Page 75 of Forgiven

18Dylan

“I need advice,” Dylan said as he switched his T-shirt for a cropped waistcoat.

Kyrone clasped his hands to his chest, keeling over dramatically as though he’d been shot. “Did I hear right?” he gasped. “Dylanis asking forouradvice?”

“If you’re going to be a jerk about it, I won’t bother.”

Kyrone got back to his feet. “Sorry. It’s just, you don’t normally come to us.”

It was true. Part of Dylan’s ‘my whole life is perfect’ routine involved never needing anyone’s help, least of all the guys at the club. He saw them too often to want to show them any sign of weakness. Or that was how the old Dylan had felt. The pre-Callum Dylan. Things were different now. Callum had shown him that he could let down his guard and be himself without rejection.

“I can be serious,” Jag said. “What’s up?”

“You’realwaysserious,” Dylan pointed out.

Jag narrowed his eyes. “That’s not true.”

“It pretty much is,” Kyrone said.

Jag shook his head at them both. “Now who’s being a jerk? Did you have a question or not?”

“I want to take Callum on a date.”

“What do you need our advice for?” Kyrone asked.

Dylan looked at the floor, building up courage before he spoke. “I’ve never taken a guy on a date before. I’ve never evenbeenon a date.”

“Seriously?”

Dylan nodded. “You know me. I hook up with guys at clubs, sleep with them for a bit, and then walk away.”

“Is that what you’re doing with Callum?” Kyrone asked.

“No!” Dylan took a breath so his voice would sound more even. “No. He’s different. I really like him.”

“Oh?” Jag pulled up a stool. “It’s serious then?”

“We haven’t been together that long.”

“There’s no minimum time limit on calling a relationship serious,” Kyrone pointed out. “All that matters is how you both feel about each other.”

“And if you’re asking us for date advice, you’re probably pretty into him,” Jag said.

Was Jag right? Just thinking about Tattoo Boy’s smile made Dylan warm inside, so yes, he probably was ‘into him’. “He makes me happy.”

“So you said last night,” Kyrone reminded him.

“Are you going to help me out or not?”

“On my first date with Jared, we pretended to be spies.”

Dylan pulled a face. “That sounds really corny.”

“And a little creepy,” Jag added.

“It was fun! Seriously, we had a laugh. It was kooky and really low pressure and we got to eat great food at the end.” Kyrone folded his arms and stared at Jag. “Can you do better?”

Jag smiled. “When Michael and I first got together, he organised a picnic on the stage after hours. He put the mirror ball on, and we pretended we were stargazing. It was really romantic.”