Chapter Seven
Rodney
I sit back in my seat, looking down at my phone and doing my best to ignore the nerves trying to force my breakfast to make a reappearance. My hands are sweaty and my heart is leaping up into my throat. I feel like a complete fucking mess.
You’d think I’ve never been on a date before! I’m not some high schooler getting his first crush! So why the hell does this feel so monumental?
I rub at my eyes before looking back down, reading through my messages again. Rin and Kei have been blowing up our group chat, hyping me up and reminding me of how awesome I am. It’s helping. A tiny bit.
Azaad also knows about the date and has been reassuring me.
Apparently, he thinks if I’m just myself, anyone would be able to see what a catch I am.
It means a lot coming from him, since he’s always got his shit together.
Out of all of us, Azaad is the most ‘adult’.
He’s the one we call when we need supervision.
My train comes to a stop and I stand up, shuffling my way through the open doors.
Gayle offered to pick me up from the station but because it’s nice out, I decided to make my way to his house on foot.
I already looked up the route on my phone and plan on stopping for boba on the way over.
I refuse to go to my date’s house empty-handed.
Just admitting that this is a date leaves my heart fluttering inside my chest. Despite my nerves, I can’t stop grinning all the way to the boba shop and then down the street towards Gayle’s house.
It takes about thirty minutes to walk from the boba shop to Gayle’s house.
In the future, I’ll probably let Gayle pick me up from the station.
Once I’m walking down his street, I balance our bobas in one arm and take out my phone, sending him a quick message on Discord to let him know I’m almost there.
By the time I walk up his driveway, Gayle is already sitting outside. He looks so casual in a pair of plaid shorts and a hoodie. He looks up from his phone, his face splitting into a wide smile that has my breath catching in my throat.
“Hey,” I say right away, doing my best to wave while holding our boba.
“Hi, Rodney,” he says, opening the door to his house and letting me inside. “It’s so great to see you.”
“You too.” I slip my shoes off at the door and hand over his boba.
I got him some coffee concoction with brown sugar boba at the bottom, after hearing about his coffee addiction the other night, while I got myself a raspberry refresher thing.
Then I slide my messenger bag off my shoulder and set it on the floor.
“Thanks for this,” he murmurs as he takes the boba, sipping at it and groaning happily. “I love coffee so fucking much. You’re the best.”
“It’s nothing,” I say, ignoring the way my stomach swoops at the praise. I look around Gayle’s home, taking everything in.
There are pictures of him and his kid on the wall.
They look so similar, they could be brothers instead of son and father.
There’s also art of classic video games that makes me smile.
As we make our way into the living room, I can’t help but notice how neat everything is.
Gayle and Calloway are either super tidy or Gayle spent all last night cleaning. Either option is incredibly endearing.
“Are you hungry or anything?”
I shake my head as we get to the living room. There’s a couch in front of a huge television along with an armchair on either side of the couch. A long coffee table sits in front of the couch.
Gayle sits down on the couch and I sit on the floor in front of the coffee table, looking up at him with a soft smile.
“I ate before I came. I should be good until we decide what to do for dinner.”
“Awesome,” he says, rubbing his hand over his short hair. “I’m sorry if this is kinda awkward. I’m like properly out of practice when it comes to dating.”
“That’s okay,” I tell him right away, wanting to do what I can to ease some of his nerves. “We can just focus on getting to know each other. No pressure or anything.”
“Good. I’d really like that.”
“Me too,” I say softly. “So, when you say you’re out of practice?”
Gayle looks away, his cheeks reddening. “Isn’t it like a rule not to talk about your exes on the first date?”
I chuckle. “I have no idea, but I’m curious,” I admit with a shrug. “If you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s fine.”
“I don’t mind. I’ve only ever been with one person.
Bruce is his name and we were in an arranged mating situation.
We’re both alphas but that didn’t seem to matter for our parents.
We had Calloway and when he turned six, I finally came out and admitted that I was trans and wanted to live authentically.
Even before I came out, things were never what I imagined a real relationship should feel like.
We were just best friends, always have been, probably always will be. ”
I hum as I listen, my heart softening even further for the man across from me. “I’m glad you guys can still be friends. I imagine that must have been hard.”
“It was scary,” Gayle admits softly. “It all worked out though. The hardest part was cutting our mating bond.” He touches the back of his neck when he says that.
“It still hurts sometimes but I’ve always thought the ache was worth being able to find someone we actually wanted to be with both romantically and, you know, carnally,” he says, chuckling to himself.
I can’t help but smile. He’s so fucking strong. I don’t know if I would have been able to do the same if our positions were reversed.
“Kei mentioned that you were a shifter. He’s a shifter too and he’s got a really strong sense of smell.”
“I noticed,” Gayle says with a grin. “I can smell him on you.”
I nod my head and take a sip of my boba. “I hope you don’t mind,” I say. “Now that I know we’re both trans and that you’re a shifter, I was curious if you meant your primary or secondary gender. From your story though, I think I understand.”
“I don’t mind spelling it out. I was born a female alpha. Still an alpha.”
“Have you heard anything about swan maidens?” Gayle shakes his head.
“I prefer to call myself a swelkie. Like a selkie but I can turn into a swan instead of a seal,” I say with a grin.
“All swelkies are born female no matter what but according to my moms, I was telling anyone who would listen that I was a boy as soon as I could talk. I’ve just always known and thankfully, my moms just always accepted it. ”
“That’s amazing,” Gayle says, his deep brown eyes lighting up. “Your moms sound great.”
“They’re literally the best ever. I wish they lived closer but we’re constantly texting and calling each other.”
“I’m not very close to my parents,” Gayle admits. “They’re not bad people or anything, but we just kinda drifted apart as I got older. They adore Calloway, though and honestly, that’s enough for me.”
“Okay, okay,” I say, setting down my boba and picking up the deck of cards from the table. “We need a break from the serious stuff. Do you know how to play Kings in the Corners?”
“I do,” he says, sliding off the couch onto the floor. “For the record, I don’t mind talking about the serious stuff. You’re really easy to talk to, Rodney.”
“Oh,” I breathe out, ignoring the way those words make my stomach flutter pleasantly. “You’re easy to talk to as well.”
I deal our hands and set up the board. We talk while we play, about nothing and everything.
I learn about Calloway’s camping trip next month and how Gayle is both excited for him and also nervous because this is the first time he’ll be away from home like this.
I tell Gayle about my moms and then get into story after story about living with Kei and Rin.
Gayle wins the first game but I win the second which means we have to play a third game just to see who comes out on top.
“Apparently,” I say as I watch Gayle take his turn. “I ended up at a bachelorette party? The memories are kinda fuzzy but I do remember dancing for some ladies and ending up with fifty bucks worth of singles in my boxers the next morning.”
Gayle giggles and the sound almost makes me choke. His voice is like the prettiest song I’ve ever heard. His voice isn’t very deep so his laugh goes a bit high pitched. I’ve noticed he tries his best to hold it back so anytime he does laugh, it makes my chest fill with pride.
“Rodney,” he says softly, covering his mouth with his hands. “You’re staring.”
“Shit. Sorry,” I say right away. “I just really, really like your laugh.”
“You do? Really?” I nod my head. “I kinda hate it.”
I wrinkle my nose and start taking my turn. “Why would you hate such a wonderful sound? Every time I get you to laugh it feels like I won the lottery.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“I’m not.” I look up at him. “I don’t say things I don’t mean. Unless I’m on stream talking about Clifford Lloyd. You can’t hold anything I say about that man against me, Gayle. I’m overcome with this demon who takes over my mouth anytime that man is on screen, okay?”
Gayle giggles again, covering his mouth but this time, it seems like he doesn’t fight to keep it back as hard. I count that as a win.
Gayle wins the third game and we decide to switch to Crazy 8’s which I win. Then we play a couple rounds of Go Fish. All the while, we continue to chat and get to know each other. Just like when we’re on a Discord call, the words flow easily. Talking with Gayle feels so easy.
Shouldn’t dating be harder? Shouldn’t we be trying to impress each other or something? Maybe all the dates I’ve had in the past were such duds because they weren’t Gayle?
Good lord, that’s a sappy thought.
“Do you wanna stay in for dinner?”
“What did you have in mind?”
“I could order us some take-out? How does pizza sound?”
I smile, raising my brow. “Only if you order the pineapple pepperoni pizza that had you moaning in my ear the other night.”