Joshua sat across from me and watched boats passing on the water with wonder in his eyes. “Have you been on a yacht before?”
I followed his gaze and saw a huge boat that was lit up with twinkling lights. “I’ve been on a few fishing boats out there, but the only time I was on a big yacht was for my senior prom. It was held on one of those dinner cruise yachts.”
He grinned. “You went to your prom?”
“Yeah.” I shook my head and chuckled. “Didn’t you?”
“Uh, no.” He tore off a piece of his roll and popped it into his mouth. “One of my friends had a gaming marathon weekend, so we just did that instead.”
A million questions came to mind, but I didn’t want to get serious. This night was about keeping things fun and light. “Well, that’s a shame because I bet you woulda looked hot in a tux.”
“I doubt it.” He chuckled. “Lemme guess, yours was powder blue with ruffles.”
“What!?!” I actually laughed at that. What did he know about blue ruffles, anyway? “That was about twenty years before my time.”
He shrugged and took a drink of his wine. “Did you take a cheerleader?”
Was I that predictable? “Technically yes, but we went as friends. A group of eight of us rented a limo.”
He nodded and bit his lip, like he wanted to say something else but was trying not to.
“Go ahead.” I smirked when his eyes went wide. “Say whatever you’re thinking.”
“It’s not my business.”
Oh,that’swhat he was thinking. “Are you wondering if I was out back then?”
His chin dropped once in a slight nod. “Were you?”
“Kinda but not really.” I folded my napkin and set it on the table. “I could have been, but there weren’t a lot of ‘out’ guys at my school, so it didn’t really matter. My close friends knew, but it wasn’t a big thing.”
He looked out the window with his arms folded over his chest. “Same here. My friends knew, but I only hooked up with one guy in high school. He was a year older, so when he graduated, my sex life went dormant for a while.”
“Did you do any college?” I knew he didn’t graduate, but he was a smart guy who seemed like college material.
“A few semesters at the JC, but I needed to focus on working rather than studying.” He glanced at me and smiled. “And for the record, I did have a few more experiences after high school.”
I tried to play innocent, but I was curious. “Afewmore?”
"What?" He laughed, and his cheeks pinked up. “Not a lot. Just enough to know what I like.”
"And what’s that?"
His eyes locked with mine, and I could feel the heat radiating between us, even from across the table as I picked up my wine. "Maybe it’s more accurate to say I’ve tried enough other things to know what I’ve been missing."
Fuck me.
I looked down at his plate and it was empty. “You want dessert or are you ready to head home?”
“Home.” The glimmer in his eyes shifted from want to need, and I felt it straight in my gut.
I waved down the server for the check and unloaded enough cash from my wallet to cover a generous tip. “Let’s go.”
As we were driving, his hand slowly scooted to the center console, and I took the hint, grabbing it with mine and resting it on my thigh. My thumb rubbed small circles on his hand as he leaned slightly toward me.
When we got to a light, I pulled his hand up to my lips and gave him a kiss. “I’m really proud of you.”
His head tilted up, and he grinned. “For staying alive?”
