The Way the Light Hits His Hands
Real. Fucking. Diamonds.
Jason Clarke has been on exactly two dates with Rami Moretti. He’s already in over his head — and he knows it.
Chapter 3 of Hold Fast is Tuesday night: the second date, the one Rami spent all week planning without Jason knowing. A black SUV at 7 PM sharp. A driver named Danny — short for Darabshah, Persian father, Italian mother, “they compromised on my suffering” — who turns out to be funnier than he looks. An elevator that requires a keycard, a floor number, and a thumbprint. A butler named Baxter waiting at the 78th floor.
And then the penthouse. Three walls of glass, the whole city spread out below, marble floors and candlelight and a private chef who pulled from a farm upstate because Rami told him Jason grew up on one.
Jason is absolutely out of his depth. He’s counting the forks.
But Rami walks in barefoot with his sleeves rolled up, says missed you like he means it, and suddenly the obscene wealth fades into the background. Because this man notices things. He notices Jason. And before dessert, he reaches into his pocket and produces a small velvet box.
Diamond studs. White gold. Real ones.
Jason, who grew up poor enough that Christmas meant a gas station gift card, who kept a broken wallet for two years because he didn’t know what else to do with grief — Jason nearly loses it entirely. And Rami, to his credit, doesn’t make it soft or awkward. He just holds his gaze, steady, and says I’m glad it’s you.
Then he puts the earrings in himself.
It’s a lot. It’s genuinely a lot.
But Jason’s a tech support guy, and at 2 AM with diamonds still in his ears, his brain kicks in. He Googles. And what he finds — or rather, what he doesn’t find — is the kind of scrubbed, too-clean digital presence that only happens when someone very good works very hard to make it that way.
He puts his phone down. Picks it up again. Goes to sleep.
In the morning there’s a text from Rami: Wear the studs today.
Jason giggles. Actually giggles.
What the hell is happening to me.
Chapter 3 drops Thursday, May 21 at reamstories.com/romanhenrystories — sign up for the mailing list and it’ll be waiting for you.
