Page 34 of Perfect Matcha
Chapter Thirteen
Theo didn’t wantto be at Sara B’s on a Monday night. Mondays were for matcha tea and hearty food at Bold Brew. Mondays were for Camden and Camden alone.
Rather than their usual Monday meetup, Camden had arranged a “casual outing” with his friends from First-Rate Finishes.
Camden’s logic, evidently, was that hanging out with Hawke in a group would soften Theo’s anxiety enough that a date would go off without a hitch.
Logic sucked.
Theo stared at the façade of Sara B’s through his windshield. He’d never been inside. It was off the town’s main drag and far enough away from the common campus haunts that Theo figured the clientele would be older. It seemed like a nice place, and he’d perused the awesome beer menu online before leaving his apartment.
Normally, he would have loved coming here. Been excited about it, even with the prospect of hanging out with what Theo imagined to be Camden’s wide and wild social circle. But not tonight. Tonight, all he felt was dread.
Maybe it was the weather. It was sleeting, and he would rather have been cozy and warm by a fire at Bold Brew.
Or maybe it was that he was confused about what had happened with Camden. They’d hardly spoken since, nothing besides text messages about logistics for the outing. Theo had thought about calling him last night, about asking Camden to talk him through using a gorgeous glass dildo that looked like a tentacle. He’d had a whole sea-witch fantasy geared up and ready to go.
But Theo couldn’t stop thinking about how Camden had refused to shower with him. About how he leapt out of bed to get his distance.
It wasn’t fair of Theo to be hurt. They weren’t boyfriends. They’d never really discussed the rules or stipulations surrounding the help Camden was giving him, so Theo had no right to have expectations.
But, in the moment, Theo had wanted … Well, it was terrifying all the things he’d wanted. He had since managed to bin those yearnings like week-old takeout. They were nothing but a reaction to endorphins and hormones. Compartmentalization for the win.
Any minute now, Theo would leave the safe confines of his car.
He’d walk into that brewpub, flirt a bit with Hawke, set up a date with him, and another date, and another. They’d fall into infatuation, and go to Freddie’s wedding together, and it would be perfect.
Theo wouldn’t think about Camden once.
The passenger side door opened, and there was Camden in the flesh, a wry smile on his face. It didn’t reach his eyes.
So much for not thinking about him.
“What are you doing sitting out here?” Camden asked.
“Just waiting on you.” False, but also … maybe true. Damn it.
“Ready to shake a leg?”
Theo nodded. This would work out. He’d be okay.
An hour and a half later, Theo wasn’t sure he was okay. They were posted up at a table in a dark corner of the bar area. He had an Iron City Lager and a pile of fries in front of him.
He should have been in heaven.
He wasn’t.
Camden was across the table from him, sittingbetweena married couple—Diana, who worked at First-Rate, and Yan—both of whom seemed to be very familiar with Camden. Suspiciously familiar. And though Theo was not often sexually attracted to women—he could count on one hand the number of times it had happened—there was no mistaking how incredibly hot both of the ladies were.
Camdenwasattracted to women. He dated just as many women as he did other genders. Or at least that had been Theo’s impression. Of course, he’d also thought Camden had lots of casual relationships only to find out he’d been basically celibate for over a year. So what did Theoreallyknow?
Nothing. He knewnothing.
On Theo’s right was a shy woman named Brandilynn. She had a tattoo of Sally fromA Nightmare Before Christmason her forearm and a tiny pair of handcuffs below her ear. She was evidently First-Rate Finishes’ newest hire. Each time Theo got overwhelmed by Hawke’s presence on his left, he turned back to Brandilynn’s kind smile.
She seemed to understand.
“Tell me about your job, Theo,” Hawke said. Hawke focused on people like they were the most important person in the room. But it didn’t have anything on the way Camden had looked at Theo after they’d gotten naked.
