That gave Derek pause, and he looked at the guy over the rim of his water glass. “Yeah?”
Niko shrugged as he sat back. “Yeah. Don’t get me wrong, your brother is a great guy. He’s the perfect gym buddy and he’s hilarious. But he’s not my type. Physically…I can work with that, but we don’t really mesh well on things that matter.”
“How so?” Derek asked, a little nervous, but more curious than anything.
Niko bit his lip in thought, then smiled a tiny bit as he said, “He keeps insisting on calling a tomato a fruit.”
“Oh my god,” Derek groaned, dipping his head forward, “he so fucking does that. Like okay technically yes, but it’s not a fucking fruit. A few years ago, we had this huge argument and to prove his point, he grabbed one off the counter and ate it like an apple because he’s a fucking monster.”
Niko threw his head back, laughing. “He didn’t. That should be considered treason.”
“I know!” Derek said, feeling his cheeks ache with how wide his grin was. “I won’t change my mind either.”
“Well,” Niko said as his laughter began to die down, “he mentioned that you agreed with me about his shitty opinions. And that was intriguing enough to give this a chance. What about you? How’d he convince you to come?”
Derek bit his lip, debated about the truth, then said, “He said you were a great guy, and…I’ve been kind of looking for one of those. I guess I didn’t take much convincing.”
Niko’s smile softened, showing all the way to his eyes.
The date was good.It was so good. They got along better than Sage told him they would, and Derek found himself smiling more than he had in what felt like years. When the server offered dessert, Niko shook his head and leaned in toward Derek. “Trust me?”
Derek shrugged. “You haven’t steered me wrong yet.” He wanted to protest about Niko picking up the bill, but it had been so damn long since he’d really done anything on the dating scene and he didn’t want to be rude, so he let it go.
Niko lead the way outside and turned the opposite direction of where their cars were parked. “So, this little gelato shop just opened up two blocks down and I’ve been dying to try it. I really limit my sweets, but I get to indulge since we’re on an official date.”
Derek wasn’t really a sweets guy, but the way Niko looked so hopeful, he couldn’t say no. “Sounds good to me.”
“And since we’re doing the date thing…would holding your hand be out of line?” Niko asked in an even softer voice.
For just a split second, Derek wanted to say no, wanted to say that was too much. But he promised his brother he was going to try, and it was such a small step. After only a beat of hesitation, he held his hand out and felt Niko’s fingers slip between his. It was a somewhat awkward fit. Niko’s hands were surprisingly thick, and they stretched Derek’s to a point of almost pain. His palm was rough too, calloused from where he held weights and it wasn’t entirely pleasant, but touching another person wasn’t something he got to do often, either. It felt strange and alien, but he didn’t entirely hate it.
He ignored the tiny voice in the back of his mind telling him that it was only because he wished it was someone else’s hand he was holding, and he distracted himself by following along with Niko’s quick pace and listening to him wax poetic about the wonders of frozen fruit flavors vs chocolate ones.
There was a small crowd both inside and at the tables which stretched along the side of the building, but not much of a line, so when they stepped inside to wait, Derek didn’t feel too closed in. Hebusied himself by studying the flavors, not really impressed by the selection, but then again this wasn’t really his thing.
“I want every single one,” Niko mourned.
Derek almost laughed. “I think that would probably break even the date rules about sugar intake.”
Niko pouted a moment, then said, “We could each get one we both want and then share.”
Derek didn’t entirely love sharing food either, but this night was all about crossing small lines and getting just outside of comfort zones. He let Niko drag him to the counter and they tried five flavors each before Niko settled on the chocolate Guinness, and he went for pineapple. They took their little bowls, and he crunched down on the little tuile while Niko found them a free two-seater.
Derek was about to lower himself into the chair when two pairs of rapidly moving arms caught his attention. He looked over, and couldn’t help a hot, ugly sensation from rising in the pit of his stomach when he saw Basil there with a guy who looked somewhat familiar. Amit, one of Sage’s regulars, he was pretty sure. Amit was a super nice guy who lived in Denver but came down every few months or so to get new ink done.
Derek let his eyes close a second because he wanted to hate him so much right then. He wanted to hate Amit for being attractive and nice and being obviously fluent in sign which gave Basil so much more than he could offer right now.
“Hey,” Niko said, grabbing his attention back, “are you okay?”
Derek let out a shaking breath, then smiled and nodded. “I’m great. Sorry. Just someone I know—he’s on a date I guess.”
“Someone you know, like an ex?” Niko asked. He wasn’t an idiot and he’d been able to track Derek’s line of sight. “Do you know sign language? Is he deaf or what?”
Derek found himself bristling a little, but he answered him anyway. “He’s not an ex. He’s a friend—he works down the street from the shop and we hang out sometimes. But uh…no. No, I don’t really know sign. I mean, I know some because of Jazzy—Tony’s baby? And I’m going to be starting classes soon. The whole shop is.”
Niko frowned. “For what?”
“Well, for Jasmine,” Derek said, “but also because it’s probably a good language to have. I mean, being able to talk to deaf customers matters, right?”
