From his mouth, Richie moves Carmy's hand to his chest, putting it down somewhere in the region of his heart and laying his own hand over the top like he's saying the Pledge of Allegiance. He watches Carmy's face while he talks, tracking him with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Okay," he says, eventually. "Okay, sorry. Maybe we should compromise. Like, I stop saying that shit about myself. You stop throwing out perfectly good steak."