A knot of anger twisted in Kyle’s gut. He forced himself to keep his tone upbeat and neutral. He hated being annoyed with his friend - especially since it was his own fault for bringing this topic up - but he couldn’t stop his own distress from manifesting.
“Okay. I’ll let him know you agreed,” Kyle said.
“Say, what’s his name, anyway? I don’t know anything about the guy.”
Kyle swallowed hard as a lump formed in his throat. “It’s Stark.”
“Awesome,” Chase said. “Well, thanks for the hookup, man! We should all hang out sometime, or maybe double date if you can find yourself a hunk of alpha too, eh?”
“Yeah.”
Chase didn’t seem to notice Kyle’s less than enthusiastic reaction. “Anyway, later!”
The line went dead.
The phone loosened in Kyle’s hand moments before it fell to the floor. Kyle slumped down the wall with a huge groan, dragging his hands down his face.
What the hell did I just do?
* * *
The next morningKyle woke up from a restless sleep to the sound of his phone ringing. With a groan he picked it up without checking the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Hey, Kyle - crap, did I wake you up?”
Stark’s voice on the other end instantly made Kyle’s heartbeat quicken. He sat up in bed and instinctively brushed his hair back even though he knew Stark couldn’t even see him. “No, it’s okay, I was up already,” he lied. “What’s up?”
“So, um… about that date?”
Kyle’s face fell. He had completely forgotten about that. He stifled a heavy sigh. It was like waking up and remembering that what you thought was just a nightmare was real after all.
“Oh, that,” Kyle mumbled. “Yeah, I called my friend and he said he’d be down to meet you tonight.”
“Really?” Stark cried. “That’s awesome, man. Thanks so much! What’s his name? What time should I meet him? Hell,whereshould I meet him?”
Before Kyle could even respond, Stark had worked himself into a worried frenzy. “Geez, I suddenly feel so unprepared… I haven’t had a real date in ages. It’s like I forgot what to do.”
Kyle was picking out the right words before Stark spoke again. “Hey, Kyle?”
“Yeah?”
“Uh… This is a super weird thing to ask, but…”
Closing his eyes with a silent sigh, Kyle waited for him to continue. What else could go wrong at this point?
“Do you think you could come with me?”
Kyle was glad he wasn’t drinking anything because he definitely would have spat it out in surprise. “What!?”
“I don’t know the guy, and he doesn’t know me, but you know both of us. I think it’ll be less awkward to have sort of like a mediator… at least in the beginning,” Stark said. “What do you say?”
Kyle’s jaw hung open. How could he say no to Stark when he asked like that?
His throat was dry. “Um. I mean. Sure, yeah, I can do that.”
“Great,” Stark said. “You’re the best. I made reservations at 8 at a nearby restaurant,La Bistro.I’ve never been there before, but it sounds fancy.” He chuckled. “I hope I don’t come off as too pretentious or anything.”
“Yeah.” Kyle was barely paying attention. How could he when Stark of all fucking people was inviting him to dinner - except it wasn’t even a date? Kyle felt like the stupidest person on earth.
