Page 43 of Try Me
“You want another round? I’ll buy.” John thumped my empty glass. I had a nice buzz going, but I nodded agreeably anyway as he lifted his hand for the waitress.
“Where’d Mila go?” I hadn’t seen her in a hot minute and realized for the past half hour it’d just been mostly John and me shooting the shit. We’d migrated over to Elixir after drinks and food at Bar Twenty Two. I’d spent almost forty-five minutes talking with Mr. Beasley about the firm, which I was feeling pretty damn good about. I’d played a round of pool with Liza and Houston, avoided Chet other than a cursory nod, and I’d gotten to go to court with Rick earlier in the afternoon. So yeah, I deserved this nice little buzz. Since the bar had opened to the public at nine, it was getting harder and harder to spot familiar faces. The bigwigs had moved to a roped-off balcony section or gone home, and I was pretty sure that was Lena I spotted with Rick on the dance floor.
“Uhhhh…” John searched the crowd and then pointed. “Over there playing darts with that guy whose name I already forgot. Oops.”
“She asked me to play darts earlier.”
John filled both our glasses and then sent a casual gaze over the crowd. “You interested in her?”
“Nah.” I took a swallow of my beer and licked my lips. “She’s cute, but…” Didn’t make fun of my ties or have a mouth that was just as sexy when it was scowling as it was smiling. “I’m trying to focus on summer classes and the internship right now,” I said lamely. “How about you?”
“She’s not exactly my type. A few too many curves.”
“I didn’t mean—” My cheeks heated, even as I realized he was teasing me.
“You need to spend a weekend out in the sun. It’ll make it harder to tell when you blush.” John chuckled, and I slapped a hand against my cheek like I could rub the fire in it away.
“I…yeah. I should definitely do that.” Flustered, I didn’t know what the fuck to say next, so I picked up my glass and swallowed a lot of beer.
John shifted his gaze to the big-screen TV replaying a baseball game. I was relieved when he started talking stats, which I could discuss with only half my brain functioning. We argued about the Cubs’ new pitcher for a while before he leveled his gaze on me again. “Okay, I’m dying of curiosity here, and it’s completely against company policy for me to ask, but we’ve been around each other enough that I’d consider us…friendly? And since we were talking about it earlier…are you bi? Because I find you attractive and funny. Smart, too, and—”
“What?” I choked on my beer to the point of spluttering and had to set my glass down to pound my chest.
This time, John was the one to blush. “Shit. Your dad seemed to imply…” He trailed off with a wince. “So that’s incorrect or I’m not supposed to know or—?” I barely heard him I was so damn busy racking my brain trying to figure out how the fuck I’d given my dad that impression. “Forget it. Absolutely the wrong time. Fuck.” John dragged a hand down his face before shaking his head.
But I had to know.
“You said my dad…what did he say, exactly?”
“Just that you were single and that he wouldn’t mind seeing me around more. Christ.” He seemed genuinely sorry, which made me feel bad. I put a hand up to stall the shame wave before things got super awkward.
“You just caught me by surprise because…I’m um…I’ve been questioning.” Sort of? Who was I kidding. I was definitely more than a little heteroflexible at this point. “But I wasn’t aware that my dad had any idea about that, and I was kind of hoping to keep it private.”
“Of course. Yeah, man, of course. I think the beer…” John filled his glass, immediately guzzling half, and shit, he was pretty cute, actually. “Again, I’m sorry. It just seemed like he was implying you might be interested. In me,” he clarified. “Or that we should go out sometime. That sounds fucking ridiculous to say aloud right now.” He set his glass down. “And I don’t want to imply I was looking for something other than a solid hookup. When I think about it now, though, I obviously misinterpreted what he said.”
“What, I’m not the marrying kind? I take offense to that,” I teased.
John stared at me for a long moment and then burst into laughter. “All right, well played.” He shook his head again, clearly at himself, then threw up a hand, signaling one of the servers. “So…shots and we pretend this never happened?”
“Greatidea.” I considered John as he ordered the shots. He was attractive and smart, but I hadn’t really thought of him that way. In fact, what I’d been thinking about the entire night was Chet, wondering where he’d gone, what he was doing. And with whom.
“In all honesty, though, I’m still trying to figure shit out,” I said, which was at odds with whatever the hell was going on between me and Chet, but not dishonest. I mean, I didn’t want to hook up with any other guys at the moment. Just Chet fucking Pynchon.
John nodded emphatically. “Of course not. Though—” He paused. “And it’s probably the beer talking a little bit here, because I’m usually more reserved. But if you ever want to hang out, or need someone to talk to about any…questions, I’m game.” His smile was guileless and kind.
I glanced down at my phone, hoping against hope to find a message from Chet. But there wasn’t one, and why the hell would there be? I’d studiously avoided him as much as I could since the trust retreat. I nodded belatedly to John’s offer. “I appreciate it. Think I’m all set for now. But do you think you could maybe…not mention any of this to my dad if you see him?”
John laughed. “You’re safe. Definitely not a talking point I was planning on bringing up.”
I held up my phone. “I’m going to make a call real quick.”
I stepped away from the table and found a solitary alcove in the hallway of the bar, where I sent a message to Chet and then quietly freaked the fuck out, wondering first why my dad had never said anything directly to me and second, why exactly I was freaking out so much. My dad might be overbearing, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t homophobic. Or at least he never would be outwardly. It would jeopardize his career too much.
I almost dropped my phone scrambling to unlock the screen when it vibrated.
Chet:I left.
Mark:Yeah I know.