“No . . . It just looks fun, but I’ve never . . .”
“Well then, we have to go if you’re a virgin.”
“Definitely not a virgin.”
He flushed when he realized what he’d said. Ryder felt a flare of excitement at the images running through his head, and a strange pang of jealousy knowing other men had put their hands on him, which was ridiculous. Felix wasn’t Ryder’s property, but he didn’t want anyone else touching him either.
Felix was hesitant to go ice skating because he’d never done it before, and Ryder had to promise he wouldn’t abandon him on the ice. Ryder arranged with the store to have his purchases wrapped and delivered to his apartment so he wouldn’t be carrying anything. His cousin was going to love the model railway. He was only four, but already a big train geek.
Ryder was offered the opportunity to jump the queue, but he declined. He didn’t want Felix to judge him for it, which he’d never cared about before with anyone else, but his opinion mattered to Ryder. After ten minutes, he wasregretting his decision; standing still in the cold was not what he’d planned for the evening. But their conversation was easy, and Felix shared some anecdotes of the events he’d had to photograph, some of which had Ryder cracking up.
“Are you Ryder Quinn?” asked a random young woman who didn’t look older than twenty. She had a group of friends with her about the same age.
“Yes. What can I do for you?”
“A fuck would be nice, but I suppose this is a bit too public.”
Ryder winced. He was used to this type of crass comment from some members of the public. Most were very nice and polite, but you got the odd one. He was worried about Felix, but his snort and stifled laugh were enough to put Ryder at ease.
“What’s your problem?” she snapped at Felix.
He looked startled at her tone, which Ryder wasn’t standing for.
“Felix is with me, so I’d appreciate it if you weren’t rude to him.”
“Oh, is he one of your charity projects?”
“Felix is my date,” he said, narrowing his eyes.
“Yeah, right,” she replied with a snort. “Can we get some selfies?”
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said no. You were rude to my date.”
“Oh, you were serious about that? Has he paid you or something?”
“You can leave now,” he snapped, struggling to keep his temper in check.
He saw Felix trying to shrink away out of the corner of his eye, so he flung his arm around his shoulder and pulled him close before glaring at the women.
“This is our place in the queue, so we ain’t going nowhere until we get our selfies.”
Ryder steered Felix out of the queue and down to the front. He spoke to the guy manning the entrance and asked if they could go ahead. A few minutes later they were putting their boots on. Felix hadn’t said a word, and Ryder couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Please don’t let those people upset you,” he said.
“Is it always like that?”
“No. Most people are amiable when they talk to me. They were an exception.”
“They were right, though, weren’t they?”
“About what?”
“Me being out of your league.”
