Rory chuckled as he leaned forward, placing another kiss on my lips. “And that look on your face,” he whispered in my ear. “That alone makes it worthwhile.”
Chapter Twelve
Asher
I stared in the mirror, then bared my teeth to make sure there wasn’t any food stuck in them. “Looking good, Asher,” I said. I had on my one collared white shirt and a black belt that matched my boots, and my favorite silver chain necklace hung down my chest.
“Double daddy date night, here we go.”
I gave myself a wink, then headed to the door. In the living room, Lilith was chilling with her phone and a beer, and she whistled to stop me. “Hey, Asher, you got a minute?”
“Sure, but just a couple.”
“That’s all I need.”
I wandered over to the couch, then stuck my hand on my hip. “What’s up?”
“You know I love you, right?”
I scrunched up my eyebrows, not liking how this was sounding. “Yeah…”
“And you know you’re always welcome here? Anytime I got a roof, you’re welcome under it.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I know.”
“Good,” Lilith answered, then chucked a throw pillow at me. “Then when the hell are you going to get a real fucking job?”
The pillow bounced off my chest, landing on the ground. “Hey,” I laughed. “You weren’t complaining when I deep cleaned your whole damn apartment last week.”
“I get it,” Lilith continued. “You’re adjusting, and I know you went through something really upsetting back in Los Angeles. But I’m just saying, you might want to start figuring things out soon.”
I nodded, then picked the pillow back up. “Got it,” I said, then underhanded it back her way. “I’ll figure out what bank I want to rob first thing in the morning!” I called over my shoulder as I walked out the door.
The pillow hit the doorframe by my head as I stepped into the hallway. Rory and Franklin had tried to insist on ordering me a car, but I reminded them that driving was actually my favorite pastime.
I jumped into my ride and tried to push what Lilith said out of mind. She was right, of course. I was just having trouble coming up with any sort of direction for myself.
Maybe driving cars was the only thing I was any good for, after all.
Rory had called to invite me on the date, acting like a real gentleman about it. He said the thing was a “3D ride,” whatever that meant. Apparently, it was touring through town, and they thought I’d enjoy it.
Anything sounded good. The second he said the word date, I was ready to go.
I pulled my car up to the address and found a spot on the street. Whistling as I walked up, I found Franklin and Rory, waiting on the corner. They both had sweaters on. Franklin’s was light blue, and Rory’s was a rich purple color.
Give it all you got, I told myself. You might get to rub up between those sweaters later.
After the incident with the paint, I didn’t know if I would even hear from them again. Sure, they acted nice, but that didn’t mean they were going to give me another chance.
But somehow, it seemed like I gotten just that.
One more chance for Asher to not fuck it up.
“Look at you two,” I said, strolling up casually. “How’d I get the hottest men in Seattle taking me out?”
“Oh my,” Franklin said with a laugh. “I don’t know about that.”
“I do,” Rory added, and they both took me into an embrace, arms coming from each side.
Mmmm. Sweaters…
“Glad you could make it,” Rory greeted me. “We have about a half an hour until our reservation here. Would you like a drink?”
“Sure,” I answered as he gestured to the bar across the street. “Maybe I’ll even make it a double.”
Franklin laughed abruptly.
Of course he would appreciate that joke.
We shot the shit about our days as we stepped into the quiet bar. Dim track lighting gave the space a sophisticated air, and a long, sleek bar filled one wall. Rory ordered us all a round of beers as Franklin and I took our seats at a booth, soft piano music playing through the speakers.
It was surprisingly romantic. It must just have happened to be the bar across the street, I figured. The guys were inviting me out for a good time, not to sweep me off my feet or some bullshit.
“Tell me,” I asked once Rory returned with the drinks. “This is what? A ride?”
Franklin nodded. “It’s like a virtual reality thing. They’re increasingly popular, actually. The exhibit tours around the country, so different cities get a chance to try out the technology.” He took a sip from his beer, which left foam on his mustache. “Have you ever heard of a comic book convention? A con?”
“Of course,” I answered.
Franklin licked the foam off his mustache, and my balls heated up in response. “The shop sometimes sends a booth to cons in the region. I’ve gotten to know some people in that circuit over the years. They bring through touring exhibits for new movies, video games, all kinds of things.”
“So what’s the ride?” I asked.
“Oh!” Franklin answered brightly. “Right. It’s a car racing simulator, except the cars are on other planets, and the gravity is weird.”
“Franklin remembered you talking about racing,” Rory added helpfully. “Thought you might enjoy it. It makes use of some new gaming technology, although I couldn’t tell you what that is.”
I grinned to myself, then took a big drink of my beer. Not only had the guys been paying attention when they asked about me, they’d really put thought into picking something that I would enjoy. I had halfway expected them to take me to an opera or some shit—which I was sure they would have found a way to make actually fun, anyway. But this?
“Hot shit,” I answered. “Let’s see how fast I can go on the moon.”
The guys chuckled, and we dipped back into the conversation. I got Franklin to tell me some more about the comic book conventions he went to with his shop, which actually sounded pretty cool. When I quizzed Rory about being a professor, I realized he was actually studying something pretty cool.
“I had no idea you could be a professor of gay film.”
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “They don’t call it that exactly, but yes.”
“I’ve never seen any of those old movies,” I said, cocking my eyebrow. “Want to show me sometime?”
Franklin laughed. “You have no idea what you just signed up for.”
I thought we were going to just keep killing time, but when I was getting toward the bottom of my glass, Rory cleared his throat. “While we’re here,” he said, “Franklin and I wanted to check in about expectations for dating.”
My heart skipped. He said it so matter of fact, like he was just taking care of business. Granted, all my relationships had been pretty damn casual. People my age were never interested in anything serious, and the older men I chased were usually too embarrassed to be seen in public with someone so young. No fucking way they’d just talk about dating me, even in a near-empty bar like this one.