by Brandon Witt
Hence, sweating.
The final home was grand. Not as old as some of the others, but just as stately. Zachary’s Cap Hill home was nice. Very nice. Small, old, charming. But next to the house they approached over a brick sidewalk, Zachary’s home might as well have been a shack.
Zachary glanced over at him, his pale complexion bright in the sunlight. “This one really is my favorite. I love how they mixed so many styles together. You wouldn’t think that Craftsman, Victorian, and English Manor would blend together so well, but they really do.”
They didn’t pause as they spoke, and Teegan kept his gaze on Zachary as they walked up the sweeping steps to the front porch. He’d noticed Zachary catch his toe a couple of different times during the tours and was nervous he’d fall and hurt himself more. “You seem to know a lot about architecture. I love pretty houses, but there’s no way I could tell you anything about their styles. I can tell if it’s old or new, but that’s about it.”
“I played with the idea of being an architect when I was younger. I still really enjoy it.”
“Why did you change your mind?”
A shadow crossed Zachary’s features. “Lots of life’s plans got shifted to the side when Mom died. Dad needed help with the bookshop, and then he got sick….” He shrugged as his words trailed off and then he forced a smile as the lady at the front door took their tickets and punched a hole in the final slots.
Teegan mentally kicked himself. Leave it to him to bring up a painful topic right when there was a chance to get the date back on track.
They stepped inside, and Zachary looked over his shoulder, his smile back in place, one that seemed genuine, even if it didn’t fully reach his eyes. “I can promise you that there won’t be any brass fixtures in here, at least not the shiny 1980s kind.”
The house was gorgeous. Bigger than anything Teegan wanted, but gorgeous nonetheless. He was impressed. Every detail was impeccable, and though money seemed to ooze from every corner, the place still felt homey and comfortable. While it was beautiful enough to be in a magazine, it didn’t have that museum or showroom quality that several of the other homes had, which left them feeling cold and sterile.
Actually, as they walked from room to room, Teegan realized that while the space was beautiful, some of the other homes had been better, or grander, somehow. Though things were expensive in this home, there wasn’t as much crystal or gold or massive modern art pieces. The more they explored, the more Teegan began to see why Zachary liked it so much, and what that meant about the man he was on a date with.
As he watched, Zachary wandered over to a bedside table and touched a tarnished silver frame with a picture of a cairn terrier inside.
Zachary must have felt Teegan’s gaze, as he turned around, seeming a little apprehensive. “What? Do I have something on my face?” He lifted his wrapped right arm. “Is something caught on the Velcro?”
Teegan felt his temperature rise at being caught staring but didn’t hold back what he’d been thinking. “What drew you to that picture? Do you like the silver?”
Zachary turned back to the photograph before answering. “No. I mean, yeah, I do. The frame is beautiful, but I love the little dog. It’s obvious how much they love him. I don’t even think it’s one of those fancy pet photographer shots. It looks like something they took themselves, but loved it so much they gave it this fancy frame and then put it by their bed.”
That’s exactly what he’d suspected. “Of all the gorgeous mansions today, this is the one that feels the most like it belongs to a family. Like nice people who love each other actually live here.”
Zachary seemed to consider Teegan’s words for a few seconds, then nodded slowly. “Yeah. I think so. I’d never really thought of it like that, but you’re right. It feels… safe here.”
Interesting word choice, considering how the two of them had met. “It’s exactly how I felt in your home… er, your shop. It was cozy and safe. Made me want to curl up and hibernate for the winter or something.”
Zachary gave a pleased smile but didn’t respond.
Teegan wanted to ask if Zachary still felt safe in his home, after being hurt as badly as he was. He didn’t. “I think it says a lot about you that this is your favorite house. That you saved it for last.”
He blushed but still didn’t speak.
Teegan started to say more, then thought better of it. It was a first date, after all. One that he’d sweated his way through thus far. He didn’t need to get overly emotional or sappy. “Should we keep going?”
The next few rooms were as perfect as the rest of the house, but Teegan drew up short when they came to the final room. “Wow.” It was cozy and welcoming, like the rest of the house, but that was where the similarities stopped. Though there was a bed in the middle of the room, the only place he’d seen brass in the entire house, nothing else identified it as a bedroom. There was a large tree in the corner; he couldn’t tell if it were made of paper or plaster, roots shot out over the carpet and branches looped over the ceiling, vines and clusters of lights creating a canopy overhead. The walls were painted to match, creating the illusion of being in a forest. On the far wall, he noticed a unicorn peering out from behind one of the trees. Stepping closer, he could see small painted fairies flitting between the leaves. Everywhere he looked, more magical details appeared.
Teegan let out a long sigh as he turned around and around, trying to take it all in.
“You like it, huh?” Zachary inspected him, a smile playing on his lips.
“Oh, yeah. It’s unreal.”
Zachary nodded. “I know. Can you imagine having a room like this when you were a kid?”
Teegan couldn’t hold back a snort. “My parents wouldn’t have ever allowed me to have something so girly, even if we’d been able to afford it. But I would’ve loved it. Hell, it’s probably good I didn’t have this kind of room. I’d be thirty-one and still refusing to leave and go into the real world.”
“Yeah, I think I’d be the same.”
“I’ve got to bring Megan here next year. Though I don’t want her to get the idea that we could do this. No way I can afford anything close to this.” He pictured her room in the apartment, trying to see how they could copy. “Though I could get a ficus tree, and we could paint the walls green and string some lights over the ceiling. She’s got enough mermaid, unicorn, and fairy dolls already that we wouldn’t need much to make it look like an enchanted forest.”
“Who’s Megan?”
Teegan slammed back into reality with a nearly painful force. “Oh.” He’d forgotten. How had he managed that? He hadn’t planned on lying, but he wasn’t going to bring her up on a first date. He doubted there’d be a quicker way to scare off a single gay guy. Well, shit.
“Megan is my daughter. She’s seven and kinda obsessed with anything magical.”
Zachary’s mouth fell open, and then he seemed to catch himself. “You have a daughter?”
“Yeah. I have a daughter.”
“Oh my God, Rick. You have to see this.”
Both of them turned at the sound of the voice in the doorway. A young blonde woman walked into the bedroom, either not noticing them or not worrying to bother with them. She walked over to the tree and tapped it. “Hmmm… I bet we could do the same but with metal. It would be classier.”
Zachary caught his eye. “Wanna get outta here?”
“Yeah.” He wasn’t sure if Zachary meant out of the room or out of the date.
A harried-looking man squeezed past them as they exited the bedroom—Rick, probably.
They made it out of the house and back onto the sidewalk before they spoke again. The brief ease that seemed to have fallen between them was gone. Zachary spoke first, thankfully, before Teegan could say something stupid that would only make him start sweating again. “How about we grab dinner. Benny’s is close. Does Mexican sound okay?”
Those were definitely not the words Teegan had expected. “Dinner? As in, you still want to k
eep going on our date?”
Zachary pondered for a moment. “Well, I can’t say I expected you to have a daughter, but I guess that’s part of a date, right? Learning all the unexpected things.”
He was surprised. Teegan had even had a couple of hookups who’d balked when they’d learned he had a kid. “Uhm, yeah, I guess so. And Mexican food sounds great.”
“Cool.” Zachary started to walk toward where they’d parked the car, then halted. “You’re not married, are you?”
“No.” Teegan almost left off the next detail, then figured he might as well get it over with while they were ripping off bandages. “Not married. But I was. I got divorced three years ago.”
“Because of being gay?”
Teegan nodded. “Yeah. Pretty much.”
Zachary seemed to relax then. “Okay. So you were married. You have a kid, and you got divorced because you’re gay.”
He nodded again. It seemed like an oversimplification of what had been years and years of pain, questioning, and doubt, but it summed it up.
“All right. Good to know. Let’s go get some queso, and you can tell me about your daughter. If she’s got a thing for mermaids, I already know she has good taste.”
Despite the line of people waiting to get into Benny’s, Teegan and Zachary only had to wait a few minutes before being placed at a small table in the back of the restaurant. If he’d had his choice, Teegan would’ve picked somewhere on the wraparound front patio, but waiting in line with a bunch of strangers sounded more awkward than it was worth to get a better spot. Besides, with the warm lighting, colorful interior, and open windows letting in the cooling evening air, their location was pretty comfortable and seemed rather private.
They’d barely sat down before the waitress had delivered two massive margaritas and a bowl of queso dip. Zachary suggested they wait to order dinner until after they finished the vat of cheese as the service was always so quick. Teegan had only been to the Mexican restaurant a couple of times, so he took Zachary’s suggestion. Seemed like a good sign that he wasn’t trying to hurry through dinner.
Zachary scooped a chip into the cheese, and it snapped in half. With a grimace, he used another chip to fish the broken parts out. “Sorry. I’m still not used to using my left hand for everything.”
“Do you want me to—” Teegan halted as he realized what he was about to suggest. He probably shouldn’t offer to feed someone on a first date. Injuries would make it seem more like helping a little kid than something romantic.
It seemed Zachary understood anyway. “No, but thank you. I’ll feed myself. And I’ll order the chicken tacos, so there’s no cutting involved. I’m kinda tired of my friends doing everything for me. They’re wonderful, but I’m starting to feel helpless.” He smiled. “But if I get cheese on my face, I expect you to tell me.”
“Okay. Deal.” Teegan scooped out his own heaping portion of cheese, took a bite, and felt his body relax. There was something about food that made everything a bit less stressful.
Zachary finished chewing, then wiped the napkin over his mouth. “So your daughter is seven. Does that mean she’s in—” He paused, his eyes narrowing. “—first grade? I’m trying to remember what grade I was in when I was seven.”
So much for food making everything less stressful. “No. Second, actually. Megan is one of the younger kids in her grade, but she’s very smart and is at the top of her class.” Shit, now he sounded like he was bragging. “We don’t have to talk about my daughter. I know that’s not very seductive date conversation.”
Zachary laughed louder than normal, then winced, probably because of his ribs. “You’re going for seductive?”
Oh my God. He’d actually said that, hadn’t he? And just when the sweating had finally stopped. “I… ah… well, I mean, you probably don’t wanna talk about kids.”
For a second he thought Zachary was going to keep pressing about the seductive comment. He didn’t, thank God. “We don’t have to talk about your daughter. But a date is to get to know each other. Figured that’s a good place to start.”
He couldn’t help himself. “You don’t mind that I have a daughter? I thought that would probably scare you off. Or that I used to be married?”
Zachary shrugged. “As long as you’re not still married, I’m good. And you know that I do drag, and a lot of guys wouldn’t date me because of that. Plus, you know that I’m a pansy and ran when I got beat up, so—” His words fell away, and his eyes widened like he’d surprised himself with his own words.
Teegan couldn’t help but flinch. “Zachary. I don’t think that at all. You shouldn’t—”
He’d been reaching across the table to take Zachary’s hand, but Zachary pulled it back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I wasn’t looking for…. I wasn’t fishing. Can we forget I said that, please?”
He wanted to argue, to make clear that Zachary shouldn’t feel bad, that he wasn’t weak because he got gay bashed. Teegan couldn’t ignore the pleading in Zachary’s eyes, though. “Sure.” But where the hell to go after that? “Uhm…. Yeah, Megan is in the second grade. She really likes mermaids and stuff, like I said.”
Zachary’s shoulders slumped in relief. “My kind of girl.” He reached for another chip.
“She’s pretty great. And part of the reason I put off our date for a week. I have her nearly every night I’m not working. Her mom, Kelly, my ex-wife, was able to watch her tonight.” Good God, overshare much?
“Wow. Your ex watches your daughter while you’re out on a date? That’s pretty cool.”
“Yeah, Kelly is wonderful.”
“Does she know you’re on a date with a guy?”
Teegan was taken aback at Zachary’s bluntness. He was so timid in so many ways. It was an unexpected surprise. A nice one. “Trying to figure out if you’re on a date with a guy in the closet?”
Zachary blushed. “Sorry.”
“No, don’t be. I like it. I like that you’re direct.” Teegan cleared his throat, debating on how much to say. He decided on everything. “I don’t have a lot of skeletons in the closet. At least not anymore. I came out when I was twenty-eight. The same time I got divorced. Kelly had figured it out a couple of years earlier, though it took her a while to really push me on it. She’s the main reason I came out at all. My parents were the ones who were surprised.” A bitter laugh escaped him, despite himself. “Though I’m willing to bet they were more surprised that I actually came out than the fact I’m gay. That little tidbit should’ve been kept buried away.”
Zachary met his gaze, unflinching. “Your ex sounds pretty great. Are your parents better with everything now?”
Another laugh. “No. Not hardly. They love me and love Megan. But I’m a disappointment. Their only child and I turned out gay. They wanted the American dream. It’s why they left China. And for a bit, they had it. Their son was a doctor, married to a beautiful white girl, and had a child. They were just waiting on a grandson, and all would’ve been perfection. I fucked that up.” Oh shit. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to cuss.”
Zachary grinned and surprised Teegan by being the one who reached across the table and squeezed Teegan’s arm. “I’m at Mary’s all the time and do drag shows. I’m okay with the F-word. And you’re on a date, not on a job interview.” He let go of Teegan’s arm. “And you didn’t want to be a doctor?”
Teegan shrugged. “It wasn’t really ever an option to not be one. I was told to be a doctor, so that’s what I did. And I like it. I’m helping people. I was supposed to be a brain surgeon or geneticist. Something grander. Instead they had to settle for a plain old doctor. Good enough, right?” It would be great if he could get the bitterness out of his tone. He hadn’t meant to say that. At least not that much.
“Are you all ready to order?”
Saved by the bell. Teegan glanced at the waitress and then cocked a questioning eyebrow at Zachary.
“Yeah, we are.” Zachary’s smile seemed forced, and Teegan couldn’t help but wond
er again if he’d just ruined the date. “I’m going to have your grilled chicken tacos.”
“And I’ll have your blackened fish tacos. Please.”
“More margaritas?”
Teegan tapped his half-full fishbowl of a glass. “Dear Lord, no.”
“I’ll take a second.” Zachary glanced at Teegan. “You mind?”
“Of course not.”
In another moment, the waitress was gone.
“Am I driving you to drink?”
Zachary laughed, sounding more relaxed. “No. Not at all. It’s just nice to be out of the house, and it will help with my date-jitters. I normally don’t drink very much. Don’t worry. I’m not on the painkillers, Doctor.”
Man, Zachary really was cute. Teegan couldn’t put his finger on it, and maybe it was simply that Zachary’s sweetness seemed to glow from the inside, but whatever it was, it made Teegan feel fuzzy. Without a second margarita. “You don’t seem very nervous.”
“I am. Though less than I thought I’d be. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date.”
Teegan snorted. “Better than me. I’ve never been on a date. At least with a guy.” He felt his eyes bug, and he pointed at the margarita. “I didn’t mean to say that. I’m blaming this thing.”
“I don’t think you’ve had enough to place blame.” Zachary’s next words sounded hesitant. “So. You’ve never been on a date? You’re a….”
“Virgin? No.” Teegan wanted to die. Crawl in a hole and die.
“Well, I know that. You’re a father.”
“God, this is awful. I’m not a virgin. Not a gay virgin. I’ve just not been out on a date with another man.”
Zachary opened his mouth, but Teegan cut him off.
“Can we please talk about you for a minute? Anything. Why you became a drag queen, or what your folks thought about you being gay? What brand of socks you like?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Zachary Cooper
Zachary laughed, then winced. God, he had to quit doing that. “I don’t think we need to resort to socks, but yeah, we can talk about me. And I’ve got to quit laughing. My ribs hate me.” He took a stabilizing breath. “Sorry that I put you on the hot seat. I guess I had the opposite experience. I never had to come out to my parents. Mom remembered me talking about boys I had a crush on when I was in preschool. It was just always who I was. It was never an issue for them. Not even being in drag.”
