“I'm quite happy for that smile, because Dad told me once you should be grateful for the gifts that are the rarest.”

“In the middle of all this, as Sean slips out of his jacket, he looks over his shoulder at me and he smiles at me, just a glancing, faint thing before he turns back to Tommy. I'm quite happy for that smile, because Dad told me once you should be grateful for the gifts that are the rarest.”

“Mum once told Dad that vices are only vices when looked at through the frame of society.”

“I couldn't remember the last time I hadn't had to fake gratitude for a gift, and now that I actually was grateful, thank you didn't seem to cut it.”

“I try very hard to keep my eyes from darting to Sean because I'm quite certain that no one will be able to miss how I look at him and how I find him looking back.”

“Gabe brings home a chicken and Tommy Falk for dinner. Truth be told, I'm not unhappy to see any of them. Gabe, because it's been so long since we've had dinner with him; the chicken because it's not beans; and Tommy Falk because his presence makes Gabe cheerful and goofy.”

“And all the while I try very hard to keep my eyes from darting to Sean because I'm quite certain that no one at the table will be able to miss how I look at him and how I find him looking back.”