“Kai… Kai? Would you please close the screen door?” Attila’s grumpy voice told Kai to hurry. He lowered the heat beneath the stir-fry, ducked out of the kitchen, and slid the mosquito screen shut. Not even knowing how it happened, they had fallen into a rhythm of taking turns making dinner; it was Kai’s turn to cook, and he was glad of it. Spending time in the pool would have meant battling greedy little bloodsuckers, just like Attila was doing now. The rice timer went off just when he added the shrimp and doused the dish in a slurry of soy sauce, white wine, and sesame oil. “Are we eating inside?” he called out the window. “Most definitely.” A few splashes and several more slapping sounds informed Kai of Attila’s status: hungry and aggravated. That was confirmed by the fact that the usually meticulous man entered the house while still dripping wet and tried to minimize the damage to his hardwood floors by standing on Kai’s already-used towel while wiping off. “Where did the mosquitoes come from?”
