to do is look at me funny, and he's ready to chew my ass for me."
A big grin spread across Charlie's face. He definitely liked the preferential treatment from Sahil. "He would, wouldn't he?"
