The Party Boy's Guide to Dating a Geek (Clumsy Cupids) (12 page)

toward the table, but Ash stopped him. Fee looked

at him, and Ash took a couple more steps into

Fee's space, forcing him to step back in time with

the music. Fee smiled and moved forward. Ash

laughed and followed Fee's lead to the center of

the floor.

Fee never took his eyes off Ash's as they

danced. The thumping music combined with the

heat of Fee's stare had Ash lightheaded. He turned

around and leaned back into Fee, moving Fee's

hands down to his hips. Fee leaned down and

trailed his lips along Ash's temple as he pumped

his hips along with the music. Ash felt Fee getting

hard as they danced. He sighed and closed his

eyes, glad he wasn't the only one affected. Fee kept

kissing along Ash's cheek as they moved with each

other in time to the music.

The music changed again, this time to a song

with a slower beat. Fee slid his hands along the

hem of Ash's shirt and tucked his fingers under

Ash's waistband. Ash shivered as Fee bit down

around his necklace and pulled on it with his teeth.

The leather tightened around Ash's neck, and he

could feel Fee's cock against his ass. He groaned

and dropped his head back against Fee's shoulder.

Ash tilted his head and Fee moved down to kiss

his neck. Ash turned around in his arms, and Fee

started working his way back up to Ash's mouth.

He kissed Ash lightly on the lips before tilting his

head to deepen the kiss. Ash moaned, and Fee

slipped his tongue into Ash's mouth, turning his

knees into jelly. Ash grabbed onto Fee's shoulders

and held on as Fee stroked his hands down Ash's

back to rest them on his ass.

A body plastered itself to Ash's back, and Gil's

voice in his ear brought Ash out of the moment.

"Who's your friend, Ash?" he asked. His lips

were right on Ash's ear, just above where Fee had

been nibbling, and he pumped his cock into Ash's

back. Ash turned around and backed into Fee to put

some air between them and Gil.

"Not tonight." Ash put a hand up, and Gil

walked into it.

"He's really pretty," Gil said, staring at Fee. Ash

pushed a little on Gil's chest to stop him from

getting closer.

"No."

"You guys want to play?" Gil leaned over to ask

Fee as he advanced, pushing Ash into Fee. He

flicked a glance at Ash. Then he looked back at

Fee with a drunken leer on his face.

"He said no." Fee wrapped his arms around Ash

and pulled him close. He flattened one of his hands

against Ash's abdomen and the other over Ash's

chest as he kissed the side of Ash's neck. The

erection he'd been sporting earlier had flagged, but

at least Fee hadn't bolted.

"He's never minded sharing before." Gil looked

down at Ash. "I seem to remember you enjoyed

sharing very much." He licked his lips and stepped

forward again. Ash's heart pounded in his chest

and his face burned. He'd never been ashamed of

who he was before, but it was different with Fee.

Gil's smile widened, but his eyes were predatory.

" Ma yb e
I
don't like sharing." The words

vibrated through Ash's back. Gil stepped forward

again, and Fee stood up straight.

They stared at each other over Ash's head, and

for a minute, Ash was convinced they were going

to come to blows. Finally Gil smiled and put his

hands up. "Hey, I'm a lover, not a fighter. You

want him, you got him," he said before he walked

away. "See you around, Ash."

For a moment, Ash didn't dare move a muscle.

Fee was still standing behind him, but he didn't

move either. The crowd danced around them, and

eventually Ash exhaled and turned to face Fee.

"I'm sorry about that."

Fee nodded. "I think I should go."

"Wait." Ash grabbed Fee's arm as he followed

Fee back to their table.

"I really should head out." Fee checked his

watch. "It was nice meeting you," he said to

Carley.

"Stay," Ash said. "Have another beer."

"Maybe another time." Fee stood there looking

at Ash for a second before he awkwardly leaned in

and kissed Ash's cheek. "Thanks for the dance."

"What was that all about?" Carley asked after

Fee had left.

Ash shook his head. He knew he didn't have the

best reputation, but Gil had pretty much spelled it

out for Fee. Ash put his fingers on his cheek and

tried to suppress the disappointment that threatened

to crush him. "I better get back to the shop."

Carley walked him back to work and hugged

him on the sidewalk. "Try not to brood about him

all night."

"Sure. No problem." Ash plastered a smile on

his face and went back to work, hoping it would

take his mind off how amazing Fee felt pressed

against him, and how his past had probably fucked

up any chance of a future with him.

Chapter Six

YOU'VE BEEN STEAMPUNK'D

Steampunk has gained in popularity in the past few

years, but its roots lie with geeks. Science fiction meets

fact in this sub-genre of fiction. Steam-powered devices

and machinery fill the landscape of these stories.

Applying 19th century science to modern living to create

an alternate reality is the basic meme. Role play may be

involved, with elaborate costumes made from materials

available in Victorian England or the Old West being the

clothing of choice. Gears and dials are common

accessories with these costumes. If you find these items

scattered about your geek's living space, don't worry

about your watch. He's probably loaded up on second-

hand clocks to fill his habit.

6.1

Once he and Ty had finished closing and locking

up the shop, Ash was sort of at a loss for what to

do with himself. Normally he'd go to Deli's with

Ty, but he wasn't in the mood right then, and Ty

had already taken off after saying he was running

late for something.

Ash had been thinking about Fee's rather abrupt

departure pretty much non-stop over the last

couple of hours. He'd gone through his usual

closing routine—sweeping and mopping the floors,

sanitizing the equipment, and making sure all the

stations were cleaned and restocked—with only

half his mind on his tasks and the other half

wrapped up in Fee.

Fee had kissed him—he'd relived that moment

about a thousand times in his head—and it'd been

good
. Like
holy
hell
kind of good. But then came

that moment with Gil, and Fee showing a bit of

aggression, a little spark of dominance that made

Ash shudder to remember it. He hadn't thought Fee

had that side to him. There had been a moment,

though, when the tension was so thick Ash actually

started to worry their night might end with two

guys getting up close and sweaty after all—but the

wrong two guys, and doing something a lot less fun

than sex.

Gil had a well-deserved rep for always being

ready and way more than willing, but Ash hadn't

liked the look on his face, or the way Gil hadn't

backed off when asked. Whatever Ash might have

agreed to in the past, it wasn't some kind of free

pass for the present. Things changed.
People

changed. And Ash wasn't interested anymore.

Ash sighed to himself as he headed toward his

normal bus stop. He didn't want to go to Deli's, but

the issue was he didn't really want to go home

either. He decided to text Jae and Carley, see if

they were still awake. They were almost always

up for breakfast at Leroy's, no matter what the time

of day.

His text to Carley was returned almost instantly

with a demand to hold them a booth and make sure

there was coffee waiting. Ash laughed and sent a

quick reply, and then turned to go back in the

direction he had come from.

Ash walked in and waved at Marge, one of the

waitresses who worked the graveyard shift. She'd

served Ash and his crew so many times she knew

them all by name already. His wave was met with

a smile and "be right over, sugar" as he made his

way to their usual spot: a small, semi-circular

booth in the back near the jukebox.

Marge was there only a second later, setting a

one-liter thermal carafe of coffee in the middle of

the table with a thunk. She placed a small bowl of

individual half-and-half containers beside it and

turned over his mug so he could pour himself a

cup.

"How you doin' tonight, honey?" she asked as

she rifled through the sugar packet holder,

apparently checking the selection of sweeteners on

offer before deeming them satisfactory. "Carley

comin'?"

Ash grinned. He loved her slow southern drawl

and the way she tended to end or start her

sentences with "hon" or "sugar" or "darlin'". She'd only moved up from Louisiana a few years before.

Her accent was still as strong as ever, and he'd

never once seen her in a bad mood. "Yep, Carley

and Jae are on their way," he answered. "And I'm

doing just fine. How about you?"

"Oh, I can't complain," she said. "I'll get y'all

some vanilla creamer then." She turned around and

headed back to the counter before he could say

anything else, the brassy tones of her dyed red hair

glinting in the fluorescent lighting overhead.

Ash added five half-and-halfs to his cup, his

typical cream to coffee ratio. The first time she'd

watched him do it, Marge had made the whole

table burst out laughing by saying, "Dang, sugar,

want me to bring a gallon of cream out here so you

can just drink it out the bottle?"

Ash couldn't remember it without chuckling. He

stirred his coffee and took an absentminded sip,

barely noticing when she stopped at the table to

drop off the vanilla creamer as his thoughts

wandered back to Fee. When Jae and Carley

showed up a few minutes later, he was more

confused than ever.

"You're brooding," Carley announced as he

poured himself a cup of coffee. "I told you not to

brood." He added a couple containers of vanilla

creamer and took a slow, appreciative sip. "Ah. I

don't know what they do to their coffee here, but I

swear I can never get it to come out this good at

home."

Jae smirked and filled his own mug. He took his

black, no sugar, no frills. His dark hair was drawn

away from his face and mostly hidden by the red-

and-black checkered bandana he usually wore for

work. Seeing his face unobstructed, Ash was once

again struck by Jae's amazing bone structure—the

high, prominent cheekbones typical of so many

Korean men, perfectly straight nose, defined

jawline, and rounded chin. Jae was pretty, almost

modelesque. Ash could admit it, despite the fact

that any attraction he'd felt toward Jae had long

since died. Somehow, Jae managed to be entirely

oblivious to his own appeal, though. There wasn't

an arrogant bone in his body. With the way he

looked, Ash really didn't get it.

"What are you brooding about, Ash?" Jae asked.

"The book club guy?"

Ash glared at Carley, who tried to look innocent

and failed. "Sorry, Ash." Carley chuckled. "It was

too good not to share."

Ash sighed. "Yeah. Book club guy."

"He's hot, Jae," Carley said. "Like, ridiculously.

And kind of funny in a nerdy way.
But
…"

Ash sighed again, longer and lustier than the

first time. "But?"

"I have to be honest. I think you're stuck in the

friend-zone."

Ash opened his mouth to answer but was

interrupted by the arrival of Marge to take their

orders. After a few minutes of chitchat, she left

them to their coffee, and Ash drained the remains

of his before refilling his mug.

"He kissed me," Ash said softly. "You saw. And

he was hard while he did it."

"He'd also been drinking." Carley shrugged and

reached up an elegant hand to brush his perfectly