At least being part of one. That would have been nice.
“You should come out to Angie’s tomorrow night. A whole bunch of us get together for drinks,” Charlie said.
Scott hesitated. On the one hand, he liked the idea of getting to make new friends. On the other hand, what if Charlie’s friends didn’t like him? What if they thought he was… boring, or stupid, or something?
“No pressure,” Charlie added. “But I feel like I’m keeping you all to myself and I kinda want to share. People are gonna start thinking you’re imaginary.”
Scott blinked at that, picking a piece of pepperoni off his pizza thoughtfully. Charlie talked about him to other people?
That was…
Flattering, honestly. A little embarrassing, but flattering.
Maybe he should try hanging out with Charlie’s friends. He’d already refused one invitation to socialize this week, and if he kept doing it he’d never make any friends and he’d be lonely forever.
“I guess I could do that. What time?”
“I’m usually there by seven. Sometimes earlier, but I figure you don’t want to walk into a group of total strangers without someone you know present. If you come at seven, I’ll be there.”
“Seven works for me,” Scott said. He didn’t have anything on tomorrow except for a nice, long nap. He’d definitely be finished napping by seven o’clock.
“Great.” Charlie beamed at him. He looked so happy that Scott could hardly believe he’d even considered letting him down.
It was nice to feel wanted. Charlie made him feel that way, like his company was fun and worthwhile.
“How’s Chewie?” Charlie asked after a moment, working his way through another slice of pizza. Scott had only managed to finish two, but he already felt full. This was Charlie’s third.
“He’s great. I signed the papers for him a few days ago, so he’s all mine now. Even after I promised myself I wouldn’t adopt any dogs because if I started I’d never stop.”
“There are worse things to do with your life than adopt a whole bunch of dogs,” Charlie said. “I think it’s adorable.”
Scott shifted his weight in his chair, unsure again if he was being flirted with.
The thing was, though, if that was what Charlie was doing… it was nice. Scottlikedbeing called adorable, even by another guy. Having people pay him compliments felt good.
Maybe he should have put a stop to it, mentioned that Charlie was wasting his time, but a tiny, selfish part of him wanted Charlie to keep paying attention to him. He was afraid that if he pointed out that he was straight, Charlie would stop.
That was the last thing Scott wanted. He wanted to keep having moments like this.
“Thanks,” Scott responded eventually. “Hey, uh. I saw a glimpse of a tattoo on your wrist earlier…”
Charlie grinned, rolling up his sleeve so Scott could see a series of multi-colored dots stretching across the lower part of his forearm, just above his wrist. “Here.” Charlie held his arm out across the table, still working his way through his pizza.
Scott reached out to touch him automatically, hesitating just before he made contact, and then deciding it was okay. His stomach swooped as he touched Charlie’s smooth, warm skin, though he wasn’t sure why.
Charlie had definitely proved that he didn’t bite. There was nothing to be worried about.
Touching him still felt strange, though. Scott found himself hypnotized by the tiny design, tracing each dot one by one while Charlie let him. Charlie obviously didn’t mind being touched.
“What is it?” he asked eventually.
“A subtle pride flag,” Charlie said. “I got it so kids would know for sure that I was a queer adult and they could come to me if they had questions. I don’t know if it’s gonna work, but I wanted to try. Even in a place like this, I wish I’d had an adult I could trust to go to when I was figuring myself out. I had my older brother, but that’s not really the same.”
“So gay kinda runs in your family?” Scott asked. He wasn’t sure if that made sense, but it sounded like that was what Charlie was saying.
“Bisexuality runs in my family. I’m still the odd one out.”
Scott chuckled at that. “You are kinda weird. It’s cool, though. I like weird.”
