ALEX’S ATTEMPTS TO apologize to Ali are, reasonably, rebuffed. When he slinks back to his own house, Paul is sitting at the dining room table with his laptop, waiting for him. He looks at Alex over the top of his glasses when he walks into the room.
“Before you say anything,” Alex says as he drops into a chair across from Paul. “I know.”
“What happened?” Paul asks quietly.
“I lost track of time. Because my body still doesn’t work the way I want it to anymore, even with the yoga and the ballet and the never-ending diet. And now Ali is sad, and Carly and Liam are pissed, and I know you’re pissed even if you’re sitting next to me all calm and good cop right now.”
Paul doesn’t even try to deny it. He calmly shuts his laptop. “Getting verbally upset doesn’t seem like it will do much good. I
