Black Dust by Lynn Charles

Author:Lynn Charles [Charles, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781941530641
Publisher: Interlude Press
Published: 2016-04-07T17:25:12+00:00

12

It was the fourth and final visit to this coffee shop in Boston. Emmett had grown quite fond of it. The handwritten specials on the chalkboard menu changed daily, and the oversized bright red mugs were filled to the brim with some of the best coffee Emmett had ever had. Every morning, the barista topped each mug with foam art.

Since Emmett had admitted he was flying home, today’s image was a butterfly. Toby got a double heart. And a wink: “I hope he comes back soon.”

Emmett wasn’t ready to go home yet. The visit had been much like this shop, with a bustling schedule that changed every day. And the late nights had bled into long mornings of warmth and the best lovemaking Emmett had ever known, complete with thoughtful touches, reminders of who they were and lessons in who they could be.

Toby insisted on buying a scone to share after their early lunch. He broke off a corner and offered it to Emmett. “The cinnamon chips in this are huge.” And as Emmett opened his mouth and smiled around Toby’s fingers, Toby blurted out what sounded like an idea he’d had trapped inside of him all morning. “So. Do you wanna go steady?”

Emmett almost choked. “Go steady? Don’t you think you should at least take me to the sock hop first?”

Toby laughed and pointed to Emmett’s chest, where a crumb had landed from his sputtering. “The man who called cunnilingus ‘tipping the velvet’ is tormenting me for archaic use of language?”

“I was talking about a seventeen-year-old girl. I don’t know the code of ethics.”

“So, smart-ass, what are they calling it now? Dating? Schmoozing? What was it… going together?”

“Going out. They call it—”

“Going out? ‘Do you wanna go out?’ That’s what you do for an evening.”

“For a fifteen-year-old, it might last an evening.”

Toby nodded and took a bite of scone, smiling almost maniacally as Emmett waited. Emmett cleaned his glasses, drained his coffee and finally, after Toby said nothing more—apparently waiting for Emmett to offer the next nugget of brilliance—he nudged Toby’s feet under the table. “What are you doing, Toby?”

Toby grinned and put down the scone. “Mmm. I’m trying to finish the conversation you have brought up twice now.”

“I’ve brought up?”

“You’ve brought up. Twice.”

“Yes, twice. You said that. Twice.” This is why musicals lasted for three hours, Emmett decided. The stories meandered all over the perimeter and could never get to the fucking point. “How have I—” And then a diminutive young girl with long blonde hair and overzealous blue eyes popped into his memory. “Tori asking if we were boyfriends.”

“And before you came up, you said you wanted us to label this.” Toby offered the last bite of scone and took it when Emmett shook him off. “I’m trying to conclude the debate here.”

Toby chewed and swallowed and wadded up his napkin, and sat there as if he had suggested going to a Red Sox game for dime-a-dog night and “Yes, duh,” was the only viable answer.

“I’m about

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