“Twenty-six.”
He bobbed his head and sipped his soda.
It didn’t escape my notice that he checked out my arms every now and then, when I reached for my own soda, for instance. He tried to be subtle.
I might have a shot.
“I don’t have the same kind of career ambitions you appear to have,” I felt the need to say. “I’ve always put more energy into hobbies and shit.”
“What kinds of hobbies?”
I shrugged and scratched my shoulder absently. “Knives and leather craft, mainly. Rock climbing too. But also, like—I want a big family one day, so that’s part of my planning for the future.” Time to see how he’d react. “I’m gonna move to Boston eventually, ’cause it’s way easier for gay people to adopt there.”
He flicked me a glance as he fiddled with the straw in his soda. “Oh.”
“My brother and I were adopted.” I threw that out there too. “Do you have any siblings?”
He shook his head. “I always wanted a brother.” He went for more chips, and he shifted in his seat. “Are you some kind of gentle giant? You don’t strike me as someone who’s already thinking about family.”
Was I gigantic? I may have a few inches on him in height, but I wasn’t built like a linebacker or anything. I’d played quarterback in high school, which was ages ago.
“I don’t know about gentle. Or gigantic,” I chuckled. “I try to bekind, if that’s what you mean—and that’s all Ma.”
He quirked a soft smirk. “And the swearing comes from your dad?”
I laughed. “Yeah, maybe.” I scratched the side of my head. “I don’t know. I just have these memories of my mother trying to find homes for so many kids that it stuck with me. We spent Thanksgivings and Christmases at group homes and shelters because my mother taught me that if a single child spent a holiday alone, grown-ups had failed.”
Fuck. It hadn’t been my intention for this to turn heavy. It made me a bit uncomfortable.
“She sounds incredible,” Nathan murmured.
I smiled. “She is.” I nodded at his watch. “When do you start your shift?”
He checked the time and made a face. “In half an hour.”
And it took…maybe fifteen minutes to get to Center City on a bike.
I was headed that way too since I was going home, and I’d officially reached the stage where I offered to throw his bike in my truck.
“I don’t mind driving you,” I said. “My truck is parked two blocks away.”
His expression was one part surprise and one part… Wariness was a strong word, and I couldn’t call him timid. Maybe…careful? Maybe…getting closer to figuring out that I was trying to make a move?
“Why would you willingly put yourself through downtown traffic?”
“Well, I live there.” I grinned. “I’m goin’ there anyway.”
“Oh.” He huffed a chuckle. “I don’t know why that didn’t occur to me.”
Possibly because it was fucking expensive to live there. “Part of growing up comfortably,” I admitted. “We’re not complete saints.”
He exhaled a laugh and shook his head. “There’s nothing wrong with having a nice place to stay. It’s sure as hell my goal to get out of my roach-infested shoebox in Strawberry Mansion.”
Oof. I bet. Rough neighborhood. “It’s settled, then. I’ll take you to work.”
“Um, all right. Thank you.” He had to fucking know I was coming on to him at this point. If the poor lighting wasn’t betraying me, it kinda looked like he had a faint blush going on. “I’m just gonna go take a leak. Then we can head out of here.”
I nodded with a dip of my chin, and he slid out of the booth.
