I laugh. “Why didn’t you fucking say something, hot stuff? I thought your name was Dan. I totally missed the ‘A’ at the end of your name tag.”
“I couldn’t decide if you knew or not,” he admits. “Sorry.”
I feel much better about this trip today than I did. I wasn’t exactly worried about who would purchase my date. But I’d chosen something remote. Like, super remote. That’s not exactly a smart, safe choice for a first date with a stranger.
Thankfully, Dana isn’t a stranger.
“Come on,” I tell him, pulling him toward the truck and opening the passenger-side door. “This is going to be fun. Have you ever kayaked before?”
I don’t wait for him to answer as I shut his door and round the truck to climb in. He has his backpack on his lap. “You can toss it into the cab if you want.”
Dana nods and does so. “I’ve never kayaked,” he says. “But it looks like a lot of fun. I love the outdoors.”
“I’ve kayaked a lot,” I tell him as I pull away from the curb. “Besides football, kayaking makes up most of my favorite memories.”
“This is your go-to date, then, huh?”
I laugh. “No. I’ve never taken anyone on a kayaking date. You’re the first.” I wink, and as he usually does, his cheeks turn pink. I love how shy he is. It’s super adorable.
“Why’d you choose that for the auction?”
“We have the full weekend off from football,” I tell him. “Which is incredibly rare. I decided that I’d spend it kayaking, and since we were supposed to have our dates scheduled by this weekend, I figured I’d just roll it in. I thought whoever bid on my date would at least have that in common.”
“That’s cool.”
“The lake is about an hour away, so as the passenger, it’s your job to entertain me. Tell me about yourself.”
Dana looks out the passenger window. “Like what?”
“I know I tease you about living at the café, but you’re a student at RDU, right?”
He nods. “Yep. I’m studying business. Very generic.”
“Why?”
He shrugs. “I wanted something universal that can be applied to many career fields, so I didn’t get stuck with a useless degree if I changed my mind. I’m hoping to continue with my MBA to make me extra marketable in an economy where a degree doesn’t guarantee you shit anymore.”
“What do you hope to do with it?”
“Honestly? I want a printing press.” He gives me a smile. “I’d love to become a publishing house exclusively for queer books. I want to print both mass market and extra deluxe special editions under one roof, choosing to be the opposite of every conservative printer who refuses to print if you have dirty art or queer lovers. That’s all I want to print.”
“That’s awesome,” I say. “That’s super specific, which sounds completely opposite to your generalized statement a minute ago.”
“Okay, maybe I meant it differently than it came out. I want a degree that can be applied to a vast variety of fields, primarily because I know I can’t make that dream happen as soon as I graduate. I need to find the funds. Maybe establish a professional reputation. That kind of thing. But also, I need to have something that will still serve me in the future if this falls through. There’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to get it off the ground, you know?”
“I do. I bet if you told the RDU administration what you hope to accomplish, they’ll tell you how to get some donors on board. RDU has a massive queer donor base who keeps expanding their efforts to give us opportunities and voices.”
Dana nods. “I hadn’t thought of that, but yeah. When I get closer to finishing my master’s degree, I’ll start investigating how to make it happen. I don’t even know how much money I’m going to need to begin with. It’s nothing but a dream right now.”
“I think it’ll happen,” I tell him.
He’d been looking out the window, but turns to look at me. “You do?”
“Yep. In a world that continues trying to keep us down, there are those who fight back and help us make our voices louder. I think this is a great way to give the queer world a very loud voice. Oh! I bet you can maybe partner with the school and get some interns to work with you. It’ll help you save on some costs, give them experience, and help get you up and running. Look at all those birds you’ll be hitting with a single stone.”
He smiles. “That’s a cool idea. I really haven’t thought details, yet. This is just a pipe dream.”
“It’s a great dream, and I hope it happens for you.”
