Page 87 of Thirsty
He caught Charlie’s eye again, and then it was just the two of them in the room, Lorenzo’s words safe in the sudden silence, spoken just for Charlie. “This idea of—everything you could be. And you feel like you’re just not doing it right.”
He blinked, and suddenly felt ridiculous; they weren’t alone, and he was being sorrowful and dour, bringing down the mood of the party. But...the guests didn’t seem discouraged. They were staring at him. Waiting for him. Listening to him. Other strange creatures like him, coming together in this world that was cruel at best and at worst, indifferent and impossibly empty.
Why shouldn’t he ramble about his sad nonsense and see if anyone else felt the same? Discover if anyone else shared this mournful feeling in his soul that he just couldn’t shake?
Correction, he thought, as he met Charlie’s softly smiling eyes.Hadtrouble shaking.
“Well...” He raised his glass. “Here’s to dealing with all that, with all of you.”
He toasted, and the room joined him. And suddenly he was very glad he’d hosted this silly party.
Charlie bounded over to him and wrapped him in a hug. “That was great!”
“It was stupid,” he mumbled, blushing.
“No, it was perfect,” Charlie said, and leaned in to kiss him again.
Lorenzo wrapped his arms around Charlie and deepened the kiss, even though his rational brain knew he shouldn’t maul him in the middle of a crowded room. He pulled back and nuzzled at Charlie’s neck, thinking this a fair compromise, before he realized he was snuffling at Charlie’s bite. It was healing nicely, though the mark was still a lovely, vivid red. His mouth watered.
He wondered if Charlie would be up for another bite tonight—maybe from his leg. He wanted as much of Charlie as he’d give. Charlie looked up at him, his amber eyes dark, and he knew he was thinking the same thing.
Then Charlie stiffened, and Lorenzo pulled back. He was startled to see Charlie’s face frozen in a horrified grimace. Lorenzo looked behind him and saw a middle-aged man who’d just arrived to the party; and after a moment, Lorenzo put Charlie’s horror in context and realized who the man must be. “Oh, wow,” he said. “He came.”
Charlie jerked toward him. “What—you—”
Lorenzo frowned. “Didn’t you say you were going to invite your father?”
“I,” Charlie stammered, as his father spotted them and started heading their way. “I didn’t—actually—”
“Oh, is that your dad?” Maggie asked, wandering over. “Lorenzo told me you’d invited him, so I added him to the Facebook group.”
“You made a Facebook events page?” Rachel asked scornfully. “Jesus, you sound a thousand years old.”
“I’m only four hundred. And it’s helpful to give people a heads-up about food allergies and stuff,” Maggie was saying, though Lorenzo had tuned them both out. Charlie lookedbeyond strange—he was stock-still, almost as if he were frozen in panic.
Maybe Lorenzo had been wrong to push this idea on him. He had just hated the thought of Charlie feeling as lonesome in his own family as Lorenzo did in the world. He’d thought maybe they could even fix both things at once, if Charlie brought someone from his own life to this silly little party he’d made Lorenzo throw, in a genuinely sweet attempt by Charlie to fixLorenzo’slife.
But Charlie did not look happy; in fact, the blood had drained from his face. “You...”
“Do you want me to ask him to leave?” Lorenzo asked.
Before Charlie could answer, his father approached them. He looked just like his photo on the UB faculty page—like an older, faded version of Charlie, with curly salt-and-pepper hair at his temples and deep creases around his sharp eyes. He seemed wary as he approached them. “Charles.”
“Hi Dad,” Charlie said quietly. Under Lorenzo’s palm, his back felt tense as a bowstring. Lorenzo silently cursed himself, realizing how misguided this suggestion had been. He could only hope Charlie would forgive him.
“Lorenzo?” George asked, and shook his hand. “Thank you for the social media invitation. What a...lovely home you have.”
The slight pause beforelovelyconveyed just how hard he’d had to reach for the compliment. Lorenzo smiled politely and said, “Thank you.”
“Dad,” Charlie interrupted, “can we—”
“I didn’t know you were back in town,” George said to him.
Lorenzo frowned. “Back?”
“Yeah. Well,” Charlie said shortly. “I didn’t know you’d be coming tonight.”
“I see,” George said frostily.
