Chapter 6

I walked into the lobby of the hotel in my usual jeans and long-sleeve T-shirt ensemble, since I had not really planned for an evening outing while I was here. At least I was wearing leather Chucks instead of muddy hiking boots. I wasn’t sure what type of dress code we’d have, but I figured that they’d give the farenji a pass for showing up underdressed. I looked around but didn’t see anyone from the group. I was glancing at my watch, wondering if I was late, when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Hey.” Elias smelled like bay rum and the beach, as he always did, and I actually had to restrain myself from leaning in to sniff him.

“Hey yourself. Are we the first ones down?”

He shook his head and pointed in the direction of the hotel entrance doors. “Tsehay’s out there getting a taxi. We didn’t want to use the Aid vehicles since we’re not going to be working tonight. Shall we?”

The question was delivered with a wave of his hand and a very mischievous smile. And he looked so good. Also in jeans, but on his feet he had his black Birkens. I’d noticed those were his evening footwear of choice here in Awassa, where the nights were definitely warmer than in Addis. His shirt was a traditional Ethiopian tunic—white with black, red, green, and yellow embroidery on the collar, hem, and sleeves. Like always, his curls sprung in every direction. It was hard to focus with him this close, but somewhere in the recesses of my mind I knew he was probably waiting for a response that wasn’t a moan or me pawing at his chest.

“Sure, let’s go.”

I swallowed hard as he smiled at me, leading the way outside. Sometimes I felt like Elias had to think I was a weirdo, because every once in a while I’d catch him giving me a look that was somewhere between curiosity and something very close to bewilderment. Like he was still not sure what I was, but he was getting a kick out of finding out. That was as far as I went on that particular mental exercise, because nothing good was going to come from me deciding Elias saw me as anything more than an expat who was mostly okay to deal with.

Once outside we joined Tsehay, and I looked around our small group. “It’s just us?”