Page 13 of The Princess

Instead, it was now chastising him for being too early. Hence the parking around the corner. He didn’t want to show up too early either. Would it be poor form to text Nash for luck? For advice? For moral support? Probably.

Instead, Damon texted Jonah. Their friendship had evolved in recent months, somewhere around the time Damon started sneaking around with Nash. Then shortly after that, Jonah and Spencer had started seeing each other. Damon liked Spencer and Jonah together. They were a couple that made sense. They were well suited and it was obvious they were crazy about each other.

Jonah sent an image back to Damon, showing off a tower of papers he had to mark. Damon replied that if Jonah gave his students less homework, he’d have less to grade.

Jonah sent back a row of crying face emojis.

Damon looked at the time and groaned. Only a few minutes had passed. If he showed up now, he’d still be ridiculously early. Damon’s phone buzzed with a text from Nash.

Have a wonderful time

It might not look like the most enthusiastic text on the planet, but Nash’s blessing meant everything to Damon. Nash was one of the best things that had ever happened to him.

So what the fuck was Damon even doing? He had a perfectly good thing with Nash. Was he willing to risk it? But Nash didn’t make it feel like a risk. He’d been great about the whole thing. Supportive and understanding. He made Damon feel like it was normal to be involved with one person while pursuing his interest in another. Had it not been for Nash, he might never have asked Taylor on a date.

And he couldn’t back out now anyway. Not that he wanted to. Taylor would be upset and Damon would hate himself for disappointing him. Besides, it was now five minutes until six and he could cease his endless loop of anxiety and go pick up Taylor.

He pulled up in front of the house but used the gate to take him to the basement door at the back of the house. The little gift he’d picked up for Taylor was in his coat pocket. He figured gift wrapping it might be a bit much, but he regretted not doing it now.

Damon had barely knocked when the door swung open. Taylor greeted him with a stunning smile. His curly blonde hair had the whole just-rolled-out-of-bed-all-sexy-like-this look to it. He wore a pair of dark red skinny jeans with an oversized cream-colored sweater with a wide neck opening that slid to one side, showing off the strap of a tank top underneath.

“You look incredible.” Damon said, suddenly breathless. He wasn’t sure how to greet Taylor now that he was here to pick him up for a date. Did he hug him? Handshake? Kissing was probably too forward. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the gift he got before he lost his nerve.

“Here.” Damon thrust it at Taylor. “This is for you.”

He bit his tongue to keep himself from blathering on about how he didn’t think Taylor would want cut flowers, and he clearly had enough plants.

“It’s a tree frog.” Taylor took the ornament from him and smiled at it, then at Damon.

“It’s for your plants.” Damon stated the obvious, unable to keep his nerves at bay.

“He’s perfect. Thank you.” Taylor reached over and set the frog gently into the soil of some sort of potted plant that was near the door. He grabbed a jacket off the hook and stuffed his keys into his pocket. “I almost don’t want to leave him behind.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind,” Damon said, earning him a smile from Taylor.

“You’re right. He looks pretty cozy there. Thank you.” Taylor stepped outside and pulled the door shut.

Damon wanted to take his hand, but he was never good at this sort of thing. He always second-guessed himself. He did better when someone took the initiative. Maybe one day he’d be able to tell Taylor stuff like that.

Damon opened the passenger door for Taylor, who blushed prettily and thanked him before sliding into the car. Damon jogged around to the other side and got in. Glancing up at the house, his thoughts must have been written on his face.

“Dad won’t say anything.”

“I wasn’t really worried about it,” Damon said.

“Even though I have two older brothers?”

Damon shrugged and backed out of the driveway. “They don’t scare me.”

“Famous last words.”

Taylor laughed and Damon had to wonder how he was so relaxed when Damon was ready to jitter out of his skin.

Damon had chosen a laid-back sort of place for their first date. There was a little hole-in-the-wall bar not far from the roller rink that had great food. Though Damon didn’t drink, he wanted to take Taylor somewhere that proved he saw him as an adult because the roller skating was a little juvenile, perhaps.

“I talked to Nash,” Taylor blurted into the silence.

Damon glanced at him. “You did?”

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