Page 6 of Jalen & Colby

I laugh. “We don’t have much food here, but you’d be more than welcome.”

Andreas bites his lip, his eyes flicking between us. “I could take you boys out to dinner?”

My heart almost stops entirely in my chest. Mr. Handsome wants totake us out to dinner?What kind of Christmas daydream is happening right now? “Uh, yeah!” I cry, turning to nod feverishly at Colby. “We’d like that, right? That sounds super fun!”

“That’s very generous of you to offer,” Colby says slowly, and I can already tell he’s worrying about money.

So can Andreas, apparently. “Not to sound like a dick,” he says with a gorgeous lop-sided grin, “but I’m offering to pay for all of us, so don’t worry about that. It’s not every day I meet fellow Jurassic Galaxy fans. We need more time so I can hear all about your favorite episodes.”

“No Big Deal,”Colby and I cry immediately in unison. It’s the episode where the heroes’ spaceship breaks down, and we see flashbacks of all the characters as they fight to survive. It’s the best because it’s when the asshat character, Ricto, finally becomes one of the team instead of their enemy.

Andreas lifts his eyebrows in appreciation. “Good answer,” he says with a nod.

“What’s yours?” Colby asks breathlessly.

Andreas winks at us. “I’ll tell you over dinner. How about that?”

I glance at Colby, checking he’s okay with this. He’s not great with surprises or changes to his routine. But he’s all rosy-cheeked and starry-eyed as he gives me a little nod in agreement.

“WOOHOO!” I shriek, making Andreas jump and laugh as I launch myself onto my feet. I pull Colby up after me. “Let’s get our glad rags on, baby doll. We’re goingoutout!”

CHAPTER3

Andreas

What am I doing?

Part of me feels like this is a really, really bad idea. I just met these sweet guys. It’s got to be absolutely nuts that I’ve whisked them into the city for a fancy meal. But I can’t argue with myself because it feels completely right and natural.

When they finished getting out all of the Jurassic Galaxy collection, I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving so soon. The invitation to dinner just blurted out of my mouth. And it’s weird because it kind of feels like a date, but there’re two of them, so genuinely, I have no idea what’s going on.

But I know I’m having fun.

Jalen, the American, is a total firecracker. His outfit for dinner consists of heeled boots, wide-legged trousers with a tapered waist, and a sparkly vest top. He’s wearing bright eye shadow, shimmery lip gloss, and bangles on his wrists that clack with every elaborate hand gesture.

Colby is like a shy little puppy, but he looks at everything with such wonder it’s beautiful. He’s not got Jalen’s flamboyance, but they both have an honest, earnest vibe to them, just on opposite ends of the spectrum.

“Thank you so much for everything,” Colby says again as the waitress takes away our menus. Having made a quick internet search and found absolutely nothing decent near the boys’ place, I decided to bring us back to Sydney to a Thai place near me that I know and love. I’ve ordered Champagne for all of us, so I’ll just pop the boys in a taxi to take them back home.

I don’t want to think about them leaving just yet, though, so I push that thought aside.

“I reckon that’s about the thirteenth time you’ve thanked me,” I tease Colby gently with a wink. He blushes, and my heart flips. Jalen takes his hand and kisses the back of his fingers.

“Andreas is right,” he says with a laugh. “It’s cute, though.”

I wonder yet again if they’re a couple. They’ve mentioned several times that they’re best friends, and that was how they described one another in their initial messages to me. But they’re so casually affectionate, and I’ve caught them both looking at the other with longing in their eyes. I can’t help but feel like there’s a story lurking under the surface.

“When I put those toys up for sale, I didn’t expect any interest in them,” I admit. “Let alone that I’d get to meet a couple of fellow fans. You both must have been pretty young when it came out, though?”

I’m fully aware that I’m fishing for their ages to make sure nothing about this is weird. But they are definitely a good few years younger than me, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing to find out.

“Yeah, I’m twenty-five, and Jalen is twenty-nine,” Colby says with shining eyes. “We caught it on the second wave, when it was released on streaming.”

“We became, like, totally obsessed,” Jalen adds with a dramatic hand laid on his heart. “Queer brown characters running around space on dinosaurs? Hell to the yeah! Waaayyy better than real life.”

He’s said a couple of things like that. “Was life hard for you back then?” I find myself asking before I realize how personal such a question is, and completely inappropriate considering we only met a few hours ago. “I’m sorry, that’s none of my business.”

Jalen shrugs. “I was okay, I guess. But who doesn’t need a little escapism from life, right?”

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