“Isn’t that like …everyone’sfirst date?” Ben joked. “If it was your guess, I bet you’d win that bet.”
A bunch of guys chimed in their agreement, although a few mentioned dinner or mini golf. Several said school dances.
Okay, so fairly standard answers all around.
That or hockey players weren’t that creative. Which was undoubtedly true.
So, did that help?
School dances obviously weren’t an option. Clubbing instead? Last season, Graham had tagged along with a handful of guys going to a gay club in LA. At the time, Graham had wanted to dance, felt very secure in his sexuality, and chalked it all up to being a good ally.
He was kinda starting to wonder now …
Thad had been part of the group too and at one point, Graham had seen him and some guy making out in the back hallway of the club. Graham had immediately walked away. He’d convinced himself it was because he wanted to be respectful and not spy on his friend in an intimate moment.
But again, he was really starting to wonder …
Graham sighed. He’d deal withthatlater. For now, he needed to plan a date.
Going clubbing didn’t feel like a first date activity.
Graham could probably get away with doing any of the others in public with Thad, since everyone knew they were already friends, but he had no idea where to find mini golf inManhattanand he and Thad ate meals together all the time.
Movies, however … well, Graham didn’thatethat idea.
He could invite Thad to go to a movie with him and like … reach out and take his hand halfway through, maybe?
But what if he was weirded out and they got in an argument and …
Yeah, no, that wasn’t great. Maybe not in public then. Especially since he was trying to keep everything under the radar at least until he had a chance to talk to Thad about it.
Mini golf wasdefinitelyout in a hotel room and room service felt pretty … meh.
Hecouldinvite Thad over to watch a movie in his room though. No one would blink at that either. But there was no way to like … make it special. Make it feel like arealdate.
Graham was still mulling over ideas when his name was called a few minutes later and he thought about it as he went up to his room.
He had a few hours to kill before dinner, so after he set his luggage down, he threw himself onto the bed and pulled out his phone again.
Okay, time to do some more research.
With only about ten minutes to spare before he left for dinner, Graham tossed his backpack on the bed and unzipped it.
Snacks spilled out. Movie theater butter flavored microwave popcorn. Candy. Soda. Nacho chips, cheese, and soft pretzels.
Okay, maybe he’d gone a little overboard. And the team dietician was going to fuckingkillhim.
But … it would be worth it, right?
Graham’s stomach tightened with anticipation as he thought about the night ahead. About what might happen after the movie.
Thad was … experienced. He might have expectations about where this would go and God had Graham thought about it and he wanted it, but he also wasn’t sure, like, what theprotocolwas.
He knew damn well Thad was the kinda guy who got on an app, swiped a few times until he found what he was looking for, then spent about two minutes ascertaining the other person was into what he was, then arranged to meet up.
Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am. Or, sir, in a lot of cases.
But Graham wasn’t into the whole hookup culture. He’d had a few one-time things, but they didn’t do much for him and Madison had been right when she said he was a serial monogamist.
