Lee sighed as he turned a corner and slowed his steps so he could finish the conversation before he got toOverture, the high-end teaching restaurant he’d been dying to try for years and that he could finally afford now, thanks to Drew. “No, I don’t think he is,” he told Diana, keeping his words as vague as possible so anyone listening in wouldn’t have a clue who or what he was talking about.
“So have you two, you know,done researchfor your books yet?” Diana asked, clearly tickled by the whole situation.
“No, not at all,” Lee insisted.
Well, other than that kiss.
And the half dozen near-miss kisses he could have sworn they’d almost had in the three weeks since then.
It seemed like every time he and Drew met up these days, even if they were just hanging out as his apartment, they got cuddly. It was cute, and there was a chance that all it meant was that Drew was a tactile guy who liked physical closeness. It was hard to dismiss the longing looks that Lee sometimes caught coming from Drew when conversation died down and they were supposed to be watching TV.
It wasn’t like he’d caught Drew with a raging hard-on as they’d snuggled, though. Drew might have been an attention-seeker and social butterfly with no filters when they were out and about, but he had a softer, sweeter side when they were together that didn’t feel at all like the bangtastic guys he’d cuddled with before hooking up every which way in the past.
“You’re way too quiet,” Diana said, drawing his attention back to the present. “It worries me.”
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Lee laughed. “I’m just saying that I think there are some major gay-awakening tropes going on here. Or more likely bi-awakening, because bi is a thing that shouldn’t be dismissed. And I’m not a hundred percent sure how to proceed.”
“Be gentle with him,” Diana said with breathy drama. “That tight little ass of his has probably never known the tender caress of a thick dong.”
“Oh, god,” Lee laughed. “You’re the worst. And besides, that’s not exactly the energy I’m getting from him.”
“Ooh?” Diana perked up. “You think he’s a top?”
“I think he’s confused,” Lee continued laughing, even though Drew deserved more respect than that. His laughter was coming from a place of love.
And that was a whole other problem. Lee’s feelings for his new friend were far from the literary curiosity he’d entered into the whole arrangement with. In the weeks that he’d known Drew, he’d discovered that he was deep, sensitive, way more intelligent than most people gave him credit for, and so earnest that it made him want to throw his arms around the man to protect him and never let go.
“Confused or not, everyone in the entire world knows the two of you are together now,” Diana said. “That post you guys made has something like five million views.”
The heat of discomfort nearly stopped Lee in his tracks. “Yeah, I know,” he said seriously.
His social media accounts were up over a million subscribers, and all he’d done was reposted Drew’s post. He absolutely couldn’t complain about what it had all done to his book sales, or the emails and calls he’d been getting from agents, but it was such a fast change from what he considered normal that he still hadn’t figured out how he felt about it.
“I’m at the restaurant,” he told Diana.
“Good. Go have dinner with your not-straight man and set him on the path of self-acceptance and romance novel sex.”
“Very funny,” Lee laughed.
“But seriously,” Diana’s tone changed, “I know Drew’s in good hands with you. You’re a good guy and I can already tell you care about him too much to take advantage of the situation.”
“I do care about him,” Lee confessed as he approached the restaurant’s front door.
“You care about him or youcare about himcare about him?” Diana asked.
“Bye-ee,” Lee said in a campy voice. “Talk to you later.”
“No, Lee, you can’t?—”
Lee ended the call, then quickly sent Diana an emoji with its tongue sticking out and a wink. He then tucked his phone into his pocket and headed into the restaurant.
Overturewas a lot of fun. It had been started by celebrity chef Walt Severance a few years ago and had gained huge levels of popularity in the last year especially. It was technically a culinary school, and there was no menu, just whatever dish the student chef was trying to perfect at any given time. People loved the idea of getting a taste of a future Michelin-starred chef’s early work, though, so it was difficult to get a reservation.
Not only did Drew have a reservation, when Lee asked at the front podium, he was taken to one of the more private nooks with a single table and a huge window that looked out over the Thames.
“I’m suddenly worried that I’m not dressed nicely enough for a place like this,” Lee said as he took a seat across the table from Drew.
Drew had been staring distractedly at the river, his phone face down on the table, drumming his fingers on the back of the case. Lee knew him well enough now to know that meant he’d just been on a call. The nervous energy surrounding him hinted he’d either been talking to Jessica, his agent, or some other studio executive type.