“Owen totally set me up,” Scott said as Charlie prepared to bowl his last set.
Charlie didn’t laugh at him, but he only just managed to stop himself.
Their scores were close—or at least, close by Charlie’s standards. Scott was actually pretty good at bowling, but Charlie was better.
The whole time, he’d been expecting Scott to notice that this was his game—from the fact that the attendant had just handed him shoes without asking, to the shield on the wall that had his name alongside the rest of his championship-winning summer league team.
Scott had somehow missed those clues, and was surprised when Charlie kept bowling strikes. He’d congratulated him so sincerely, as though Charlie couldn’t more or less have done it blindfolded.
Charlie almost felt bad, but Scott had chosen this.
Apparently, with Owen’s help.
“It’s extremely cute that you’re asking people what I like, but you could take the obvious shortcut of just asking me personally,” Charlie said.
Scott sighed heavily, making Charlie turn around. He suddenly didn’t sound like he was having fun anymore.
“Did I screw up?” he asked, his eyes soft and worried. Charlie made a soft, sympathetic noise, and put the bowling ball down, crossing to where Scott was standing.
As soon as he was close enough, he leaned in and pecked him on the lips. Charlie wasn’t sure yet how Scott felt about public displays of affection, but there were only a few other people here, and they weren’t looking at them, anyway.
“No,” Charlie said softly. “I mean it, it’s cute that you’re asking around to try and make me happy, but this isn’t supposed to be all about me. I wanna make you happy, too. And this is probably bordering on not fun for you, huh?”
Scott shook his head. “No, actually. It’s nice to see you do something you’re good at.” He shrugged. “Plus, I keep getting a great view of your butt.”
Charlie laughed, reaching over to hit the button that reset the pins, effectively ending the game. He was still a few points ahead of Scott, he really didn’t need to keep going. He didn’t actually want to kick Scott’s ass. Not like this, when he was obviously at an unfair advantage.
“I play in the summer league. We’ve been champions four years running,” Charlie admitted.
“Oh,” Scott said, his cheeks going pink. “I haven’t played since I was a kid.”
“I figured. You’re actually really good. And it is really hot that you’ve been trying to impress me all night, and you’re such a sweetheart. This has been a great date.”
Charlie genuinely couldn’t remember having this much fun in a long time. He loved his friends, and he always had fun with them, but Scott made him feel…
Special. That was really the only word for it. And everyone wanted someone like that in their life, didn’t they? Someone who made them feel like they were the most wonderful person in the world.
If this was what being Scott’s boyfriend was going to be like, Charlie couldn’t think of anything he wanted more.
“So, does going on a date with a guy make me officially bi?” Scott asked, sitting down to kick his bowling shoes off. Charlie suspected they’d been a half-size too big and Scott hadn’t wanted to make a fuss about it.
His nervousness was endearing, but Charlie really wanted to skip past that to being comfortable with each other. He felt at home with Scott, and he wanted Scott to feel the same.
“If you identify as bi, you’re bi. That’s how it works. So yes, officially bi if that’s how you want to think of yourself,” Charlie said. He knew he was sailing dangerously close to entering Textbook Mode, but he wanted Scott to understand that he didn’t have to immediately jump into a box and close the lid on himself.
“I do want to. I feel much cooler already,” Scott said.
Charlie sat down next to him, untying his own shoes to change out of them. “You’re not supposed to do it because it’s cool. You’re supposed to do it because it feels right.”
“It does feel right.” Scott focused on his own shoes, his voice a low rumble. “I mean, really… really right. Like when I realized I wanted to be a vet. And I upended my whole life to do that and now… now there’s you. And being around you feels good.”
Charlie made a soft, low whine in response, unable to articulate how sweet that was and how good it felt to hear. Instead of searching for better words, he reached out to take Scott’s hand.
“Being around you feels good to me, too,” he said, figuring Scott would understand the rest.
Scott nodded slowly, sitting back in the crappy plastic seat and breathing a deep, heartfelt sigh that seemed to make his whole body shudder.
“That was terrifying, and I’m really glad I got to say it to you first,” Scott said.
“You can always tell me things,” Charlie said. “Even if this doesn’t work out or you change your mind or whatever. I’ll listen.”
“That’s kinda what you do, isn’t it?” Scott looked over at him, his brows knitted together thoughtfully. “I’ve never really used a library regularly before I moved here, but librarians are kind of… like teachers and priests rolled into one. You’d never tell anyone if I borrowed a book on something super embarrassing or weird, would you? Even though you know.”
“No, of course not. You expect privacy, and you get it. I rarely look up what people have borrowed unless a book goes missing or they ask me.” Charlie shrugged. “I’ve never been compared to a priest before, though. I’m probably allowed to tell the cops if you tell me you’ve murdered someone.”
“It’s not the greatest comparison,” Scott said. “But you know what I mean. I can trust you, and I know that, because everyone else trusts you. Whenever I mention you to people, they pretty much always respond with ‘oh, Charlie the librarian? I love Charlie,’ or something like that.”
Charlie squirmed in his seat, barely able to contain his feelings about all of that. People liked him. Scott was talking to him about other people. Scott liked him.
It was all a little too much.
“Did you wanna take me home sometime soon?” Charlie asked.
Scott stood, stretching his arms high above his head, then swooped down to grab his shoes. “I’d like to take you home right now. If you’ll come?”
“Oh, I’m planning on coming,” Charlie smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Dude,” Scott said, his mouth falling open.
“What?” Charlie batted his eyelashes, making himself look as innocent as possible. He knew Scott wouldn’t buy it, but the incredulous look on his face was what he’d really been aiming for.
“One minute you’re wise and adorable, the next minute you’re making sex jokes.”
“I contain multitudes,” Charlie said, picking up his shoes and heading for the counter, fully expecting Scott to follow him.
“If you’re such a bowling pro, how come you don’t have your own shoes?” Scott asked.
“I do,” Charlie responded, handing them back to the attendant. “These are my shoes. I just leave them here. Small town. No one’s gonna take ‘em.”
“Huh.” Scott handed his borrowed shoes back over as well. Charlie could feel his warmth at his back, the solidness of his chest. He barely resisted the urge to lean back and wrap Scott’s arms around him.
They could do that later, when it definitely wouldn’t embarrass Scott.
“Are you not gonna ask about balls?” Charlie prodded, grinning.
“I was afraid of walking into another joke,” Scott said.
“I was hoping you would. The answer is that league rules require that we all use standard balls. You should think about joining in next summer. If, uh… if you’ll still be around.”
“I will,” Scott said without a moment’s hesitation. “I’m staying put.”
Charlie’s stomach flipped over. That was exactly what he’d wanted to hear. It was early days yet, but he couldn’t help imagining a future with Scott. Scott was everything he’d been looking for.
“Well, good,” Charlie said. “Because I’m not even close to done with you yet.”
To his surprise, Scott grabbed his hand. Charlie grinned again, following him away from the counter and out into the cool air outside.
The moment they got away from the bright lights of the bowling alley, Scott turned to him, pausing in the middle of the largely-unused parking lot. “Thank you for coming out with me tonight,” he said.
“Thank you for taking me out,” Charlie responded. “I don’t go on a lot of actual dates. This was nice.”
Scott smiled a small, shy smile, then leaned in. Charlie closed his eyes in anticipation, his breath still hitching as Scott’s lips made contact with his, his stomach swooping at the sensation.
Kissing Scott was exciting every time. He wanted to keep doing it for as long as possible.
“You need to take me back to your place,” Charlie said. He didn’t intend to push Scott if he wasn’t ready, but Scott seemed ready for this. More than ready.
Scott beamed, gripping Charlie’s hand tightly and tugging him away. “Then you better keep up.”