wedding ring. Represents eternity.”
 
 Kelly finally leaned away and turned to meet Nick’s eyes.
 
 Nick couldn’t tell what color his eyes were tonight in the low
 
 light of the restaurant. He thought they might be gray.
 
 Nick kissed him before Kelly could speak. “I love you,”
 
 he whispered. His words came out almost desperate and he
 
 wasn’t entirely sure why. Kelly had just seen a part of him he’d hoped no one would ever see. He didn’t know what Kelly
 
 would do with that.
 
 “Do you two need to go to your room?” Julian asked with
 
 a long-suffering sigh.
 
 “Soon,” Kelly answered, his voice hoarse and serious.
 
 He gave Nick a barely perceptible nod and they both sat up
 
 straighter. Kelly cleared his throat. “This says the circles can represent anything from eternity to fidelity to the meeting of
 
 the spirit and matter.”
 
 “Spirit and matter?” Julian repeated. “Why?”
 
 “The solid line encircling the inner part that’s made of
 
 nothing,” Kelly summarized as he read what he’d found on his
 
 phone. He clicked it off and put it away.
 
 “The sideways arch?” JD asked.
 
 “It’s probably just an arch,” Nick guessed. “They had to
 
 work in the confines of their task, which was to make it look
 
 like a clover. Instead of a straight line, though, they chose to curve it to make it an arch. What numbers did we end up
 
 with?”
 
 JD handed him the napkin. He had drawn the star, with
 
 circles representing each gem. He’d shaded in the pieces that
 
 were red or green, and copied the writing on the diamonds.
 
 They weren’t numbers after al , but more symbols.
 
 “You’re sure this is right?” Nick asked.
 
 171
 
 JD nodded, looking a little perturbed that Nick would