Chapter 13 Dallas
THIRTEEN
DALLAS
“Um, hi.” I chuckled self-consciously and rubbed the back of my neck. “This is Ben. We work together. Sort of.”
They looked at Ben, confusion written on their face, brow furrowed, and then looked at me. “Okay,” they said slowly. “This is my brother, Aaron.” They gestured to the person they’d been sitting with.
I offered Aaron my hand to shake and he gripped it firmly. “It’s nice to meet you.” Turning back to Ace, I introduced Ben correctly. “This is Ben Callahan. He’s a curator with a museum in Michigan. And Ben, this is my—my friend, Ace. And their brother, Aaron, apparently.”
Aaron and Ben both murmured hellos before Ace excused themself and hurried away. Worry immediately took root, the fear that they didn’t believe me when I introduced Ben as a colleague. Just a colleague.
I looked helplessly from Ben to Aaron and then in the direction Ace had retreated. “I’ll just be a moment,” I said quietly. “Nature calls. Ben, why don’t you go ahead and order drinks for us?”
He nodded and took a seat at the bar. “Sure thing. Take your time.”
I made my way to where the restrooms were.
It was a small bar with two single-person bathrooms, and I stood between the two doors, waiting for Ace to emerge.
My stomach churned as I waited, the worst-case scenario filling my mind.
The longer I waited, the more sure I was that Ace thought I was on a date with someone, that I’d lied to them and was stringing them along or trying to play the field.
None of that was at all something I’d do.
I liked Ace. It was early on in our relationship, but I had nothing to hide and no reason to lie to them.
Finally, the door swung open and Ace stepped into the narrow hallway. “Hi,” they mumbled and tried to move past me.
I grabbed their bicep. “Hey.”
Ace looked at me with their pale blue eyes, their dark hair smoothed back as if they’d been running their hands through it over and over again, and their lower lip pink and wet, teeth marks indented on their lip line, and forced a smile. “What’s up?”
“Ace,” I began.
Their smile faltered. “It’s fine. I don’t expect you to tell me everything. And I definitely don’t expect exclusivity after one date.”
I frowned, furrowing my brow. “I’m being honest. Ben is a colleague from out of town. He’s here to discuss curating local history with me. To look at what we’ve been doing and take some ideas back to Michigan with him.”
“It’s fine,” they repeated. “Really.” They didn’t sound fine.
I knew I had to show them I was serious.
That I wanted them, not Ben, not anyone else, not until we figured out what was going on between us.
My heart in my throat, I stepped closer to Ace, crowding into their space until they backed against the wall, and I leaned in for a kiss, moving my hand to cup their jaw.
They let out a startled hum, but quickly melted into my touch, returning the kiss and placing a hand on my waist.
A moment later, I pulled back, breaking the kiss. “I’m sorry I didn’t give you more details about what I’d be doing tonight.”
“You don’t owe me—”
“I know I don’t. But I want to. I like you. A lot. I don’t want to screw anything up while we’re still figuring out what this is.”
They gave me a soft, sincere smile and nodded. “Yeah. Me too. I’m sorry. I’m just used to dating people who sneak around and give me half-truths, and then they get mad at me when they get caught.”
“I know we don’t know each other very well yet, but I hope you can believe me when I tell you, that’s not my style. Not at all. I’m not…” I took a breath. “As you might have guessed from our last date, I’m not much of a risk-taker.”
Their smile grew and they chuckled, cheeks turning pink. “So I gathered.”
“But there’s just something about you. Something that makes me think that the risk might be worth the reward.”
Blushing furiously, Ace ducked their head, looking down and away. “Thanks,” they murmured.
I stepped back from them, putting space between us again. “Well, we should probably get back, don’t you think? Before they think we’ve abandoned them to hook up in the bathrooms or something.”
“Whatever you say,’’ Ace said with a grin. “I mean, you did tell them we’re just friends, though. They wouldn’t necessarily jump right to that assumption. I mean, not that I’d say we’re just friends. Unless you usually let your friends give you blow jobs in your office.”
Heat flooded my face and I rubbed the back of my neck. “No, not typically.”
“Okay, then.” With that, they led the way back toward the bar, sliding onto their barstool next to their brother. There was another empty stool between Ace and Ben, and I took a seat.
Ben slid a glass toward me. “Vodka soda. I hope that’s okay?”
“Perfect.” It reminded me of the day I’d sort of met Ace, when they’d been drinking vodka sodas with Erica on the plane.
I had been annoyed at the time, but it felt like a fond memory now.
I took a sip and looked from Ace to Ben.
“Ace is actually helping me work on that local queer history project I was telling you about. Port Grandlin has been here as it stands for over two hundred years, so there’s quite a deep well to mine from. ”
Ace shifted in their seat and under the bar, they rested their leg against mine, our knees touching.
It was minor, but it made my chest tighten and warmth spread through me as we talked, diving into the potential topics for the students’ contributions to the exhibit and how I was planning to present it to the museum as an extension of the Hayes project.
A few minutes into the conversation, Aaron excused himself to head home, but Ace, Ben and I sat chatting for a long time, throwing ideas around and getting excited about history, museum work, and the project.
It was the happiest I’d been in a long time and I didn’t want it to end.