Page 16 of Numbers Boy (Working Boys #2)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Steve

A FEW DAYS later, I can still clearly picture the look of disappointment on Noah’s face when I asked him about watching Stacy this weekend.

He tried to cover it up by asking all about Henry’s show, but I saw that flash of want for something more when I leaned in.

Honestly, I was just as disappointed as he seemed when I ended my question the way I did. Our evening together was perfect.

Between the snuggles and the sex, each moment was better than the last. Even him calling me a princess felt right, like he enjoyed that I was letting him take control of our pleasure. Noah treated me carefully, but not like I was fragile. Like I was important to him.

But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to ask for what I actually wanted, which was to stay and see where the night took us. Plus, Stacy really does need someone to watch her this weekend.

“Your stupid road trip cockblocked me,” I whine to Henry when Stu and I arrive at book club brunch. I know it’s not really the case, but it’s easier than saying I chickened out of asking a guy for a sleepover.

Henry laughs and swings around to look at us. So far, it’s only him and Greg at the table, so I know we can talk freely about all of our plans for this weekend. “Well, hello to you, too.”

“Nope. Only friends who aren’t taking me away from my crush for three whole days right after we started getting to the good stuff get greeted nicely.” I pointedly turn to Greg and smile. “Hi, Greg! How are you?”

Greg shakes his head but rolls with it. “I’m good. I know I’m going to miss Jamie once he’s moved, but it will be really nice to not have Andrew gone half the time because he’s helping pack up all of Jamie’s stuff.”

Along with this trip being to go see Henry perform in a pole dance show, we’re helping Andrew’s best friend and roommate, Jamie, move to Chicago.

I’ve only met Jamie a few times, but he seems fun.

I’m excited to get to know him a little better this weekend, even if it is when he’s moving a few hours away.

And even though it means I’ll once again be in the same city as Adam.

The jerk was so cowardly after we broke up, he moved to Chicago to get away from any fallout of his sleeping around.

“Ooh, that reminds me. If there’s anything he can’t bring with, I’d be more than happy to raid his closet,” Henry offers, bringing me squarely back to the more important parts of this weekend.

Stu and I look him up and down in tandem and then grin.

“Hen, I love you, but isn’t Jamie, like, two feet taller than you?” Stu teases exaggeratedly.

“At least?” I add, just to rile him up a bit more.

Henry sniffs daintily and sips his mimosa. “I am perfectly capable of altering things if they happen to be a few inches too long.”

We all laugh, and even Henry cracks a smile, never one to take himself too seriously.

He gets more than enough attention from guys to let a few jabs about his height bother him.

After that, we start talking logistics of the upcoming weekend – when we’re all meeting up to drive the two and a half hours to Chicago, who’s riding with who, when we’re helping with the move, and when we’re going to Henry’s show.

Stu isn’t going with since he has some personal training clients lined up, but he happily joins in the planning session.

As we talk, Leighton and Mark show up and give their input on everything, even though Mark is also planning to stay back because of his work schedule at the place where he bartends.

The only person we’re missing is Chad, who is the final person in our group not going this weekend.

Although that has more to do with the fact that Henry never told him about it.

When Mark asks why, Henry just looks down at his nails and shrugs.

“I’m tired of defending my choices to him.”

There’s a palpable dip in the mood at that.

“Has he said anything recently?” Greg asks.

Henry shakes his head. “Not really. But the last time I mentioned that I might start a few night classes to catch people who might not be able to make it to the other times, he got all worried about me being out after dark.”

“I don’t think he realizes how much it affects you, Hen,” Leighton says and nods to where Chad is finally entering the restaurant. “Maybe now would be a good time to bring it up. And we’ll all help make sure the conversation stays supportive.”

Henry is shaking his head before Leighton can even finish his second sentence. “I can’t, Leigh. If it went wrong, and he walked away…I just can’t.”

We all drop it as Chad makes it to the table.

“Can’t what?” he asks, pulling out the chair to Henry’s left.

“Can’t wait to talk about this vampire novel!” Henry forces his voice back to cheerful, all of us following his lead.

“Yeah, it was something else, Hen.” Greg nods, with a light blush on his cheeks. “The scene where they completed the bond…”

“Ooh, that was a good one!” Stu agrees. “Although I always wonder if vampires have to ask permission to come in their partners.”

Chad chokes on his sip of water, and chuckles go around the table. I grin and nudge my best friend’s knee with mine, knowing how much he loves to get reactions like that, then decide to extend that line of thought.

“If they can’t, does that mean you can edge them indefinitely?”

Stu tilts his head, a contemplative expression on his face. “Huh, maybe.”

“I actually had a question about the bonding ritual,” Mark says.

We all turn to him, not sure where this is going to go but knowing it will probably be a more serious question than mine and Stu’s.

Mark reads the most out of all of us, but as far as I know, romance novels aren’t his typical genre.

“It said the pair had to complete the mating bond while having sex. Does that mean no one who’s asexual in this reality can be fated mates? Or do they just not exist at all?”

The table goes quiet while we all think about that for a minute.

While we’re mulling over how that would work, the waitress takes our orders, and then we’re back to thinking.

I don’t think Mark has ever come out and said that he’s some flavor of ace, at least not to me or Stu, but I get the sense this question is more personal than just a passing curiosity.

“I don’t know, Mark.” Henry is the first to recover, dark brows furrowing slightly above his blue eyes as he speaks. “If I had to take a guess, I would say the most likely answer is that the author didn’t think about it. But since that’s a really sucky answer, maybe it depends on the person?”

“Yeah, like some asexuals have sex for different reasons, like trying to conceive,” Chad adds helpfully, a supportive smile aimed over at Mark. “I think it would depend on how sex averse the person is, or maybe they would only be fated to a creature whose mating bond doesn’t require sex.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Mark agrees, nodding a little as he fiddles with his napkin absentmindedly. “Fate would obviously know if the bond couldn’t be completed because of a person’s sexuality. Anyway, that was my main question. I thought it was a cool plot, but not really my cup of tea.”

“That’s fair,” I say and pour myself some more water.

“I also thought it was good. I like the vampire being paired with a wolf shifter without any cross-species drama, since they’re often shown as enemies.

I love me a good star-crossed lovers trope as much as the next guy, but sometimes easy acceptance is what you need. ”

I think of how easy everything has felt with Noah and realize I’m smiling down at my plate. I really wish I had asked him if I could’ve stayed the night. Hopefully, after we get back from our road trip, we can pick up where we left off.

Brunch continues full of random thoughts about the book and plenty of side conversations about how our lives are going right now.

The whole time, my mind is half stuck on Noah.

The way he made me feel wanted. How I wish that night would have ended.

Imagining how future meet-ups might go. Whether he’ll make me feel that good every time or if it was a fluke.

Every once in a while, Stu elbows me gently to draw my attention back to something that was said, but he knows exactly how caught up I am in Noah, so mostly, he lets me drift.

As we wrap up and pay the bill, Henry asks for recommendations for next month, and we all vote on Chad’s suggestion for a thriller to give a change of pace from this month.

“Awesome, so we’ll plan to meet the last Sunday of March to discuss?

” Henry double-checks. We all put it into our calendars, nodding and murmuring our agreement.

“Ooh, also, St. Patrick’s Day is on a Monday, but the Saturday before is National Penis Day.

Anybody up for celebrating, or do you all want to observe it privately? ”

Stu and I both snicker at how he phrased his questions and go for the easy opening.

“I’m sure some of us will be up for it.”

“Yeah, but the whole day is about private…s observations.”

Leighton rolls his eyes and wedges himself between us so he can stretch his arms up around our shoulders to cover our mouths. I catch Stu’s eye, and he winks at me. I wink back, and we both lick Leighton’s palms.

“Eww!” He quickly removes his hands and wipes them on our sleeves. “What these weirdos mean is we’ll be happy to do whatever you think is appropriate for the occasion, as long as it is appropriate.”

“Awesome!” Henry grins. “I’ll send details to the group chat as we get closer.”