Page 32 of Symphony of Salvation

“Because you’re hungover.”

“Yes, we’ve established that. Must we spell it out?”

“We haven’t established why, how, or with whom this occurred.”

“You’re such an English teacher.”

“I don’t understand.”

Thinking aboutwith whommade my head hurt, and I hadn’t decided how much I wanted to share.

Koa studied me in the analytical way he had before placing a hand on his abandoned book. “May I continue reading, or are we going to discuss the mouth-admiring straight man who showed up at your door last night?”

“Is your book more important than my problems?”

“Considering I’m not abreast of your problems, then yes.”

I groaned and rolled my head from side to side. It creaked and cracked like I was ninety-eight and not forty-four. “Never mind. Maybe I was imagining it.”

“Are you purposefully avoiding naming names, or is it a result of limited brain capacity? I’m not going to lie. I’m losing interest.”

“You’re a shitty friend sometimes.”

“A name, Niles.”

“It wasMr. Maestro,” I spat with indignation and a wrinkled nose.

Koa sat back, brows lifted, no longer interested in his abandoned literature. It wasn’t often I could stun the man. “Maestro Castellanos showed up at your door in the middle of the night?”

I nodded, sipping more coffee. “Correct.”

“How come?”

“He… We had a minor disagreement about his daughter in class, and he wanted to explain his position.”

“So you invited him in for a drink?”

“Yes. It seemed polite since he’d walked from campus.”

“He walked?”

“Yes.”

“That’s almost five miles.”

“Hence the invitation.”

“And he stared at your mouth all night?”

“Once the wine took effect and I announced I was gay, yes. It drifted there several times.”

“Why would you announce that you’re gay?”

“It came up.”

Koa frowned. “I feel like I’m missing something. We’re talking about the same man you have done nothing but incessantly bitch about since his arrival, correct?”

“I may have been wrong about him. There’s… more to him than I thought. He’s… a passable human being.”

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