Page 104 of Call Me Sir

The room shifts and I don’t think it’s from too much wine.

“You two know each other?” Oliver asks, looking back and forth from the two.

Sal leans back and folds his arms across his chest.

Now I want to hear Sal answer the question because what the hell?!

“So, you remember me?”

Ace nods. “Yeah, but it’s been a long time.”

Muscled arms flexed. “A very long time.”

Why is he so defensive?

Ace sips his drink and shifts awkwardly in his chair.

Oliver and I exchange what I can only describe as stressed and confused glances. So much for a fun dinner.

“When did you move back?”

The way his brows pull together, you’d think they were exchanging insults.

“I never left.”

Ace frowns now. “People said you moved to Italy to be with your mother.”

Anger visibly drains from Sal. “Is that what my father told people?”

Ace shrugs. “It’s what I heard, not that rumors are ever true…”

I recall the fake engagement about them that just got cleared up.

“I did not go stay with my dead mother in Italy…”

Everyone’s eyes go wide.

“It’s too bad he decided to spew that story instead of the truth, that my mom died and he cut me off for being gay.”

The silence is actually painful and I consider chugging my wine.

There’s no way Oliver will accept my offer now.

What happens next throws me off.

Ace holds his wine glass in the air toward Sal. “To shitty dads.”

Okay, Sal is gonna flip.

Right?

But he doesn’t. Instead, he clinks his glass against Ace’s and they chug their drinks.

Oliver and I both look at one another again with relieved smiles and also drink our wine.

The tension shifts in the room and we all begin chatting about random goings on in the elite community and their busy schedules.

Oliver is going to school to be a history professor and hoping to start a nonprofit to help teens who are disfellowshipped. He would like to help adults too, but figures it’ll be laying the groundwork and helping younger ones first.

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