Page 17 of Follows with Intent

“I’m a little offended. I am a detective, you know.”

“Or a stalker.”

Darkly sandy eyebrows arched in amusement. “I can have hobbies.”

“Have a great time,” Maya called. “See you tomorrow!”

“Nico.” Clark’s voice was crisp. “We’re leaving.”

“I—” Nico’s gaze swung from Jadon to his friends. “I think I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Clark’s—what was it? disapproval? anger?—hardened the lines of his body, visible even in the dusk. He turned and strode away, followed in a ragged line by the rest of the grad students. Maya was last, and she gave a little finger wave in parting. Nico thought she might have been laughing.

“Ready?” Jadon asked.

Nico managed not to sigh. He nodded. “Starving.”

7

Jadon

They lucked into street parking on Delmar before Jadon realized he might have miscalculated.

“Dang it. I didn’t even ask about dietary restrictions.”

Nico gave him a sidelong look, but all he said was “That’s all right, because I don’t have any.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I know a couple of good vegan places, and there’s this great spot that does clean food.”

Dusk was settling into dark, and all along the street, lights hung in hazy spheres. The Delmar Loop, as it was called (which was not, as far as Jadon could tell, a loop in any discernible fashion), was a strip that featured restaurants, vintage clothing boutiques, a (mostly shuttered) old theater, boba, and more. It catered to the college students at Wash U and Chouteau, but people from all over the metro area drove here for a night out. Fortunately, on a Wednesday, it wasn’t too busy. Already, traffic was starting to thin, the sidewalks beginning to empty.

“I’m fine with whatever you picked,” Nico said. The words sounded a bit stiff. “Let’s eat.”

“Is there something you like to eat when you’re traveling or—”

Nico made a noise in his throat, unbuckled himself, and got out of the car.

Jadon got out more slowly. He joined Nico on the sidewalk, waited a beat for both of them to catch their balance, so to speak, and then said, in as even a tone as he could manage, “It’s right up here.”

He led the way, and Nico walked with him, chafing his arms through the thin cardigan. He looked, well, stunning. Still. Even at the end of a long day. The wavy black hair. The dark coals of his eyes. Coppery skin and the long, slender lines of a dancer. The cardigan and button-up accentuated his build, and Jadon caught himself thinking about Nico’s waist, about how his hands would look there, wrapped around his hips, his thumbs pressing lightly into the pale brass sheen of Nico’s belly.

Jadon pulled his thoughts away from that and promised himself, for the millionth time, he would unfollow Nico on Instagram and delete his account. Permanently.

“What are these stars?” Nico asked. And then, “Tina Turner is from St. Louis?”

“I think that one might be a stretch,” Jadon said. “She went to high school here.”

“That’s pretty cool.” Nico’s stride turned into an amble, and although he continued to chafe his arms, his hands slowed. They moved from star to star in silence, Nico reading each entry in St. Louis’s Walk of Fame. And then Jadon had an idea. A change of plans. A pivot.

Ahead of them, Blueberry Hill’s enormous sign flashed WELCOME TO THE LOOP. Above the words, the images of a man and woman, both dressed in old-fashioned clothes, were frozen in a dance. When Jadon touched Nico’s arm, he looked up, and then he said, “Here?”

“I bet we can get a salad—”

Nico pulled away from him and headed for the door.

Inside, music played loudly from speakers overhead—classic rock, something by the Grateful Dead, even though Jadon couldn’t remember the name of the song. It was a large space, the lighting low, filled with bodies and voices and air that felt hot and close after the ripped-open cool of the October evening. Jadon’s stomach grumbled at the smell of seared onions and ground beef, but he pushed that thought down. A salad. No dressing. Extra protein.

The wait for a table was almost an hour. When the hostess offered them a seat at the bar instead, Nico said yes before Jadon could answer, and the hostess swam off into the crowd. They found themselves sitting side by side, shouting to be heard by the young Black woman tending bar. After some back and forth, Nico ordered a 4 Hands, one of their IPAs. Jadon got the Urban Chestnut STILPA.

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