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“Ian made me a man”

“Was that so hard?”

Paul smiled and shook his head

Ian’s playful expression changed “Are you… sorry I did?”

“How could you ask that? No Not in a million years”

“He loves artner

“You’re a goofball”

“But you love ” Ian pushed the in” (off-key) as he went

Paul laughed He felt much better

Chopsticks and Sushi

Mountains are storh winds and deep, blowing snow In eather, afternoon thunderstorh mountains, usually the tallest objects, are often struck by lightning The hiker who starts up the mountain on a clear sunny day , in inches or feet of snow Stor

As Paul filled his plate with rice, egg rolls, and salt-and-pepper shrimp, Ian explored the back of the Great Wall Buffet The back here they kept the salad bar and the trays of sushi He filled his plate with an assortment, plus seaweed salad and miniature octopus from the salad bar He sat down at the booth armed with two sets of chopsticks in red paper sleeves

“Here,” he said, offering one of the sets of chopsticks to Paul

“I don’t need those,” Paul said He reached out to take the fork and knife, neatly wrapped in a napkin and fastened with a green paper ring, from the table

Ian snatched it away from him