Marcus found out about the dinner before I'd even finished it.
I sat across from Damian at a quiet corner table, the kind of restaurant that didn't announce its own name on the awning because it clearly didn't need to, when my phone buzzed against the tablecloth, his name lighting up the screen before I could turn it face down fast enough to avoid the sight of it entirely.
"You can answer it," Damian said, watching me with an ease that suggested he genuinely didn't mind either way, though something careful moved behind his eyes as he said it.
"I don't want to." I turned the phone over anyway, silencing it completely. "Whatever it is, it can wait until I'm not in the middle of dinner with you."
He smiled slightly at that, and we returned to the conversation, easy and unforced in a way I
