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“I guess? Look, my teammate has a couch that’s the size of a double bed. I want that.”

“I’ve got just the thing,” Andrew said. As Eli and Nolan followed him even farther into the store, he turned to Eli. “Teammate, you said? What sport do you play?”

“Hockey.” Eli’s shoulders squared, and there was a proud set to his spine. “I’m a Trailblazer.”

“Cool.”

“You a fan?”

“Uh.” Andrew let out a little laugh. “No offense, but I don’t really do sports. I’ll still sell you an amazing couch, though.”

Eli laughed. With his head tilted back, he missed Andrew checking him out. Nolan raised an eyebrow but honestly couldn’t blame him. Eli had an energy about him that was attractive, like a warm spring day after a hard winter.

Andrew gestured grandly. “What do you think of this?”

Eli’s eyes lit up and he gazed at the couch almost reverently. “It’s amazing.”

It was, as Eli had wanted, an extra-deep couch in ribbed off-white faux fur with foam cushions and lumbar pillows. Someone had dressed it up with a couple of accent pillows in contrasting deep-green.

“I’ll take it.”

“Jesus, Eli.” Chuckling, Nolan turned him around by the shoulders and pushed him down onto the couch. “Try it out first.”

Eli ran a hand over the material, then flopped onto his back. He brought his arms up and back down again, like he was making a snow angel. “I want it. How much is it?” Andrew told him, and Eli’s face fell. “Seriously? That’s how much a couch goes for these days? Ugh.”

“That’s actually cheaper than you’d get at most places,” Nolan pointed out.

“We have payment plans,” Andrew said.

Eli brightened again.

“Test it out for a few minutes. Maybe test out a few other couches too. This one also comes in different fabrics and colors. If you decide you’d like to buy it, we can discuss options and payment plans. I’ll be at the counter over there; just come find me.”

Eli gave him a thumbs-up, then patted the bed. “Nolan, try it.”

Nolan lay down next to him and stared up at the cavernous ceiling.

“What do you think?” Eli asked.

It was nice. Not at all what Nolan would ever purchase for himself. The couch in his apartment in San Francisco was a perfectly serviceable thing that was halfway between fancy and comfortable that the sales person had called a classic style for an everyday space. His best friend had visited him this past summer, and King had given the couch one arch look before saying, “When did the 1800s visit?”

“It’s cozy,” he said in answer to Eli’s question.

“Right? Can you imagine coming home after a long day and snuggling with your partner while watching a movie? You wouldn’t have to get up to go to bed. You could fall asleep right here.”

That did sound appealing. Nolan turned his head to blink at the side of Eli’s face. “I didn’t realize you have a partner.”

“Oh, I don’t. I’m speaking in hypotheticals. Like, hypothetically, if I had a pet, I don’t think I’d necessarily want a white couch for them to drag their messy paws all over. But that said, cleaning products exist, and those hypothetical pets are hypothetical for a reason.”

“Speaking of pets, whatever happened to Piper?”

“Ah, well.” Eli’s chest expanded on a deep inhale. “Hamsters only live two to three years, so . . .”

A pang of secondhand sadness hit Nolan square in the solar plexus. He’d met Piper once when he’d dined at the Parkers’, and she’d been a cute ball of fluff with a tiny nose. “I’m sorry, Eli.”

“It was a long time ago.” He went silent for a moment, then said, “Would you rather spend one day a year for the rest of your life tiny like a hamster or big like a gorilla?”

A ceiling fan rotated lazily above, and Nolan watched it for several spins as he thought. “Probably a gorilla.”