Page 43 of Dead Serious with Benefits
“Didn’t they recently start posting thirst traps of the two of them?” I asked with a smile.
“Oh my God, yes, thanks so much for the reminder. Just so you know, I actually meant ‘fuck you for reminding me’.”
“I assumed as much. And I promise not to tell anyone you’re being squeamish about the whole thing.”
“I’d say thanks, but I can tell you’re being a jackass. As much of a jackass as you can be, but still a goddamn jackass. I’m happy for them. If any two people were like...handcrafted personally by God, it’s those two. I donotwant to think about what they get up to in their spare time. I already saw them making out when they got too drunk at the bar, and I didn’t...hands were going places, alright?”
“I understand,” I said as I opened the door. Dom was leaning on the wall opposite, and his eyes widened as he took in the entire ensemble.
He gave a low whistle. “Well, goddamn, don’t you look spiffy? Who are you trying to impress?”
“I’m not trying to impress anyone,” I told him honestly. “It’s the dress code.”
His face scrunched up. “Christ, please tell me this is a date and not some...dead people function.”
“Dead people function,” I repeated with a roll of my eyes. “It’s a charity function, and why do you care if it’s a date?”
“Because you haven’t been on one in ages and, like...you need to go on one, Arlo. Everyone is pretty sure you haven’t been dating, but Iknowyou haven’t. So please tell me this is a date, and no, don’t lie if it isn’t.”
Ours was a strange relationship, but a close one. Perhaps it was because, unlike the others, we were the only two pure ‘outsiders’ in the family, having had parents and a home before life found a way to change the circumstances. Perhaps it was because we were the only two who weren’t tied up in what the others did or didn’t do, and respected the privacy of others and wished the same for us. Whatever the reasons, Dom and I had always gotten along quite nicely, with no real friction, and always knew how to operate around the other.
He knew more than any other part of our family that I had no preference when it came to the gender of a partner, but I wasslow to pick a partner. Just like I was the only one in the family who knew he had been with men before, only a few, and with one exception, they had been one-night flings that he barely thought about. Admittedly, I knew very little about the one man he’d been serious about. Dom spoke of him only in the vaguest terms and with the understanding that I keep it to myself.
“It is a date,” I said as I brushed past him and stepped into the living room, stroking Rags, who was loafed on the arm of the couch. “It could be strictly platonic, he made it clear it could be if I wanted, but...I’ve decided that I don’t want it to be.”
“He, huh?” he asked, curious. “This, uh, switching it up since it didn’t work with what’s her name?”
“If bisexual people needed to switch it up because the last person was of one gender, then you are long overdue to be with a man. One might even say you have an outstanding debt in that regard,” I told him wryly.
“Look, if a guy out there tickled my pickle for more than one night, sure, but it hasn’t happened, and I’m not betting on it. I’ve met a lot of men over the years, and none of them do it for me like that.”
“You’ve also met plenty of women, and have yet to settle down with any of them.”
“It’s always fun when you find a way to call me a slut without actually calling me a slut.”
“I wasn’t, but if the shoe happens to fit?—”
“Uh-huh, what’s better than a shoe fitting? A tuxedo being fitted for you,” he said with a smirk. “What’s his name?”
“Ward.”
“Uh...interesting. Last name?”
“Now you mention it, I never asked,” I said, briefly mentioning where and how I had met Ward and how the tuxedo had come to my place. I left out the part where Ward had pretended, badly, to take measurements. No one but the twoof us needed to know that I had come dangerously close to reaching down and gripping the back of his head, to feel how soft his auburn hair was between my fingers, to see if his almost unnaturally gray eyes would darken or brighten when I unzipped my pants.
But I knew, and I suspected he knew as well, that was enough.
“Wait,” Dom said as I collected my phone and wallet, checked the time, and waited near the front door. If Ward was as punctual as I was, the ride he was sending would arrive in a few minutes. “Ward...Reddington?”
I thought about it for a moment, and a memory arose of me standing at the front desk in his building, waiting for the security guard to let me through to the elevator. The way the security guard sat, the computer screen turned enough that I could see the words. I hadn’t paid much attention at the time, but now I thought about it...hadn’t the screen said Reddington?
“It might be,” I said slowly, cocking my head. “Why?”
“As in the Reddington family?”
“I...don’t know, are they well known?”
“I mean, they weren’t, just one of those super old, rich families that get away without being known all that well. Right up until one of them became our state governor. Shit yeah, I remember seeing that she only had one kid, a son.”
