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It’s the Thursday after the weekend in New Hampshire, and I haven’t seen Olivia all week.
I’m at the ramen shop having lunch with Hudson. I feel like a dick, because I’ve hardly heard anything he’s said for the past twenty minutes. I’ve just been nodding along and giving non-committal grunts as he’s tried to carry a conversation.
Hell must have frozen over if he’s the chatty one between the two of us.
I just keep thinking about that morning with Olivia. How fucking incredible it was. And how much it would suck if it never happened again.
Which, considering how stingy Olivia’s been with replying to my texts, seems like a distinct possibility.
“Tuck, check it out,” Hudson says, at a rare moment when my attention’s drifted back to my immediate surroundings.
I turn in my seat, towards the back of the restaurant. Kazu is right behind the wooden counter, but he’s pouring a clear liquid into a shot glass. Without any change to his normal stoic expression, he throws it back in one gulp.
But as I look at him, I realize maybe his face isn’t quite that stoic. I can read something there. Not quite heartbreak, but something close. Maybe I’d miss it if I weren’t feeling the same thing right now. But because I am, I sense a kindred spirit in this moment.
“Hey, Kazu,” I call over to him. His eyes shift to me. I tilt my head back. “Why don’t you bring that liquor over here? I could use a fuckin’ drink myself.”
We’re the only customers here right now, so why not?
Kazu regards me silently for a beat. Then he nods, dipping his chin lower than the normal centimeter he doles out when acknowledging people.
Kazu reaches under the counter and picks up two more shot glasses, then grabs the bottle and walks over to us, taking a seat next to me. He pours himself, Hudson, and me a glass of what I now see is sake, and we all throw it back.
My eyes close as the liquid burns down my throat. Fuck, I needed that.
Kazu sighs. “Women are often inscrutable,” he says.
“You fuckin’ said it, buddy,” I reply.
Hudson shrugs. “They made sense to me.”
“She gives me a book,” Kazu says, pouring himself more sake, “and then suddenly, she’s going on a date with another man.” He throws back the shot. “Inscrutable.”
Hudson purses his lips, nodding his head in thought. “Well, what did you do after she gave you the book?”
Kazu looks at him blankly. “I read it.”
“What did you do for her after she gave you the book?” Hudson prods.
Kazu’s silent for a beat.
“Did you give her a book that you think she’ll like?”
“No,” Kazu answers, drawing out the syllable thoughtfully.
“You can’t just let her make a gesture and not return it with one of your own,” Hudson says.
“You gotta get her a book, bro,” I say, grabbing the sake and taking another shot. “Something that, like, relates to her in some way. Or a book that makes you think of her when you think about it.”
He nods slowly, his brain absorbing the idea.
“What about you?” Hudson turns his gaze on me.
My brow furrows. “What about me?”
“What’s your easily solvable girl problem?”
I huff a sarcastic laugh. “Easily solvable. Yeah, right.”
