The Stars That Tremble Read Online Free PDF Page B

right now. If the rest of the workshop goes well, maybe we can work something out.”
    “I… okay.” It seemed so unlikely. People never handed things like this to Mike.
    “But I didn’t just want to talk about Emma. That wasn’t the only reason I invited you here. I… ah… well.”
    Gio laughed, although it seemed to lack humor. He rubbed the back of his head with his hand, which pushed some of his dark hair up into spikes briefly before it all fluttered back into place. Mike hadn’t really noticed before, but Gio had a hell of a head of hair, thick and a bit unruly, the sort of hair one could really run his fingers through. He flexed his fingers under the table as he thought about doing just that.
    Luckily, Gio didn’t notice because he was too busy staring at the table. He laughed again. “ O mio Dio , I do not think I have been this nervous since I was a teenager.”
    “What are you nervous about?” It dawned on Mike suddenly that Gio was perhaps on edge for the same reasons Mike was. That also seemed absurd—how could a man like Gio possibly be interested in a man like Mike?—but maybe the situation wasn’t so strange if you stripped it down to its essence. Gio was worldly and knowledgeable and so very Italian. Mike had no more education than a high school diploma and came from a South Brooklyn lace-curtain Irish family, and the only reason he had ever been outside of the greater New York metropolitan area was because the army had sent him there. And yet hadn’t Gio been implying the day before that he was not interested in women when he said Dacia wasn’t his type? That meant Mike and Gio were just two men with some kind of attraction zinging between them, both nervous and a little awkward.
    It made Mike laugh.
    Gio let out a breath and looked up. “What’s so funny?”
    “I was just thinking, you know, here we are, two guys having a casual lunch. And yet we’re both as nervous as if we were on a first date.”
    Gio let out a little burst of laughter. “I… yes. Honestly? I invited you to lunch because I thought that the handsome father of one of my students might be a man I’d like to get to know better. It’s probably somewhat unethical, but—now why are you laughing?”
    Mike tried to school his features—the laughter was almost as much humor as nerves at this point—and he had to sip his water to stop. “Emma has been teasing me for days, claiming that because you asked me to call you by your first name, you must like me.”
    “She may have been onto something,” Gio said, chuckling.
    “Yeah?”
    “Is that so surprising?”
    “I guess not.” Mike found himself smiling. It was certainly a relief to know for sure that Gio was gay, at least. There was also something kind of new and interesting about this situation. Gio had been playing on his mind for days, and now it turned out the feeling was mutual. “Of course, in her little teenage mind, I’m sure she imagines us making eyes at each other and, like, passing notes in study hall.”
    Gio smirked. “What would your note say?”
    Mike considered. He felt giddy as he thought about what to say. “You’re hot. I like you.”
    Gio laughed. “If only it were that simple, eh?”
    “Maybe it is. We’re having lunch now, aren’t we?”
    “That’s what I like about being an adult. There’s a lot less stronzate . I teach teenagers. I see the drama these kids drag themselves through.”
    “Yeah. Emma and her best friend Isobel have been having a lot of very serious conversations about boys lately. I tell her she should ask for my advice. I know a few things about men, since I am one and I’ve been dating them for twenty years, but she says, ‘No, Dad , you don’t know what it’s like.’” Mike rolled his eyes.
    Gio shook his head. “I can’t even imagine what it’s like to raise a girl.”
    “She’s a great kid, but it’s not always easy.”
    Gio got up a few minutes later and went up to the counter to order them