Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
His physical presence was a huge distraction, but I still ended up beating him three games in a row. It wasn’t that I was brilliant at checkers, he was just bad at it. He moved his pieces impulsively and didn’t plan ahead, so I almost couldn’t help but beat him.
At least he wasn’t a sore loser. After his third defeat, he grinned and sat up. “I suck at this game. Want to switch to cards?”
“Sure.”
We moved to the table, and as I watched him shuffle the decks, I said, “Is it okay if I ask you a personal question?”
“Of course. Ask me anything.”
“Why are you single? You’re an attractive guy, and it seems like someone would’ve snapped you up by now.” Ugh. That ended up sounding awkward.
“Thanks for the compliment.” He kept his eyes on the cards, which he shuffled expertly. “And I guess it’s the same old story. I haven’t found the right guy. I found plenty of wrong ones though, and after a while, I got tired of that whole cycle—dating and trying to let someone in, only to watch what we were building crash and burn, over and over again.
“I did have a couple of serious relationships, but my boyfriends kept trying to fix or change me, and I hated that. I get that I’m a mess, but constant criticism was never going to make me find a high-paying career, or dress differently, or magically become more sophisticated.”
“You were definitely dating the wrong guys.”
“Oh, for sure. And then when I turned thirty a year ago, I made a conscious decision to put the whole dating thing on the back burner, and I feel better for it. A big step was deleting all the apps, which were burning too much of my time and energy. I figured if I was going to meet someone, it should happen organically, you know?”
“Is that why you go to the clubs, because you’re hoping to meet someone?” When he glanced up at me, I explained, “I saw you at that new club in the Castro a while back.”
“Why didn’t you say hello?”
“I don’t know. I should have. You were dancing by yourself, and I was on my way out…” That was basically true, even though it was seeing him that made me run for the door.
“Yeah, I do that. Sometimes, my house gets to be too quiet, so I go to a noisy, crowded club and blow off some steam.”
“You must get tons of offers.” His gaze shifted from the cards to me again, and I mumbled, “Not that this is any of my business.”
“I do, but I don’t go out because I want to hook up with random strangers. Been there, done that. It was fun in my early twenties, but after a while it started to feel empty. You know what I mean?”
“I can imagine.” Actually, I had to imagine, because I was never that type of guy.
As Sam started to deal the cards, he asked, “What about you, how often do you go to the clubs?”
“If it was up to me, I’d never go. But every three months or so, I let my best friend Moira drag me out. She worries about me, because I tend to be a hermit.”
“I wish I’d known you were at the club that night. It would have been fun to dance with you.”
I shook my head. “Oh, no. I don’t dance.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m painfully uncoordinated.”
He smiled at me as he stood up and held out his hand. “Maybe you just need the right partner.”
“What are you doing?”
“Proving my point. Dance with me, Andy.”
I was instantly embarrassed and tried to get out of it by mumbling, “There’s no music.”
“We’ll make it work. Trust me.”
When I stood up, he pulled me close with an arm around my waist and took my hand in his. Then, as he hummed a song I couldn’t name, we began to sway in unison. Looking up at him stirred up a lot of emotions in me, so instead, I rested my cheek against his chest. It felt incredibly good to be close to him.
After a while, Sam announced, “Big finish!” He spun me under his arm before dipping me, and then his face lit up with a gorgeous smile. “See? I knew you could dance.”
As we returned to our seats, I found myself grinning.
Over the next several hours, we played cards and finished off the beer. We began with Go Fish, then moved on to War before settling on Gin Rummy. Throughout it all, the conversation flowed. We made the unspoken decision to keep the topics light, which was the right call after such a stressful day.
Finally, around two a.m., we got ready for bed. When I climbed under the covers, Sam asked, “Are you sure you’re okay with sharing a bed? You won’t hurt my feelings if you ask me to sleep somewhere else.”