Chapter 6
Steve wrinkled his nose as he exited the building.
Despite having been born in the city, the acrid scents of exhaust and other pollution always hit him hard upon leaving the climate controlled environs of the Chang Building.
Today it seemed particularly bad, no doubt due the diversion of traffic that went down their street.
He put on his sunglasses to cut out the glare, using the moment he paused to do so to cover the fact that he was also straining to separate out the city noises into individual sounds.
His nose settled a few minutes later as he headed down the block, the pollution now mere background as subtler scents about him began to clamor for his attention.
His inner wolf whined, wanting him to go back home. Home, where the scent of his mate still lingered in faint traces. He grinned to himself.
We'll date and then in a short while, he'll be more than a faint trace. He'll be there for always, his scent and mine permeating everything.
He stopped in front of a flower shop where he purchased a dozen red roses interspersed with delicate sprays of baby's breath.
He arranged to have them delivered where Jared worked, writing a quick message on the card.
Hopefully Jared would get them and give him a call so they could arrange for their first date.
This way we can get to know him, he told himself sternly.
We can learn to please him as much as he can learn what makes us happy.
His inner wolf quieted at that. Steve made a mental note to let off steam later by going for a gambol with some of the pack's pups.
He straightened his tie and continued on towards the cafe where he'd promised to meet Tim for lunch.
We could have just met at either my place or his, but he insisted on coming here for buffalo wings, he groused.
Making his way down the crowded sidewalks, he at last came to his destination.
Unsurprisingly, it too was crowded. Not only did they have some of the best buffalo wings and sweet potato fries around, but the eatery was owned and staffed by supernaturals, making it a popular hang out.
Luckily, Tim had gotten there earlier and managed to snag them a table.
He made his way over and slid into a booth.
“I already ordered,” Tim said with a grin. “Waitress came and took the order about five minutes ago. Still not brought the drinks yet though.” He'd no sooner spoken than the waitress materialized with two soft drinks on a tray.
“Sorry about that. Had to get someone to re-gas the dispenser,” she said by way of explanation. She placed a glass in front of each of them and then hurried off to go take someone else's order.
“So, you wanted to talk to me,” Tim said.
“Yeah. The pack council have asked me to formalize the positions for beta for when I take over from Dad. I've asked Rick and Sam to stay on as they've got several years experience and I want to formally ask you to take up the third spot.”
“What about Neil? He's been your father's beta for ten years now, ever since old man Jeffries retired. What's he going to do?”
“His wife has just found out she's having twin pups and as they already have three others to look after, he's wanting to to step down. He's a qualified electrician, and wants to make a go of that.”
Tim grinned. “All right then. I'm in. Do I get to bust any heads?”
Steve laughed. “I hope not.” His face sobered. “Unless we find the guys who attacked my mate.”
Tim nodded. “How is he?”
“I haven't heard from him yet, but it's only been two days. He said he wanted us to date, get to know each other, human style, so along the way I stopped at the florist by our building and sent him some flowers.”
“Smooth.”
“I hope so. I'm hoping that he'll call me so we can arrange a date. If I don't hear from him, I'll stop by his and make sure he got the flowers.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Their order of buffalo wings arrived and the rest of the meal was spent discussing the ins and outs of human dating, Steve's mother's excitement over the mating, and the need for more indoor play space for the pups.
Desmond was in heaven. Jared was so easy to tease.
A short, ill tempered customer had come in and after being extremely rude, walked out without buying anything after all, despite Jared's best efforts to please.
Desmond had been unable to resist telling him that the man had been a pixie and that they were known for their ill tempers.
He giggled. Jared had looked floored. “Fairies are real too?” he'd asked. “What about elves?”
Jared had spent the rest of the morning wide eyed and vigilant for fairy pranks.
An hour after lunch, a large bouquet had arrived for him and he'd actually worried that a pixie had a hand in their arrival.
Desmond had had to come clean. The sheepish look he'd given him by way of apology had tempered Jared's response.
“Just you wait,” he'd told Desmond before hurrying in the back to call his mate and thank him for the flowers.
“So?” he asked as Jared came out onto the floor.
Jared blushed. “He's picking me up from work and taking me bowling.”
“Bowling? Are you serious?”
“Yeah, well, he asked me what I'd like to do and my mind went blank. I thought, quick, come up with an answer. All that came into my head was 1950's malt shops and bowling alleys.”
“Oh my God! Seriously? And he didn't say something like, 'How about a movie or let's go out for dinner instead?' He just went along with bowling?”
Jared looked uncomfortable. “He asked me if I was sure I wanted to go bowling and I just said, yeah.”
“Do you know how to bowl?”
“I, uh, went once with my dad when I was like twelve. Does that count?”
The two men looked at each other and began to laugh. Their manager gave them a look and pointedly gazed around the shop indicating they should find some work to do.”
“Oh my gosh. I totally just asked him to go do the Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble thing, didn't I?” Jared said as he hurriedly turned to one side and began refolding some sweaters stacked on a display table.”
“Mmm hmm,” Desmond replied as he made busy straightening a nearby rack of shirts.
This place smells like feet and overcooked hot dogs. But, he wanted to go bowling, so we will go bowling, Steve thought as he tied the rental shoes onto his feet. Might be fun, I've never been bowling before.
Tim had laughed when he'd told him that Jared had asked to go bowling. “And what's wrong with bowling?” he'd asked, feeling as if it'd be disloyal to his mate to say otherwise.
Just hope I don't make a fool of myself. He winced at the crashing sounds the balls and pins made. Man, that's loud.
It rapidly became apparent that Jared didn't know how to bowl either.
Steve had taken a few turns to figure out the knack of how to roll the ball just so, his wolf reflexes and keen eyesight proving to be a bonus.
Jared on the other hand kept changing balls, hoping to find one that would miraculously turn his efforts from gutter balls into something that at least made it to the end and knocked down a pin, any pin at all.
Steve waited until they were nearly done with a game, then asked, “So, we've, uh, tried bowling. Wanna play another game after this or head out and grab a bite or something?”
Jared looked relieved. “Yeah. I'll be honest. I've, uh, never bowled before. Well, I did sorta, once as a kid, with my dad. But they had bumpers in the gutter.”
Steve grinned. “I figured. Me neither. Now we've both established we'll not be winning any trophies, I guess we can look for other ideas of things to do together.”
“Uh, do you want to finish the game? I could eat.”
He looks so adorable, trying to wiggle out of having to finish this.
“Sounds good to me. I know this place that does amazing Portuguese food. You like peri peri chicken?” Steve asked.
“Never had it, but I'd love to try it .”
“Let's go then.” Steve didn't have to ask twice, as by way of reply Jared sat straight down and began to take off his shoes.
Steve smiled and once they'd handed in the shoes and put their own footwear back on, took out his phone and called ahead.
No sense getting there and finding out we can't get a table.
With assurance of a table, the two men climbed into Steve's car.
“I'm, uh, sorry that was so lame,” Jared apologized. “I've never really dated before and when you asked me what I'd like to do, old TV show stuff from Happy Days and stuff popped into my head.”
Steve laughed. “That's okay. I should have had something in mind when I asked you out. Happy Days, huh?”
Jared flushed. “I like to watch old TV shows. Less, I dunno, intense. I can just relax.”
Steve nodded. “I get you. Don't tell anyone, but I like to watch repeats of Friends for same reason. And I just might have box sets of some even older shows myself.”
“Really?”
The rest of the evening went by quickly as the two men chatted about current TV favorites and childhood viewing habits.
Before he'd kissed Jared on the cheek good night as he walked him to his door, their mutual guilty secret of being fans of The Muppet Show was out and a second date planned revolving around a Muppet marathon in front of Steve's TV.
Huh. Maybe this dating thing won't be too bad, Steve thought as he let himself into his apartment. Not too bad at all.