They go out for dinner, or more of a snack, really, splitting a couple appetizers at a place Jake’s sister told him to check out. It’s busy even at eleven, but just quiet enough that they manage to get a table, formal enough that it’s a good thing they’re wearing game day suits. The appetizers are so tiny that David’s still hungry after his fill, but everything tastes good, the kind of carefully crafted food David doesn’t usually have the patience for with thousands of calories to barrel through daily just to maintain his weight. The bill’s total makes him wince, especially considering how little they ate, but he reaches for it anyway.

“Rock-paper-scissors?” Jake says.

“It’s fine, I’ll pay,” David says.

“Rock-paper-scissors,” Jake insists.

David rolls his eyes at him.

“I’ll go up front and pay at the bar if you don’t play me for this,” Jake threatens.

“Fine,” David sighs.

Jake wins — or loses — the battle, refuses to play best two out of three, and slides his credit card into the billfold while David scowls at him.

“Nobody picks scissors,” David says.

“I do,” Jake says, and nudges David’s foot under the table with his own.

They share a cab back at Jake’s insistence, even though Jake’s hotel isn’t in the same direction as David’s apartment. David allows it, but only because Jake agrees to let him pay his portion of the fare, throwing his hands up with an innocent look, like he wasn’t planning otherwise. David knows Jake well enough by now to know that’s a total lie. It’s a startling realisation.

“Wait five minutes, okay?” Jake asks the cab driver when they reach David’s apartment, handing him a twenty dollar bill on top of the fare David’s paid. It would serve him right if he came down to an empty spot, but the driver smiles at him, the way everyone does. Jake just seems to draw everyone to him, and even David isn’t immune anymore, if he ever really was.

Jake follows David into the lobby. “What are you even doing?” David asks.

“Walking you home,” Jake says seriously, and David snorts and lets Jake lope up the stairs behind him, close enough that David can feel him there, just over his shoulder as he unlocks the door.

“I’ll call you tomorrow morning,” Jake says, once David’s inside. “With my awesome game plan.”