He plastered a smile on his face. “I’m here to meet someone, but I’m not sure exactly what he looks like.” Quinn looked past the podium, desperately seeking out a face that he would instantly recognize, but found nothing. He looked back at the woman. “The last name is Parker, and his last name is Walsh. Do you have either of those names?”
The hostess shook her head. “Are you sure you’re at the right restaurant?” she asked. She gave him another once over. Yup, it was apparent his appearance didn’t meet her approval.
You run a successful cleaning company and don’t need her approval, Quinn.
Man, he wished he could tell her to shove it, but he wasn’t the confrontational type, especially when he had no reason to prove himself to her or anyone else for that matter.
“Um, yeah… I’m positive,” he said.
Then, before he could say anything else, he heard the voice behind him. “Quinn?”
He turned around to face the man that had just entered the restaurant. Quinn smiled with relief. He was right, he did recognize the man before him.
“Alec, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Quinn offered his hand to Alec for a handshake.
Alec smiled and took it but raised it to his lips for a kiss.
Quinn had to admit he was even more handsome than he could have hoped for. Okay, maybe this night wouldn’t suck. He wasn’t the typical dating app sort of omega—not that there was anything wrong with that, or them—but after over five years of being single, he was getting to the point where he needed to do something.
He ignored the voice in his head that said dating online seemed a bit desperate. He’d had a couple of nice chats with Alec. The beta had seemed interesting, and Quinn had decided to take the leap.
The hostess showed them to their table where they each sat down across from one another. Quinn picked up his menu and started to look through it while Alec seemed uninterested.
“Ready to order?” the beta asked.
Before Quinn could even respond, he waved a waiter over to their table. Quinn frowned and shut the menu, then set it back down and pushed it to the side.
“What can I get for you both?” The waiter looked between the two of them as he spoke.
“You first,” Alec said.
“Uh… I… well… I guess I’ll take the fish fillet basket with a baked potato as a side and also the broccoli and cheese soup. Just water to drink. Thanks.” He smiled at the waiter.
Alec then rattled off what he wanted, making substitutions and additions, while Quinn sat there and told himself not to fidget all the while thinking,Wow, the man was particular, but then reminded himself Alec could have allergies or a multitude of other reasons to be so picky.
After the waiter left, Alec glanced in his direction. “I hope you were ready to order.”
Quinn shrugged. “It’s fine.” A voice in his head pointed out the other man should have asked that question beforehand and not now.
Quinn looked around the restaurant. He had only been there one other time, and that was just months before his husband, Barry, passed away. They’d just found out the artificial insemination had taken after two previous tries, and they’d come out to celebrate.
“This place doesn’t have the best food,” Alec said, bringing Quinn’s attention back to him.
Quinn frowned, remembering quite differently. “Then why did you choose it?”
Alec shrugged. “It’s cheap, and I figured I’d be paying.”
Quinn’s jaw dropped. Was this guy serious? What a rude thing to say. Quinn was quite capable of covering his own meal and would have preferred it that way.
The waiter arrived back at their table with the drinks, and Quinn was grateful for that as he took a sip of his water. Mostly it was to stop himself from calling the asshole, well... an asshole. He put the glass back down on the table and reminded himself it was just a first date, and he was within his rights not to want to overspend.
“So, tell me something about yourself, Alec,” Quinn started.
Alec scrunched up his nose in thought. “I think we pretty much covered all that online. We’ve been talking for a few weeks after all.”
The voice in his head, this time sounding a lot like his late husband, whispered,douchie much? Quinn lifted his glass a second time for another sip, although it was mostly to stifle the laugh that bubbled up. After lowering his glass, he still nodded. “I guess we have.”
He tapped his fingers on the table at a loss for what to say next. What was the point of even going out if you didn’t want to talk? Sure, they’d covered some things online, but not everything.
