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Except that maybe it was easier to tell a stranger. It felt like he hadn’t had anyone to talk to for a long time.
“Have you gotten him evaluated?”
James grabbed two sleeping bags and Mikey’s giant frog stuffie, and Elio grabbed the last sleeping bag and the pillows without being asked.
“No. Uh, my er, my ex-wife really fought against getting him a diagnosis. I kind of privately think that she might be on the autism spectrum. She had lots of therapists when she was a kid, and I’m sure they helped her, but all that she can see now was that the other kids bullied her for being different. I want to respect that…”
“But you want Michael to get the support he needs, too.”
“Yeah.” God, it was such a relief hearing somebody say that. James had wrestled with it a thousand times in his head, but all of his friends were mutual friends, and he didn’t want any of it getting back to Catherine.
They both tossed their bundles into the tent and went back for another load.
“If it helps, my brother Calvin has ADHD. You can ask him about his experiences.”
“Thank you. I might, if you don’t mind. We’re really lucky we ran into you.”
“I’ll be here all week.” Elio leaned into the car, one knee on the bumper, to grab Dana’s backpack, and James practically swallowed that tongue when Elio peeked back over his shoulder. “Is this going in?”
In where? In… God, did Elio know what he looked like? His bouncy, rainbow-covered ass was just right there. Fuck.
In… In… Oh, in the tent. “Yeah,” James finally answered.
“Like what you see?” Elio’s green eyes sparkled.
James swallowed hard. He hadn’t wanted Elio to notice.
“So, uh, what do you do? When you’re not, uh, camping?” James grabbed the nearest duffle bag and a mattress pad, then strode toward the tent.
“I’m in school,” Elio said easily.
Right. Jesus. For all his broad shoulders and deep voice, he might not even be legal.
“Uh, what are you studying?”
“My research is in GIS mapping for urban planning, though I have a pet project around Civil War data.”
James mentally revised his age estimation up quite a few years. That sounded like grad school at least. “What do you want to do with it?”
“When I finish my doctorate, I’d love to get a job with a municipal government or a not-for-profit, though there are tons of corporate opportunities too. Or I could always freelance as a consultant. I’ve been enjoying teaching classes this semester though. I wouldn’t mind teaching grad students and consulting on the side.”
James revised that age estimate again. “How old are you?” he finally asked.
Elio threw his head back, laughing. “Oh my God. I’m twenty-seven. I know I look young. How old did you think I was?”
“Twenty-two?” James hazarded. That was being generous. Twenty-seven was much better than he’d thought… but still fifteen years younger than he was. Almost sixteen. James didn’t even want to think about his forty-third birthday coming up next month.
“God, you could not pay me enough to be twenty-two again.” Elio laughed.
“Me either,” James agreed fervently. At twenty-two, he’d been overworked and exhausted in his first year of med school, and had already been dating Catherine for a year.
Though twenty-seven sounded impossibly young, too. He and Catherine had been finishing their residencies. Catherine had been charting out when they’d start trying for a baby. Everything on that whole path… well, it had just seemed easier to go along with it. Now, at forty-mumble, he felt like his life might actually be starting, which was exciting and terrifying in equal amounts.
They’d pretty much reached the end of the stuff to unload from the car. “Thank you again for helping with all this.”
“No problem.” Elio smiled easily. “And I apologize for the flirting. Message received. You guys are still welcome to hang out with us, and it won’t happen again.”
James opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
