Page 12 of Due Dilligence (Takeover)
Fazil’s cheeks heated, even more than before, and lo and behold, Ozan turned red, too. Interesting.
Ozan coughed and switched back to English. “Do you guys want to see a menu or should I tell my folks to surprise you?”
They opted for no menu. Another server brought water and bread and when she’d left, the most inappropriate question lodged in Fazil’s throat. Had Todd fucked Ozan? And if he had, had it been because of Fazil? “Youreallylike Turkish, huh?”
Todd sipped his water and rolled his eyes. “You haven’t changed.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Todd set down his glass. “The only thing I’ve taken out from here is thefood.”
“I didn’t...” The look Todd gave him stole his breath. Part anger and part... something else. Pain? Resignation? He might have well have punched Fazil in the gut.
Todd fingered his glass. “I met Ozan at a bar on Capitol Hill. Yes, we’re friends, but no, I haven’t slept with him.”
“I didn’t...” But he had. Fazil dropped his gaze to his hands. Over the too-small table, Todd reached out and clasped one. Fazil sucked in a breath. Damn, those fingers and those warm palms. He looked up into older, wiser blue eyes.
“I don’t sleep with everyone I talk to. I never have.”
He had no answer to that. Only a weird feeling of vertigo and the knowledge that Todd was touching him in public. He was utterly lost in this strange new world. What Todd said didn’t line up with the past Fazil knew, but he stared into Todd’s eyes and kept holding his hand anyway.
What had happened back then? What was happeningnow?
It was the meze that rescued him, a whole tray’s worth of little appetizers, hot and cold. When Ozan brought them, Todd released Fazil’s hand.
It was a loss tempered by the joy of what had been placed before him. They started with theImam bayildi, little stuffed eggplants, and after a bite Fazil groaned. “Damn, thisislike Mom’s.”
“Told you.” Todd smirked.
Fazil’s heart fluttered and his pulse jacked up. Todd was nearly always right. That had been his trait in high school and why he’d taken charge and plannedeverythingback then, even their lives, which had turned out nothing like Todd’s plans.
When Todd wasn’t right, he was spectacularly wrong. “I thought...” No, that wasn’t the way to ask why Todd wasn’t working in his old man’s shop. “How’d you end up becoming an engineer?”
Todd consumed a stuffed grape leaf, raised an eyebrow, and answered. “Same way as you. Went to college. Got a degree.”
He... actually had three. But he wasn’t about to tell Todd he had a mastersanda PhD. Not when his face was so damn hot and probably very red. “I know that. I mean...” So now he had to say it. “I thought you were going to take over your dad’s garage.” Fazil, meanwhile, was supposed to have gone to a local university and then taken up teaching to remain in the area for Todd—when Todd had wanted him and not someone else.
He’d opted for another course.
“Yeah. Plans changed.” Todd leaned back in his chair and looked out the front window. “The year after you left wasn’t good.” A hollowness in those words. Deep sadness.
Regret cut into Fazil, clenching at his heart. “I’m sorry.”
Todd snorted. “I’m sure.”
It was Fazil’s blood that heated this time, but he kept the barb inside.I wasn’t going to sit around and watch you with other people.
“The year after that,” Todd said, grit in his voice, “I decided to stop being the person everyone thought I was and be who I wanted to be. I went to community college in the evenings. Decided I liked school, Imissedschool, and I actually had a brain.” He shrugged and turned back to his food. “Then it was just a matter of transferring and finishing.”
“I never thought you were stupid.” Fazil finished up the eggplant.
That teased out a small smile. “You were the only one who didn’t. You’re the reason I went to college. I figured I had nothing to lose, everything to gain, and if we ever met again, maybe you’d—” Todd’s voice broke and the cool exterior crumpled for a moment. He coughed and reached for his water.
Fazil couldn’t feel his toes. Or his fingers. His heart thumped hard against his ribs, aching his chest and he didn’t want to hear the end of that sentence.
Todd cleared his throat. “I wanted you to be proud of me. If we ever met again.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why. But it carried me through.”
And here they were. “I...” He felt like a pile of shit for leaving his friend. Yeah, he had needed to go, but maybe he should have kept in touch. “I don’t really know what to say.”
