12
Art stoodin the doorway of his apartment, his hair damp like he’d just been fixing it. He wore a polo, and like so many of his others, it was a little too big on him. In khaki slacks and some nicer brown Oxfords—ones that Wes hadn’t seen him wear before—he looked as cute as ever to Wes, who appreciated the smile that swept across his face. It was that same smile that could melt Wes’s heart and remind him of something he found himself looking forward to everyday.
“I assumed we would meet in the common area,” Artsaid.
“I thought about that, but I was a little impatient, and I figured we could walk downtogether.”
Wes had paced too long in his townhouse before he found himself heading to Art’s. His nerves had gotten the best of him as he found himself increasingly uneasy about whether or not the Mediterranean place he’d found on Yelp would be to Art’sliking.
Art headed inside and grabbed his wallet before they walked through the hall together, an eerie silence between them. Unlike some of the more pleasant silences they exchanged during their walks together, there was an uneasiness to this one that Wes didn’t carefor.
“It’s funny to think this is our first date,” Wes said, hoping to break the tension. “Most people around here assume we’ve been up to no good for a whilenow.”
“Yes, the looks from Kenneth Moore and his gang on bingo nights are worse thanever.”
“Oh yes. Although, I think I can deal with Kenneth’s phobias better than with Frances, Gabe, and Tony grinning ear to ear like they think we’ve been sneaking around, doing all sorts of naughty things behind theirbacks.”
Art’s face flushed red, and he turned to look away as though he was trying to shield his embarrassment from Wes. Although, Wes wasn’t sure why when it was so pleasing to see on Art’sface.
“How can you blush after all these years?” Wes spit out. “Haven’t you heard enough compliments in your life to not give a damn about anything I mightsay?”
“I normally don’t, but around you, I get a littleflustered.”
“Like when I call youbeautiful?”
Art’s face turned a deeper shade of red. He raised his hands to shield his face. “Stop. Other residents are going to see me likethis.”
However, there was something so fun about it, so appealing, that Wes couldn’t feel guilty aboutit.
“Well, you do look beautiful tonight, and I’m not saying that just to make youblush.”
Art snickered, which made Wes laugh, but he found the pressure to make this date special for Art even greater, and he wasn’t sure he could live up to theexpectation.
* * *
Wes and Artsat in the restaurant, Art glancing around at the other patrons and the decor. It wasn’t the most elegant of places, but nice enough that Wes thought it was perfect when he’d discovered it. But there was this lingering uneasiness withinhim.
“Do you like it?” hepressed.
“Everything looks amazing. Thank you for bringing mehere.”
Despite Art’s gratitude, Wes knew him well enough to know there was something wrong. “You don’t like it at all. I can tell.” He leaned back in his chair, sighing. “I’m not very good at any of this. You realize I haven’t had a date in… Well, a real date not since Becca, so this whole experience is a little foreign tome.”
“You’re doing fine,Wes.”
“I was trying to be a gentleman and take you out to this restaurant, but now that we’re here, I don’t feel like this isus.”
“It’s a great place for a first date…even if I do feel a littlefoolish.”
Wes took another quick look around before leaning toward Art. “Then let’s get out of here and do something moreus.”
“I would really like that.” As Art’s smile returned, Wes knew he’d made the right suggestion. He’d worked himself up so much about the date that he tried to do what he thought was appropriate or fitting, but really, their priority needed to be to have a goodtime.
They exited the restaurant, and Wes searched around, checking out the neighboring buildings. “So what do you think would befun?”
“This is kind of exciting. We can do anything.” Art’s enthusiasm and his eagerness toward this new approach assured Wes that he just needed to roll with it and not map out what was the standard script for a “date,” but go with his gut. He searched on his phone for places nearby, and as one option caught his attention, he said, “Wes and Art’s first date, taketwo.”
“What is it? Where are wegoing?!”
