Page 50 of The Rules of Dating a Younger Man
“Oh, you know I will.” She winked.
***
That evening, Colby, Owen, Holden, and I had our board meeting at a local bar. The meetings were to discuss building business, but we mostly got the boring stuff out of the way so we could shoot the shit and tool around for a couple of hours.
Tonight, though, I decided to duck out early, after one drink. Holden followed. “Wait up,” he called, placing his hand on my shoulder. “I know why I’m leaving early. I have a sick baby at home. But what about you? Why’d you rush out of there?”
We stepped into the cold night air and began to walk, side by side, back to the building.
“I have a phone call to make.”
“To Alex, I take it? Lala told me she and Billie were giving you the third degree earlier today.”
“Yeah. I tried to walk past them at the café, but that didn’t work. So I joined them instead.”
“I hadn’t realized how much things have escalated between you and Alex. You guys were talking about kids and shit?”
“Only in the context of Alex not wanting them,” I clarified.
“Still, even just mentioning it. That’s some serious stuff. Lala kept saying how smitten you seem.”
“Smitten is a strong word,” I said, though she was right.
“How come you didn’t mention anything about Alex to the guys just now? You were totally vague the whole night.”
“I’ll fill them in another time. I still don’t know how it’s gonna pan out. As much as I like her, she’s not there yet. So I don’t have anything solid to report. I guess I don’t want to jinx it and get ahead of myself, you know?” I sped up my steps. “By the way, can you walk faster? Why the hell are you so slow?”
“What’s the rush?”
“Alex seems to think ten PM is late, and I want to catch her before she goes to bed.”
“Yeah, you’re not smitten.” He chuckled as we picked up the pace.
***
Back at my apartment, I sent Alex a text.
Brayden: Are you down to FaceTime? Or am I too late?
A few minutes later, she sent a reply.
Alex: I’m actually out with a friend.
Hmm…
Brayden: A friend?
Alex: Wells. We’re having tapas.
Relief washed over me—her gay friend and business partner.
Brayden: Ah.
Before I could text anything else, my phone rang.
It was Alex. Except when I answered the FaceTime call, it wasn’t Alex’s face on the screen. It was some dude wearing an earring.
“Wow. You’re even more stunning in person,” he said.