“Oh my God, I’m the shit at planning parties. Ok, how many kegs are we going to need? Do you think whoever hosts will already have a beer bong? How many glow-in-the-dark bracelets should I order? Two hundred? Three hundred? From one to ten, how powerful should the blacklights be?”
Theo’s face was pure horror.
Auggie’s façade cracked, and a grin slipped out.
“You are a monster,” Theo informed him.
“Some wrapping paper is flavored—”
Auggie didn’t get a chance to finish before Theo started trying to drag him out of the house again.
20
Theo moved one of the coolers full of beer. It had wheels, so it was easy to roll. Then the new spot looked even worse than the old one, so he moved it back. At which point, the drain plug came loose, and ice melt leaked out onto the floor.
“Shit,” Theo said, glancing around. He grabbed a wad of napkins from a table loaded with appetizers and finger foods, and then he shoved the plug back into place and mopped up the water.
“Everything ok?” John-Henry Somerset asked from behind him.
John-Henry had been one of the few people Theo had considered calling when he had decided to go along with Auggie’s plan. In theory, the idea that another of Cart’s friends could host a surprise party was a solid one. And although Theo knew there were risks involved in forcing Cart to do something in public with him, he also felt like it might be the only way to get Cart to make the jump. The problem, of course, was that Ian’s and Cart’s shared friends all tended to come from the Wahredua PD, and while those men and women had been pleasant enough to Theo while Ian had been alive, they’d all vanished from his life after the accident. Cart was the exception, for obvious reasons. John-Henry, however, was everybody’s friend; the proof was that he hadn’t asked any questions when Theo had pitched his idea. He’d even offered his house before Theo could find a polite way to ask.
“Fine,” Theo said. “Sorry. I think I messed up the floor.”
A soft laugh announced Cora’s entrance. John-Henry’s wife was beautiful: tall, pale, her dark hair artfully curled. Slipping her arm through John-Henry’s, she rested her cheek against his shoulder and said, “You can’t mess up the floor, Theo. This house is tiny and ancient, but it’s apparently indestructible.”
“If you ask the guy learning how to mix cement and reinforce rotting joists,” John-Henry said drily, pausing to take a drink of the Bud Lite he held, “you might get a different opinion.”
“Do you want me to grab a towel?” Theo asked.
“It’s fine,” John-Henry said. “Relax. Take a breath. This is going to be fun.”
And it would be fun, Theo reminded himself as he got to his feet. He glanced around the Somersets’ small home. Cora had helped him hang the birthday banners, and John-Henry had moved the furniture to open up enough space for people to mingle. Most of the food and drink, Theo had brought himself, but the Somersets had contributed beer and tequila.
Over the course of the next half hour, guests began to arrive. Since John-Henry had been the one to organize things, they focused their attention on him and Cora. A few of the off-duty patrol officers stopped to talk to Theo, but their conversations were short and stilted. Theo wasn’t sure what they saw when they looked at him. Ian, dead? Lana, disabled? A man with the broken pieces of his life lying at his feet?
When Auggie and Dylan arrived, Theo took a controlled breath. Things were going to be fine. Dylan got a beer. Auggie grabbed one too, but before Theo had to do anything, John-Henry had crossed the room and was talking to the younger men. Auggie nodded and smiled and chatted and put the beer back as discreetly as he could.
“This is going to be great,” Auggie said when he and Dylan joined Theo.
Dylan, holding a brown-glass Goose Island, already looked bored out of his mind and was making no effort to hide it.
Before Theo had to answer, John-Henry called out, “Five minutes, people.”
The lights went off. The party settled into an awkward stillness that made Theo’s heart pound. A few people whispered. One man laughed too loudly.
“Don’t you want to move up to the front of the room?” Auggie asked in a whisper.
Theo shook his head, then realized it was too dark for Auggie to see. “No.”
He thought his voice had been under control, but after a moment, a hand found his in the darkness and squeezed once. To his own surprise, Theo squeezed back. Sweat soaked the back of his shirt. He was starting to realize he’d made a terrible mistake.
The knock at the door made Theo jump. John-Henry’s footsteps crossed the room, and then the door swung open. Light from the porch spilled into the house, and Theo blinked as his vision adjusted. His stomach twisted and made a dangerous noise. Auggie squeezed his hand again.
“Cora’s got a migraine,” John-Henry was saying, “sorry about the lights. Come in. I’ll grab those papers, and you can—”
When Cart stepped inside, the lights sprang on, and everyone shouted, “Surprise!”
And he was definitely surprised. His mouth made an O, and he scrubbed one hand over the bristles on his head, turning back and forth to gape at the people packing the house. Then everyone seemed to start talking at once: John-Henry clapping Cart on the shoulder, bending down to speak into his ear, friends surging forward to congratulate Cart, one of the younger officers, Moraes, shouting to ask what kind of beer Cart wanted. For a moment, Cart’s eyes found Theo’s in the crowd, and terror paralyzed Theo. Then, his face heating, Theo gave a tiny shrug.
Thank you, Cart mouthed.
After that, the party was perfect. People ate. People drank. At the beginning, Cart had to make the rounds, a beer in one hand as he thanked people for coming. Before too long, though, he had found his way to Theo’s side. Theo kept things casual: no kissing, no holding hands, nothing that might take this beyond what Cart wanted. They settled for a one-armed hug; Cart’s body was tight with tension, but when they separated, he just laughed and drank deeply from the Goose Island he was carrying. Pretty soon Auggie and Dylan were back—Auggie had a beer, which he immediately handed off to Dylan when John-Henry and Cora got near.
Groups formed and dissolved. Cart was there, and then he wasn’t. This could work, Theo thought, something bright unfurling in his chest. Baby steps like this. Friends in public. And then, one day, when Cart was ready, more than friends.
“You’re a good friend,” John-Henry said, slinging an arm around Theo. His breath smelled like tequila, and Theo was mildly surprised to see that John-Henry was well on his way to being trashed. “You’re a really good friend, you know that?”
Auggie and Dylan were standing in the corner. Dylan was frowning, shaking his head, and then he gestured once at the door with his beer. Auggie was trying to say something.
“We’ve got to find you a good guy,” John-Henry said. “You know what? We’ve got to find you a great guy.”
“Ok, honey,” Cora said, touching John-Henry’s arm. “Theo’s doing just fine, I think.”