“I even have you as Sergeant Grumpy in my phone.”
Great. Not exactly the reputation I’d been shooting for. “I can’t have been that bad, considering you still wanted to kiss me.”
“What can I say? You’re hot.”
I stood a little taller. “Thank you.”
After a second or two, he gestured for me to continue.
“What?”
“This is where you’re supposed to return the compliment and say something nice about me.”
“Right. You’re not so bad-looking yourself.”
He fanned himself. “Don’t go all crazy now with your flattery and smooth talk, Sergeant Grumpy.”
“What, you need me to quote poetry or something?” But I’d been teasing him, and it was time to stop. “I truly loved kissing you.”
“Right back atcha. But…” Heath gestured toward the table we’d been sitting at earlier. “Do you think we could maybe continue our earlier conversation?”
A few minutes later, we were back right where we’d started, plus two fresh drinks Zayd had brought us. “You come here often?” I asked, using the worst pickup line ever. Luckily, we were past that point already.
“It’s my favorite bar. It’s close to the beach, it’s super queer-friendly, and I love Zayd. He’s Kent’s ex, by the way.”
My eyes about popped out of their sockets. “What? I didn’t even know Kent was gay.”
Heath laughed. “You need to work on your gaydar, but I guess you’re forgiven since you’re still a baby bi.”
“A what?”
“A baby bi. A brand-new bisexual. Because that’s what you are, right?”
Since I’d already made clear I was, Heath had to have a different reason for asking again, and it wasn’t hard to guess. “You’re afraid I’ll turn out to be straight after all.”
His cheeks grew red as he looked away. “I wouldn’t use the word ‘afraid,’ but my track record with this is not good. I seem to be really good at picking the wrong guys.”
I leaned forward, lowering my voice. “The second we started kissin’, I was hard as iron. That’s not straight, sunshine.”
He shrugged, but it didn’t quite come across as indifferent. “That’s biology, your body responding to stimulus.”
“It shouldn’t be sexy, the way you said that just now, and yet it totally is. You’re also wrong. I know myself and my body. Trust me when I say I’m bi, though it’s as much a surprise for me as it is for you.”
“Okay. Sorry, I didn’t mean to question?—”
I held up a hand to cut him off. “I get it.”
Heath took a sip of his drink, carefully avoiding my eyes. “Where do you see this going?” he finally asked.
“This?”
He gestured from himself to me and back. “This. Us. If there is an us.”
Ah. “I have almost zero experience with dating, so you tell me.”
That finally got him to flick his eyes to mine. “Zero? Were you in a convent?”
“No, sunshine, in the United States Army. Not the most conducive environment for dating. I hooked up plenty, don’t get me wrong, but I never saw the same woman more than twice, maybe three times. None of them ever held my interest beyond great sex. If even that.”
