Adrian — 8
I was in trouble, and I knew it. Would I ever be able to do something that didn’t piss off the man across from me? Maybe. But most likely, no. I chose to wait until the salads came out to even try starting a conversation. Otherwise, we were going to be interrupted again, and that wouldn’t get us anywhere. So, we sat and stared at each other until Cody had other plans. So much for waiting for salads.
“So you’re older than Emme?”
“Yes. By almost ten years. She’s twenty-nine, and I’ll turn thirty-nine on November first.” The look of shock on Cody’s face couldn’t possibly be good. Yeah, technically I was old enough to be his dad—something I’d thought about on more than one occasion.
“You’re eighteen years older than me?”
“If you’re twenty, then yes. Is that an issue?”
“Are you serious? Of course it’s an issue. You’re old enough to be my dad!” Cody told me in a hushed tone, echoing my thoughts.
“So? Age is just a number. You’re legal, I’m legal. I don’t see how it matters. We’re both consenting adults, and what we do together is nobody’s business but ours.”
“You honestly feel that way? What could we possibly have in common?”
“I’m not sure, but that’s the point of dating, isn’t it? Getting to know each other.” I sat back as the waiter brought our salads to the table. He set them down without saying a thing before turning and leaving. Cody had unwrapped his silverware and placed his napkin in his lap, but he started picking at his salad instead of eating it.
“Something wrong?”
“No. Trying to figure things out.”
“They don’t have to be figured out or decided today or right now. This doesn’t have to be a onetime thing. Hell, I hope it isn’t. I’m attracted to you, and I want to get to know you. You’re the first person I’ve been attracted to since my divorce.”
Cody’s eyes grew big again, and I wondered if I’d said the wrong thing. “You’re divorced? Was that the one that didn’t work? You mentioned that at the carnival.”
“Yeah. David and I were married for five years. It’s what you’d expect. I worked long hours—longer than I do here—he got lonely, started going out, found someone else.”
“Please don’t tell me he found a younger man.”
“He actually found an older one. His new husband is in his fifties. They live in Georgetown, and as far as I know, my ex is happy as a clam being the husband of a lawyer.”
“You’re kidding, right? Lawyers work crazy long hours.”
“I know, but they also make more money than I do, and I’m sorry to say that David is definitely vain. So, we’re divorced and that’s that. I haven’t had a relationship since. Until you, I had no interest in anyone.” I took a bite of my salad and tried not to moan. I loved a good salad, and this place had some of the best around. “So, what about you? Any past relationships? Any crazy exes I should be aware of?”
“Me? Not really. Fooled around with my football captain in high school. Got caught with a ranch hand right after high school and lost my job. Then I dated a girl, and she cheated on me. That’s it.”
“You dated a girl. So you’re…”
“Bi. Yes. Although I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve only ever been sexual with men. My ex-girlfriend wanted to, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so maybe I’m more gay than bi? Is that a thing?”
I watched Cody as he nervously picked at his food, and wondered what he was thinking.
“Cody, would you look at me, please?” When his chocolate-brown eyes met mine, I tried to ignore the way my heart hurt. There was a man who wanted what he was afraid to ask for. “You don’t have to be gay or bi or anything. You can like whomever you want to. Okay? There’s no need to feel like you have to put a label on anything.”
I watched as he nodded but went back to playing with his salad. So maybe we’d be able to get somewhere, but probably not. At least not tonight.
“How about for now we just talk? Get to know each other? You can tell me what you like to do in your free time, and I’ll do the same. Sound good?”
“Sure.” Cody finally took a bite of his salad, but just as he went for his second, our meals arrived. I completely expected him to move the salad aside, but no, he finished it before he gently set his bowl out of the way. It was then that I realized I was spending all of my time watching him instead of eating. “Something wrong with your food?”
“No. Sorry. It’s interesting to watch you eat though. Most people would forego the salad in favor of the steak.”
“Oh, I happen to be hungry and I like salad, so I didn’t want to waste it.” Cody looked a little embarrassed, but that wasn’t what I wanted. Not at all.
“So, do you like your job? Emme said you used to work at the bakery in Crooked Bend.”
“I did. But when the building I was living in burned down and Hawke got hurt, I started working at the resort to cover for Hawke. I just sorta stayed.” I did my best to remain neutral at Cody’s moan when he took his first bite of steak, but it was no use. I couldn’t help but imagine him moaning with something else in his mouth. And thoughts like that would get me in trouble with Cody.
“I remember hearing about the fire. I guess that’s why your friend was limping?”
“Who? Tris?” I nodded, so he continued. “Yeah. He fell when the floor collapsed with him on it. They were getting Hawke out of our apartment, but Tristan didn’t quite make it out in time. The guys at the firehouse got to him in a hurry though.”
“I’m sorry he was hurt. Unfortunately, it’s always a possibility for those of us in our line of work.”
“True. So tell me, do you wear a vest like the sheriff and his deputies do?” Cody asked as he took another bite of his steak. I, too, got started on mine. And it was just as expected—delicious.
“I do when I’m in the field. But mostly, no.”
“That’s fucked up. What if someone shoots at you?” Cody looked concerned, which gave me a little bit of hope.
“Well, like I said, I do when I’m going to be out in the field. That includes when I’m transporting criminals.” When Cody started coughing, I realized that talking about my job might not be the best choice for conversation. At least maybe not on the first…what? Date? Dinner? “You okay?”
“Fine. So you transport criminals? Is that a normal thing?”
“I do. It can be, but it doesn’t happen very often here. When I was headquartered out of DC, it was a very regular thing.”
“DC? Do you miss it?”
“Not even a little. I’m a Montana boy, and Wyoming was close enough. I still have some travel that’s involved, but mostly it’s only as far as Cheyenne. How about you? Have you always wanted to be a pastry chef?” I desperately wanted to change the subject and find out more about Cody. He wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information, but if I could get him talking, maybe I’d learn something about him.
“I did. I haven’t had the chance to get any formal training like Rhett, but I did take the culinary course in high school through the career center. Cooking is always something I’ve really enjoyed and baking even more.” Cody sat back from his food and looked at me.
“What’s your specialty?”
“I guess beignets. Although I don’t usually have time to make them.”
“Have you ever had hot, fresh ones in New Orleans?” I asked, remembering a trip I’d had down there once. The food was to die for. The assignment and company, not so much.
“No. I’ve never been out of Wyoming.”
I was shocked, but I shouldn’t have been. I needed to remember that Cody was only twenty and hadn’t really lived yet. Would he want to travel? Would he be willing to do it with me? I loved to travel. Both for my job and for personal reasons.
“Okay, so if you could travel, where would you go?”
“Anywhere?” I nodded once, waiting for some exotic place he wanted to go. “New York. I want to go watch the parade on Thanksgiving someday. I think that would be so cool to see in person.”
I was stunned. I expected Paris or Sydney or something, not New York on Thanksgiving Day. How did…why was… The excitement in Cody’s voice was genuine, and that made me smile.
“You seem shocked. I’m not really into big, fancy things. I’m pretty chill with small things.”
“Yeah, I’m a little surprised. But I can say it’s a good choice. The parade, although usually cold, is a fun and exciting day.”
“So you’ve been?”
“Yes, I have. My ex was from New York, and we would spend the holidays there with his family. The parade was always a way for me to escape for a few hours when he or his family got to be too much.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s in the past, and it’s over. No big deal.” I looked down at our plates and noticed we were all but finished with our meals, yet I hadn’t seen the waiter even once since we’d been given the food. That was unusual.
“You want dessert or anything?”
“Thanks, but no.” Cody started looking around, and when his gaze landed on the waiter, I knew why. It was then that the waiter finally came back to the table.
“Can I get you gentlemen anything else?”
“No, just the check, please,” I said. The waiter looked a little put upon, but I didn’t care. Although I was happy to have had an undisturbed dinner, he’d never even bothered to check to see if our food was okay.
“What’d he do to upset you?”
“He never bothered coming back. Would you like to go for a walk or something? I’m enjoying talking to you.”
“I really think I should get going home. I got up early this morning, and I’ve had issues sleeping lately, so I’m pretty tired.”
That sounded concerning, and I wondered if there was anything I could do to help. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. My job just requires an early start. Sometimes I have a touch of insomnia, that’s all. Usually if I read or something like that I can doze off pretty quick.”
The waiter brought the check, and Cody snatched it before I could.
“You’re not paying for your dinner. I’m the one who wanted to have dinner. I’m buying,” I told him as I pulled the tray away from him. After giving the bill a quick glance, I pulled out a card and tossed it on top. The waiter must have been on standby because he was right there to take it and walk off again.
“Thank you for dinner.”
“You’re very welcome. Can we do it again? Preferably soon?”
I could tell Cody was thinking, but what would he say?
“Honestly, I’m torn. Can we exchange numbers and maybe talk a bit before we have dinner again?”
“We can do whatever you want. You’re the one running this, so whatever you want.”
“I’m not sure how to take that,” Cody said as he handed over his phone. I took it and quickly typed my own number into a text and sent myself a message. I felt the phone vibrate in my pocket, letting me know I now had Cody’s number.
“Take it how it was meant. You’re calling all of the shots. If you want to have dinner, we’ll have dinner. If you want to tell me to get lost, well, I might have an issue with that because I don’t give up that easily.”
Cody nodded at that and looked at the waiter, who was walking up to the table. After I took the check and signed it, we got up from our booth and left. Once outside, I really wasn’t ready to end things for the evening, so I took another chance.
“You sure I can’t talk you into something else? A movie perhaps?”
“Well, we can’t exactly talk during a movie, can we?”
“Valid point. I’m trying here, Cody, but you’ll have to cut me some slack. I’m out of practice with this dating stuff.”
“Well, since we’re technically not dating, I’d say don’t worry about it.”
“Okay, then what was this? You were meeting AJ for a blind date, so this was a date.”
“Fine, we’ve had one date. That doesn’t mean we’re seeing each other. And why the fuck are we saying dating so much?”
“I’m not sure,” I said as I shrugged and stopped beside Cody’s truck. “Fine, we’re not seeing each other. What do I have to do to get you to go out with me? I’m serious.”
“Adrian, I just don’t see it working. We’re at two different places in life, and that’s a recipe for disaster already.”
“No, it’s not. If we both try, we could make something between us work. I’ve already told you I go for something that I want. I want to see where this could go with you.” I was getting frustrated, and I knew it was starting to show. Unfortunately for me, when I got frustrated, I usually said stupid shit.
“How about we talk? Get to know each other? Then we’ll see.”
“Fine. I can live with that. You have my number. Will you use it?”
“I will. I’m going to head home. I’ll talk to you later, AJ.”
I narrowed my eyes at Cody, hating the use of my sister’s nickname for me coming from him. “Emme is the only one who calls me that.”
“That’s okay. I’m sure that if I get to know you better I’ll come up with another nickname for you.”
“Cody…”
“Yeah?” He laughed as he climbed into the driver’s seat of his truck. At least he waved before backing out of his spot. I hoped he decided to use my number. If nothing else, I wanted to know more about the younger man.