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“It’s free,” I reminded him.
“So is a poke in the eye, but no one’s gonna line up for it,” he said with a sad smile. “But what you did here…” he tightened his lips. “Really. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it even if you don’t give away a single test.”
“You don’t think anyone’s gonna get one?”
Titus shook his head trying to erase what he said.
“Who knows? Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you’ll have a line out the door. All I’m saying is that I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you’ve done this. Thank you.”
I blushed hearing everything I wanted to hear.
“So, Cage said you have a table here as well. Which one is it?” I asked him.
Titus turned and pointed at the table with the beautiful black guy behind it.
“You’re selling hot guys? I’ll take one,” I joked.
Titus laughed.
“That’s Claude, my business partner.”
“Oh, that’s Claude! Cage mentioned something about him. He’s single, isn’t he?”
Titus looked at me.
“Not that I am… or that I’m interested,” I said trying to back my way out of the corner. “Asking for a friend?”
Titus chuckled.
“Would you like me to introduce you… for your friend?”
“I mean, it would only be polite, right?” I asked continuing the joke.
Titus walked me across the room drawing Claude’s soulful eyes to mine.
“Claude, this is Lou. Lou’s a good friend of mine. Lou this is my business partner Claude. We played on our high school football team together.”
Claude stood and offered me his hand. He was very different than Titus and Nero. Claude was serious and composed. He reminded me of royalty. I didn’t feel like joking around in front of him. He looked like he had more important things on his mind.
“Nice to meet you. So, you two are business partners. What’s the business?”
I knew bits and pieces of what the two were planning but Claude walked me through all of it in detail. They were going to sell adventure tours focused on the water passageways and falls surrounding the town. It was a seasonal business that would allow Titus to continue attending school. And it sounded like a pretty great idea.
“So, how did you two meet?” Claude asked the both of us.
I told him in detail even mentioning that Titus had met my parents. I could hear myself making Titus sound like my boyfriend. I wasn’t sure if Titus wanted his business partner to know he was into guys, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to be with him. I wanted it so badly that my heart ached thinking about it.
“That sounds nice,” Claude replied sincerely. “Then maybe we’ll be seeing more of each other when the season starts. Has Titus given you the tour yet?”
“The tour?” I asked Titus.
“I had to come up with where I would take people if they signed up.”
“When they sign up,” Claude corrected.
“Oh, I want to go,” I said enthusiastically.
“Really? Because it’s a lot of walking through the woods with a canoe,” Titus clarified.
