Page 7 of Numbers Boy
I turn down the next block, skirting around a couple walking in the other direction. They’re holding hands, and the cold doesn’t seem to bother them as they laugh, cheeks rosy from the slight wind. I bet Steve looks gorgeous in the snow. His emerald eyes would pop against his fair skin, and his pink lips would geteven pinker. I wonder if he stuffs his curls into a beanie or if he’s more of the ear band type. Does he like to cuddle up on the couch after a long day?
I realize I’m letting my imagination run away with me – I mean, I’ve only met the guy once, and I’m wondering whether he prefers warming up with sweaters or blankets – when Blake’s amused voice finally breaks through my thoughts.
“Noah? Earth to Noah. Did you freeze somewhere on the street?” he teases. “Do I need to organize a search and rescue mission?”
I shake my head to clear it and finally respond. “No, sorry. I was just thinking about how excited I am to get home and warm up.”
“Uh-huh, sure,” comes Blake’s knowing voice. Sometimes I wish he didn’t know me so well. Then he wouldn’t be able to call me on my shit so easily. Oh, who am I kidding? I love that he’s not going to let this go. I’d be the exact same with him. “It’s not at all to do with the person you were chatting with for over an hour when our first meetings typically take less than thirty minutes.”
“Okay, you got me,” I say as I let myself into our apartment building. Heat, finally! “I was thinking about Steve and how he’d probably be perfect to warm up with on a cold night. He was so sweet, Blake. You should’ve heard the way that he talked about his pup, Stacy. And he’s gorgeous. I swear his eyes twinkled whenever he laughed.”
As I continue to tell Blake all about Steve, I trudge up the stairs, and before I know it, I’m at our door. When I swing it open, my best friend is waiting for me on the couch, biting back a smile as he ends our phone call.
“Dude, you’ve got it bad.”
I can’t even try to deny it.
CHAPTER FIVE
Steve
THE NEXT SUNDAY, I take Stacy for a mid-morning walk and then walk myself to Full Fitness, the gym that Stu works at, to meet Henry for some strength work. While I wasn’t too far off when I joked with Noah about not doing any crunches, I do have to keep up some sort of fitness routine, especially now that I’m starting to perform again. Walking, much less dancing, in heels takes more strength than it looks like.
I wave to my bestie, and he waves back from where he’s currently spotting one of his clients, and then head over to the side room that Henry has booked for the next two hours.
When I go in, Henry is predictably already there. He pulls off his oversized sweatshirt to reveal a hot pink crop top with the words “In My Pink Pony Era” splayed across the chest in big bubble letters and tiny Spandex shorts. Henry teaches pole dance classes, but since he’s not planning to be on the pole until he heads into the studio this afternoon, his outfit is completed with a pair of white-and-pink thigh-high socks that should look ridiculous, but are somehow both sexy and adorable on him.
We lay out our yoga mats and run through a few easy stretches as we catch up.
“How did your search for a dog walker go? Did you ever find someone who’s good enough for Stacy? Because you know the Working Boys will make it work if we need to. None ofus want you to have to deal with someone who isn’t amazing,” Henry rattles off, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes and barely taking a breath as he leans forward to stretch his legs in a straddle.
I get the feeling this sentiment applies to more than just who I find to walk my dog. Actually, I know it does. Because those boys were there for me 100 percent when I was going through everything with Adam, and all they wanted was for me to be happy. Even though I started pulling away and stopped doing the things I loved, they were there for me as soon as I needed them to be.
“I did find somebody. From that flyer Andrew saw, actually. His name is Noah, and he’s coming to meet Stacy tomorrow and make sure she feels comfortable with him.” I refrain from mentioning how handsome and sweet he is. I told Stu about Noah right away when I got back to my apartment after we met. But I know as soon as I let on that I might possibly have a teeny, tiny crush on the man who will be walking my dog for the foreseeable future, Henry will go into meddling mode, and I’m not ready for that. But, damn, Noah was really sweet. I think about his smile when he was talking about working with his best friend, and my stomach flips.
“I love that idea,” Henry says, his legs out in a wide V and body folded all the way forward. “Better that than to have him show up when you need to head out the door and Stacy wants nothing to do with him. Does this mean you can start booking more rehearsal time and look for bigger gigs?”
“Hopefully,” I agree as I start doing my ankle warm-ups. “I’ve already got a few of those brunches lined up, so I’ve got plenty to work on, but my contact from my first brunch let me know that there’s a charity drag show at Shimmer in April. They need audition tapes by the end of February, so that gives me a good amount of time to get footage from my performances andto film anything else they need to see. It’s pretty relaxed and isn’t as competitive to get into as some shows, so I’m feeling good about it. What do you have coming up?”
Grabbing a jump rope to do some cardio, I listen to Henry update me on his work life.
“I’ve got classes like always, and I still love teaching them, but I’m not sure how much longer I’ll do the strip club.”
“How come?” I pant out, not completely surprised by his comment. He hasn’t been stripping for very long, and he’s never seemed as excited about it as his pole work.
Henry shrugs and starts foam-rolling his legs. “I make good tips, but I don’t really enjoy the environment. I think a more theatrical or burlesque style of stripping would be more up my alley. There’s hardly any actual pole dancing at the club because the body oil makes anything other than basic floor moves impossible.”
“That makes sense. Does Chad know about it yet?”
“Nope, and he’s not going to unless he happens to come into the club when I’m working.”
I nod, not wanting to get too involved in the subject but still wanting to be supportive. Chad is one of the Working Boys, and everyone but Chad himself knows that Henry happens to be in love with him. Unfortunately, Chad has an annoying habit of being extra careful when it comes to Henry and his activities.
I’m not quite sure why Chad’s so overly cautious, but over the years, I’ve decided it must have to do with how he and Henry met. Freshman year of college, Stu and I were excited to be roommates and take on the world. We became fast friends with Henry, the outgoing twink who lived across the hall from us, and his two friends from back home in Minnesota. Greg and Leighton roomed together because they were both in sports, while Henry was one of the few freshmen who lucked into a single room. Within the first two weeks, all five of us startedgetting dinner together and did as many movie nights as we could fit into our various schedules. A few months into school, Henry all of a sudden started bringing Chad and Mark along. I never thought to ask the details about how they met, just sort of assumed Henry had adopted them like he did me and Stu, and the five of us effortlessly expanded to seven.
Now here we are, just over four years later, and our group is still going strong. This past fall, we had an awesome Halloween night out, and we were able to get everyone together for Thanksgiving. Even my relationship and eventual breakup with Adam haven’t permanently messed with the Working Boys. And Greg now has Andrew, who tags along to events and joins right in. I’m sure he’ll be at our first Working Boys Book Club Brunch in a few weeks.
But I’m still waiting for something to change. Every time Henry brings up another activity that Chad has an issue with, I wonder if it’s going to finally be the time that Chad says something they can’t work past. It’s either that, or Chad finally pulls his head out of his ass and realizes that he’s in love with Henry, too. Now that I think about it, that probably explains some of the protectiveness.
