On the subway neither of them speak. Vince sits on the bench by the door and Eric takes one of the chairs alongside. When the train jerks forward, his knee knocks into Vince’s. He stares ahead at the door connecting this car to the next, pretending not to notice, while Vince studies the subway map across the aisle. They have a straight shot from here to the campus, no connections to make, no long waits between trains. It’ll take a little more than twenty minutes to get back to school. Vince doesn’t know if he can stand it that long, Eric’s knee hitting his at every stop. If the car was less crowded, he would move further away. So much for stop touching me.
That was one of the conditions of their renewed relationship, along with no talking of the past. Vince remembers clearly when they set
