“What a great day!” I thought as I came in the front door of my house. The new project we were working on was back on schedule. I had finally figured out where the company could make enough cuts to offset the delay without compromising the integrity of the project, and this was Friday, so I was going to meet my friends Nathan and Lincoln at the club in a couple hours. That gave me just enough time to run next door and say hi to Emma before they left for the weekend.

I grabbed the gift that Rachel and I bought for our parents to send with Suzie and Tom and went next door. I knocked and then went in. “Hey guys, I’m home,” I shouted.

“Daddy!” Emma yelled and ran to me. “Me and Mommy and Bampás are going to go see Gramma and Grampa and Granny and Pop, and we are going to the zoo, and then Mommy said we could pet the horses, and maybe if I’m really, really careful, Charley will maybe take the sugar out of my hand like he does Mommy’s.”

I had no idea how she managed to get all that out that fast without taking a single breath, but it was classic Emma.

“Wow, sweet pea, that sounds like a fun weekend. Be sure and give Granny and Pop a big kiss for me, okay,” I said hugging her as tight as I could. I was going to miss her this weekend.

“I will. You won’t forget to feed Snowball and give her a treat, will you?” She studied me like she was trying to decide if I worthy of caring for her precious cat.

“Hey there, munchkin, you know your daddy would never forget Snowball, you silly goose. Now did you pack up Mr. Monkey or are you going to leave him here?” Tom said as he entered the room, and Emma gasped and scurried quickly up the stairs to grab her beloved stuffed monkey.

“Can you imagine what it would be like to spend a weekend with her if she forgot Mr. Monkey?”

“Oh hell no!” he exclaimed. “We would have driven all the way back home to get him before I tried to survive a weekend like that.”

We had come a long way in the last year. We had actually become friends. It was hard not to like the guy. I mean not only was he a good husband to my very best friend, but he loved my daughter.

“How ya doing, Bampás,” I said with a grin.

“It’s gonna stick, isn’t it?” Tom asked, looking pained.

“Oh yeah, you’re stuck with it forever. As a matter of fact, think about it. If you and Suzie decide to have another kid, they’ll follow Em’s lead, and you’ll be Bampás to them too,” I laughed.

“Crap, I didn’t even think of that.”

When Tom’s grandmother had come to visit from Greece last summer, she kept asking Emma where her Bampás was. When Emma realized that was Greek for dad, she was all over it, and Tom became her Bampás. I was pretty sure that he secretly loved it, but he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it because he didn’t want to hurt my feelings. And to my surprise, it really didn’t. He was a great guy and a great ‘Bampás’ to Emma.

“I put my mom and dad’s anniversary gift on the table in the hall by your bags. Thanks for dropping that off for us. I know Rachel and I will be seeing them later this month for Thanksgiving, but I wanted to go ahead and send it so they would have it on their actual anniversary.”

“No problem at all; we were taking Emma by to see them anyway. So you going to be okay getting the swing set up while we’re gone? I feel awful leaving you here to assemble the whole thing. But it was just so much cheaper if we assembled it ourselves.”

“It’s fine,” I assured him. “Rachel’s new guy is coming over to help, and I have Nathan and Linc coming as well. We’ll get it all set up out back. She’ll be so surprised, and it’ll be a lot easier to set it up with her gone than it would be with her helping us do it. Plus, the weather this weekend is perfect for it. If we wait much longer, it will be too cold for her to enjoy it.”

“I always wanted a swing set like this when I was a kid.” Tom sighed wistfully. “We didn’t have a very big backyard and had to choose between a swing set and an above ground pool. My parents and my older brother and sister picked the pool.”

“Well, with both our backyards, we have plenty of room. As a matter of fact, I say we do a pool next.” When Suzie had first suggested I buy the house next door to them, I honestly thought she was a little bit nuts. Okay, maybe a lot nuts. But that was right after the move, and we were still feeling our way. She sold me on how close it was to my new job and how much easier it’d be for us to make weekend visitation work. But Suzie is a sneaky bitch, and I think she had other plans all along.

Instead of making it easier for us to handle being a divorced couple, it allowed us to find our way to being first friends again and then a family. Plus, I loved that my backyard was my daughter’s backyard. No weekend only visits for us. She just went back and forth between the two houses.

“We’re all packed up and ready to go,” Suzie said as she entered the room kissing Tom and hugging me.

“You all set for the weekend, Mark?”

“Yep, I’ll see you guys back here Sunday night.” I scooped Emma up as she ran down the stairs with Mr. Monkey and carried her out to the car. “Love ya, sweet pea; see ya when you get back.” I buckled her in her seat and smiled as she hugged Mr. Monkey and settled in for the ride.

I watched them drive off and then ran inside to get ready. I had promised Nathan and Lincoln that I’d meet them at 9:00. I was really looking forward to hanging out with them, but I really wasn’t excited about the club. I had been doing the club-hopping thing for almost a year now. It was fun. I loved the freedom to be myself. And the sex. Lord, the sex was just as good as I always imagined it would be, but I really was over the whole scene.

I would like to move on from hookups to a boyfriend. I wanted what Suzie and Tom had. Of course, I wasn’t sure I wanted to introduce a guy to Emma. At least, not until we were serious. The last thing I wanted was to have guys coming and going in her life. I sighed. Like I was likely to find a single guy I was attracted to who wouldn’t run for the hills when I said I had a 4-year-old daughter.

So, for right now, it was off to the club. I might not be looking to hook up, but Nathan and Lincoln were always fun, and the music and the drinks would be good. As I got dressed in my plain black T-Shirt and comfortable jeans, I wondered what crazy outfit Nathan would have on tonight. There was no telling with him. It could range anywhere from short shorts and tank tops to skin-tight jeans with a frilly top. He was one of a kind, and he always looked amazing. I, however, would stick with my regular clothes. They might not be what some guys thought of as club attire, but they seemed to work just fine for me. I was comfortable, and I thought they made the most of my build.

I got out of the Lyft in front of the club right on time and went in to find my friends. It didn’t take me long to spot them. They were sitting at Nathan’s favorite table, the one he swore gave him the best view of the dance floor and the bar. As I watched them sitting there, I was struck by the fact that the three of us were such an unlikely group of friends.

The two of them had been friends since they were kids. Nathan was exactly what most people thought of when they pictured a gay guy. Complete with eyeliner, body glitter, and well, for tonight anyway, blue hair. I knew it was temporary color because, as he liked to tell us every chance he got, there were archaic rules at his work that said your hair had to be a “natural color.” He was also one of the kindest guys I had ever met.

Linc, on the other hand, was the opposite. He looked like he’d just finished a long day on the ranch. He was all Texas all the time, from his cowboy hat down to his boots, and if you didn’t know it, you would have a hard time realizing that Linc was gay.

And well, then there was me. I was just your average geek. But as different as we were, I loved these guys. When I first showed up at the club a year ago, I was totally lost, and to be honest, I was hiding in the bathroom. Nathan found me there on the edge of a panic attack, and he slowly talked me out it and then introduced me to Lincoln. The two of them decided they would show me the ropes and that was exactly what they did. I really couldn’t thank them enough. A year later, they were the best friends I have ever had.

I made my way through the crowd to our table and sat down. “What’s up, guys?” I asked them as I looked around the club. “It’s really crowded here tonight.”

“All the better to find some hottie to dance with,” Nathan said, looking around. “There are some super fine-looking specimens here tonight, and I’m ready to get my groove on.”

“Get your groove on? Seriously, did you just say that?” I laughed.

“Yeah, I did,” he answered. “Get your groove on. Get down in funky town. Shake that money maker. Whatever you want to call it. I want to dance. Come on boys, let’s go!”

“You are absolutely ridiculous. I just got here. I haven’t even had a drink yet. You guys go on, and I’ll save our table. I’ll join you on the dance floor later on.” I sat at the table and looked around. Nathan was right, goofy but right. There were some really nice-looking guys here. The only thing was that guys came to clubs like this for generally one reason. To find a quick fuck. The guys in here weren’t looking for forever. Hell, they weren’t even looking for a week. Most were looking for a blowjob in the bathroom or a one and done. I knew because I had spent the last year looking for the same thing. I just wasn’t happy with that anymore.

As I looked around the room, I noticed a guy at the bar. He glanced my way a couple times, and I made sure to break eye contact. Although, I was pretty sure if anyone could make me decide to give it one more go, he could. Damn, he was beautiful. He had sandy blond hair that was just a little too long and a toned lanky body. He was taller than I was and that was nice. But no, I wasn’t even going to think about it. I knew it’d be fun tonight, but I’d be sorry tomorrow.

At that point, Nathan and Linc came back. They plopped down in their seats. “See any good prospects?” Nathan asked.

“I’m not really looking. I’m just not feeling it tonight. I just want to hang out with you guys and then go home get a good night’s sleep before I try to build a swing set tomorrow. You guys are still coming to help right?”

“Yeah, we’ll be there.” Linc nodded. “It should be fun to build something. But just because I’m planning to work hard tomorrow doesn’t mean I can’t play hard tonight. I’m feeling like a blond tonight. Maybe that cutie that was dancing with us a few minutes ago if I can find him again?”

“You are so bad! He’s so much smaller than you, you’d break him in half.” Nathan laughed, looking around the bar for the blond Linc was talking about.

“Nah,” Linc drawled. “I wouldn’t break ‘em. Just bend ‘em a little.”

“Well, I’m not looking tonight, but if I was, I’d be looking at that guy over by the bar,” I said, nodding toward the guy I noticed earlier.

We turned to look over at the bar. Tall, blond, and beautiful smiled over my direction and winked. Yep, he was totally my type.

“That, my friend, is Justin,” Nathan informed me. “He works at the hospital with me, and yes, he is totally dreamy. He is also an absolute man-whore. If you think I’m bad, sugar, you haven’t seen anything. That one never does the same guy twice. He sure is pretty to look at though.” Nathan sighed.

“Have you ever gone there?” I asked, tipping my bottle in the guy’s direction.

“Oh honey, not a chance. I told you he works at the hospital. I never hunt where I work; that is rule number one. It’s just a bad idea. I have no interest in making that mistake.”

I glanced back over toward the bar, and we made eye contact. Then he looked around at our table, saw Nathan, and started our way. I thought he was gorgeous standing over by the bar, but watching him walk toward us was something else entirely. He moved like an animal stalking his prey. It was sexy as hell.

“Hey, Nathan, what are you up to, man?” Justin asked, wrapping him in a hug.

“Same old same old.” Nathan grinned. “Dancing, drinking, and hopefully getting laid before the night is through. How about you? I haven’t seen you around here in a while.”

“Yeah,” Justin sighed. “I’ve been going over to that new club on 6^th for the last few months. I liked it, but one of the bartenders got a little too clingy for my taste, so I thought I’d see what was going on around here tonight.”

“Too clingy?” Nathan laughed. “What exactly does too clingy mean for you? Poor baby. Did the mean old bartender expect you to remember his name the next morning?”

Justin chuckled. “You are such a bitch. But hey, you know me. I don’t go back for seconds.”

I watched their exchange, and I was thinking that as sexy as he was, this was exactly what I was talking about. This is what I was tired of. The hookups that didn’t really amount to anything. I mean don’t get me wrong, I like sex as much as the next guy, but I’m tired of that being all there is. I want someone to talk to. Someone to cook for. Someone to laugh with. Shit, I just want someone to be there.

They chatted about work for a few minutes and then about the guys that were here tonight. I was able to get a good look at Justin while they talked, and up close, he was even more impressive. Tall, long hair, smooth skin, and beautiful gray/green eyes. He had a swimmer’s body, and that had always been my favorite build. He was truly beautiful.

“We should go dance,” Nathan called to us. “I want to shake my groove thing.” He headed off, laughing at himself at how funny he thought he was.

“I’m really not feeling it,” I said. “I’m just going to sit here and watch.” If I went out there to dance, and Justin went too, it would be too much for my willpower. Just imagining our bodies touching and grinding to the music was almost enough for me to say. Fuck it.

“I think I’ll sit this one out too,” Justin said, plopping down in Linc’s chair. “I haven’t had enough to drink to dance yet. Plus, this music really isn’t my thing. I’ll just stay here and keep—” he gestured to me for my name.

“Mark,” I said as I held out my hand to shake. “I’m friend of Nathan’s.”

“I’m just going to keep Mark here company,” he said with a smile.

* * *

Mark. Yep, somehow that name suited him perfectly. He was adorable in a manly but geeky kinda way. I had been watching him since he sat down and had been debating coming over to talk to him. He was sending out pretty mixed vibes though. He was somewhere between I want to blow you in the bathroom and please don’t speak to me. But then I saw Nathan and that gave me the perfect reason to come over.

“So, not feeling it tonight, huh?” I asked.

“It was a long week at work, and I’d really rather be laying on my couch in my underwear watching a good movie, to be honest. But Nathan and Linc are my best friends, and for some reason, they keep insisting I leave the house.”

“Of all the nerve! What kind of friends are they, insisting you come out and have a good time with them.” I laughed.

“I know, right?” he asked with a grin. And damned if that grin wasn’t one of the sexiest things I’d ever seen. I thought he was attractive from across the room, but that grin made me want to lick him. Or to keep talking to him to see if I could maybe get a full-blown smile.

“Where do you work and what do you do?” I asked, trying to figure out where to take the conversation to get that smile.

“I’m a Project Accountant for Geiser and Hight. It’s an architectural firm here in Austin.”

“Do you like it?”

“Oh yeah. It is so much better than my previous job. I like the people, and the work is really interesting. What about you? Nathan said you work at the hospital with him.”

“I’m a Physical Therapist at the hospital’s rehab center. I mostly work in Aquatic Therapy. It’s cool. The kids especially love it. It’s great to have a job you love. What makes the one you have now so much better than the previous one?”

Mark laughed. “So many, many things. The environment for one. The people are so much nicer here. Plus, the actual job is challenging. I had no idea how much better it would be to help plan projects than to do taxes. And I like Austin better and that helps too.”

“Where did you move from?”

“Just a little town a couple hours north of here. One of those small Texas towns no one has heard of.”

“I might surprise you. I graduated high school in one of those little towns myself. So, which one?” I asked, and I wasn’t just making conversation; I really wanted to know.

“I’m from Piketon.” Mark shrugged. “There really isn’t anything there.”

“Hey, I know Piketon!” I said. “We played you guys in football. Not that I played football. This face is way too pretty for that.”

And there was that smile I was going for. Beautiful.

“Well, it is a pretty face,” he agreed, and then he actually blushed. Seriously, he blushed. He was so adorable. And adorable really isn’t my thing. Sexy yes. Hot, oh yeah. But I didn’t do adorable. I couldn’t seem to make myself leave though.

We talked some more about life in a small Texas town and how much better it was to live in Austin with all the food, the clubs, the shopping, and the different mindset. I think growing up in small towns gave us a lot in common. It was hard to understand what that was like if you hadn’t been there, and before we knew it, most of the evening had flown by.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had enjoyed spending time with a guy with all our clothes on. Dating wasn’t something I did. It was too easy to go to a club and pick up some guy, have sex with him, and then move on to the next guy. But Mark was fun to talk to. He was funny and sweet. And it was obvious he was a good guy, which was another reason I shouldn’t still be sitting here, but I really wasn’t ready to leave. I had never experienced such an immediate connection with anyone before, and I wanted to see where it went.

“How long have you been in Austin?” I asked him, wondering how I hadn’t seen him out before now.

“Been here almost a year actually. I love it. I bought a house out in Vista. It’s awesome. I actually have a backyard project tomorrow that the guys are going to help me with. You should come. Text me your number, and I’ll send you the address.”

A backyard project huh? If I had my way, I could for sure help with that. I humored him by taking his number and texting him so he could send me the address. I wasn’t planning on needing the address though. I was thinking I would just wake up, crawl out of his bed in the morning, and go help. Now that sounded pretty damn good. My phone buzzed with the address, and I glanced at it. I was just thinking I would see if maybe he wanted to dance when Nathan came back from the dance floor. He plopped down in his seat and grabbed Mark’s cold beer.

“Hey, that’s mine,” Mark said, reaching for it.

“Nope, it’s mine now, sweetie,” Nathan replied as he guzzled the last of the beer. “I’m flat out parched from all that dancing. It’s hard work to be that sexy out on the floor.”

“Where’s Lincoln?” I chuckled, looking for the big cowboy that was always with Nathan.

“He found himself a blond twink and headed out. I’m thinking we should go soon too, Mark. I don’t want to be out all night, knowing how hard you are going to work us tomorrow morning.”

Mark chuckled. “Like you’re going to do much manual labor. It’s a good thing Justin agreed to come help or we might not get the damn swing set assembled.

“Swing set?” I asked, trying to not to look as shocked as I was. I just had one of the best times I’ve had in ages, doing nothing but talking to a guy, and he just said swing set. Maybe he had nephews and nieces that like come over. Or it was a different kind of swing altogether. Although I doubt that kind of swing would go out in the backyard, but man wouldn’t that be fun. Me in the swing under the moonlight, Mark pounding into me. Yeah, probably not that kind of swing. And now my brain was panicking, but my dick was hard. Fan-fucking-tastic.

“Yeah. A swing set for my daughter. That’s the backyard project I was talking about.” Mark cautiously watched for my reaction. I tried to school my expression, but I obviously failed as a bit of the twinkle that had been in his eye for the last couple of hours dimmed a bit.

I hated to disappoint him. I really had enjoyed talking to him tonight. It was the first time in a long time I’d had a real conversation with a guy, and it was nice. But I only had a couple rules about guys. And the no kids rule is a hard and fast one. It’s the one rule I never ever break. Well, I did that one time, but the guy was a silver fox, and his kids were grown so that didn’t really count. But yeah, I didn’t do guys with little kids ever. But boy tonight did I ever wish I did.

“Your daughter? Really? How old is she?” I tried for casual, or at the very least not disappointed, which was how I felt.

“She turned four last month.” He tried to sound cheerful, but it was forced. I could tell he knew what I was thinking, and I wished I could do something to take my reaction back, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t do men with kids.

“Well, I guess I need to get going. Mark, it was great to meet you.” I reached out and took his hand, and I knew I held it a little longer than was necessary, but since I probably wouldn’t see him again, I just had to touch him for a minute.

“It was nice to meet you too, Justin.” The sadness in his voice let me know that he’d not only felt our connection but that he also knew it was over.

I let go of his hand and headed home. I drove to my apartment and got ready for bed. Alone. Well shit, this sure wasn’t how I saw the night ending. But seriously, I never saw a kid coming. I figured he was building a deck or a gazebo or whatever the hell guys normally meant when they said a backyard project. But a fucking swing set? For a little girl? Fuck me.

I woke up the next morning and made myself a cup of coffee. I went out on the balcony and sat there trying to figure out what to do with my day. I usually didn’t have much planned for Saturday mornings because I didn’t usually wake up alone. Instead, I reserved them for coffee and morning after “don’t call me and I won’t call you” sex.

But this morning I was alone, and I really wished I wasn’t. It wasn’t just that I wanted to be with someone. I really wanted Mark to be here. Or for me to be with Mark. Either way. I had really enjoyed last night. Don’t get me wrong; our chemistry was great, and I had no doubt sex with him would be phenomenal, but what I’d really enjoyed was talking to him. He was smart, funny, and good looking. That was like a deadly combo. It meant I didn’t just want to fuck him. I liked him. His friends were lucky guys even if he acted like he was the lucky one to have them. That was part of his charm, I think. That he didn’t seem to know how awesome he was.

And that was when it hit me. Maybe I wasn’t willing to date him because he had a daughter but—and wasn’t the fact that I was thinking in terms of dating him, not just fucking him scary enough—there was no reason we couldn’t be friends. We had a lot in common and had a great time hanging out last night. And seriously, you can’t have too many friends.

I could go over to the house, help build a swing set, and hang out. No dating. No sex. Just friends. He had said he needed the help, and I was pretty sure he was right that Nathan wasn’t going to be doing much manual labor. I mean seriously, as a nurse Nathan worked hard, and when you saw him with a patient he was one of the best nurses I had ever met, but building a swing set? Yeah, I didn’t see it.

“Okay. That’s the plan,” I said to myself. And it was a good plan. Hang out. Build a swing set. Friends. Yeah, I like it, I thought as I got up and headed in to put on some old clothes suitable for a “backyard project.”