“You should do something about that,” Jude said. “If I didn’t have the perfect man already, I’d fight you over that one.”
“Yeah, I mean… I have no interest in men,” Lanie said. “But even I can see he’s hot.”
Amber wiggled her eyebrows, not about to be left out of the commentary on how attractive Scott was.
Owen looked confused, since his attraction to men still seemed to be limited to Jude and a select few of his favorite actors, who he insisted were just really good actors.
Everyone else knew better, but Owen could believe whatever he wanted.
“He doesn’t seem like a creep?” Owen said eventually. “You can date him.”
Charlie chuckled at that, tension he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying fading away. He wanted his friends and family to approve of his choices. Boys came and went, but they were always there for him.
That was a philosophy taken from a Spice Girls song, but they’d been right about friends and lovers.
Less so about love not lasting forever. He could see that it could in the way Jude and Owen were with each other.
What Charlie wanted was a best friend he could also have sex with. That didn’t seem like too much to ask.
“Apparently, this is local,” Scott said, sliding a bottle of beer across the table to Charlie before sitting down next to him again. “When in Rome, right?”
“Right,” Charlie agreed. “But we won’t be offended if you don’t drink our beer. It’s not that kind of small town.”
“No, it’s not.” Scott sipped his own bottle, rolling the beer around on his tongue before swallowing it. “I like it here,” he added.
“Good.” Charlie shifted a little, inching closer to Scott. He was so warm, so solid that Charlie couldn’t help wanting to be close to him. So far, Scott didn’t seem to mind. “There’s a reason people always come back.”
“I’m starting to see it.” Scott nodded. “Thanks for inviting me out tonight. Your friends seem cool.”
“They like you, too,” Charlie said. “And they’ll like you even more as they get to know you. Promise.”
“You’ve got a lot of faith in me.” Scott sipped his beer again, looking around the bar. Charlie couldn’t keep his eyes off him when he wasn’t looking.
He’d forgotten how intense a crush could be. It made him feel awkward and silly, like he should just snap out of it and be cool, but he couldn’t make himself. He wanted as much of Scott’s company and attention as he could get.
“I like you,” Charlie admitted, his stomach swooping as he did so. Was it too much to say?
“I like you, too.” Scott smiled at him, finally sitting back comfortably. “One of my dogs got adopted this morning.”
“Yeah?” Charlie was eager to hear any story Scott wanted to tell him, especially if it was about dogs.
He couldn’t think of anything more attractive than Scott holding a puppy.
“Yeah. She was a total sweetheart and she couldn’t have gone to a better home. A Doberman, so a lot of people wouldn’t even come to see her, but she was good with other dogs, with kids, even cats. She deserved a good human, and I think she’s got one now.”
“It must be kinda bittersweet to see them go,” Charlie said.
“It is. I mean, I’d adopt every dog I met if that was an option, but this way I get to love the maximum number of dogs possible in my lifetime. And when they find new people to love and take care of them, that’s cool. Even if I miss them.”
“I’m glad you’re keeping Chewie. He’s such a sweetheart.”
“He’s at the stage where he keeps trying to eat my work boots, but yeah. He is. I needed one permanent dog so that they couldn’t all leave me at once. I want them to have forever homes, but between you and me, I cry a little when they leave.”
“That’s actually incredibly cute. I don’t think it’s good for men to refuse to cry. It just turns them into angry, frustrated people.”
“Believe me, I know,” Scott said, shifting his weight. “My dad used to call mesensitive. Like it was the worst possible thing I could be.”
Scott’s tone was like a kick in the gut to Charlie. His own father had been nothing but supportive of him. Even though he’d never gotten the chance to come out to him, he knew for sure that it wouldn’t have been a problem between them. His mom had barely batted an eyelid when he came out, but switched from asking about girls to asking about boys immediately.
