Chapter 3
THREE
Graham couldn’t believe this.
Mav was sitting in his apartment, lounging on the couch while he found a sweater and a pair of slacks that he hadn’t worked in all day and washed up as he changed.
They still had an hour before their reservation.
Graham just didn’t know what to do.
Mav had made sure his car was towed, made sure he got to the mechanic, everything.
Now he was just waiting for supper and trying to figure out what the hell he was going to do without a car.
If nothing else at least, maybe he would lose some weight having to walk to work.
In the dark.
In the snow.
He found a navy-blue sweater that was big enough that it didn’t make him look like he was a stuffed sausage but not so loose that it made him look like a doughboy. Normally he wasn’t down on his weight, but Mav was so…hot. Impossibly studly.
He brushed his hair, putting a little cologne, stared at himself in the mirror, and gave himself a little pep talk.
“It’s just dinner. Just because you think he’s pretty doesn’t mean anything. He’s simply a nice man who feels bad because he yelled at you. You can handle this. Breathe.”
He headed back out to the little front room where Mav was sitting. “Did you find something you’d like to watch on TV? I’m lucky the landlord has a package, so we don’t have to spend a lot of money on the streaming stuff. We just pretty much get everything.”
“That’s lucky; cable can be expensive. So can all those streaming things.”
“Yeah, they really can.” God, they were having small talk about cable TV and bills.
How boring.
What did he talk about on his previous dates?
Had he had any previous dates as an adult that weren’t hookups?
Shit, he couldn’t remember. A lot of guys liked his look, but most of them would never admit it in public. Well, in a bar, sure, but not out where they had to show him off.
Graham knew he was pretty cute. Seriously. But sometimes the dating scene was cruel to anyone who didn’t look like, well, Mav.
“So, are you okay?” Mav asked him, “Are you really okay? I worry because I know how it can be to have stuff piled on like you have the last couple of days.”
“I’m okay. I was just laughing because we’re talking about the prices of cable TV. I don’t want to be boring to you.”
“You’re not. This is just the awkward stage. Once we get down to Fuel, and there’s food in front of us, then we can be awkward talking about food.” Mav gave him a bright wink and smile, and he had to chuckle at that.
“Nope, I reject that reality.” Graham grinned right back. “We’re going to learn about each other.”
“Are we? What are we going to learn?” Mav aimed the remote at the TV and turned it on, but he didn’t think it was an avoidance. He thought it was just to have background noise.
“Hmm…” He tapped his fingers on his chin. “Tell me something true about your childhood.”
“Okay.” Mav tilted his head to one side. “I always hated being named Maverick when I was a kid because all of the other kids in school teased me about it.”
“Oh, ew. That is so mean.” Graham understood that because he got teased a lot when he was a kid about being what they called pudgy.
When he looked back at pictures of himself, he wasn’t really overweight.
He was just on the bigger side for most of his friends.
But he’d let them make him believe that he was somehow inferior, and that made him a little bit ragey.
“Yeah, I’m not sure it made me a better person, though. I’d like to say that I champion the little guy, but I don’t know. I can be kind of grumpy.”
“My mom always told me your first reaction is the one that’s conditioned in you by environmental factors, and what you do after you get over that knee-jerk reaction makes you the person you are.
You came and apologized to me.” It seemed important to let Mav know that Graham didn’t think he was a bad guy. Not at all.
“Your mom sounds like a wise woman,” Mav told him.
“She was.” He chewed his lower lip for a second. “She died from breast cancer a couple of years ago.”
“Aw damn. I’m so sorry.” Mav reached out and grabbed his hand, but sent a tingle straight up his arm, making him gasp. “Oh, did I shock you?”
“No, no, I’m fine. Thank you. I miss her all the time, but I understand why she had to go.”
Mav cleared his throat. “So what about your childhood?”
“I was a champion spelling bee contestant. School, county, district. I lost state to one kid.”
“Really? Wow. That’s…that’s really unusual. I love that.”
He shrugged. “I know I’m a dork. It’s not a big deal, just…a knack, I guess.”
“I bet. I can spell, but not as well as that. I mean, better than my cousins…” Mav winked at him, and his cheeks heated.
“There’s not a lot of call for good spellers in the job market.”
“No? I guess spellcheck is a thing.” Mav winced. “God, I’m terrible at this, huh? How can I be all good at business meetings, but suck at a date?”
Oh, that was adorable. The worried alpha.
“You don’t suck. This is weird. We can be weird together, you know?”
“Okay, cool.” Mav patted his hand. “I don’t want you to be going, how do I get him out of here?”
“No way! Why would I want to do that? Just sitting here and looking at you is totally worth it.” And then he wanted to clap a hand over his mouth because had he just said that?
His cheeks heated up to the point where he figured his blood might boil a little bit, and he looked down at his hands, picking at the hem of his sweater.
Maverick chuckled and let him get over his embarrassment, not touching him at the moment.
“That’s very sweet of you, Graham. Thank you.
Feeds my ego. Which I have to admit is a little fragile after what’s his name.
Not that we were serious in any way or anything.
Absolutely not. But a guy doesn’t want to just be abandoned because somebody got a better offer for Valentine’s Day. ”
“I’ve never had a date for Valentine’s Day.” Graham shrugged, glancing back up, meeting those smiling eyes. “I’m just not the type, I guess.”
“Why don’t we consider this our Valentine’s Day, then? We can both have a date, and it can be great for both of our bruised prides. Pride? Prides? How would you say that plurally?”
“I think maybe just a singular pride.” He really did like this guy, which was ridiculous because they had started out on the wrong foot, absolutely. The timer on his phone went off, and Graham stood. “Okay, I think it’s time to go down to Fuel and have some supper.”
“That sounds perfect. Is it something we need to bundle up for, or are we going to wait inside if there is a wait for our reservation?”
“We can totally leave our coats here. We just slip from one door to another, and they have a little lounge inside if our table is not ready.”
“You don’t mind me coming back for my coat after?” Mav asked Graham, and he thought that was very kind too. Mav was giving him a way where there was no pressure for him to have Maverick back up afterward.
“I don’t mind a bit, seriously.” They could possibly even have a nightcap or something.
“Perfect.” Mav took his arm and steered him toward the door.
The warm, firm touch of those fingers on his elbow burning him even through the sweater he was wearing.
He could smell Mav now—the spicy scent of his aftershave and warm masculine musk.
His nose twitched and his mouth watered, and it had nothing to do with food. It was perfect, just like that.
They headed down the stairs and slipped around from the entrance to the apartments to the front door of Fuel, both of them shivering a little bit in the chill as they did.
The restaurant smelled like heaven as they walked in the door, and Kara grinned at him, grabbing a pair of menus. “Graham, it’s good to see you. Come on. Are you Mr. Grainger?”
“I am. I had the reservation.”
“Perfect.” She got them seated and handed them menus, putting the wine list on the table. “Can I get you started with some water while you look at everything?”
“That would be great, thanks.” Mav grabbed the wine list. “Would you like to have a glass of wine with me?”
“I’m not a big wine connoisseur, but I would be happy to try.” Graham didn’t usually have the money to splurge, but even if they went Dutch tonight, he would deal with it. It was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of event for him.
“Excellent. Let’s see what they have.” Maverick studied the wine list, and he studied Maverick.
That rich chestnut hair was thick and wavy. His gray eyes, incredibly serious and sure, were a lovely shade of almost pewter, and they had smile lines around them, which told him that Maverick usually wasn’t as grumpy as he had been since Graham had met him.
He had broad shoulders and a strong chest, and Graham could just imagine what he looked like naked. It was going to be something out of a movie, probably.
Mav looked up and caught him staring, and his cheeks heated again. But he couldn’t help it—he just thought that Mav was incredibly hot.
“They have a really nice-looking Chardonnay or good Pinot Noir, so depending on what we get, we have a nice white and red option.” Mav’s eye lines crinkled up, and he got a devastating smile.
Graham cleared his throat. “Wonderful. I am looking forward to trying it.”
Somehow the look Mav gave him didn’t have anything to do with wine, and he didn’t know whether to whoop with joy or run in circles slapping his head because he was so stressed. One way or the other, he couldn’t wait to see where the night went from here.