Page 30 of Shadow Of Sin

“Good oh my God or bad?”

“Sal. This is incredible.”

He turns to Wolfe. “What about you?”

A red flush creeps up the sides of Wolfe’s face as he stares at the plate. “I don’t really know if⁠—”

“Trust me, it’s great,” I say, interrupting him. “It’s not Honey Nut Cheerios but give it a shot.”

“Okay, for you, I’ll do it.” He sweeps the fork around his plate like he’s trying to find the perfect bite. He takes the smallest amount of the short ribs and polenta on his fork and slowly raises it to his mouth, like he’s giving himself a little pep talk.

He puts the fork in his mouth and chews carefully. I watch right along with Sal for his reaction. Finally, Wolfe swallows and looks at Sal. “The sauce could use less heat. It’s fighting the sweetness of the polenta instead of working with it. But the meat is perfect.”

Sal stares at him. “Did you just give me a professional critique of my short ribs?”

He shrugs. “You asked for honesty.”

“I asked if they were good.”

“And I told you how to make them better. That’s more useful.”

Sal looks at me. I shrug. “He’s like this about everything. You should hear him talk about cereal.”

“Honey Nut Cheerios are a perfectly⁠—”

“Don’t start,” I say, holding my fork in the air. “You’re doing so well.”

We keep eating. I’m painfully aware of his knee, so close to mine under the bar. Not touching. Just there. My pulse kicks up.

“What’s the deal with the music?” I ask, nodding at the Black Sabbath logo on his shirt. “You’ve been cycling through band t-shirts like a very angry jukebox since we met. I wouldn’t have pegged you as a metal guy.”

“What would you have pegged me as?”

“Classical. Like elevator music. Something that sounds like a screensaver.”

“Classical is too organized. My brain doesn’t need more organization. It needs something loud enough to shut everything else up.” He taps the side of his head. “Hard rock is the only thing louder than the noise in here.”

“Interesting,” I say. “I was just surprised because you don’t seem like a metal guy. It doesn’t really fit with the rest of you.”

“It fits perfectly with the rest of me. You just don’t know the rest of me yet.”

I nod, a small smile lifting my lips. “That’s fair.”

“Metal also has the most complicated rhythms in popular music,” Wolfe says. “Most people hear noise. I hear how it’s built.”

I nod at his shirt. “You listen to Slayer because of how their music is built.”

“Partly.”

“That is the most ‘you’ thing you’ve ever said.” I take a sip of water. “What about something a normal person might enjoy? Something that isn’t about structure?”

He actually thinks about it, like I asked him a hard question. He taps his fork against his plate for a few seconds. “There’s a Deftones song called ‘Digital Bath.’ I don’t listen to it for how it’s put together.”

“Why do you listen to it?”

He looks at me. “Because I can’t figure out why I like it. And that doesn’t happen to me much.”

Sweet Lord.