“See, you’re such a dad.” Josiah grinned, and Denny poked him in the side and that just devolved into laughing and play-wrestling and a weird sort of happiness bubble inside Josiah’s chest.
The wrestling turned into Josiah on the bottom with Denny’s weight on top of him. Denny relaxed there, settling into him like a lover instead of a friend.
“Tell me if I’m getting heavy,” he murmured, then exhaled loudly.
“Will do,” Josiah said and started to run his fingers through Denny’s hair. He couldn’t hide his smile, the way he was feeling that happiness bubble expand. Not that he needed to hide anything from Denny.
The moment was so perfect that his body didn’t even react to it much. He refused to let it turn this into something sexual and just enjoyed the feeling of their bodies pressed together from head to toe.
Eventually he realized Denny was about to fall asleep and gently tugged at his hair.
“W-huh?”
“Don’t fall asleep on me,” he said, petting Denny awake.
“Okay. Probably shouldn’t sleep at this hour anyway.”
“No, we shouldn’t. Let’s work for a while and then figure out dinner and maybe a movie?”
“Wanna go out for those?” Denny asked as he rolled off Josiah none too gracefully.
Josiah’s heart jumped. “Uh, like….”
“Like a date?” Denny peered at him, looking boyish and insecure for a few seconds. “We haven’t been on one.”
Even though someone else might’ve said that a date was a stupid idea because there was nothing they didn’t know about each other and lived together, it meant a lot to Josiah that Denny wanted to go on a date anyway.
“No, we haven’t. And I’d really like that. You pick a place, I’ll pick the movie?”
Denny grinned. “Sure, I’ll come up with something not too fancy and see if we can still get a table.”
“Honestly, that was one time….” Josiah grumbled. The story of how he’d freaked out a little at a super-fancy restaurant once was one he didn’t like to repeat.
He went to get his own laptop to do some planning for the bar’s birthday—two weeks after his own—and to pick a movie.
They ended up seeing an early showing of a decent spy movie they both enjoyed a lot. It had dry humor that made them both laugh a lot, and they were chuckling as they left the theater and headed to dinner.
Denny had chosen a restaurant that was upscale but not obnoxious about it. There were no pretentious items on the menu, instead it was led by young, talented chefs who had made it into a fine dining restaurant with a contemporary, homey feel.
“I haven’t eaten here yet,” Josiah said as he perused the menu.
Denny smiled. “I know, Sammie mentioned that you’d talked about wanting to try it out.”
“Aww, how cute.” Josiah enjoyed the slight blush climbing up Denny’s cheeks.
Denny ordered some fancy-sounding fish dish, while Josiah chose a mac and cheese thing that sounded too good to not try.
Their table was in a nice spot, with privacy walls between them and the closest tables. The atmosphere wasn’t really romantic, but more like a calm, nice environment where they could make it whatever they wanted.
When Denny reached over the table and smiled at him with what the twins would’ve called heart eyes, Josiah felt his heart do a thing again.
“I’m so incredibly in love with you,” he said without thinking at all. This was the culmination of some of his fantasies, after all. It wasn’t the first time he’d said it, but it felt even meaningful than before.
Denny’s smile widened. “I’m in love with you, too, sweetheart. I’m glad we’re here,” he murmured, then lifted Josiah’s hand to kiss his knuckles.
Josiah figured it didn’t matter whether Denny meant at the restaurant or at this point in their life together. They were both happy and that was what mattered the most.
Since they’d taken an Uber to the theater and had a couple of beers—Josiah—and some wine—Denny—during the dinner, they got another Uber home. Sitting in the backseat with Denny felt thrilling. It felt like the end of a really great date. Those, in Josiah’s experience, often led to a bed at either his or the other guy’s place.
