Better Than Good (3 page)

His face was so beautiful, and his eyes were twinkling to let me know he was teasing me. I once again found myself under his spell and belatedly aware that he was waiting for me to speak. Somehow I found my voice, although I had to clear my throat before the words would come.

“I’m here with a friend. Actually, the same friend I was with last week at the club too.”

He rolled his eyes but smiled again.

“I owe you a drink. What would you like?” I was scrambling, hoping to keep him talking to me. He considered me for a minute before answering.

“Alright. I’ll have a cosmo, please.”

The gorgeous bartender appeared, and just as I was about to place Aaron’s order, he leaned across the counter and grabbed Aaron lightly by his collar. Aaron met him midway and they kissed. Not a passionate lover-like kiss, but a more-than-friends kind of kiss.

“JoJo, honey, this nice guy is buying me a cosmo. Heavy on the good stuff, please.” Aaron batted his eyelashes at the tall, dark, handsome, and super-muscular bartender. They would look good together, I mused. JoJo, or Joe probably, set my drink in front of me with a wink.

“Sure thing, babe.” Joe gave Aaron a bit of a lecherous look before he stepped away to make the cocktail.

“Your boyfriend?” I couldn’t help asking.

Aaron giggled, his eyes still twinkling.

“No. I don’t have a boyfriend. JoJo is a flirt. Luckily his boyfriend knows that.”

I figured I probably shouldn’t ask any other Joe-the-bartender questions. I was confused enough as it was.

“I’m going to guess you have a girlfriend, though. Am I right?” Aaron’s eyes were now lit with challenge, as if to say, “Don’t lie, I’ll know the truth anyway.” I stalled for a minute, taking a drink of my vodka.

“Yeah, sort of. I mean, we aren’t serious, but yeah, I guess.” Poor Kristin. I was sure she’d love to hear the ringing endorsement I was giving us, especially since I’d just been in her bed a couple hours ago. What a dick. What was my problem?

“Nice. I’d love to hear her side. I bet she’s all in looove. Are you one of those curious guys? Want to know if you might, just maybe, could possibly like cock and probably should give it a try before you get hitched and move out to the suburbs to start a family? Maybe just get it out of your system?” He was deliberately taunting me now. And it was working.

“Down, boy,” Joe admonished Aaron as he set his drink down. “Leave the poor guy alone. He’s just buying a drink, not a house in the country.”

“Sorry. You’re right. I’m rude. What’s new? Oops, you don’t know me. I’ll try to be good, starting now. So… tell me, Matt, what’s your story? Are you a student, a young business type, a politician in training? Where are you from, how old are you, what is your last name, your favorite color, what do you like doing in your spare time, which suburb do you see yourself moving to when you finally do settle down with your girl, and how many kids will you have?”

Aaron finally stopped talking long enough to take a drink of his cosmo, and then he gave me an expectant look when I didn’t respond immediately to his barrage of questions.

“Okay. Let’s see. I’ll tell you my story if you tell me yours. Agreed?” When Aaron nodded in agreement, I went on. “Well, you packed a lot of questions in there. Let me know if I miss something.

“I’m finishing my law degree at Georgetown and am interning with Lawton, Hughes, Banks, and Kelleford. It looks like I will have a position with them when I graduate, too, which is beyond amazing to me. I’m from Pittsburgh originally, my family is all there and it’s home, but I like the energy here. I’m not moving back anytime soon or probably ever. I’m twenty-four. My last name is Sullivan. Favorite color? Hmm, I guess blue.” I paused when I heard Aaron snort and mumble “original.” I raised my eyebrows.

He gestured with his hands. “Go on, I’m on the edge of my seat. Don’t stop now.”

“Well, since you’re so interested, I will. Let’s see, where was I?”

“Hobbies and settling down with your new wife, I think,” Aaron suggested innocently.

“Well, I love sports. Especially football, baseball, and basketball. But my real passion is music. I play guitar. Actually, there’s a bar by the college where I play once in a while with a friend of mine just for fun. And as for the last question, smartass… I don’t see myself settling down in the suburbs anytime soon. I’m not marrying anyone anytime soon either. I’d love to have kids someday, yeah, but who knows how many? I imagine my partner will want some say in that number too. Your turn.”

“Very nice, Mr. Sullivan. I’d love to reciprocate, but it looks like your friend, or just someone who desperately wants your attention, is waving at you.”

Sure enough, Curt was on his feet, waving in my direction. I didn’t want to break this contact with Aaron, so I waved at Curt but made no motion to join him at the table. Of course he came to the bar instead. I introduced him to Aaron. He looked so funny with his curiosity plain as day on his face. I loved keeping him in suspense, but even if I was inclined to share, I wouldn’t know what to say. “Don’t mind me, Curt, I’m just trying to make some time with Aaron here” would probably do the job, but I wasn’t quite sure about what I was doing.

“Hey, we’re heading to Tango to meet up with one of Randy’s work buddies. You coming with?” Curt asked.

“You go on. I’ll meet you over there.” I didn’t think my response through, I just went with what I wanted. And I wanted to talk to Aaron.

Curt gave me a short nod with a funny look I couldn’t quite read but was sure I’d hear all about later. “Okay, then. Nice meeting you, Aaron.”

“You too,” Aaron replied politely. He waited until Curt was out of earshot and then turned back to me.

“I’m very curious about you, straight boy. Why are you here with me? Or—” He paused with dramatic effect. “—are you curious and not so straight? Hmm.” He turned quickly and began to walk away. “Let’s go take their table. I’ll answer all your questions if you’re still interested in moi.” I found myself staring at his back with my mouth open. Rendered speechless again.

I followed him to Curt’s vacant table in time to overhear Aaron wheeling and dealing with another patron for first rights to sit. The bar was getting busier and this looked to be the last empty and somewhat private table.

“I’m so sorry, doll. Our friends were just leaving this table for us. Did you see them? They should have stayed till we got our drinks sorted, but they were in such a hurry!”

“I was here first” was the unimpressed reply from a bored-looking young hipster.

“Not really,” Aaron insisted stubbornly.

“It’s cool. We can go back to the bar.” I didn’t want to get in an argument with a stranger over a table he’d obviously gotten to first.

Aaron gave me a fierce scowl. Actually, it just made him look adorable, but I’m sure the message was for me to keep quiet and let him handle the situation.

“My boyfriend was just explaining to me that he thinks he’s bi and I’m trying to cope. I can’t cope at the bar. I need this table.” Aaron’s eyes filled and the guy looked alarmed.

“Whoa, don’t cry. You take it.” The stranger gave Aaron a sympathetic parting glance before turning to glare at me. “Asshole.”

“Hey!” I was offended. And boyfriend? I looked down at Aaron, who was now happily perched on a stool at the much sought-after table. He looked positively smug. And adorable. I sighed and took a seat.

“Really? You wanted the table that badly?”

“Yep. My feet are killing me and there was only one of him and two of us. He should thank us. He’ll meet more potential beaus at the bar, not sitting here in the dark. He was practically being a wallflower!” Aaron’s hands were flying a mile a minute as he shared his convoluted logic with me.

“You are devious.” I had to laugh out loud at the very self-satisfied expression on his face. It was much darker at this table than it had been at the bar. A single votive lit his face. The candlelight suited him. “I guess you have a story to tell now. Your turn,” I prompted.

“I can’t remember the questions, remind me, or better yet, just ask me new ones. Much more exciting that way.”

“Okay. Um, let’s see. What do you do? I mean for a living? Where were you born? How long have you lived here? What nationality are you? Brothers or sisters? What’s your favorite band or singer? Favorite TV show? Um, I can’t think of anything else. Go ahead. Answer away.” I leaned back and noticed him watching me intently. His bangs fell into his eye again, and my fingers yearned to touch him. Talking was better. “Well? I answered yours. Your turn.”

“I have a quirky memory, but I’ll do my best here.” He gave an exaggerated cough and began. “I work as an editorial assistant at a fashion mag. You didn’t ask but I love fashion. Specifically fashion photography. I try to get my editor to loan me out to our lead photographers to assist them when it’s slow in her office.”

“So you want to be a photographer?” I interrupted. That sounded very interesting and for some reason, I wanted to know why.

“Yes. I do it as a hobby for now because I need to pay the rent, so for the time being, that’s all it can be. I’m trying to build a portfolio, but it’s just a work in progress at this point. So… now that I’m completely distracted, what exactly was the next question?”

“What do you like about photography? If you could make a living at it, would you want to freelance or what? I’m interested.” Aaron gave me a dubious look. “Really,” I assured him, “tell me.”

“I love that a moment is captured and a story can be told all with one single shot. If a photographer is truly great, you want to go back time and again to look at that photo and see what you may have missed after the first peek. I would love to be sought after and unique enough that I could freelance at a high level. But that’s a dream, Matty. Bills must be paid. And stop interrupting me. I’ll be talking about me all night if you’re not careful. You’ll be bored to tears, asleep on this very popular table, and if anyone I know comes by, I’ll never live it down. ‘Aaron talks guy into catatonic state.’ I can hear them now.” I noticed, as he wound himself up at the end with his little speech, that his hands were moving at record speed and his effeminate vocal affectation went up several notches. I guessed I’d caught him off guard asking about something he was passionate about. Interesting.

“Matty? You called me Matty.” I gave him my best annoyed expression and saw Aaron’s shoulders visibly shift downward. He was relaxed again, and I was inordinately pleased with myself. “Okay, Aaron, please continue. But first tell me, what’s your last name?”

“Mendez. And I’m Puerto Rican. I believe that was one of your questions. Full-blooded. Both parents from there and
sí, yo hablo español
.” He gave me a very Americanized Spanish accent, but I would bet his Spanish was impeccable.

“Were you born there? In Puerto Rico?”

“No. I’m from a little town outside Baltimore called Ellicott. Almost local. It’s just an hour away. Forty-five minutes if there isn’t a smidge of traffic. My parents were both born in PR, though. My mom came over when she was really little and my father was in his early twenties. He learned to speak English when he was younger, but his accent is still pretty thick.”

“Siblings?”

“Three. Two older sisters, Maria and Tess, and a younger brother, Paul. And moving on and away from family fun… I love
Project Runway
, Heidi is adorable, but honestly I think Nina is my favorite. I love people who say it like it is, you know? And I love
America’s Next Top Model
. Tyra is great, right?”

Huh? I didn’t know. I had lost him at Project something, and I didn’t know who Heidi and Nina were. I thought he said his sisters were Maria and Tess.

“I’m not sure about that, but let’s stay on track. I think we move onto music. Who is your favorite band or your favorite singer?” I asked.

“I’m a huge Gaga fan. And I love Rihanna! Oh, and Adele too. And….”

Our tastes in music were polar opposite; however, music was a subject I could discuss for hours. And before I knew it, we had done just that. We talked about music in movies and television. Jazz music, American standards, commercial jingles, and even musicals. Aaron seemed to know a little bit about most genres and was passionate about those he liked the best. His enthusiasm was contagious. He was easy company and the time flew. A quick look at my watch told me it was after 2:00 a.m. The bar would be offering last call soon. I needed to get home. I had a ton of work to do for school next week. But I was reluctant to leave my new friend.

“Whoa! I had no idea it was so late. I should get going. Can I give you a lift home? Do you live nearby?”

Aaron smiled a little tiredly.

“No, I’m good. I live close. I feel like a short walk.”

“I’m not letting you walk home alone in the middle of the night. Let me take you home. Just drop you off, okay?”

“Well, since you’re being so chivalrous, I shouldn’t refuse. Thanks.”

We headed out of the still-packed bar and into the cool early morning air. It felt great, and I had to admit
I
felt great. I had honestly enjoyed just talking with Aaron. He was funny, interesting, and very intelligent. Our conversation ranged from music to movies to politics. I was more than a little sorry for our time together to end.

We walked the short distance to my car in silence, and he gave me directions to his place, which definitely was very nearby. I still felt better taking him home at this time of night/morning. The radio was on. Aaron heard the classic rock tune and scoffed.

“Yuck.” He changed it to a techno-sounding song. “Better,” he said and started to hum along. I should have been really irritated by his over familiarity, but I found myself mildly intrigued with his force of personality. And I could handle the techno crap for a two-minute drive.

“Thank you, thank you, kind sir. Here is my humble abode. I’m much too tired to invite you up, and I’m not that kind of girl. Actually, scratch that last part. But I am tired. It’s been great hanging out with you, Matty. See you around.”

He blew an air kiss in my direction and turned to open the car door. I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. He turned back to face me, and suddenly we were much closer than we had been since our first dance at the club. Our eyes met, and I moved in closer still. I noticed for the first time that he was wearing eyeliner. His eyes were beautiful either way. They were a true hazel, and even in the darkened car interior, I could see the flecks of brown and green.