Page 116 of The Evening Wolves

“He thinks he’s got jokes, Mom. What did he really get me?”

John-Henry did what he knew would drive his husband crazy: he smiled.

“I’m serious, John. I need to be prepared so that I can react appropriately.”

“What are we talking about?” John-Henry asked, catching Cora’s eye. Lots of things had changed between them over the years, but one thing that hadn’t was Cora’s ability to read him—and she was hiding a smile now.

“Nothing,” Nico said. “In fact—”

“We’re giving Nico dating advice,” Aileen said. “It’s so much fun.”

“I don’t know about fun,” Nico muttered.

“He’s in a long-distance thing,” Jem said. And then, sourness edging the next words: “With a cop.”

John-Henry laughed in spite of himself. “I didn’t know it was officially a thing, Nico.”

“It’s not! It’s—it’s whatever.” But color rose in Nico’s face, and after a moment of wavering, he said, “Jem!”

“What?” Jem asked with a laugh. “You can’t keep it secret forever.”

“Keep what secret?” John-Henry asked.

“Why would you keep anything secret from us?” Emery asked. “That’s counterproductive to my efforts to manage your life for you.”

Nico’s eyes got very wide, and he looked at Aileen and said, “See?”

“I know, sweetheart,” Aileen said and patted his knee. “But to be fair, you do seem like a bit of a mess.”

“Fine,” Nico said. “Yes. It’s a thing. We’re dating.”

“That’s lovely,” Cora said.

John-Henry nodded. “Congratulations.”

“Don’t congratulate me yet. It’s long-distance, and—” Nico gave a despairing shake of his shaggy hair. “I mean, I screw up every relationship when it’s in person, and now I’m supposed to do it long distance?”

“Maybe it’ll be a help,” Emery said. “Maybe the distance will mitigate your—”

Nico’s head came up.

“Uh,” Emery said. “John, what were you saying?”

John-Henry rolled his eyes, but he said, “I was saying, again, congratulations. And don’t freak out. Long-distance is hard, but it’s not a death sentence.”

“You need to look at the positives,” Cora said. “Think about how this gives you opportunities to be creative about how you’re going to strengthen your relationship. When I was dating this guy in Kansas City—” She cut off, color flooding her face, her gaze rigidly fixed away from John-Henry.

“I didn’t know—” John-Henry began. Then he stopped and said, “Was?”

Some of the tension went out of Cora, and she threw him a smile. “Was. Is officially over. But when I was, we had to work hard to build trust and feel close to each other, which meant coming up with movie nights while we talked on the phone, or reading a book together, that kind of thing.” Then she laughed. “It didn’t work out, obviously, so I’m not the expert.”

“Dude,” Jem said, “it’s all about taking advantage of the time you’re together, and then working hard when you’re not. Touch. Lots and lots of touch when you’re together. Hold hands. Kiss. Smush naughty bits.”

“Jeremiah!” Emery barked.

But Aileen burst out laughing, and after a moment, so did everyone else.

“And when you’re not together, find ways to open up. Come up with questions you can discuss. Or tell him one thing about yourself every night before bed, and ask him to do the same.” Jem shrugged. “Every relationship is about building trust and making yourself vulnerable. You’ve just got to work a little harder.”

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