Page 5 of Kiren

The next day when I arrived at work, I went straight to my section, noting which team members were in and which ones were late.

When I turned to head to my own desk, I saw the shadow of someone standing just beyond the entryway to my office. I camearound the doorway and there he was. Standing with his hands hooked in front of him, head slightly down.

“Kiren. Uh. Hi.”

He lifted his head. His bright green gaze went right through me. “Max.”

“Hey.” Had he guessed? “Nice to see you.”

Kiren nodded. “You, too.”

“What brings you here?” I could barely hold back my smile. The gifts had worked. Somehow, he’d found out.

Kiren held out his fist. “It’s this. I—well—I think it’s yours.”

His fist opened. In it was a teeny picture frame holding the photo of Shirley Temple.

That confused me. I’d decided not to give that him. Yet.

“Where’d you get that?”

“It was on the floor by my desk chair. Did you drop it when you left the candy cane?”

Had I dropped it? I reached into my blazer pocket. It was empty.

“I guess I did.” I spread my arms. “Guilty as charged.”

Kiren’s face changed. A smile made curves where there’d been none before. His wavy golden hair caught glints of light. “Thank you for the presents. I—I love them.”

Every muscle in my body released. I hadn’t realized how tightly I’d held myself. Oh, he was sweet.

“You’re welcome.”

He blinked rapidly. “I thought it might be you.”

“Yeah?”

He nodded.

“And what did you conclude?”

Little spots of pink tinged his cheeks. “I thought it was nice. I mean—you’re nice.”

Now was the time to plunge right in. “Would you like to go out with me some time?”

His eyelids dipped. His hand curled over the picture frame. “I—I?—”

“You are gay, aren’t you?” I pressed.

“You could tell?”

“Well, not always. But I had hoped after the party. I enjoyed talking to you and thought I’d like to get to know you better.”

“So, you started leaving gifts for me? To get my attention?”

“Sort of. I just wanted you to have those things. To see if they might make you happy.”

“I do love them. But you left them anonymously. How was I to know?”

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