The Party Boy's Guide to Dating a Geek (Clumsy Cupids) (9 page)

Fee's father?

Why am I even thinking about him?
Ash

groaned and shook his head, and then immediately

regretted the action, which sent a jagged bolt of

pain shooting through his head. The aftereffects left

him feeling queasy. He stumbled across the hall to

the bathroom, grateful no one was inside. In a

place with four bedrooms and only one bath, that

was a rare thing.

He reached into the shower to turn on the water

and then dug around in the medicine cabinet above

the sink for some ibuprofen. He swallowed them

with a few chugs of water straight from the tap and

stripped out of his briefs so he could drag himself

into the bathtub. The showerhead was on its

strongest setting. The hot, stinging spray felt good,

loosening his muscles. For a while he just stood

there, head bowed, letting it wash over him until

the throbbing in his temples eased enough for him

to think about something other than chopping his

head off to get rid of the ache.

Life would go on. Jack had been dating Mari for

a year without Ash running into Fee. It was

doubtful he'd see him very often, if at all. Out of

sight, out of mind. He'd get over this crush or

whatever it was soon enough. He still hadn't spent

that much time with Fee. It wasn't as if he was in

love. Desire would fade, especially when it wasn't

reciprocated, just like a fire would die without

some kind of fuel source. He had an apprenticeship

to worry about. He couldn't afford to be distracted

by some geek, no matter how hot said geek might

have been.

"Forget about him." Ash nodded to himself and

reached for his body wash. Like it or not, he'd

wasted enough time on Fee already.

4.2

"You are spacing today, dude."

Ash jerked at the sound of Ty's voice behind

him. "Huh?"

Ty sighed and moved around the counter so he

could prop himself on his elbows in front of Ash.

"Are you still angsting about what's-his-face?"

"No."
Maybe.

"Uh-huh."

Ash's cheeks warmed under Ty's knowing stare.

He'd told himself to forget Fee that very morning.

Only problem was the forgetting had yet to start.

"I'm cool. Don't worry about it."

"If you say so." Ty shrugged and wandered over

to one of the display cases where a girl was

flipping through some of the tattoo binders. Ash's

own portfolio sat among them, and he did need to

get some more tats done if he wanted to complete

his apprenticeship anytime soon, but right then, he

wasn't in any kind of mood to try and sell himself

or his talents. Despite that, he'd gotten to his feet

and was about to join Ty and the customer when

his cellphone buzzed from its place beside the cash

register.

It was only one long buzz, which meant an email

instead of the two that usually signaled a text

message. He grabbed the phone and pressed the

menu button, opening up the app for his email even

as he left the front desk and started toward the

display case where Ty and the girl stood talking.

The name on the message that popped up stopped

him in his tracks.
Felipe Navarro.
The subject line

just said "Hey," but the mere sight of Fee's name

kicked his pulse into overdrive.
Jesus, calm down,

it's just an email.
Nevertheless, he held his breath

in anticipation as it downloaded.

The message was simple, but seeing it made

Ash feel as if he'd just won the multi-million

dollar Powerball jackpot. Okay, maybe not that

good, but pretty damn close.

Ash-

I'm off tomorrow and planning to shop for a

new motherboard. If you were serious about

wanting a computer, I could help you find the

best system for your money. My number is below.

Give me a call if you want to meet up.

-Fee

Ash had the number memorized in about five

seconds flat. Sure, he hadn't really planned on

buying a new computer any time soon, but Fee

didn't know that. He could go and spend the day

with Fee without committing to anything. It was the

perfect non-date, which could potentially lead into

an
actual
date if he played his cards right.

Part of him wanted to rush to the backroom and

call Fee before Fee could make any other plans,

but then he figured that would reek of desperation,

and that wasn't exactly the impression he was

going for. The offer was open. Fee wouldn't

change his mind if Ash didn't reply for an hour or

two, or at least, Ash hoped not. Regardless, Tank

would be back from his lunch break soon and Ash

had work to do. Shoving the phone into his pocket,

Ash went to join Ty.

4.3

Ash paced his apartment—to the windows to

look down at the street, into the bathroom to check

his hair, to the kitchen for a sip of water. Fee was

late. Only ten minutes, but still, he didn't seem like

the type to be late. Was Ash being stood up?

Because

that—that

would

be

especially

humiliating, being stood up when it wasn't even a

date.

He checked his phone for what must have been

the seventh time. No texts, calls, or emails.

Dammit.

Ash thought their conversation had gone well the

day before. Fee said he'd planned on going to some

huge electronics store out in the western suburbs

and asked if Ash might want to meet him there. Ash

could get there using public transportation—if he

wanted to take two buses, a train, and then hike the

last three miles on foot. Fee had laughed when Ash

read the directions off his computer screen and

offered to come pick Ash up instead. They were

both headed to the same place, so why not? The

offer had surprised Ash, but he wasn't one to look

a gift horse in the mouth. They'd agreed to head out

at noon, but it was nearly 12:15 and there hadn't

been any word or sign of the black Jetta Fee had

said he would be driving.

Finally, just when Ash's stomach had started to

roil from nerves, his cellphone buzzed. It was Fee

saying he was double parked out front. Ash sucked

in a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to

calm himself down. Jesus Christ, he was all

sweaty already. He toyed with the idea of

switching into a different shirt, but then changed

his mind, grabbed his keys, and left the apartment.

"I'm so sorry," Fee said when Ash opened the

passenger door and slipped inside. The interior

was blessedly cool after the brutal heat of the short

walk from his building to the street. He hated days

like these, when it was so hot even being outside

for a few seconds felt like torture. "There was an

accident, and I got stuck in traffic. I would've

texted, but I don't like to text or be on the phone

when I drive. It doesn't seem worth the risk."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I get that. No worries. It's

cool."

"Hopefully traffic isn't bad going toward the

'burbs," Fee said as he checked his mirrors and

pulled out onto the street. He looked gorgeous, as

per usual, with his hair falling in thick, dark curls

over his glasses and his thin, well-worn graphic

tee stretched tight across his torso. His jeans were

baggy, which was disappointing, but Ash could see

his ripped abdomen through the material of that T-

shirt, and God, he wanted nothing more than to

reach over and touch, slide his fingers under the

hem and feel the hard muscle beneath.

He looked away before Fee caught him staring.

Fee was already skittish around him. The last thing

he needed was to catch Ash ogling what would,

from Fee's angle, appear to be his crotch. Instead

he watched as the crowded city streets opened up

into the rambling sprawl of the suburbs.

Ash expected the drive to be full of awkward

silence, but the ease of their conversation

surprised him. Fee told Ash he could scroll

through his iPod if he wanted to put on some

music, and while doing so, Ash discovered they

had a few bands in common—Smashing Pumpkins,

Led Zeppelin, Muse, The Killers, and several

others. There wasn't any techno, dance, or house

on Fee's iPod, but that was okay. There was plenty

for them to discuss—concerts attended, favorite

songs. He got so caught up, the forty minute drive

seemed more like ten.

He followed Fee into the big electronics store,

and since Fee already knew what he wanted, they

went directly to the computers to look for

something Ash could work with. Ash hadn't

intended on buying anything, not really, but as Fee

showed him around, talking about hard drives and

memory and the things he could do with his

artwork if he had this program or that scanner, Ash

started to think maybe buying one would be a good

idea. When he and Ty opened up their own shop,

they'd have to set up a website as well. He could

justify spending a few hundred on something he

could use for showcasing his art and their shop,

but so far the systems and tablets he liked most

were way out of his price range.

"Well," Fee said eventually, "if you want, you

could pick up a motherboard, a hard drive, and a

chassis as a bare-bones system. I have an extra

video board and a sound card and some spare

RAM from another system. You'll still have to buy

the OS, but you can always upgrade the parts later

to build something comparable to these high-end

systems. That way you could even splurge and buy

a tablet if you wanted something portable, too.

iPads are cool but tremendously overpriced. For

your needs, some of the cheaper tablets would

work just as well."

Ash blinked. "I … I got that last bit, but can you

repeat the first part in English, please?"

"Sorry." Fee chuckled and reached up to brush

his bangs off his forehead. "What I mean is, you

can build one. Buy the parts separately and put it

together yourself."

"Yeah, of course." Ash laughed. "Except I don't

have the first idea about how to build a computer."

Fee shrugged lightly. "I do. I have a few custom-

built systems at home. I could put something

together for you."

"You would do that?" Ash asked, meeting Fee's

brown eyes in surprise.

"Sure." Fee's cheeks darkened under Ash's stare.

He glanced away, fidgeting a bit, clearly

embarrassed. "I mean, it's no big deal. I like to do

it."

Ash grinned. If Fee was volunteering to build a

system for him that had to mean he wasn't against

the idea of spending more time together, right?

Even if it was only as friends, Ash could work

with that. It was better than being shut out entirely.

"Show me what I need to get."

Fee looked back at him with a slight smile.

"Yeah?"

Ash nodded. It might cost a good chunk of his

savings, but it would be worth it in the end. He

wasn't buying the parts
just
for Fee, but partially

as a business decision as well.

"Come on," Fee said. "Let's go check this stuff

out."

An hour later they were headed back into the

city with their purchases in the trunk of Fee's car.

The damage to Ash's savings account wasn't nearly

as bad as he'd been expecting. He offered to buy

Fee dinner as a thanks for all the help, and Fee

picked a Thai place right down the street from

Grounds For Thought. They ordered a few dishes

to share and spent so long talking they eventually

noticed they were getting dirty looks from the

waitstaff and decided to wander over to the

bookstore so someone else could have their table.

There they settled into a pair of plush, purple

chairs with lemon-berry bars and steaming cups of

coffee—heavy on the sugar for Fee, extra cream

for Ash—and talked until they heard the

announcement that the store would be closing.

Ash was amazed how simple it was to talk to