Chapter 23

The silence lasted an uncomfortably long time. Amir itched to end it by bringing up anything that didn’t involve Declan. He could have talked about his own Thanksgiving, about how his uncle had nearly chopped off his own thumb while carving the turkey, or his teenage cousins trying to sneak a glass of wine out of the kitchen only to be caught by his mother who immediately told all their mothers, or about how the whole time he always had Jae in the back of his mind and hoped he was okay. However, of all the times to keep his mouth shut, he understood this was the most important.

Jae slowly unscrewed the cap on his bottle, eyes locked ahead of him like a blind man’s. He brought it to his lips without moving them. Solitary tears welled and fell, not in a trickle, but straight down to his shirt. He swallowed, took another drink, swallowed that, and cleared his throat

“Part of me wants to hate him,” Jae said.