Chapter 13
“Honey, you don’t get as old as I am without understanding that men are idiots.”
— IOLA, MATCHMAKING MAMA
Maverick
I flicked through the clothes in my closet, not really vibing with anything I saw. If I kept up this dating thing, I was going to need more clothes. Although, it was already getting old.
This was why I’d given up in the past. Bad date after bad date. It was disappointing, sure, but also exhausting. I had only so much energy and enthusiasm to go around, and I’d rather spend it on making my first business a success and quality time with my mom and my friends.
Not angsting over whether my turquoise shirt would bring out the blue in my eyes, or whether my green stretchy jeans that molded to my ass and thighs made me look hot or desperate.
The Mamas told me the new date they’d selected, Gordon, was really excited to meet me. But I wasn’t sure I really wanted to keep doing this. So, whatever. Who cared what Gordon thought of my outfit?
Or Damon. He’ll surely be watching when you leave…
Maybe. Damon had been keeping his distance since I gave him that sex toy as a prank. Seeing his reaction had been glorious. But he hadn’t been able to look me in the eye since then. Either I’d really embarrassed him with the suggestion he use it, or…
He’d actually used it.
My stomach did an excited somersault. I huffed.
The point of giving him that toy was not to picture him using it, but my mind was not cooperating.
As I turned on the shower and stepped under the spray, the picture of Damon spread out on his bed, dick hard as he pressed that toy between his legs was already forming in my mind.
Damn it. Now, I was hard. I didn’t have time for this.
I gave my dick a couple of tugs to settle it down, but the heat under my skin only built to a more insistent blaze.
With a groan of frustration, I grabbed some body wash and started jerking my cock in slow, easy strokes while my mind conjured all sorts of dirty pictures of my next-door neighbor taking his first dildo for a test drive.
“Fuck,” I muttered as the pleasure built. “I shouldn’t do this. I shouldn’t…”
I stroked faster, lowering my left hand to roll my balls. Lightning arced between pleasure points, and I bit my bottom lip to hold in my cry as my cock erupted in my hand.
I gasped and shook, the orgasm stronger than usual for a simple jerkoff session. But then it hadn’t been usual, had it? Damon had gotten under my skin, but that was going to lead nowhere good. Wasn’t like he was going to let me fuck him, even if he had enjoyed that toy.
And that was a big if.
I finished soaping up, rinsed, and got out of the shower to dress and shave. My hot pink hair looked pretty good with the turquoise of my shirt. I guess I’d chosen well after all. Gordon should like what he sees. Which was good, because I needed to get Damon out of my head.
Unless this date went catastrophically wrong, I was going to give Gordon the green light. I had to squash this obsession with my neighbor in its tracks.
The doorbell rang as I was putting on my shoes.
I hopped up from the bed to answer the front door. The sound of a mower filtered in as I did. Shit. I hadn’t paid any attention to the ambient noise in the background, but sure enough, Damon was mowing the lawn.
Gordon stood before me, looking like a guy who was hot and knew it. He leaned a forearm against the doorframe, pulling his snug red polo even tighter over his pecs.
“Well, I can’t say I’m too sad about this matchup,” he murmured, gaze sweeping up and down my body as his lips curled up at the corner.
Oh, this guy was smooth, wasn’t he? His tousled brown hair had the perfect amount of bedhead to give him a sexy vibe, the stubble on his jaw an artistic shading rather than the scrubby state Damon was usually in, and his clothes tailored to outline every muscle in his gym-honed body.
Granville was a small town, so I knew Gordon worked at the bank, but we hadn’t ever run in the same circles.
He was attractive, but a little too slick to be my usual type. But the matchmaking pool of queer guys was dwindling fast.
“You sure you want to go out?” he continued. “We could skip dinner and drinks and just stay in.”
“We could, but I wouldn’t want all the effort I put into picking out this date outfit to go to waste.”
The mower cut off. I flicked my gaze over Gordon’s shoulder and almost swallowed my tongue.
Damon was always gorgeous, and I’d mostly learned to ignore it.
But it was extra difficult when he was wearing nothing but a pair of basketball shorts, sweat slicking his skin and highlighting the swell of his pecs and the ripple of his abs.
Gordon grinned at me, eyes smoldering. “I promise I’ll appreciate every stitch as I strip it off.”
Damon came up to the porch’s edge. “Are you serious right now?”
Gordon half-turned toward him. “Can I help you?”
“Not unless you leave,” Damon said flatly.
I widened my eyes at Damon. “This is my date, Gordon. We’re about to head out.” I tried for a smile that was probably more of a feral baring of teeth. “No need to check up on me this time.”
Damon crossed his arms over his delectable chest. Damn, he had nice biceps, built by actual real work rather than some gym regimen. Why did that make them sexier?
“You sure about that? You haven’t even made it off the porch and he’s already propositioning you.”
I sighed. “I know it’s hard to understand, Damon, but some guys find me hot.”
“It’s not that,” he said, eyes sweeping over me in much the way Gordon’s had, but without the creepy feeling he was undressing me with his eyes. More like he was appreciating what I chose to show him. “Of course he finds you attractive, Mav. He’s into dudes, and you’re a hot dude.”
My stomach fluttered. “Thanks?”
Gordon glanced between us with a furrowed brow. “So, are we doing this or not? If I’m wasting my time here…”
“No, of course. Let’s go.” I stepped out of my house and closed the door behind me. “Where are we headed?”
“Drive-in. We can cozy up and have a lot of privacy. Watch the movie…or do whatever else inspires us.”
Ugh. He really was too much. Charming, but in a smarmy he’s going to fuck me and never return my calls sort of way. I’d heard that Gordon got around. But why sign up for a matchmaking service unless he wanted more than that? I’d hoped to go into this with an open mind.
“Oh, hell no,” Damon said, coming up the steps. “This asshole is a player, Mav. Don’t go with him.”
“Damon, I can take care of myself.”
“You’re not doing a very good job of it.”
My temper spiked. “Maybe if you’d stop interfering, I’d have one good date!”
Damon joined us in front of my door. “Maybe if a guy who actually deserved you ever showed up. Come on, Mav. You don’t want this guy. You want—”
He stopped short.
“What?” I glared into his stupidly gorgeous dark eyes. “What do I want, Damon?”
Gordon laughed. “Oh, I see what’s going on here.”
Damon didn’t look away from me. I stared just as hard, willing him to be the first to blink.
“I didn’t really sign up for a jealous boyfriend,” Gordon said. “So I’m going to bow out gracefully.”
I jerked my gaze from Damon. “What? He’s not my boyfr—”
“Sure,” Gordon said, taking the stairs two at a time. “Well, you all have fun with whatever the hell this is. I’m going to head to The Stag and see if there’s anyone who’s interested in a good time.” He gave me one last look over his shoulder. “You change your mind, you can come find me, babe.”
He turned and jogged to his flashy sports car. Damon called after him, “Don’t call him babe!”
The car started with a roar, and then Gordon took off so fast his tires squealed.
“What a douchenozzle,” Damon muttered.
“What the fuck, Damon!” I exclaimed. “Why is it so hard for you to just stay the fuck out of my business?”
He blinked in shock. “Come on, you’re not actually sorry to see that asshole go, are you?”
“I spent the last fucking hour getting ready for this date.” I waved a hand to my clothes. “I know this is just a prank to you, but I actually hoped the matchmaking thing would help me meet someone who—”
My voice gave out as the horrifying realization hit that I’d actually hoped the Matchmaking Mamas might find me a good guy. I missed dating. Missed having a boyfriend. Missed the support of a partner, the intimacy of sharing a pillow, the release of regular sex.
I didn’t even miss great sex. Wasn’t sure I’d ever managed it. But even so-so sex would be better than what I’d gotten the past two years.
Damon looked chastened. “Gordon isn’t a good guy. That date was basically just an excuse to hook up. You deserve better.”
“You keep saying that, but who’s going to give me better, Damon? It’s not like you’re offering me some great date. Not like you’d know the first thing to do with me if you did.”
He scoffed. “What? I’d be an amazing date. I’d do ten times better than any of these guys.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Talk is cheap.”
He snorted a laugh. “You think I can’t blow your mind with the most romantic date ever? I’ve got so much game, Mav. You have no idea.”
“You?” I shook my head. “I don’t see it.”
“Oh, fuck you! Just say when, and I’ll take you on a better date than any of these schmucks have tried yet.”
“Careful, I just may call your bluff.”
He stepped closer, the scent of sweat and grass and what could only be him wafting between us and making my mouth water. “I’m not bluffing, sweetheart.”
I pulled my phone from my pocket. “Then prove it.”
“Huh?”
I pulled up the contact for the Matchmaking Mamas and hit dial. “Talk to Iola. Tell her that you want to be my next date. Right here, right now—or I call bullshit.”
Damon stared at the phone as if I was holding a ticking bomb. A beat went by. Another.
“That’s what I thought.” I started to raise the phone to my ear. “Hi, Iola—”
Damon snatched the phone from me. “Iola, it’s Damon Cassidy. Yeah, yeah, I was at the pub during Mav’s date the other night. These guys you’ve been sending him are duds.”
I winced. That was not what I had in mind by giving him the phone.
“Well, maybe he’s kissed enough frogs for now.
” He laughed, eyes crinkling up. “Yeah, Mav and I have a little bet going. Sign me up as his next date so I can show him how it should be done.” He paused, listening, expression growing more serious.
“Yeah, I understand that. This was Maverick’s idea.
I just want to show him what he deserves, you know?
Yeah, okay, I’ll hand over the phone so you can confirm. Thanks, Iola.”
He thrust the phone at me. “Ball’s in your court. I’m going to finish mowing.”
I gaped at him as he trotted back down the porch steps, restarted the mower, and pushed it across the lawn as if nothing had happened. I lifted the phone to my ear as I stepped inside and shut the door behind me.
“Hey, Iola, you still there?”
“Oh, honey, I sure am. It seems you decided to do a little matchmaking of your own.”
Iola sounded a little chastising. I winced. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate your efforts. Damon’s been making a pest of himself, and I thought I was just calling his bluff.”
“Mm, well that might have worked if he was bluffing.”
I blew out a breath. “It’s just a challenge to him. He wants to prove he’s right. It doesn’t mean he actually wants to date me, you know?”
“Honey, you don’t get as old as I am without understanding that men are idiots.”
She surprised a laugh out of me. “You know I’m a man too, right?”
“Well, sure, so you’ve got double the challenge. You’re both idiots.”
“Uh, thanks?”
She chuckled. “My point is, Damon wouldn’t be interfering how he is, wouldn’t be wanting to prove anything if he wasn’t interested. He might not know what he wants yet, but he wants something, and my instincts tell me that something is you.”