It was Friday evening, I was done with work for the weekend, and I’d gotten the answer I wanted to the text message. Yes! Kev had said to hanging out with me in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Not that sounds too romantic or fuck off, weirdo, but yes.

With an exclamation mark, too. That meant he was excited, right? That was a plus. I might win him over yet, without pressuring him or trying some big cheesy movie moment.

My week had gone pretty damn well, too. I’d woken up in conference calls, and the Singapore development was going on time for once. By rights, I ought to be back there and supervising, but my boss had given me the okay to keep monitoring from here since it was ahead of schedule.

Not to mention the highlight of my week, Tuesday night. I’d had sex again for the first time in years, and didn’t do too bad a job at it. Kev still wanted to talk to me and everything.

All things considered, I deserved to celebrate a little. However much I felt like crawling into bed and never moving, I coaxed myself into showering and changing. I could spend a couple hours out, and Ben had said he was up for going somewhere.

I texted him again to make sure he was in.

Friction later?

It took about five seconds to get an answer, which was unusual. Ben was one of those guys with a million WhatsApp chats. It was nice that he still prioritized mine.

LOVE IT! SEE YOU THERE!

The all-caps message made me laugh. He wasn’t one of those people who typed in capitals because he forgot to turn off the caps lock. He really was that excited to see me going out. To be honest, so was I. I was proud of myself for coming out of my shell so much in just a couple weeks.

Ben would never believe it if I told him what I’d been up to lately.

A grin spread across my face as I left off the tie. I’d been constricted enough all damn week. I wanted to breathe today. I just adjusted my collar and smoothed down my shirt before grabbing my wallet and heading for the door.

Another Uber later, I was standing outside Friction, trying to get a look in through the windows and guess how busy it was. Was it worth getting in, or should I wait for Ben at the diner?

“There you are, darling!” Ben nearly tackled me from behind as he wrapped his arms around me, laughing when he had to pull me to my feet again.

I hadn’t actually hit the ground, but I still glared. “You’re lucky there’s no more ice around, moron.”

“Nothing that could cool my fire for you,” he teased, slapping my ass. “Come on, I’ll buy you a drink.”

“Dunno why I’m even friends with you,” I grumbled, straightening my jacket. I followed Ben past the bouncer, who exchanged a nod with him.

He smirked. “The free drinks, mostly.”

“You’ve got me there.”

When we had drinks, I settled at a table against the wall. I didn’t want to be the center of attention any day, but being a little further away from the bar also meant fewer guys would stop and chat to—or hit on—Ben. It was hard being the ugly friend. Not that I cared that I got less attention, but it made it hard to have real conversations.

Speaking of hard to have conversations, as if they’d heard us coming in, the music suddenly went up a few notches and the lights went down. We exchanged looks—mine definitely less pleased than his.

“You wanna dance or talk?” Ben leaned in to make himself heard, clearly reading my expression.

“Talk. I have shit to say.”

Ben snorted. “Good luck with that in here. Let’s finish these first.” He was already casting his gaze around the room, no doubt deciding who to try for later.

“Come on.” I drained my Coke in a matter of seconds.

“Chug, chug, chug—nice!” Ben cheered when I finished the drink.

I rolled my eyes and waved toward his rum and Coke, waiting for him to do the same. Once he had, we moved out of the club together before the seats were even warm.

“Diner?” I nodded towards it once we were outside.

“That wasn’t long,” the bouncer commented.

Ben grinned at him. “My friend here is less about the dancing and more about the intellectual conversation.”

I rolled my eyes as they laughed, well used to being the butt of the joke.

“Apparently the diner’s where that’s at. See you later, though, handsome.” Ben fluttered his fingers and we headed into the place next door.

I shook my head. “You have something going on with him, too?”

“I hope to sometime,” Ben corrected with a grin. “Can never have my fingers in too many pies.”

We grabbed a window booth as I looked around, and just as I did, I made eye contact with someone walking outside. I recognized his sharp nose and large eyes in a second—Darren.

He raised his hand and doubled back to head inside and join us. “Hey! Charlie, right? Didn’t expect to see you around again.”

“Charlie’s figured out how to be sociable,” Ben broke in before I could say anything, his gaze focused on Darren. “It sure helps when the crowd’s hot.”

Darren didn’t need to be told that Ben was flirting. He grinned and slid into the booth next to me. “Darren,” he introduced himself.

“Ben.” At least he didn’t try to kiss Darren’s hand or anything.

I rolled my eyes. “I dunno if this is where the party’s at,” I advised Darren. “I have… boy problems to talk through.”

“Oh my God!” Darren lit up. “Those are my favorite kind. I thought you were single? The other day you were. Have you met someone?”

Ben gasped and covered his mouth with both hands, and I pointed at him. “Say nothing, or I kill you.”

The owner was coming over, a notepad in his hand. “What can I get you boys?”

“Coffee all around,” Ben said, looking at Darren to confirm that was okay. “Thanks, Jared.” Of course he knew the guy’s name.

Darren smirked. “I don’t need help staying up all night, but the coffee here’s good.”

Even the owner rolled his eyes as he scribbled it down. “Anything else?”

“Uh, yeah. Fries, onion rings, wings,” I listed off, glancing between the others. “That’ll be good to share, right?”

He nodded and scribbled that down, too. “Gotcha.” When he got to the back of the diner, I heard him shout, “Enrique! Look lively for three seconds. I don’t care how late you were out last night.”

I laughed under my breath and turned back to the table only to find both of them staring at me. “What?”

“You need to fill me in pronto,” Ben told me.

“I’m getting there! Sheesh! That’s why I said we gotta talk here and not in that place,” I complained with a laugh.

Darren grinned. “Oh, has it gone into weekend mode already? Damn, it’s later than I thought. So, did you meet him last time we were here?”

I opened my mouth and then closed it again, waving a hand. “Kind of on an app, but—”

“Grindr! You met on Grindr? Nobody ever admits that, dude,” Darren gasped.

Ben nodded. “You didn’t really think I met my last ex at the grocery store, did you?”

“I can’t keep track of them, let alone how you met,” I told him, rolling my eyes. “Now, if you can stop asking me to tell you for three seconds so I can actually get around to telling you?”

I heard a quiet, “Oh, snap!” from Darren, but he didn’t have any sassy comebacks to add to that.

Ben snorted and raised his hands. “Be my guest.”

Coffee arrived, and once Jared had left again, I leaned in. “Okay, so. I met this guy, we hung out a couple times. At least one of those was a date. We… uh…”

“Fucked!” Ben exclaimed, making the owner jump and curse before he got to the counter to slide the coffee pot in. “Sorry, darling!” he called after him.

“If you wanna call it that, whatever. Yeah.” I waved my hand, trying to play it cool.

Ben, more than Darren, knew how big that was for me. He was just staring at me, his mouth hanging open in some combination of delight and surprise.

“Shut your mouth. You’ll let the flies in,” I muttered.

Ben leaned over the table to slap my hand. “No, you shut your mouth! Good job, bro. Was this a date, or a date,” he air-quoted with a smirk.

“A date.” I felt weirdly defensive about it, and I knew it came through in my voice.

Darren grinned. “That’s awesome. You said you wanted to get out more, didn’t you?”

Ben let out a sigh and nodded, looking over at Darren. “He’s needed to get a life. Ever since his boyfriend—” He broke off and looked at me awkwardly.

I snort-laughed. Ben had never been awesome about thinking before he let words come out of his mouth. “I told him before,” I said, shaking my head. “But you may as well go for it.”

“Oh, right!” Darren winced and looked at me. “Sorry.”

“Ever since then, he’s been like the thirty-something virgin,” Ben sighed. “I offered to set him up with some big dick, too.”

Darren chuckled. “Sometimes it’s not big dick you need, it’s a big heart.”

That’s exactly it. I sat up straighter, a smile just starting to form on my face, before the two of them burst out laughing. I was disgruntled now, folding my arms over my chest.

“Like anything beats good dick,” Ben said, and Darren high-fived him.

It was Darren who first noticed me and blinked, his expression shifting into concern. “Wait, you meant that,” he said.

And it was Ben who knew what that meant. “Oh, shit.”

“I know.” I buried my face in my hands. My chest seized up as butterflies danced in my stomach. I was so not ready for this conversation—or any of these feelings.

“It’s good,” Ben said softly. I felt him wrap a hand around my elbow. “Charlie, he would have wanted you to be happy. Don’t hold yourself back now.”

“It’s not that,” I insisted. Sure, a bit of it was, but I still didn’t know what the real problem here was. He was right—I should have been happy Kev was interested in seeing me again, but instead I was… waiting for something to go wrong.

“What is it, then?” Darren asked. It already felt like we’d known each other for months, the way he seemed to care. He was a good guy. At least after all this, I’d accidentally made a friend, it looked like.

“He doesn’t want to date me.” That was a good bit of the truth, but nowhere close to all of it. Still, it was enough to give them both pause.

Ben leaned in. “Oh, shit. Like, he’s only in it for the sex?”

It had been so long since this kind of confessional, gossiping about boys and figuring out how to navigate the social waters of dating. I felt like I’d been dumped in the deep end without a life preserver. “No…”

Ben looked confused. “Why do you say that, then?”

“Cause we’re going on a date on Saturday.”

Jared came over to deliver our food, sliding plates in front of us and refilling the coffee with what seemed like more hands than one guy should have available. “Word of advice?”

Oh, God. I hadn’t realized he’d been listening in, too. Then again, it was slow so far—everyone was heading straight into the club at this hour, not stopping for food yet. I sighed and looked up at him. “Sure. Throw in your two cents. Between you all, you’ll have a betting pool.”

While Ben laughed, Jared sobered up, bracing a hand on his hip. “Find other guys you like. Figure out your type. Flirt again and relax. See if it’s him, or if you’re just learning to love again. It’s rough being through that kind of stuff—I’ve seen a lot of guys go through it later in life. Not a lot who are around my age like you, but still.”

“That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Darren gasped.

“Shut up and eat your fries,” Jared told him, pretending to cuff him upside the head as we all laughed. He headed back to the counter with the coffee pot.

“No, thanks,” I said after him, and only received a grunt and shrug in reply.

It was a great idea—if I didn’t feel so damn defensive about my attraction to Kev. I didn’t want to challenge or test it, or compare it against anyone else. I didn’t want to flirt with other people. I sure as hell didn’t want to get over him. I just wanted him to like me back. Was that too much to ask?

“He’s got it bad,” Ben murmured, taking my hand. “Oh, man.”

“I don’t even know him that well, really. We’ve been talking, like, a couple weeks.” I was purposely vague, not wanting Darren to put together the pieces—although the way he was watching me, God only knew what he already suspected. “Hung out a few times. And slept together once. That’s it.”

“Is he single, at least? Looking?”

“Single but not looking. He’s got a lot of changes going on in his life.”

Ben’s eyes lit up. “So it’s not hopeless. Not even close, dude. It just means he’s not sure how to handle this yet. You take it slow, keep showing him that you’re there for him.”

Darren grinned. “And you show up on time for your dates and woo him. You don’t make him uncomfortable or anything, but you show him what he can have with you.”

“How long do I hold on?” I asked, pressing my lips together to deal with the unexpected surge of emotion in my chest. The idea of pining after Kev for weeks, months, or even longer, seemed crazy when we’d only just met, but I could all too easily see it happening.

Not even considering the unique circumstances—first guy I was dating in years—I fell for people rarely. That was why Ben was on the edge of his seat, and so was I. Darren might not know me well enough yet, but I couldn’t just fake attraction until I made it, or force it with someone who wasn’t genuinely interesting. And I sure as hell would never date anyone just for the sake of being in a relationship.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Ben finally answered. “Wanna go out with me after this and dance it off?”

I shook my head and offered him a crooked smile. “By the time we’re done with these, it’ll be getting late. I wanna be up in time for the date tomorrow.” Darren and Ben exchanged smug looks, and I rolled my eyes. “Oh, shut up.”

Ben snorted. “I’ve earned some teasing rights.”

I was glad when the conversation moved back to Darren and Ben flirting outrageously. It gave me a good opportunity to excuse myself. Sure, tonight hadn’t turned out anything like I expected, but I had something of a plan now, and some advice to follow.

Kev didn’t not want me. He just didn’t know how to deal with it, I reminded myself as I stared out the Uber window for the drive home. All I had to do was show him that it was going to be okay with me—that I’d keep his heart as safe as I knew how.

But did I really know enough to make that promise?