Page 17

Spencer pulled up in front of a newish apartment complex in Stockbridge and texted Ian to let him know he was there. Bringing Ian to meet his friends could only end in unmitigated embarrassment. Raj might be his most humiliating friend, but Cat was the most merciless, and there was no way she was going to let Ian walk out of Hector’s yard without telling at least seven mortifying stories about Spencer’s life. And somehow, that didn’t seem even a little bit terrible to him as he sat in this parking lot waiting for Ian to come down.

Spencer coaxed Norman into the back seat, which left him greatly confused until Ian got in on the passenger side. “Hi.”

He had just enough time to lean over and kiss Spencer before Norman licked half his face. “Okay, okay, hi.”

Ian petted behind Norman’s ears as he stood on the center console and Spencer started driving again.

“Just so you know . . .”

He didn’t want to scare Ian, but it seemed unfair to let him go in without any warning. “This is a group of people who are . . . very comfortable with one another. So if it gets to be too much, just let me know, and we can leave.”

Ian reached over the center console and laid his hand gently on Spencer’s thigh. “I’m not going to ask you to leave your friends’ party. And I doubt there’s anything they could do that would make me want to.”

Spencer rolled his eyes, though he wasn’t sure Ian got the full effect because he was facing the road. “I mean, you’ve met Raj, and that was work Raj. Best-behavior Raj.”

Ian smiled and shook his head. “Raj seems very nice, as does Margot. And I’m sure everyone else will be great. I’m looking forward to meeting your friends, Spencer.”

“They’re all excited. Cat is pissed she wasn’t first to meet you, but she’ll only take it out on me.”

Ian paused, as though weighing whether he should say what he was about to say. “Are you sure Cat is actually your friend?”

Spencer grinned. “Not really, no.”

He parked behind Cat’s truck in the driveway, mostly just to annoy her. He turned around and pointed at Norman. “Stay.”

Norman did a passable job until Spencer came around to the back door, but he knew where they were, so as soon as the door was open, he bolted up to the house.

Ian came around the hood of the car and slid his arm around Spencer. “You look nice.”

Spencer looked like he always did, but he kissed Ian anyway. “Let’s go before Norman loses his mind.”

Norman was dancing in front of the door to the house, spinning in excited circles. Spencer pushed it open, and Norman dashed to the back door without stopping. “Don’t mind him,”

Spencer muttered.

Norman had to wait for Spencer to slide the glass door back before darting down the deck steps to the lawn where Penny, Reptar, and Cynthia were already stealing balls from one another.

“Spence!”

Hector pulled Spencer into a massive hug. “Oh shit, is this Ian?”

He looked over Spencer’s shoulder.

“Ian, this is Hector.”

“Thanks for inviting me.”

Ian held out his hand, but Hector engulfed him in another hug.

“Shit, sorry. I should have asked first. Cat is always on me about consent. Not, like, sexually—I’m not an ass. Just platonic touching.”

Ian chuckled. “That’s alright. I’m fine with hugs.”

“You guys get settled. Food’ll be ready in a bit.”

Spencer led Ian around the various groups of people back to the gravel patch, where Cat and Raj were already gathered. “This is Cat.”

Cat was wearing a crop tank and denim shorts, which was her usual summer vibe when she wasn’t working. She looked like she’d been out for a bit already because her skin was taking on the reddish tone it did when she forgot to reapply her sunscreen. “Hey, Ian. Good to meet you. We’ve heard a lot about you.”

She shook Ian’s hand.

Spencer pinked a bit, but he wasn’t going to start trying to anticipate what was going to come out of Cat’s mouth. That way lay madness.

Raj stood up from his chair on the far side of Cat and extended his hand. “Hey, Ian. Glad to finally get to chat without the counter between us.”

Raj did look way taller outside of the café, though he and Ian were about the same height. He was in his usual uniform of a T-shirt and jeans, so Spencer had no idea what actually delineated work Raj from relaxed Raj besides the apron.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

Spencer asked, turning back to Ian.

“Sure.”

Ian had his hands in the pockets of his shorts and looked a little shy. Spencer assumed that no matter how confident Ian was, there was still a level of discomfort coming into a space where everyone else knew one another. He placed his hand gently on the small of Ian’s back, and Ian eased into his touch.

“There’s beer in the cooler on the deck. We’ve got water inside, or on that table over there is a pitcher of lemonade. Mami’s secret recipe,”

Cat said with a wink. Ian really seemed to bring out the winking in people.

“Oh, the lemonade is really good. It’s got mint—”

“It’s a secret recipe, Spence!”

Hector called from the grill, somehow hearing over the din of thirty people.

Spencer rolled his eyes and took Ian over to the refreshment table. The lemonade really was great. He poured it into two Solo cups, and then they went to sit with Raj and Cat, who seemed to be talking about something that had happened at the café that morning.

“Are you doing okay?”

Spencer leaned over toward Ian’s chair and kept his voice low so no one else could hear him.

“This is great.”

Ian reached over to the arm of Spencer’s chair and squeezed his hand before taking a sip of his lemonade.

“Hey, Spence,”

Raj called, diverting their attention back across the firepit. “Do you know if Margot’s coming?”

“I think so. I know the store is open today because it’s one of her big tourist days, but I’m pretty sure she was going to close early and come down.”

“Do you always spend holidays here?”

Ian asked.

“In the summer,”

Cat answered. “Hector loves any excuse to throw a barbecue.”

“It’s a lovely spot for it. Did you build the deck?”

Cat lit up at the praise. “Me and my crew, yeah.”

They were all looking over at the deck when they heard the back door slide open. “Maybe that’s Margot,”

Spencer offered.

“Rae!”

Hector called.

Spencer immediately turned to watch Cat’s face go bright red and her eyes dart around frantically as though she suddenly didn’t know where to look.

“Hey hey, friends.”

Rae came over to their little group. “Oh, hi, I’m Rae.”

They held their hand out to Ian.

“This is Ian,”

Spencer said while Ian said, “Hi.”

“Nice to meet you. Hey, Cat, could you help me pull some stuff for Hector out of my truck?”

Cat opened her mouth, but nothing came out, so she just stood up and followed Rae around the house.

“So Cat has been in love with Rae for years,”

Raj said as soon as they were out of earshot.

“They do most of our countertops. Yours, too, when the time comes,”

Spencer added. “Cat turns into a babbling teenager when they’re around.”

Ian blinked. “That’s . . . nice?”

Raj started cackling.

“Spence, come help me with the buns, man!”

Hector called.

Spencer rolled his eyes but hopped up, leaning over Ian’s chair. “Are you okay here for a bit?”

He didn’t want to leave Ian in one of those awkward situations where the only person you know at the party abandons you.

“I’ll be fine.”

Ian smiled, and before he could think too hard about it, Spencer leaned down and kissed him. In front of literally everybody. But all that mattered to him in that moment was Ian and the fact he was here and they were having a good time. Until Raj whistled.

“I’ll be right back,”

Spencer said before heading off toward the grill. He knew Hector absolutely didn’t need help with the buns. Hector would never let anyone touch any of his food. That meant he wanted to gossip. Spencer made his way to the deck. He looked over his shoulder to see Ian and Raj chatting and laughing. He supposed that had to be a good sign.

“I’m glad you brought him, man.”

Hector’s smile was big and genuine. Everything about Hector was big and genuine.

“Yeah, me, too.”

He reached for a bag of buns because if he was going to be over here he might as well try to look inconspicuous.

Hector swatted his hand away. “You know better than that.”

“You should have come up with a better secret code, then.”

“It wasn’t secret code. It was a gentle indication that I wanted to see how you were doing. I know this is probably intense for you.”

One of Hector’s cousins and his girlfriend walked out from inside the house, and Hector greeted them quickly.

Margot came out a few seconds later, and Spencer thought he saw Hector stutter. “Hey, guys.”

Margot pulled them both into a hug. “Oh, is Ian here? Did he like the fudge?”

Spencer thought back to the way Ian’s fingers felt slipping fudge into his mouth, then had to stop before he got too obvious. “The fudge was great. Thanks again for opening up for us.”

“Not a problem,”

Margot said over her shoulder as she headed to the firepit.

Spencer looked over to where Rae and Cat had joined Raj and Ian. Cat was talking animatedly with her hands, gesturing toward Raj with the mouth of her beer bottle. “He seems to be fitting in pretty well.”

“We’re all gonna be on our best behavior tonight. Don’t worry.”

Hector turned back toward the grill.

“Cat doesn’t have best behavior.”

Hector snorted. “Ain’t that the truth.”

Then Hector called everyone up for food, and things got a little chaotic. By the time Spencer got back to the firepit, everyone was sitting around eating, and Raj was telling a story, waving his beer bottle in the air demonstrably.

“So Spence walks in, looking like a drowned rat, wearing a shirt that says, ‘Artists do it better.’”

Here he paused for comedic effect, and it seemed to work because everyone erupted into laughter. “Oh hey, Spence. Just telling everyone about the first time we met.”

Spencer could feel himself going red, but he just lowered himself into an empty chair and balanced his food on his lap. The only person who hadn’t already teased him mercilessly for this story was Ian, and he knew Ian wouldn’t.

Ian, in fact, was leaning toward him, careful not to upend his own plate, and whispering, “Please tell me you still have that shirt.”

Now Spencer’s cheeks were flaming. “It’s got to be in my apartment somewhere,”

he mumbled.

“I literally thought he’d taken a swim in the lake, but it turns out he’d just sweat that much trying to get up Mount Greylock.”

By the end of the story, Spencer was laughing along with everyone else because, yeah, he had shown up in Pittsfield an absolute hot mess. And even though the reason he was there in the first place wasn’t funny, his first meeting with Raj really had been. And it had brought him here, sitting around a firepit with his best friends, holding hands with someone he enjoyed laughing with. And that wasn’t half bad.