Page 45 of Interlude

“I think it’s a Point A to Point Q situation,” I warned.

He stirred a bit of water into a pot of popping cranberries and sugar, then motioned for me to continue.

“I was thinking, we haven’t had wine in a while. Then I thought about your alcohol flush and I like it because it makes your freckles more… freckle-y.”

Calvin laughed under his breath.

“Your freckles suit your face structure. They make youlooklike a Calvin…. Then I wondered why most people’s middle names don’t match their appearance or personality, but I figure it’s because lots of middle names are chosen for familial reasons—like, Andrew was my dad’s uncle’s name. He passed in the Korean War. But Liam somehow suits you. Like the freckles. In fact, I think it’s the freckles that make Liam work. They sort of complement the emotion in that name. And then—”

“Freckles brought you back to the wine and you offered me a glass,” Calvin concluded. He added a bit of lime to the curry squash.

“Right. Wow, you followed that?”

“I speak Sebastian Andrew Snow fairly fluently.”

“Don’t be a smartass.”

“Pot, have you met my kettle?” Calvin laughed when I started to bluster. He set his spoon down, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed my mouth, leaving the bite of wine on my lips.

“But, when you put Andrew together with Liam, we sound like completely different people,” I said. “Like… like interior designers, living in Park Slope, with two-point-five children.”

“That is extremely specific.”

“Yeah. I don’t like it.”

Calvin shook his head. “Me neither.”

“Let’s leave them out of this,” I finished.

“You brought them up.”

“It’s the wine. It’s getting to my head. I’munbringing them up.”

Calvin kissed me again. “Sebastian and Calvin it is.”