Heartsville 03 - Another Shot (J.H. Knight) (7 page)

No text or missed call.

He checked the counter as he reached for his coffee grinder.

Nope. No note, no clothes strewn around the room. Mephistopheles sat under the small dining room table, pawing at a stray sock that didn’t belong to Aaron—which just made Brad’s retreat seem even hastier than it already had. The guy didn’t even take the time to hunt down all of his clothes before took off.

Still, though. They’d seemed to be on the same page the night before, right? Hell, the whole week had gone pretty well.

Aaron decided to send him a quick text.

Hey, had a good time last night. Hope everything is all right, no major emergencies or anything. Gimme a call when you get a chance.

He read it over several times, more for the sake of deciding if it was too clingy than anything else—he really didn’t want to be that guy. Aaron added a small smiley face, then deleted it, then added it again. Then he deleted it and hit Send.

After he got the coffee brewing, Aaron watched his phone screen. Message sent. Message read. And then nothing. He poured a cup of coffee, checked his phone again, and still nothing.

Awesome.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

****

Sometime between breakfast and the end of his self-pity
Rome
marathon, Aaron’s phone rang. His heart skipped a beat, thinking maybe Brad was calling to explain.

No such luck.

“How’d the date go?” Justin asked.

Aaron slumped back on the couch and paused his show. “It went.”

“That good, huh?”

“Nah, I mean, I can’t complain. We had a lot of fun, but it was kind of awkward this morning.”

“How so?”

“Well, we’ve been hitting it off all week, talking for hours…. Last night we fucked like horny teenagers, talked about hanging out all weekend, and when I woke up, he was gone.”

“Are you afraid he thought you were a lousy lay?” Justin was a good friend, but not so great at comforting.

“Well, I am
now
. Thanks.”

“Sorry, sweets.” Justin was quiet for a beat and then asked, “Did you tell him about that time you accidentally got it on with your cousin?”

“No. And I didn’t accidentally get it on with him,” Aaron said, slightly exasperated. They’d been over this before. “I
purposely
got it on with a guy who turned out to be my cousin. There’s a difference.”

“Whatever, you were in an incestuous relationship. That could send a guy running.”

“It wasn’t a relationship. I hooked up with the guy.”

“Twice.”

“Fine. Twice.” He really didn’t have an excuse for the second time. “But you say it like I almost married my brother.”

“You don’t have a brother.”

“Why did you call?”

“To see how the date went.”

“Well, now you know.” Aaron leaned against the back of the couch and stretched his legs out on the coffee table. “When did dating start to feel like some sort of punishment?”

“After we turned thirty.”

“Oh yeah.
That
. What the hell will it be like in our forties?”

“Speak for yourself, sweetheart. I don’t plan to be dating in my forties.”

“Right. I keep forgetting. You and the significant other are above that now.”

“Not above it, just… over it.” Justin’s grin was obvious even over the phone. “And thank you, by the way. Significant other is much better than
dildo
.”

Before Aaron could say anything else, Justin said excitedly, “I know just the thing to cheer you.”

“I didn’t say I needed cheering.”

“You’re probably still sitting around in your underwear. You need cheering.”

Fair enough. “How do you plan to cheer me?”

“Let me set you up with Dylan’s friend.”

Aaron tried to interrupt with a protest, but Justin plowed on.

“Don’t say no. He’s a great guy. Gorgeous, funny. And he’s not into three-ways—we tried. He just moved to town.”

This was starting to sound startlingly familiar. Minus the three-way part. “What’s his name?”

“Brad Collins, and he’s an absolute dream.”

Aaron snorted a laugh because that was all he could manage. He knew he’d have to tell Justin eventually, but now wasn’t the time. “I’ll handle my own hookups from now on, but thanks.”

“Well, maybe your cousin is still single.”

He would’ve stuck his tongue out at Justin if they’d been in the same room, but Aaron settled for ending the call with a promise to talk soon.

Before he went back to his episode, Aaron considered what Justin had said. Not about the unfortunate cousin incident, but had he said or done something to send Brad running? Well, obviously yeah. But what? Brad had seemed just as interested in him, seemed just as pleasantly surprised at how things went, how well they clicked.

In the end, though, it didn’t really matter, did it?

Aaron checked the time and decided to tuck
Rome
away with his alarmingly emo analysis for the day. He had less than an hour to get dressed and drag himself to work before the window-shoppers and lunch crowd showed up.

He needed to hire a few more people. Or figure out how to run a serve-yourself café.

****

The rest of the afternoon was a blur. They had a steady stream of customers throughout the day, until the other shops on the street started to shutter for the night, at least. As Aaron flipped his sign over and turned out the lights, his phone rang. He could tell it was Mandy before he even looked at the screen. Mostly because he hadn’t heard from her all day, demanding to know how it went with Brad.

“It went fine,” he told her without saying another word.

He could practically hear her smiling, feel her delighted smugness from across town.

“I knew it would. How fine? Are you seeing him again tonight?”

“Two orgasms fine, and I don’t think so.”

“I didn’t need the finer details, Aaron.” She laughed and asked, “So are you guys, like, an official thing now?”

“I have no idea, but I kinda doubt it,” he said, trying to sound casual. “We got along great, but he took off after I fell asleep and I haven’t heard from him since.” There. He’d said it.

She was silent for a long beat, and then Mandy said, “That doesn’t make sense. Maybe there was an emergency or something.”

Aaron was torn on that one. On one hand, he really didn’t wish anything terrible on Brad—something so terrible it got him up in the middle of the night and then kept him from calling or texting all day. On the other hand, he had a hard time picturing Brad just bailing for no reason. “Maybe, yeah. I don’t know.”

“Well, he’ll probably call or something later. I mean, he seems like a great guy, but he’s still a
guy
, so….”

She sounded doubtful, but she did have a point.

“Yeah, maybe so. Hopefully everything is okay and he just doesn’t handle the morning after very well.”

“He wouldn’t be the first,” she said, a strange mix of annoyed amusement in her tone. “Anyway, I gotta get. Meeting the girls down at the Oasis for the new show.” After a pause, she added, “You wanna go?”

“Nah, I’m good, but say hi to Teddy if you see him.”

“Will do.”

They ended the call, and Aaron went back to cleanup for the night. Before he got the last table wiped down, his phone buzzed at him. Mandy, of course.

I think I’ll call him tomorrow and see what he has to say.

Oh God. He really didn’t need his sister adding an extra helping to his humiliation.

Let it go, sis. I had a good time with him either way. It doesn’t have to be happily ever after.
Better luck next time. Oh, wait, you don’t get a next time. :P

His phone buzzed again and he wanted to choke the damn thing.

As far as I’m concerned, this time isn’t over yet.

Let it gooooooo. IF YOU CALL HIM, I’M NEVER SPEAKING TO YOU AGAIN.

If the empty threat didn’t get his point across, maybe the all caps did? He could only hope.

FINE. YOU ARE SUCH A DOUCHE.

Aaron didn’t mind being a douche as long as she stopped her meddling.

Go have fun. This douche has work to do. Ttyl. <3

Chapter Nine

Aaron woke with a warm weight against his chest. He’d been dreaming about a beach, full of warm sand and crystal-clear waters, no one there as far as the eye could see. He was oddly happy, or content, if nothing else. A soft touch to his face pulled him farther out of the dream. A lick to his cheek had him blinking his eyes open. It had been days since his date with Brad, and Aaron had finally stopped checking his phone first thing in the morning.

“Messy,” he muttered, running his hand down Mephistopheles’s back. “You’re nicer to wake up to than my alarm, but could you give me another half hour?”

Mephistopheles flicked his tail and started to purr, but he didn’t budge from where he rested. Instead, he licked Aaron’s face again.

“All right, I’m awake.” When Aaron stretched, Mephistopheles shifted off his chest and sat down next to him on the bed, as if he didn’t trust Aaron to actually get up and feed him. “I need to teach you how to get your own breakfast.”

Mephistopheles didn’t comment, of course, but he did follow Aaron into the kitchen and watch him until Aaron filled his bowls with fresh food and water.

“Ya know,” Aaron said, “other than Justin, you’re my longest relationship.” That had to say something about him, but he wasn’t sure what. He and Messy had been together for five years now. “Maybe I’d have an easier time finding a guy if I didn’t talk to my cat so much.”

Mephistopheles ignored him.

****

By six in the morning, Aaron was glad Mephistopheles had woken him up early. He barely made it to work on time, and he had two people waiting outside when he got there. The downside to being the only café on Market Street was that everyone stopped by on their way to work, needing their caffeine and carbohydrate fix for the day. Of course, that steady stream of regulars was the reason he was doing so well, so maybe it wasn’t a downside.

Simon didn’t turn up until after eleven—almost an hour late—and he looked like he’d been dragged by a horse the night before.

“Rough night?” Aaron asked as Simon put on his apron.

“Sorry, boss. Three Sheets was serving Jell-O-shots for a buck last night. Things went downhill from there.”

Aaron didn’t bother telling him off since he looked like he’d been punished enough already. “There’s aspirin in the first aid kit.”

“On it.”

By one, things were finally settling down. The line at the counter had thinned out, and Aaron was considering a break. Simon looked like he needed a nap, but Aaron had been on his feet for seven hours. As he was about to slip out the back, he looked up and saw Brad standing in front of him.

“Uh… hi.” Aaron let out a nervous laugh, could feel his cheeks blushing slightly, but he caught himself and asked, “What can I get ya?”

Brad held his eye for a moment and then looked away. “I just wanted to… apologize,” he said quietly, leaning in slightly before he met Aaron’s gaze again. “I’m
really
sorry.” He sounded like he was sorry for more than just the other night, sorry for a lot of things.

Aaron was curious, maybe a little angry too, but did he need any details? He couldn’t decide. “It’s okay, no worries. I mean, I hope everything is okay on your end? No major calamities or anything?” His smile felt strained and he hoped Brad didn’t notice.

Brad glanced around again. There was one woman behind him in line and he looked apologetic for that too. “Look, is there… I need to talk to you for a minute, is there somewhere we can go? If you have a minute?”

“Sure,” Aaron said. “Hey, Simon, can you take over for a few?”

Simon practically whimpered, but he answered with a nod and stepped up to the register.

Aaron moved away and pulled the counter gate open. “We can talk out back. I need to take the trash out anyway.”

Brad followed him through the kitchen past the sink full of dishes that needed washing. Aaron hefted the bag of recycling from the can and tossed it onto his shoulder like a dingy Santa before pushing the back door open.

“It’s not pretty,” he said as he tossed the bag into the large recycling dumpster. “But it’s private.”

He wiped his hands on his apron and then made a mental note to change it before he went into the café again. When he turned to face Brad, he stopped short. Brad was pacing in front of him and running his hand through his hair, seeming nervous. Hell, he seemed unglued. What could possibly be so bad? He could practically hear Justin’s voice in his head.
Maybe he’s married with five kids! Or positive?