Chapter 14

Elias remained paralyzed for a few moments, then nodded, hesitant, and reached out a hand to the beer tankard the waiter had just served them after frowning at Elias’s black-and-blue face

“I just think I’m a little stressed,” he murmured, sipping on his beer.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Elias let out his typical laugh, and Thomas wondered about that sound. It was like he couldn’t laugh, as if a real, liberating, fresh, and young laugh was not an option for him. It was like that rough and short sound was the maximum he was allowed—or allowed himself—to show his amusement. He wondered if Elias had ever enjoyed a real laugh. It was an unnatural sound for a twenty-three-year-old guy.