Page 6 of Home for Nathan
“Uh, he’s single. He had… You know what? Hold on just a second. Charlie, honey. Can you come tell Zion all about Nathan?”
“Why? Is he macking our new poor omega?” Charlie asked.
“Yes,” Kaleb said.
“No! Why did you say yes?” Lord have mercy. Nathan was not doing anything nefarious.
“Because you’re taking him out on a date.”
“A date already?” Charlie asked. “Zion’s been in town what, three days?”
“I think it’s five. He’s at the Crapitorium.”
“I didn’t meet him at the Crapitorium. I met him at the grocery store.”
“He’s at the Crapitorium now. They met at the grocery store.”
“Oh well at least that makes sense.” Charlie’s voice got closer. “I’m not sure I approve of you coming onto my new friend.”
“I’m not coming onto him yet. I asked the man out for food. I just wanted some info, since you guys know him.”
“You wanted intel because you’re ready to hump him. You think he’s hot. Don’t lie.”
“I’m not lying. I’m aggravated now. And of course he’s hot. And cute. And, okay, look, I’m at the antique store, and I’m busy. I just wanted to know what the deal was.”
Charlie chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t get mad. He had a bad breakup. He literally told his ex that he was pregnant, and the guy dumped him like right then and there. Bang. Told him it was his own fault for not using enough contraceptive.”
“God, because the guy who was dipping his wick didn’t have any responsibility there?” That attitude just pissed him right off.
“Right? I know, very aggravating. Anyway, he was one of Saul’s friends. They waited tables together. Poor guy, he didn’t have anything. He threw all of his stuff in storage. And he’s here, staying at the Merchante Spaces. You know, the apartments Lucas put in for folks who need a hand. Everybody at the grocery store loves him. I think he’s really sweet. What else do you need to know?”
“Well, I mean, if you think he’s really sweet, that’s really all I need.”
Charlie snorted. “Shut up. Seriously, what else do you need to know?”
“What I really needed to know was that he was actually single.”
“Actually single. Not interested if the baby daddy shows up. Not interested. This guy was a putz.”
“Did you just say putz?” He didn’t think he’d ever heard anyone say that out loud besides in a sitcom.
“I’ve been watching a lot of romantic comedies. Don’t ask.”
“Are you pregnant again?” Zion teased.
“You hush. If I am, someone’s going to get in trouble.Big trouble, Little China.”
He loved that movie. He heard, in the background, Kaleb whistling. That was never a good sign. “All right. Well. This was fun.”
“Seriously, man, Nathan is a sweetheart. Very, very adorable dorky guy, but I mean he’s been hormonal and pregnant since we’ve all known him, so who knows what he’s like not preggers, right? He could be a raging psycho, but Saul says no. And we trust Saul with our babies. We have to trust him with our friends.”
“Right on.” Zion wasn’t sure he knew who Saul was exactly, but he could agree nicely. And go with that. Actually, the only people he knew in town were Charlie, Kaleb, Nathan and Carrie right now. “Where should I go for lunch?”
“Oh well, if you’re into pizza, David’s is great. I recommend the half and half salad if you like salad. Alicia’s is open for, you know, carry out, and she does like soup, sammies, wraps, that kind of thing. If you want a pastry, sometimes if you’re lucky, the bakery will have a ham and cheese croissant that is wicked amazing. Or you can always go to the hotel. Oh! Or the truck stop. The truck stop has amazing patty melts. You could go there and get patty melts and onion rings and a large chocolate shake.”
Personally, he thought that sounded like an order. Not like a demand, but like Charlie’s order for lunch. In fact, he’d bet goodmoney that he could meet Kaleb and Charlie for lunch. Right now. “Want to go to the truck stop? We can meet there in say half an hour.”
“Can you give us forty-five minutes, and we can be there?” Kaleb asked.
