Chapter Twelve Date Night
ZANDER
“All right, you two, don’t get into too much trouble tonight,” I tell Wilder and Jayce outside of the diner with the best goddamn meatloaf in town. We’ve just finished eating and are parting ways - them to the bars, me to… I’m not one hundred percent sure yet.
“You too, Romeo,” Wilder chuckles, smirking and stroking his beard in a way that makes me cringe. “Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”
“Which isn’t much, honestly,” Jayce chuckles, nudging me with his shoulder. “Just remember, consent is sexy and always use a rubber. We don’t want any little Zanders running around before you’re ready.”
Good lord. I roll my eyes so hard, they almost go to the back of my head.
“Okay, go away now,” I grumble, waving my hands at them in a shooing gesture. “I have somewhere better to be.”
“Yeah, you do,” Wilder declares and throws his hand up for a high-five. I glare at it, refusing to engage, so Jayce gives him the five instead as they both cackle.
“Uh, bye.” I groan, turning to stroll away.
“Bye, Zander!” Jayce calls after me.
“Remember to be a gentleman!” Wilder adds.
I throw them both the bird without looking back. They both laugh and I shake my head with a grin.
“Come on, Wilder,” I hear Jayce exclaim. “Let’s go get bottle service at that new club downtown. On me.”
“Always happy to help you spend your family’s money,” Wilder replies, his deep voice reverberating through the night.
When I reach my car, I climb in behind the wheel, but don’t turn it on.
Shit… I’m only now realizing I don’t actually have anywhere to go for my “date.” I could go to a bar, I guess, but I don’t want to be that random guy tucked away in a corner on his laptop all night.
Plus, it’s too easy to get distracted in a public place like that and I don’t want any of that.
I want to give ClickTease all my attention.
I have my computer with me - much easier to do the virtual dates on that than my phone - so that’s not the problem.
My car is an option. I could go park somewhere and use a hotspot, but what happens if the battery goes low and dies?
Can’t go back to my place - they’ve been locking the building down at night so residents can’t try to sneak in when no one’s around.
Damn it, this would be so much easier if I could just go back to the apartment, but that’s totally off-limits.
If Rylee comes back and sees me home so early, she’ll never let me live it down.
She’ll likely think I was either lying about the date, or that it was a bust, and if I try to explain that the date is virtual…
oh, God. I can almost hear her relentless mocking now, telling me I can’t get a girl in real life and I’m going to end up getting catfished by some creepy guy who gets his rocks off scamming people online…
I grit my teeth, frustration building up within me. She’s such a pain in the ass… what sucker could she be out with right now? What pathetic sap did she manage to catch in her web?
Is it the elusive Kodiak? The motherfucker she couldn’t seem to get off her mind when I was tongue deep inside her?
Grinding my teeth, I try to push down the agitation crawling up my spine.
Maybe she doesn’t even have a date. Oh, that could definitely be it. She could’ve just said that to get a rise out of me. I say I have a date, so she says she has a date just to piss me off.
But even if she is actually going out, why should I care? I don’t!
Fuck, she’s so infuriating!
Enough. I don’t want to think about Rylee anymore. I need to focus on what’s important right now - ClickTease.
I drum my fingers on the steering wheel, struggling to figure out where I can go to actually have this date. When I can’t come up with anything, I decide that I need some help, so I grab my phone and call my oldest sister, Lauren.
“Hey, baby bro!” she answers in a bright tone. “What’s going on? Shouldn’t you be out partying with your boys or whatever?”
“Ugh, don’t try to be hip,” I reply, my tone teasing.
“Such a party pooper,” she sighs. “So, what’s up? Why are you calling me on a Friday night?”
“Well, here’s the thing… ”
Before I can continue, however, I hear squeals and little kid laughter in the background.
“Uncle Zander!” Toby, my six year old nephew shouts into the phone so loud I flinch.
“Hey, buddy,” I reply, grinning. “How are you?”
“I got a bearded dragon!” he exclaims.
“Ohhh, that’s exciting.”
“Uncle Zander!” Sam, Toby’s younger brother by two years, gets in on the conversation. “It’s green!”
I chuckle. “You’ll have to have your Mom send me a picture.”
“SanSan!” And there’s two year old Nina who can’t quite say her Zs yet.
“Okay, kids,” Lauren says in her firm mom voice. “Mommy’s talking to Uncle Zander, and you all need to go brush your teeth. Go on.”
“Ugh, Mommy, please!” Toby whines. “Can’t we stay up?”
“No way, bucko,” Lauren replies. “You’re all going to be little bears tomorrow if you don’t go to bed on time. Say goodbye to Uncle Zander and find Daddy to help you.”
Toby groans. “Okay… ”
Sam mimics him. “Okay… ”
“Bye bye SanSan!” Nina exclaims happily.
“Bye bye. You all listen to your mom and I’ll talk to you later.”
It takes a few moments for Lauren to usher all the kids away before she can focus back on our conversation.
“Oh, my gosh,” she sighs. “If only they knew how much they're going to appreciate sleep when they’re older… they might not fight bedtime so much.”
I chuckle. “Youth is wasted on the young.”
“Right? Anyway, what was it you called for?”
Right, my date. “So, I, uh, am supposed to have a date tonight… a virtual date.”
“A virtual date?” It takes a moment for realization to hit her. “Did you sign up for that app?”
“Yeah, I did, but here’s the thing, I don’t know where to go for the date.
I can’t go back to the apartment I’m staying at because the photographer doing the articles on the team is there, and I don’t want her to know this date isn’t in-person.
I thought about a bar and even my car, but I don’t really like either of those options. Do you have any suggestions?”
Instead of going straight for my question, Lauren circles back to Rylee. “Why don’t you want this photographer to know your date is virtual? And why is she staying in the apartment with you?”
“It’s complicated,” I hedge, my tone taking on an impatient twinge. “She’s Grace’s friend and Grace said she could stay there, and Carson didn’t know when he said I could stay there. And I just don’t want her to use my dating life for article fodder, okay?”
Enough of the truth to hopefully get Lauren off my back.
There’s a pause before she murmurs, “I don’t think a girl’s ever gotten under your skin before, Zan.”
“She’s not under my skin! She’s just… annoying.”
“Uh, huh.” She doesn’t sound convinced, but she thankfully lets the issue drop. “Okay, so you need a place to have your date. Lemme think… ” She falls silent for a few seconds as she thinks. “Why don’t you just get a hotel room for the night?”
My shoulders sag in disappointment. “All the local ones are booked up. That’s why I’m still staying in Carson’s apartment.” And why I’m still forced to put up with Rylee.
“I’m going to look anyway,” she says, putting me on speaker. “There are always last minute cancellations, and you can usually get a decent discount for those.” I can hear her tapping away on her phone’s screen. Less than a minute later, she exclaims, “Found one!”
“What? You did?” I’m stunned, but not really surprised. Lauren kind of has a weird superpower for this kind of thing.
“Yep. It’s about twenty minutes from your location, and it’s a Hilton so it’ll be nice. I’ll book the room and text you the details, okay?”
“You don’t have to do that, Lauren,” I quickly reply. “I can pay for it myself… ”
“It’s fine. We’re part of the Hilton Honors program and I’ve got points saved up. The room is gonna be free.”
“Uhhh… ” I’m a little baffled at her skills and resourcefulness. “Okay then. That sounds great. Thanks, Lauren.”
“You’re welcome. Now, go and have some fun. Buh bye!”
“Bye.” I hang up the phone, stunned silent for several moments before I find my wits again and start the car.
Once my phone dings with a text from Lauren with the hotel information, I pull out into the street and head that way.
Oh, crap… should I stop back at the apartment and get some clothes?
What if Rylee’s there?
Wait! I still have some stuff in my trunk from my apartment. Okay, cool! I don’t have to go back and potentially run into her.
Should I let her know I’ll be gone all night though? What’s the etiquette for forced roommates who hate each other?
Shaking my head, I push the thought away. I don’t have her number, and anyway, what’s it matter? Why should I let her know anything?
It’s not like we’re even friends.
For some reason, I feel a stab of irritation and clench my teeth. Whatever… I just need to forget about Rylee for the night. I have an awesome girl waiting for me.
A girl the total opposite of pain-in-the-ass Rylee Benson.
I reach the hotel and get checked in, then quickly make my way up to my room.
Flopping onto the bed right away, I sigh in relief, thankful I won’t have to spend tonight on the couch in the apartment.
I also won’t have Gizmo bugging me… though, if I’m honest, I’ve grown rather fond of the furball and might actually miss him. A little.
Getting back up, I unpack my laptop, then prop myself up against the headboard as I turn my device on and get connected to the internet.
Once I get to the Cloak website, I grab my phone and go to my messages with ClickTease. There are still a few minutes to go until the time we said we’d meet, but I don’t think it’d be a bad idea just to let her know that I’m ready whenever she gets on.
GlideControlZ: I’m ready when you are! No rush, though. I’m early
I move to set my phone down, not expecting to hear from her yet, but before I can lay it on the bed it buzzes. Snagging it back up, I’m thrilled to find she’s already responded.