Page 24 of Structure of Love

“Noted.” He wore a happy smile. “Man, I haven’t gotten to play in ages. Used to play a lot when I was a teenager.”

“Got dice?”

“Ha, no, I have nothing left from that time. Not even a player’s handbook.”

“Well, we’ve got enough dice to open a store, as Riggs keeps collecting the shiny math rocks that goclack clack. I’ll print off a character sheet and lend you my handbook so you can put a character together.”

Logan batted those long lashes of his. “You won’t help me?”

“You’re entirely shameless, you know that?”

“I do, but it works to my advantage.” He upped the puppy eyes.

I played the part of put-upon, but my mouth rippled under the effort of trying not to laugh, and it seemed he knew it. “Fine, keep your eyes on the road. I’ll help you. Maybe during lunch.”

“It’s a date,” Logan purred.

8

Logan

Gage was so fun to tease. He was a walking meme with those faces he made, and he made fun noises, too—a damn near irresistible combination.

That was my story and I was sticking to it.

Something about this man let me lower my defenses. I’d been hella nervous even asking him out because he seemed so put together. Most of the time, white-collar guys like him wouldn’t go for guys like me. I’d been completely surprised at his delight and instant agreement to a date.

I blamed my nerves for the info dump after picking him up. That wasn’t the right way to open a date, but he was such a good listener, I found myself pouring out things I normally wouldn’t share until we’d been dating at least six months. Then I’d been nervous all over again, thinking he’d lump me into the same boat as his brother. Thank god he hadn’t. Rather, he’d wished Cooper could be like me.

Which was…wow. I’d take the incredible compliment.

Maybe I hadn’t completely botched this date so far. He still seemed genuinely into it, and the conversation hadn’t stalledand died. I’d take the success and run with it for as long as I could.

He hadn’t lied either when he’d said he liked all cuisines. He ordered Korean without needing any help and was quite confident in not only his choices, but also in the pronunciation.

I had to ask, because few Americans could correctly pronounce Korean words. “How often do you eat Korean?”

“Actually not often.” He looked around in interest. “And it’s my first time at this place. Smells amazing.”

“Oh, it’s great, for sure. I’m usually the only white guy eating here, which also says a lot for the authenticity. But how do you know Korean?”

“Don’t let me give you the wrong idea,” he warned, grinning. “I speak maybe ten words, most of them food. Asher and Riggs watch a lot of Korean dramas, and I occasionally get persuaded to watch a show with them.”

“No kidding? I’ve never tried watching any.”

“Well, maybe that should be a date night. I’ll show you an episode or two of some favorites.”

“Sounds fun, let’s do it.” I loved how we were already planning future dates. Said a lot about how much he enjoyed this one.

“So what else do you do, aside from be a good grandson to your grandmother and run a bar?”

“For fun, you mean?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I read quite a bit. I know I don’t look like a reader.”

“I figured you did, because you like Dungeons and Dragons.” Gage drew imaginary circles on the table, like he was mapping out some Venn diagram. “I’ve discovered geeks have overlapping circles. If you like tabletop games, you read, and if you read, you game. Somehow anime or Asian dramas have an overlapping circle as well.”