Page 88 of Yard Sale

Tugging him into my arms, I wrapped around him and held him tight. We’d have to go back to the house soon, to face those bits of real life that had crept in. But he’d gotten us another little space away from everyone.

And while tomorrow might bring more pressure to think about life outside of all this, Aravind also didn’t shy away from talking about our future.

That had to mean something. Didn’t it?

I had to appreciate that all of Aravind’s family ate with their hands. It took me a moment to get the hang of everything that was on my plate, but I had Rohan on one side and Aravind on the other, who explained each bit of food, and after a while, I stopped worrying about being messy and just enjoyed myself.

I had never been so comfortable or full before. The conversation carried on around me. Liam, Ferris’s dad, and his brother were quieter than everyone else, but they were also kind. Logan was a rookie firefighter in a very small suburb of Boston, and he spent most of the dinner telling everyone about the weird calls he’d gone to over the last year.

I settled in and listened, and ate, and basked in the occasional touch Aravind would drop on my thigh.

And when Rohan asked, “So, what do you think next season will look like for you?” I wasn’t afraid to answer.

“I’m not sure. I have a scan tomorrow, and then I’ll know if I have to sit this one out.”

“Are you nervous?” he asked.

I wiped my hand on my napkin, then took a long drink of water before answering. “I don’t think so. This season’s going to look different no matter what.”

“And that’s enough hockey for me,” Aravind declared.

Rohan sighed. “Fair enough. I actually have something for you, beta. I got an email the other day from my friend Rajesh? Do you remember him?”

Aravind groaned. “Baba, you have introduced me to at least a baker’s dozen Rajeshes over the years.”

“Yes, but this one is in San Francisco. He’s working on this human nature project, and he was asking if you’d be interested in doing some travel. He wants photos and stories of people. He has a whole list of countries he’d like his photographer to visit, and the job would be for about five years. I thought you might love it.”

My body went cold. Five years. Five…five years on the road. Five years of waiting? Of pining?

Aravind cleared his throat. “Wow. That’s…amazing, Baba. Um…can I think about it?”

“Yes, but not too long. The first assignment starts in October, but he needs to do onboarding, which means you’ll need to head over there for a few months. I already have a place lined up for you to stay.”

Aravind said nothing for a long time. So long, in fact, one of his aunties spoke up. I was pretty sure it was Soma.

“Aren’t you excited? You’ve been talking about doing something like this for years. When we came to your graduation, you told us all you were going to spend ten years traveling the world and taking photos and writing about people you met.”

“Yeah. No, I know. Um…it’s not that I don’t think this is amazing, okay?”

“Oh,” Soma said with a laugh. “You’re worried about your boyfriend, who will be too busy anyway playing his hockey.”

“I think Tiago and Aravind are uncomfortable,” Ferris said. “They look uncomfortable.”

I kind of loved him for being able to just point it out like that. The table fell silent again, and then Aravind grabbed my hand.

“We’ll talk about it later. I also wanted to let you know that Tiago and I got a little rental a couple houses down.”

“What for?” Soma demanded.

Ankita answered her, but not in English, and then they both laughed. “We’ll let the boys have some privacy.”

And now I was mortified, but Aravind didn’t let my hand go, and although it felt like a hurricane had erupted in my chest, he was keeping me grounded.

I didn’t know if it was a cultural thing or Aravind’s family thing, but there was no big dessert or anything after the meal. One of the aunties was serving a fresh pot of masala chai, but Aravind and I didn’t stick around to have any. He had one bag packed to share between us, and he tugged me out the door before we could tell anyone we were going.

“They’re going to be annoyed,” I said as we hurried up the driveway.

He paused to slap both canes into my hands. “I know, but they’ll forgive me. If I don’t get you alone in the next five minutes, I’m going to lose my mind.”