Page 70 of When Ben Loved Jace
I shake my head, not ready to talk about us yet. “How did your date with Adrien go?”
Tim shrugs. “It was fine.”
“What did you guys do?” The question is intentionally open ended. I’m dying to know if they slept together.
“Went out to a fancy restaurant,” Tim says, “which is way more fun with Eric. He knows some really great places where the food is amazing but the vibe is chill. The one I went to with Adrien was kind of stuffy. White tablecloths, snooty waiters, valet parking… That sort of thing. I don’t really like French food.”
I notice that he hasn’t said anything about Adrien yet, so I keep prying. “What did you do afterwards?”
“We went to a sauna.”
“That’s a fun idea!”
He’s quiet for a moment. “I guess so.”
“You didn’t like it?”
Tim yanks on Chinchilla’s leash. “Hey, don’t eat that! You’ve got a nose for trouble, I swear.”
I wait for him to answer my question. He doesn’t. I bet they hooked up. If so, he’s not eager to discuss it with me.
“Are you going to see him again?”
Tim sighs. “If I say no, is it a dealbreaker?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you only going to hang out with me if I’m dating someone?”
“I just thought it would make things easier on us.”
Tim eyes me a moment, one of those beautifully muscled arms raised in front of him as Chinchilla leads us up the path. “You’re with Jace,” he says. “Does that make it easy for you?”
“No,” I admit. “So you’re not interested in Adrien?”
Tim shakes his head. “He’s got a mean streak that reminds me too much of Carla, my crazy ex-girlfriend from high school. I know you didn’t like Krista, but at least she was nice. In a snobby kind of way. So uh… No. I think I’ll pass.”
The relief I feel at this news is damning indeed.
“Besides,” Tim says, “it’s weird that he’s Jace’s ex. Adrien already joked that we should call ourselves the runners-up. Hey, did you have fun with Eric?”
“Yeah! He’s incredibly cool. I got a lot more out of our chat than I expected.”
Tim nods enthusiastically. “Right? That’s why I love hanging with him. He knows so much about everything.”
“Have you ever metGabriel?”
“Yeah. I’d heard the whole story before I saw him face-to-face, so I was expecting a jerk, even though Eric always says nice things about him. He’s all right though. The guy Gabriel ditched Eric for?He’sa total dick, but it serves him right. The first time we all had dinner together, I made sure to flirt with Eric a bunch. You should have seen Gabriel’s face. He definitely wasn’t feeling it!”
This makes me laugh. Maybe I should encourage Tim to pursue that relationship instead. Or I could stop meddling and deal with my own emotions. Tim tells me other stories as we ascend, and I ask a few more questions, but there’s one in particular that I can no longer resist.
“Do you still paint?”
“Yeah. When I can.”
“Then how come Eric doesn’t seem to know?”
Tim plods alongside me. “I’m private about that sort of thing.”
