Our steps synchronize as we head down the hill, passing restaurants emptying out, nightclubs filling up, dark laundromats, and a smattering of convenience stores. The storefronts are topped with second-story apartments, all of their Victorian-style bay windows casting creamy light down onto the street.

We hook a left on Green Street, and there it is.

The Golden Pizza Boy building is bright red, the name of the restaurant scrawled around the top in antique lettering. A giant neon sign in the shape of a hand hangs from the roof, pointing inside.

The bar is on one side, and on the opposite side a long countertop runs the length of the wall with a number of stools set close together.

I order a slice of pizza at the bar, settling on clam and garlic. Maybe if I smell bad, I won’t jump Alex at every available opportunity. It’s protection from my own dark impulses.

Alex insists on paying even though he just gets a water, and I take my food over to sit on one of the available stools. He grabs the free seat next to it and faces me, one elbow resting on the narrow counter next to us. It’s cozy, squeezed in together with people all around us, our knees brushing with every movement.

Once I’m done stuffing in a few bites of delicious pizza, I enact the talk to Alex and get to know more about him than his hands and mouth and body plan.

“Tell me something about yourself,” I say.

“What do you want to know?”

What do I want to know? I want the good and the bad. I already know most of his success stories, and I want more. I want the dark and twisty. I want it all. “What’s something embarrassing you’ve done recently?”

“We aren’t pulling any punches, are we?” But he laughs and rubs his hands together and watches me, his eyes crinkled at the corners. “Okay, I got it. Yesterday, I found out my neighbor’s name is Jerry.” He takes a sip of water.

“How is that embarrassing?”

“I’ve been calling him Ben for a year and a half.”

I laugh. “Ben? How did you get it so wrong?”

“I think it was the ice cream. Ben and Jerry. I knew it was one of those.” He grins and I can’t help but chuckle in response. “Now your turn.” He nods at me. “Most embarrassing thing you’ve done recently. Go.”

I sigh. “I do something embarrassing every day.”

“Oh really? Trying to one-up me?”

I nudge his knee with mine. “You’ve seen me in action.”

“What, you mean talking in front of people? A lot of people are nervous about that. It’s no big deal.”