Ryan gripped the wheel hard enough that the leather creaked.
Evan sat quietly in the passenger seat, jacket half-zipped, hands resting on his thighs like he was trying not to spook a wild animal. He glanced at Ryan, then back at the road, then out the window like the right words might be hiding in the power lines.
"You wanna talk about it?" Evan asked, voice soft.
Ryan said nothing. His jaw flexed and his eyes didn’t leave the road.
The silence stretched.
Evan cleared his throat. "Okay, okay. Cool. Just...side note, you look really cute when you’re mad."
Nothing.
“You okay?”
Ryan laughed. A bitter, hollow sound. “Am I okay?”
Evan gave a shrug. “Might be a dumb question.”
“Yeah. It is.”
They drove in silence again. Ryan’s fingers drummed restlessly on the wheel.
“My mom’s dead,
