Page 24 of Asking For It

What made him hesitate? Did I want to knowthatmuch about them?

“We stumbled on a little gaming café,” Owen said. “Most incredible thing we’d ever seen.”

Kingston resumed his leaned forward position. “That’s where we went instead of all that stuff you said. We spent days on end in that place.”

I liked the visual, Kingston in a faded concert T-shirt, Owen in a button-down with the sleeves rolled up, both of them hunched over computers in someone else’s shop, kicking ass in something multi-player.

“What’s with the smile?” Own asked.

Was I? “You’re not my typical customers.” Why didn’t I just tell them the truth?I’m fantasizing about the two of you having fun, and it’s both completely non-sexual and makes you even more desirable.That was why.

“I think you’d be surprised. But this was also ten years ago.” Owen was sliding into the more casual tone I’d heard from him when we were baking together.

They were either supremely confident in their plan to win me over, or capable of letting down their walls a lot more easily than I did. What would it be like, to be so comfortable with existing? I shook the deep thought aside. “I know how the story goes from here—you spend time in the shop, you thinkthis is wicked awesome, and set up your own place to drive the guy out of business.”

“Ouch. And no.” The look Owen gave me was withering.

“He was already going out of business, which we found out after chatting him up,” Kingston said.

A process I was becoming familiar with. The two of them were practiced at thechatting someone upexperience. “About twenty minutes, then?” Please let this joke land better than my previous comment.

Kingston grinned. “Young and not nearly so experienced, remember? More like an hour.”

I laughed.

“The shop owner mentioned things were failing.” Owen picked up the story. “I was straight out of cooking school, and every one of my business ideas centered on baking, so I tossed out some ideas about fresh baked sweets.”

“He liked what we had to say, but wanted to move onto other things.” The way Kingston dove in, it felt like they’d rehearsed this story. They probably had, but the two of them still had a dynamic that was nice to watch. “He’s an old school, hard core gamer who didn’t like the direction of the industry, or that his shop couldn’t make it as-is.”

“So he sold it to us.” Owen glanced at Kingston in the rearview mirror.

What was that look? Questioning? About what?

Kingston shrugged. “Everyone already knows, she might as well too.” He focused on me. “I did it to piss off my mother. She’d told me to make something of my life, and I intended to prove I could do that through gaming. Not as direct a route as some people take, but I’m happy with the outcome.”

“And the rest is history and listed for the world to read on our website.” Owen wrapped the entire tale up with a nice neat bow.

A story like theirs didn’t end so abruptly, though. I could ask for more info—it was tempting—but I didn’t want to delve into the innermost details of their private lives. I wasn’t here to get to know them on a friendship level, just to learn enough to protect myself and my own shop.

“So are the two of you...” What was I doing? This was the exact opposite of not delving into their private lives.

Owen glanced at me. “Are we...?”

It wasn’t that I had a problem askingare you a couple? They’d played tonsil tag in front of me, so it was a reasonable assumption. “I’m wondering if your partnership goes beyond business. Beyond friendship.”

Silence.

I glanced between them. “Is this another of thosesecretslike how long you’ll be in town?”

“No. Rather, it’s not something we talk about a lot, but it’s not a secret,” Kingston said. “It’s just not as cut and dried as a label.”

“Also, I don’t want you to take it wrong when I say the kiss the other day was as much for your benefit as ours,” Owen added.

Curious. “Now you have to explain.”

Kingston drummed his fingers on the center console.

“You said you had a friend, the one who got you the X poster, and the two of you make better friends than lovers.” Owen seemed to be measuring his words. “It’s kind of like that.”

---