Vin placed his hands on the mat and kicked up into a handstand as the message played. It was short, to the point. “I’m here. I’d very much like to see you.”

Adjusting his balance, his weight, onto one hand, Vin began to lower himself, focusing on perfect control.

The message played again. “I’m here. I’d very much like to see you.”

One press. Two. Three.

“I’m here. I’d very much like to see you.”

Four. Five. He adjusted his balance to switch hands.

“I’m here.”

Five more presses.

“I’d very much like to see you.”

From his spot against the wall—because lion claws and gym mats did not mix—Kaveh gave a wide yawn.

He was probably correct. This level of maudlin was, quite simply, boring. “Stop playback,” Vin said and rolled forward and up to his feet.

Hamilton would very much like to see Vin. That was the message. Now Vin needed to decide…all sorts of things.

Did he believe the message? Was Hamilton being authentic? Was he simply being polite?

What did Hamilton expect? What did he want?

What did Vin want?

“He doesn’t know me anymore.” Which summoned the deeper question—had Hamilton ever known him at all? Or had they both played a game of masks together, with lies all around?

That wasn’t even the worst possibility. And maybe, what Vin was really afraid of, was that this was the mask. That as soon as he saw Hamilton, it would fall away, and he’d have to face the truth—the truth he had run away from his family, his world, his very self to escape.

This wasn’t productive. His mind was racing through loops as boringly repetitive as Hamilton’s message over and over.

“All right,” he said, and Kaveh’s tail twitched. The lion was sensitive to any shift in Vin’s mood. “All right. I’ll see him. Since he’s here.”

That decision made, Vin was able to return to his workout with only a minimal amount of obsessive second-guessing.