Chapter 2 #2
That was as much as I got out before my brain caught up to my eyes and I realized my visitor wasn’t my former fuck buddy at all.
“Oh my God,” I breathed as I stared dumbly at the man before me.
I recognized him, of course, but I did have to look him up and down a couple of times to be sure it really was him.
It occurred to me that the sight of Devon Rhodes standing on my front stoop in a tuxedo with a bouquet of flowers in his hand should have elicited a whole range of responses, but I only managed to get out one useless, entirely inappropriate word that also managed to sum up everything I was feeling in that moment.
“Wow.”
I wasn’t sure how long I stood there gawking at him before he thrust the flowers at me.
“Rhodies.”
“What?” I blurted.
“My… my brother says I have the best rhododendrons,” Devon stammered.
I looked down at the bouquet of flowers that had various shades of pinks and purples.
“They’re beautiful,” I murmured.
Devon seemed to actually sigh in relief.
“They’re for me?” I asked.
“What? Oh, yeah, sorry. Yeah, I picked them from my garden because I didn’t have time to go out and get you some real flowers… and I thought you might like to see what they look like in case you decide to work on your garden…”
Was the man actually… blushing?
“They’re beautiful, Devon,” I said. “I love them.”
He hesitated, then smiled this big grin. Then he did sigh in relief. “Good.”
I waited for him to continue, but when he just stood there, things became really awkward really fast. Especially since I was pretty sure I was actually starting to drool as I took in the way he filled out the tux.
“Are you… are you going somewhere?” I asked as I motioned to his tux.
“What?”
“You’re dressed up,” I reminded him.
I wondered why he was staring at me. Did I have something on my face? I was about to ask him to excuse me so I could go double—check my appearance in a mirror when Devon blurted, “I thought I’d go with you.”
“What?” I asked, certain I’d heard him wrong.
“Fuck,” Devon whispered. “I didn’t mean to say it like that. Sorry.”
I didn’t even understand what he was apologizing for. Had he said he was going to go with me?
Devon began shifting back and forth on his feet. “You, uh, said you didn’t have a date tonight and it’s Valentine’s Day and all those people will probably have dates, right? And that asshole will have someone with him, so you should too.”
Understanding finally dawned, but before I could even respond, Devon seemed to go even redder as he said, “Oh fuck, you probably found a date, right? Jesus, why didn’t I think of that?
I, uh, I’m sorry,” he stammered. Suddenly, he reached out and took the flowers from me.
“Just, um, be careful with your knee tonight, okay, Sebastian? Don’t let that piece of shit talk you into doing more than you can handle. ”
With that, Devon turned to hurry down the porch steps. “Devon, wait,” I called, but he was halfway down the walkway. “Devon Rhodes, are you really going to make me chase after you?” I added.
That stopped him in his tracks. He turned, and when he saw me starting to maneuver the stairs, he trotted back to me. “Don’t, Sebastian,” he said as he took my arm. “I don’t want you to fall.”
My heart skipped a beat as his fingers closed around my elbow. I wasn’t sure if it was his touch or his words that were causing the reaction.
Probably a little bit of both.
“Devon, did you seriously just ask me out on a date and then dump me before I could even answer?” I asked with mock anger.
“What?” he practically yelled as his horrified eyes sought out mine. “No! No, of course not.”
“So, you are asking me out?” I clarified.
“Yes… no…” he huffed. He was so confused I just had to smile to make sure he knew I wasn’t upset.
He finally took a breath and relaxed. His smile seemed to light up the entire world and if I hadn’t put a moratorium on men in general, I would have fallen for him then and there just based on how cute he was when he looked chagrined.
Hmmm, maybe I needed to rethink that moratorium.
“I mean, it’s not a date date,” Devon said.
He was on the step beneath the one I was on, so our faces were nearly level. I could smell his aftershave or cologne, and it was all I could do not to press my nose against his neck and inhale deeply.
“I just didn’t want you to have to go by yourself.”
Disappointment jabbed at my frantically beating heart. “Oh,” I murmured.
“I’m not… that is, I don’t…”
I nodded in understanding. “You’re not gay.” I dropped my eyes as I tried to pull my ridiculously rampant emotions together.
“Sebastian, I—”
“No, it’s okay,” I said as I forced myself to smile up at him.
He looked embarrassed. The whole thing had turned from obscenely sweet and cute to painfully awkward.
“I’m okay to go by myself, really. But it was really nice of you to think of me like that.
I’m sure you have your own Valentine’s plans—”
“My Valentine’s plans are the same as they are every year…
trying to convince one family member after another that I really don’t want to be the third wheel on their dates,” he joked.
“So see, you’d be doing me a favor. If you don’t let me escort you tonight, I’ll probably end up squeezed between my parents on their couch watching black-and-white romances while my parents look lovey-dovey at one another and sneak touches when they think I won’t notice.
Last year my mom and dad both played footsie with me beneath the blanket we were sharing before I had to tell them they were feeling up their kid and to knock it off.
Do you have any idea how much therapy I’m going to need to forget that? ”
I began laughing because I could totally picture Devon’s expression as his big body was squashed between his overly affectionate parents. “Well, we can’t have that,” I agreed. “So it’s a non-date date.”
“Yeah. It’s a we-don’t-need-no-stinking-Valentine’s-Day-dates date. We’ll go to that fundraiser, you’ll schmooze, I’ll watch you adoringly all night whenever Asshole is nearby and then we’ll go do something that’s actually fun.”
It was a bad idea.
But mostly because I really liked the idea.
Who wouldn’t like having a gorgeous guy on their arm pretending that you were theirs, that you were the only thing who existed in their world?
Yeah, bad idea.
Devon’s smile began to fade as I remained silent. I put out my hand and said, “One condition.”
“Deal,” Devon said without hesitation.
“I want my flowers back.”
The blinding smile reappeared, and my entire body sparked to life. I was sure I’d come on the spot when his fingers touched mine and lingered as he returned the flowers to me.
Moratorium, Sebastian, my brain reminded me.
But all my heart could ask was, What moratorium?