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“And what?” Nolan prompted.

“Give me a second. I’m trying to think of a word for boring that starts with S.”

“Screw you. I don’t date boring people.”

“Uh, do we remember Kevin? He spent the entire hour and a quarter drive from Toronto to Barrie talking about that totally worthless foreign money he found in his grandfather’s things after he passed, and how it was going to be worth millions any day now. And then he went into detail about what he’d do with his millions any day now.”

Nolan laughed. “I forgot about Kevin. Why were we going to Barrie, anyway?”

“I forget. I think my parents needed help with something. Kevin tagged along because he wanted to visit the Barrie Antiques Centre. Antiques, Nolan. He didn’t want to visit the breweries or take a scenic drive along Lake Simcoe or mountain bike through scenic trails or visit one of the parks. He wanted to go antiquing.”

“Hey, don’t knock it.” Nolan bumped their shoulders together. “Some people like antiquing.”

“His favorite color is beige. Beige.” King crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s Eli Parker’s favorite color? I bet you it’s not fucking beige.”

“I don’t know, and Jesus, don’t say his name so loudly.”

King merely raised a dark eyebrow. “Ask him. Right now.”

“What? No. It’s intermission. He’s probably⁠—”

“Do it.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Nolan dug his phone out of his pocket. “Next time I’m leaving you to the camp counselors’ mercy.”

“Ha! It’s way too late for that.”

Nolan’s phone vibrated, and he opened Eli’s text. “Sunset,” he said. “His favorite color is sunset.”

King’s eyes went comically wide. “Holy shit,” he said almost reverently. “He’s perfect for your boring ass. Don’t fuck this up, man. He’s a keeper.”

Exasperated, Nolan sighed. “First Kevin’s boring, now I’m boring?”

“You’re boring in different ways.”

Nolan was about to rebut when his phone vibrated again.

Eli:

Why do you ask?

Nolan:

King wanted to know.

Eli:

Cool. What’s your favorite color?

Nolan typed out green, then frowned. Was that as boring as beige? He went with teal instead.

Eli:

Love teal. What’s King’s favorite color?

“Eli wants to know what your favorite color is,” Nolan said. “Do you have a favorite color? Why don’t I know this about you?”

“I do. It’s the beauty of the fur of a lion lounging in the Serengeti.”