“Yeah, but people have pet chick—”
“If you’re about to talk about pet chickens, this will have the exact opposite effect on me than you want. All it will do is make me stop eating poultry, too. I know all about the pets and everything, I just… try not to think about it.” He frowned a little.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean anything by it.”
“No, I know, it’s just… everyone always says that and it’s annoying. It’s not like my lack of meat eating affects anyone besides me, so I really don’t know why people are always trying to get me to change my mind. I’m perfectly happy without eating red meat, and I don’t ask or expect anyone else to stop their eating habits because of me.”
“Fair enough.”
He smiled a little. “Sorry. Was that rude?”
I chuckled. “No, not at all, it’s just the most passionate thing I’ve heard you talk about.”
He shrugged a little. “I like pigs.”
I laughed. “You plan on having a pet pig one day?”
“Actually, yes. I think it would be awesome.”
I looked over at him with a grin. “Wanna come help me with the toast?”
He eyed me for a minute before getting up. “Sure thing. But I know what you’re doing.”
“Oh yeah, what’s that?”
“You obviously don’t need help with the toast; you just want me to come closer to you.”
I waited until he was right beside me, then leaned over and pecked his lips. “Damn, straight.”
He smiled and surprised me by leaning in to kiss me on the lips, a little more passionately than I had him.
He stayed beside me the entire time we were making breakfast, and I sat beside him instead of across from him when we ate, just so I could press our knees together. When we took our plates into the kitchen, I wrapped him in my arms and kissed him again.
We came up for air and I said, “I have to work in about two hours, but do you think I could take you out tomorrow night? On a date, I mean.”
“I’d like that.” He chewed his bottom lip for a minute before saying, “I sorta feel bad at this point, but I don’t actually know what you do for a living.”
I laughed a little. “I’m a photographer at Flash Me Photos. Ever heard of it?”
He pursed his lips as he thought. “Yeah, I think I’ve driven past that place before. You’re a photographer, for like weddings and stuff, or is it a studio?”
“Both. I usually work in the studio a couple days a week and do on-site photo shoots for weddings and special events the rest of the time.”
“So what do you have to do today?”
“A wedding with one of my coworkers. Actually, he’s supposed to pick me up soon because the location is kinda far away.”
“Is that your polite way of kicking me out?” he asked with a small grin.
I laughed. “No, pumpkin, I was just warning you. I’d love for you to stay until I have to leave, unless you need to go?”
He smiled. “I can stay a little longer, but I’m going to have to get back to the club to get my car so I can run some errands today.”
I ran my hand through his hair. “I can take you back. I got a ride to the bar last night, so I have my car here.”
“You don’t have to. I can just get an Uber or something—”
I kissed the corner of his mouth. “I’ll take you, pumpkin. But first… you have some time right? You have off?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” I pulled him into me and kissed him deeply.
Chapter Four
Symon
I took a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror. My dark hair was in place, my blue Henley was unwrinkled, and I knew my ass looked good in these tight dark jeans. So why the hell was I so nervous? I mean, Jax and I had already slept together, not to mention showered together—so he’d seen everything—for fuck’s sake. He’d seen me naked and still wanted to take me on a date. There was no reason to be nervous about it.
I took a deep breath and shook out my arms and rolled my shoulders. I was fine. I’d be fine. There was no reason to freak out. I looked myself in the mirror. “He obviously likes you, so chill the fuck out.”
I pulled out my phone to text my best friend.
Me: Tell me I’m not gonna make a fool of myself.
I stared at my reflection and bit my lip while I waited for the response.
Joel: Oh you’re totally going to make a fool of yourself.
I snorted and shook my head.
Joel: But that’s okay because he’ll love you anyway.
Joel: And if he doesn’t, I’ll kick his ass when I get back to Baltimore.
Me: Thanks.
Frowning at myself, I said, “You’ll be fine. He likes you. You’ll be fine.” Before I could continue my pep talk, there was a knock on the door. So with a nod toward the mirror, I went to answer it. My eyes widened when I opened the door and took my fill of Jax. Holy hotness, he was sexy as sin. He wore a light green button-down that was open enough at the top to see part of his tattoos sticking out, the sleeves were rolled up so the bottom of his tattoos were visible, his jeans were tight enough that it left no question what was under there—what I’d seen underneath. Shit, he was probably the sexiest guy I’d ever known. And he was standing here. In my doorway. To take me on a date. Say something, you moron!
I lifted my eyes to Jax’s and saw him smirking at me with that one corner of his mouth lifted. Damn, even his half-smile smirk thing he had going on was sexy. I cleared my throat. “Hey.”
His smile grew. “Hey, Symon.” He stepped close to me, and I didn’t back away to let him in my apartment because I was frozen in place by those deep green eyes of his. Jax cupped my jaw and leaned down to place a closed-mouth, lingering, sweet as hell kiss on my lips. I closed my eyes and leaned into him a little. “Hi, pumpkin,” he whispered against my lips.
My eyes snapped open and I looked him in the eyes, half expecting him to be making fun of me, but all I saw were those gentle eyes that somehow looked at me like I was special. I licked my lips. “Hi.”
He smiled softly. “Are you ready for our date?”
I nodded, unable to get my mouth to work.
“I thought it would be fun to go do something other than dinner and a movie or whatever.” He searched my face for a moment before continuing, “Do you like putt-putt?”
It took me a second to realize he was actually expecting a response to that. “Um, I haven’t been miniature golfing since I was a teenager, so I guess?”
He smiled. “Okay, do you want to give it a try? We can always leave and find something else to do if you hate it.”
“No, no, that’s fine. I used to like it. I remember my friends and I used to go all the time in high school.”
“Okay, cool.” He grabbed my hand. “Let’s go there first, and afterward, we can get a bite to eat.”
“Sounds good to me.” I’d barely eaten anything all day because I’d been so nervous about our date. Not that I planned on telling him or anything.
He pulled me out the door, so I locked up behind myself and followed him out to his car. When he held the passenger side door open for me, I pecked his lips really quick in thanks before hopping in. Once he was in the driver’s seat, he grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together. I blew out a breath. Even though he was the reason I was so nervous, having him hold my hand was somehow calming my nerves.
“Okay, so I feel like we did things a little backwards,” Jax said with a small laugh. “So why don’t we play twenty questions so we can catch up on some of the awkward small talk we skipped over the other night.”
“Uh, okay.”
He shot me a grin before looking at the road again. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-nine.”
He looked at me with wide eyes. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I know everyone thinks I look younger, but I swear I’m twenty-nine.”
“Wow, I thought you were younger than m
e.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-four.”
I nodded. “Wow. You’re young. Not that I thought you were old or something, I just thought you were closer to my age.”
“We’re only five years apart.” He shot me a little smile.
I took a deep breath and nodded again. “What’s your favorite color?”
He seemed to think about it for a few seconds. “Um, I really don’t have one. I think it depends on what the color is for, ya know? Like, I like wearing green because I have green eyes so they stand out, but I think that blue, like true blue is a really gorgeous color, especially for, I dunno, decorations or something. Do you know what I mean, though? Like my favorite color changes depending on the situation.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. And I definitely think that green’s your color. You look… hot.” I felt my cheeks flush.
He let out a small laugh and pulled my hand up to his mouth to kiss the back of it. “Thank you. You look gorgeous, too, by the way. I meant to say that when you answered your door, but I was too distracted by wanting to kiss you.”
I smiled at him, feeling my cheeks flame brighter. “Thanks.”
“So what’s your favorite color?”
“Orange.”
“Then pumpkin is the perfect name for you.” He grinned at me and I chuckled.
“I guess so.”
He kissed my hand again. “Okay, I guess it’s my turn to pick the next thing. Um… I already know you’re an EMT, um, hmm… what about your family? Do you have any siblings or parents or anyone in your life?”
“Just my mom. I don’t have any siblings or anything. It was just me and my mom growing up. No one else, really. My dad took off when he found out my mom was pregnant and he never came back.” I was nervous, so I started babbling. “When I was in college, I actually found him—my sperm donor, because he so isn’t my dad. He was doing construction down at the harbor and lived alone. I went and introduced myself to him, we had lunch together and we haven’t talked since. He was an asshole for leaving my mom, but,” I shrugged, “I got the closure I needed, I guess.”
“So you don’t talk to him?”
“No. I don’t really want to, either.”
Jax nodded.
“What about you? How’s your family?”
He sighed. “My parents are still together, and I have an older brother and an older sister, both of whom have kids, so I have a bunch of nieces and nephews. I love getting to be the fun uncle, you know?”
I nodded. “That sounds really nice.”
“Oh, I bet they’ll love you when you meet them. They’re crazy, but as long as you can sorta act like a kid with them and run around with them or whatever, they’ll love you forever.”
I smiled at that. He totally thinks we’ll be together for a while if he’s already talking about me meeting his nieces and nephews.
Jax cleared his throat. “Uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to weird you out. I just… get ahead of myself sometimes.”
“You didn’t weird me out,” I said quietly.
He shrugged. “It was weird of me to say. I just meant… well, I guess you know what I meant. But I’m sorry, we’re only on our first date and absolutely shouldn’t be talking about meeting family members. Sorry, I didn—”
“It’s okay, Jax,” I cut off his own nervous rambling. “It was kinda sweet, actually.”
He looked at me before pulling into the miniature golf place. “Are you sure I didn’t just scare you away?”
I smiled a little. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one that was nervous. “Promise.” I pulled our combined hands to my mouth and kissed the back of his hand.
He shot me a smile and parked the car. “Ready to get your ass kicked in putt-putt?”
I laughed. “Oh, you’re so going down.”
He chuckled and we both got out of the car. He held my hand as we walked to the little store part of the course so we could pay and get our clubs and golf balls. Jax was so casual and comfortable with his affection. It was kind of strange being so open about our… relationship or whatever you wanted to call it. But not strange in a bad way, strange in a good way. Most of the guys I’d been with over the years never would’ve held my hand in public. But Jax was completely indifferent to everyone around us. He didn’t seem to care at all, and in fact, it felt like he was almost announcing that we were together. I appreciated that he wasn’t afraid or trying to hide me away or something. I mean, it also helped that we were in a place where it didn’t seem like anyone cared what the hell anyone else was doing, as long as others were left alone. So that helped too.
Once he paid our way, we headed to the first hole, and Jax let me go first. After trying four times to get the ball into the stupid little hole at the end, I decided that I was absolutely terrible at this game. Jax kept trying to hide his amusement, but when I glared at him on my sixth stroke, he lost it and started cracking up laughing. But when I finally got the golf ball to go where it was supposed to go, he cheered for me—much to my embarrassment. I turned completely red because people looked over at us.
Jax chuckled and put his arm over my shoulders as he walked us to the next hole. “Were you doing that on purpose so I would have to stand behind you and help you out with the next one?”
My red cheeks got even hotter. “No. I swear.”
He laughed and pushed my shoulder. “I’m joking. I know you didn’t. You’re just terrible at putt-putt. Not all of us can be winners like me.”
I laughed and pushed him off me, shaking my head. “You’re so full of yourself.”
He grinned at me and kissed my cheek before hitting his ball and almost getting a hole-in-one. When I walked up, he really did stand behind me and give me some pointers as he helped me out. I ended up getting the ball in three strokes that time. By the fourth hole, I had the hang of it and was doing just as well as Jax. But my first hole had screwed me up for my total and Jax ended up winning.
I patted his chest and laughed. “Okay, I owe you a snowball or ice cream or something, okay?”
“Sweet.” He grinned at me. Once we returned our clubs, he asked, “Do you want to go to a restaurant or like a burger joint or what?”
“A burger place is fine as long as they have turkey burgers or something.”
“Oh shit, I keep forgetting. Sorry.”
I laughed as we got back into his car. “It’s fine, Jax. I could go for some good fries, so let’s find a little shop to eat at.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go to an actual sit-down restaurant?”
“I’m sure. This is the perfect first date.”
“I think so too.” He smiled at me before kissing my lips lightly, starting the car and heading off to find somewhere to eat. We ate together and he made me laugh the entire time, and afterward, he took me back home and I invited him in. For the first time in a long-ass time, I had a guy spend the night with me at my apartment.
It was sorta wonderful and I couldn’t wait to do it again—and we would be, because he’d already asked me out on a second date.
Tanner
When I’d texted Symon a couple hours ago to check if it was still okay to come to his station and be shown around—and he’d said it was—I couldn’t help but be a little excited to see him, too, not just the station. For some reason, I kept getting little nervous butterflies flitting around in my stomach every time I thought about him. Which was ridiculous because I knew he was with Jax and that I didn’t have the right to feel that way, or to even be thinking about how nice it would be to get to know him better. But my body decided not to listen to reason.
Before I left for the station, I made sure to wear dress pants and a nice shirt, made sure my hair looked okay, made sure I looked presentable before making my way down there. I blew out a relieved breath when I walked into the building where an ambulance was parked and immediately found Symon. He was talking to a coworker and packing up a duffel bag. As I slowly approached, his coworker looke
d at me over Symon’s shoulder with a furrowed brow.
That made Symon look back and when he saw me, a shy smile formed on his face. He stood up and offered me his hand. “Hi, Tanner. Good to see you again.”
I smiled back and shook his hand. I saw Symon’s eyes widen a fraction when our skin touched; I felt a shiver go up my spine at the contact and, I figured he did, too. But I didn’t want to draw attention to it, he was with Jax. I needed to let it go. I cleared my throat and said, “It’s good to see you, too, Symon. Thanks for letting me come down here today.”
He released my hand and I tried not to frown at the loss of contact as he spoke, “Oh, no problem. I’m glad you could make it. I just need to throw my stuff in my locker.” He looked over his shoulder at his coworker. “Sady, this is my friend I was telling you about, Tanner.” He looked at me and nodded toward the woman. “This is my partner on the rig, Sady.”
Sady and I shook hands. “Nice to meet you.” She nodded back.
Symon said, “I’ll see ya tomorrow, Sady.” Then he motioned for me to follow him back to the locker room. As he shoved stuff in his locker, he said, “I jumped in the shower already before you got here. Today was… messy, so I needed to wash the grime off. I’m going to need to bring in another change of clothes tomorrow.”
It was then that I realized he was in jeans and t-shirt and not his uniform.
He kept nervously babbling, “I figured you wouldn’t want to walk around with me covered in… well, covered in grossness. You don’t even want to know what.”
I chuckled a little and rocked on my heels. “No worries. Does that happen often?”
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