Page 21 of A Quiet Man
Maybe for him, that was how it was.
Ice skating was also a romantic date. It meant showing off physical dexterity and dressing in cute outfits and laughing and holding hands while skating — or at least, that was what the suddenly rosy-tinted version of it seemed to be.Like a Hallmark movie.
He thought aloud. "Yeah, that's cool. The rink's not that far from where I live, actually." He'd only been once or twice; ice skating wasn't really a hobby of his, although he'd learned how when he was a kid. "They rent skates, right? I don't have my own."
"Yeah, they rent skates. It's...nice." Auden leaned against him a little, almost cuddling up to him despite the fact that they were right out in public.
Tomas couldn't help it. He put an arm around the guy, with his nubby old sweatshirt and slim waist. Tomas hoped he wasn't making a fool out of himself — or worse, out of Auden. He looked down into that sweet, clear gaze, and he couldn't begin to contemplate how to talk about what he'd meant to bring up before they got serious. At the moment, it seemed very far away and unimportant, and Auden was right here, so close, close enough to kiss.
So Tomas did: a light, chaste kiss, but a kiss all the same, and not one someone else had decided on. He drew back, knowing he was blushing. It was all very well to be casual about things like this when you didn't actually care. When you did... "Okay?" he asked gruffly, because of course he'd assumed an awful lot there.
"Definitely okay." Auden's eyes twinkled, and his whole face seemed to smile, even as he tried to repress it so hard that his dimple creased more than ever. He leaned up and gave Tomas a quick kiss in return, just as chaste, light as a bird's wings. But his hand was sweaty as he held on to Tomas's hand tightly, so he wasn't quite cool about all of this, either.
Somehow, that was most reassuring of all. Tomas didn't release his hand. He didn't know exactly when they'd started holding hands, but they held on, quite bravely, for several excruciating minutes as they walked on through the mall, trying to pretend they didn't notice anyone staring.
Whatever they were doing, wherever this was going, neither one of them seemed to want to be the first to let go, despite the awkwardness...and their increasingly sweaty palms. Tomas was secretly grateful when his phone rang. He felt like a coward as he let go and reached for it with an apologetic half-smile. "Sorry. This could be work."
Was it his imagination, or did Auden seem nearly as relieved? And was that a tiny, soft sigh from him?
It was Cody.
"Hey, Tomas! You busy? I was thinking about watching a movie today. You want to come along? My treat. I'll even get you popcorn."
Tomas replied dryly, "Tempting as all that grease sounds, I'll have to pass."
"Yeah?" Cody sounded genuinely disappointed.
Tomas met Auden's intent, watchful gaze. "Yeah," he said into the phone. "I'm on a date."
"Well, fuck," Cody said, light and jovial, but somehow in earnest, too. He didn't sound like he'd ever thought he actually had a chance to date Tomas, but he still sounded disappointed at this renewed evidence of that. That was a lot to get from one expletive, but he was a very expressive guy.
"Yeah. I'll talk to you later. I hope you enjoy the movie." Tomas ended the call quickly.
Auden watched him, his eyes shining and proud. The idea that Tomas had turned down another offer to hang out with him seemed to really please him. "Thanks. He sounds much cooler than me. And he even wanted to see a movie, like you did."
Tomas shrugged. He couldn't think of a single thing to say. He knew he should say something suave or funny or just realistic. Perhaps mention that he worked with Cody, so it wouldn't be a good idea to date him even if he had been remotely interested, which he wasn't, because Auden was the only person he was interested in.
That was a hell of a lot to deal with, and he probably couldn't have articulated it just then even if he'd wanted to.
He just wanted to stare at Auden's eyes.
It scared the fuck out of him. And this was the most alive he'd felt in ages.
#
Tomas regarded hispartner cautiously.
It was Monday morning, they were back at work, and things could certainly be awkward.
He wasn't as angry and hurt as he'd been yesterday about Riley discussing his dating habits (or lack thereof) with Justin. It didn't seem quite so much like a betrayal. They were married; of course they'd talk about things.
He probably hadn't meant to give Justin ammunition, and, after thinking about it a bit more, he wasn't even entirely sure that Justin had been trying to use it as ammunition. It might have simply been a surprised remark rather than another little dig. Tomas was a bit sensitive to Justin's little remarks. Though, to be fair to him, he'd certainly dealt with enough of them. Like the time Justin had decided he probably had an eating disorder because he wasn't having a big lunch and had announced it loudly. Little things like that.
Face it.He can be an asshole. Though he did seem to be trying to do better in general lately, and there was no missing that Riley was a good influence on him. Riley would never do anything even vaguely hurtful on purpose, to anyone.
Tomas was obviously quite biased about his partner being an amazing person, but he'd also spent quite a lot of time around him now, and he'd never once seen Tomas be anything but gentle. He'd even been kind to the man who'd been sent to kill him. There was no topping that. It wasn't quite as dangerous as it sounded, since Riley had had a pretty good read on the guy — another wolf shifter who really, really didn't want to do the job he'd been more or less forced into agreeing to. Since Riley knew how it felt to be trapped in a situation, working for criminals, he'd been able to change the dynamics of that encounter pretty quickly. Still, there was no getting around it: he'd been kind to the man who'd been sent to murder him. Because that was Riley. That was how he behaved.
And at least a little bit of that had rubbed off on Justin. He probably hadn't meant to hurt Tomas at all during the phone call yesterday.