Page 19 of Virgin Skin

Klaus’s eyebrows jump up and he looks between the two of us. My cheeks heat and a genuine smile tugs at my lips this time.

“Milo.” I introduce myself and offer a handshake.

Klaus takes my hand in a meaty grip and shakes it vigorously.

“It’s great to meet you. Your dad is good people. My son would be in the ground right now if it weren’t for the money they raised to help pay for his chemo.” Klaus says. My mouth falls open and I’m not sure what to say, so I just nod until Klaus lets go of my hand. “But I’m sure you two didn’t come here to shoot the shit. What can I get for you?”

I order a roast beef and muenster, and Hero orders a schnitzel sandwich with a side of sauerkraut. We both reach for our wallets at the same time, but Klaus shakes his head.

“It’s on me. Have a seat and I’ll bring your food over in a few minutes.”

We do just that, grabbing a table in the middle of the quiet deli. There’s only one other customer here at the moment, reading an honest to god newspaper like it’s the nineties while he eats a plate of sausage and ’kraut.

“So… he thinks rainbows shine out of your ass,” I joke quietly as we both take a seat.

Hero chuckles and I notice a blush creeping into his cheeks. “It’s no big deal.”

Silence falls between us again. I click my fingernails together and look around, desperately hoping the perfect conversation starter will be painted in bold letters on the nearest wall. After a minute, he clears his throat again and the legs of his chair screech against the tile as he shifts around.

“I know we’ve got almost thirty years’ worth of stuff to catch up on, but I’m not sure I know where to start. Maybe, uh… do you want to tell me about your mom? I wish I could say I knew much about her, but I doubt I could pick her out of a lineup.” He winces at his confession, and I chuckle.

“It’s okay, I get it. Upside of being gay is I’ll never have to worry about a surprise love child knocking on my door.” I’m not even going to mention the fact that in order to have a love child I would have to actually have sex. There are some things I’m sure my dad doesn’t really want to know.

He rumbles a laugh. “You would think. But it turns out that it can still happen if you go through a period of denial and drunk hookups with women before you admit to yourself that you’re gay.”

“Well, no problem there. And hey, at least we have one thing in common.”

“Right. If all else fails we can listen to Chappell Roan together.”

We both laugh and a minute later, Klaus comes by to drop off our food. We dig in and I notice that a bit of the uncomfortable tension between us has eased. His shoulders are a little less rigid and the urge to flail around in my seat just to expel nervous energy is gone.

“So, the TL;DR of my life, let’s see…” I chew and swallow a bite and quickly try to organize my life into a series of bullet points in my head. “I was born in Milwaukee, but Mom moved around a lot, so we were out of Wisconsin before I was even a year old. We lived all over the Midwest for most of my childhood. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio… Then she met a guy in Portland and dragged us out there. That only lasted a couple of years and after that we ended up in Colorado, which is where my grandparents live. I was sick of moving by then, so the next time Mom got the itch to pick up and leave, I decided to stay with them. She was in and out after that, coming back whenever she got bored of a job or relationship and needed somewhere to land and figure out her next crazy idea.”

A familiar wave of affection and shame washes over me, same as any time I think about my mom. I relate to her more than I wish I did and as much as I wanted to hate her when I was a teenager, I just feel bad for her now. She never felt settled or happy, she never found a job or a place or a life that felt like it fit her. That part is like looking in a fucking mirror.

Hero is quiet, listening intently as he eats.

“Anyway… I stayed with them until I graduated high school and then I tried the college thing, but it wasn’t really for me. I hate to say it, but since then I’ve taken a page out of Mom’s book and have been bouncing around, trying to find a job I can stand to do for more than a few months, or anything that makes me want to put down roots really.”

I’m not sure what else to say, so I take a big bite of my sandwich as an excuse to stop talking. I don’t want to tell himthat I’m hoping maybe Fall Crosse will be the place I decide to stay, that maybe the perfect job will fall into my lap, and I’ll figure out who I am and who I want to be here. Saying any of that feels too much like all the times my mom swore to me that her new job, new boyfriend, or new apartment were exactly what we’d been missing and now we could finally settle and be happy.

“It took me some time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life too,” Hero says reassuringly. “I tried a few different jobs before I got a tattoo apprenticeship, met the guys, and really felt like I’d found my place in the world.”

I smile and open my mouth to tell him how funny the story was that Piston told me about how they met. Then I snap it closed quickly, remembering just in time that I can’t tell him I talked to Piston about any of this. Fuck. Alright, fine, he was right, this is messy.

“That’s cool. Who knows, maybe the next job I get will be the one. Tenth time’s the charm, right?” I give a self-deprecating laugh and Hero cocks his head. I can see the wheels turning behind his eyes again just like back at the shop after I told him about the motel.

“You know what? We keep talking about hiring a receptionist for the shop. If you want the position while you look for something else, I’m sure the guys would all be happy to give it to you.”

“Oh.” I bite my lip. “You don’t have to do that. I didn’t come here looking for handouts or wanting to disrupt your whole life.”

Hero frowns. “I know you’re not looking for a handout, but in my family, we take care of each other. No questions asked.”

My chest warms and I try to think of any reason I shouldn’t accept the offer. When I can’t come up with anything, I nod.

“Okay, sure. As long as the other guys really don’t mind, then I’d love to take the job for now.”

A huge smile jumps right back to his face. “Great. I’ll talk to them as soon as I get back from lunch.”

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