Chapter 5
Five
Angelo
Words to Live By has a cheery atmosphere that always puts me at ease.
It’s a small mom and pop bookstore, but they keep customers coming by offering book club nights, DnD, and even craft nights.
Beyond the main area, which is filled with books, is a little back room for events.
The seating is arranged in a circle with a couple of couches and various chairs.
Tonight, there’s eight of us, nine if I count Thomas.
Though I might have dragged him into this without fair warning.
I mean, I didn’t lie exactly. I just didn’t tell him the whole truth.
Tonight’s book club tends to focus on a specific genre of novel.
Here’s hoping that Thomas is open-minded.
Though our last read wasn’t nearly as bad as that tentacle book we read for Halloween.
We just finished up a cute contemporary workplace romance about a secretary and her boss.
I’m not big on straight romances, but I still liked it.
I might not be into women, but I can still enjoy reading about their relationships budding.
It’s not a big deal if I skipped past some of the spicy scenes.
Janice is leading tonight’s discussion, but the little pockets of conversation as everyone walks in with their coffee and snacks haven’t died down yet.
Janice clears her throat, and I chance a glance at Thomas.
He seems slightly unsure about his place in the group as his eyes focus on Janice.
By this point, most people are seated as Janice calls us all to attention.
“Looks like we have a new face. Let’s go around and introduce ourselves. I’m Janice.”
Paula sits to Janice’s left. She calls out her name followed by Toby, Maria, and then Jessica before it gets to me. “Angelo.”
“Thomas,” he says; his hand fidgeting with the hem of his shirt as he talks.
The last couple of people call off their names before it’s back to Janice. “So, what did everyone think?”
“I gave it a four,” Paula says.
“Also a four,” I chime in. “I liked it but found myself skipping over parts.”
“You would,” Rebecca says. “Maybe we can pick another MM book next.” She winks in my direction as she talks.
“I’m down for that,” Jessica agrees. Toby bites his lip but doesn’t say anything.
He isn’t overly fond of our doing gay books.
I swear he’s only here because Maria drags him to meetings.
He doesn’t seem to enjoy half the books we read; even when they’re straight, he finds some reason to dislike them.
“We’ll get to picking a new novel in a bit. Let’s stay on topic,” Janice reminds us. “Anyone have a favorite part they want to talk about?”
“That scene in the office,” Paula says. “Where she was under the desk and her coworker walked in. I was sure they were going to get caught. It was so hot.” She fans herself to show how much she enjoyed the spice of that scene.
A few of the others laugh, but it’s more of an awkward, forced laugh.
Leave it to Paula to bring up the spiciest scene in the book.
I might not be into women, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a hot scene like that.
I spare a glance at Thomas to check his reaction, and while he doesn’t meet my eyes, his cheeks seem a little flushed.
Janice cuts in with a scene from a date where they ran into a coworker, and the discussion carries on from there. Maria brings up book choice for next time by proposing a hockey romance.
“We should read Red, White, and Royal Blue! I’m dying for the next movie ever since it was announced,” Jessica suggests.
“Ooh, yes. Let’s do that,” Rebecca agrees.
Paula calls it to a vote. There’s four for the hetero hockey book. My eyes stray to Thomas again, unsure if he’s going to vote at all, but when Paula asks who wants to read the other book, his hand goes up. Interesting.
“Well, that’s settled. We’re reading Red, White and Royal Blue.” Paula stands up, and slowly the others follow her out of the room or move off to the side to hold smaller conversations.
“So, what did you think?” I ask Thomas. “Hopefully, we didn’t bore you too much.”
“It was fun,” he says. “Do you do this every week?”
“Most weeks. We’ll probably take a break soon for the holidays. It just gets too hectic to figure out when everyone’s schedules line up.”
“And here I was thinking I needed more social hobbies. Guess I was lucky to run into you.” His eyes look me up and down, and I get the feeling he’s assessing me somehow. “Do you want to join me for coffee?”
“I uh—”
“Sorry,” Thomas cuts me off before I can answer. “Was that inappropriate? I mean, I’m not sure how this works with you being my son’s teacher.”
“Coffee sounds great, and there’s no reason why we can’t. After all, Eric isn’t even here, right?”
Thomas’s lips curl into a grin as he leads the way out of the back room. “Should we grab a copy of the book?”
“I have one already,” I admit. “I grabbed it a while back and never got around to reading it.” We make our way to the romance section of the store, and I grab a copy off the shelves, handing it to Thomas. “Here. You want to buy those first, then we can walk over to the cafe.”
“Thank you, and again for helping me find that book for Eric.”
“You don’t need to get back to him, do you? I mean, I don’t mean to keep you from …” I trail off as Thomas shakes his head.
“No, he just needs it by tomorrow. I can stay.”
“Great, by the way, I’m sorry about not warning you. I mean about the book club being a romance thing. I didn’t want to scare you off,” I admit as we head for the register to pay.
Thomas laughs, his hand going to scratch at the back of his neck. “I was a little surprised, to be honest, but it wasn’t a bad surprise. It’s not my typical genre, but I’m looking forward to reading the book. It’s great that you read gay books as well as straight ones.”
“Are you? I mean not to assume.” The line moves before Thomas gets a chance to answer. He steps up to the counter, placing his books at the register. It doesn’t take long, but it’s long enough for me to regret blurting out my question.
“Thank you,” Thomas tells the cashier before he turns toward me and motions to the bookstore cafe. “After you.” When we get away from the front of the store, Thomas’s hand lands on my shoulder. “And to answer your question, as you might have already guessed from Eric’s dating profile, I’m bi.”
My cheeks heat at the mention of the dating profile. “It would have been inappropriate for me to read it, but I may have skimmed. I wasn’t sure if any of it was true.”
“I’ll admit I wasn’t looking for a date, but I don’t completely blame Eric for his motivations.”
We hit the cafe line, and I order a chai tea along with a lemon blueberry muffin while Thomas gets a mocha latte and a piece of coffee cake. Armed with our selections, we take a small table in the cafe. “How are things with Eric? I mean, since that whole fiasco.”
“It’s touchy,” Thomas says, taking a drink from his cup.
“I know he was trying to help in some way, but I don’t know how to talk to my teenage son about my dating life or lack thereof.
I know I haven’t done any serious dating since the divorce, but I didn’t really think of it as a problem.
I try to focus on my job and my family, and I thought that would be enough. ”
“So, you aren’t looking to date?”
“I’m not against it, but dating apps? It’s not exactly my speed.”
“They can be intimidating,” I agree. “And it’s a lot easier to find hook-ups than guys looking for a relationship.”
Thomas laughs. “Yeah, I can see that. How about you? Do you have a girlfriend or boyfriend?”
“Nope. It’s just me and Mr. Whiskers. My cat.”
“You get it then. Funny thing is, my coworker was just getting onto me too, saying I needed to get a social hobby like bowling or a cooking class. She even mentioned a book club. Feels like some odd karma.”