Chapter 1
Dinner is a Disappointment
This is notthe best idea you’ve ever had, Adonis.
Donny took a deep breath, eyes wide as he stared across the table at blond-haired, blue-eyed Davis Harrington. On paper, Donny was certain Davis ticked all the boxes a prospective suitor should.
Good job? Check. Davis was an investment banker— he’d mentioned it no less than four times in the last half an hour.
Nice looks? Check. Davis’s hair looked like it would fly off his head if the wind blew hard enough— just the right combination of floofy and gelled to look like he hadn’t spent any time on it at all. Paired with a jawline that looked like it had been chiseled from marble and eyes as blue as the Pacific Ocean, Davis was set in the looks department. He even had an amazing voice—this beautiful, melodic baritone that sounded as thick and sweet as syrup.
All that aside, Donny was actually convinced Davis was a life-sucking demon who’d been sent to earth with the sole mission to bore unsuspecting twinks to death. Donny wasn’t sure what was going on with his sister’s friend Joel and his suitor Gabriel, but Joel had definitely dodged a bullet when he turned Davis down for a date.
Donny hadn’t heard a word Davis had said since the last time he’d uttered “investment banker,” and Davis was soinvestedin what was coming out of his own mouth, he wasn’t close to being aware of Donny’s quickly mounting boredom.
“You sure talk a lot, Davis.” Donny smoothed his tongue across the front of his teeth, in thought. Davis paused, a fork halfway raised to his mouth, and offered Donny a megawatt smile.
“I like to think I have important things to say.” Davis stuffed the fork into his mouth.
“IknowI have important things to say,” Donny countered, but the statement was washed away in another complex explanation of something Donny couldn’t care less about.
It was times like this Donny hated being small as he was. His sister Athena had the stature to match her personality, and all Donny wanted was that, too.
He was well aware of how he looked. He was barely five and a half feet tall and, although he hadn’t been to the doctor lately, was confident he weighed less than one hundred and forty pounds. People made assumptions about Donny, but the assumptions people made were wrong.
He thought about the similarities between him and Joel. They were both short; they were both slender. They both had a good handle on their hairstyles.
Maybe Davis just has a thing for emo twinks who can’t keep their hair out of their eyes.
Except that was the point where the similarities between Joel and Donny ended.
Finally, the check arrived and Donny eyed it, waiting for Davis to reach for it. With as much time as he’d spent talking about how much money he had and flaunting that stupid Tesla key fob, Donny was surprised Davis hadn’t already thrown down a black American Express card.
He sucked in a breath, realizing that Davis had, for once, stopped talking. Donny looked up from the interesting white cloth napkin on his lap to see Davis across from him with a hand extended.
“Your half is $17.84.”
Donny blinked, and opened his mouth. “I thought this was a date. You asked if I wanted to go on a date, and here I am.”
“Well, sure. But I never said I was going to pay for you, Adonis. It’s 2018. Are you not man enough to pull your own weight in a relationship?” Davis tapped his credit card on top of the check. Itwasa black American Express, Jesus Christ, and he wanted seventeen dollars from Donny?
Not interested in making sense of the utter bullshit that had just fallen out of Davis’s mouth, Donny reached into his pocket and pulled twenty bucks out of his wallet, tossing the bill toward Davis before standing up from the table.
“So, we’re square then. Have a good night, Davis. It’s been…” Donny clamped his mouth shut, unsure how to finish the sentence.
Davis stood, “You don’t want to come back to my place?” He tossed his head back a little, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
“No. I’m not sure I’m man enough for that, Davis. Thanks, though.” He blinked at Davis slowly, letting the dry sarcasm of his reply settle.
When he felt his point had been understood, he turned to go but was physically stopped when Davis’s long arm reached across the table to grab his shoulder. The force behind the gesture spun Donny around, and he wobbled on his feet before regaining his balance and squaring his stance.
“Wait! Wait up.” Davis took a step forward that bordered on invasion of Donny’s personal space. “I think we could have some fun tonight, don’t you? You’re so much prettier than your little red-haired friend.” He reached up and secured a hand around the back of Donny’s neck, trying to pull him forward for a kiss. Donny attempted to brace himself and resist the tug, but Davis had managed a firm grip and he stumbled.
“I said no,” Donny repeated himself, this time choosing to leave off the sarcastic tone hoping his message would be more clearly received.
It wasn’t.
A deviant look darkened Davis’s face, then his mouth quirked in what Donny assumed was a smile but looked much more like a menacing grimace.
