Page 40 of The Mayor and the Mystery Man

“Gross.” He flopped onto the couch. I went into the kitchen and prepared breakfast. My phone buzzed with a text.

Leo: Is Ari up yet?

Dusty: Affirmative.

Leo: How is he feeling? I’ll pick up more DayQuil and Airborne on my way home.

I smiled at my phone, feeling a special tug at Leo getting into total dad mode.

Leo: Thank you for watching him.

Dusty: If he gets to be too much, I’ll lock him back up in the basement.

Leo: Perfect.

Leo: It’s fine if he watches TV and plays video games a little bit, but I don’t want him to spend the entire day playing. I worry his brain is turning to mush.

Dusty: He’s recuperating.

Leo: He doesn’t have the plague.

Dusty: Let the kid chill. But yes, I will monitor.

I pulled the bagel from the toaster and confirmed with Ari that he wanted butter. I peeled his orange and put it in a separate bowl.

Leo: How are you feeling? Sore from this morning?

Dusty: Only a little bit. I think my legs are getting used to this torture.

Leo: It’s good for you.

Dusty: Exercise is a Ponzi scheme.

Leo: Uh.

Leo: How?

Dusty: I don’t know. I just always wanted to say something like that.

Dusty: I really enjoy our runs together.

They were quickly becoming a highlight of my day. We talked about anything and everything—careers, kids, families, fun memories, movies. Well, everything except how I sometimes think about us rolling around naked together.

My heart raced as I waited for a response. The three dots bubbled up, then vanished, then bubbled up again.

Leo: Me, too.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Familiar blinky, electronica sounds from the living room brought back memories of my old roommates.

Ari was playingRoman’s Choice. The creatures hopped and jumped on screen as he clicked at his controller ferociously. I watched from the doorway, silent until there was a break in the action.

“Nice job.” I placed his breakfast on the coffee table.

Ari whipped his head around. He had the same no-nonsense stare as his dad, those hawkish eyebrows raising. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

“You’re good at this.” I watched his avatar go through a scary forest that I’d seen many a time. At least Ari had the decency not to perpetually scratch his nuts while playing. “There’s a dagger-wielding dragon down that way. I’d do the center path.”

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