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She hid her phone behind her back. “Nope,” she’d giggled. “It’s a blind date, Cole, and like I told him, you need to trust me.”
“So, he hasn’t seen me either?” I’d asked, stunned that he’d already agreed to this unwise blind date.
“You’re both simply gorge, darling,” she’d gushed. “Like two men straight out of one of those steamy gay romance novels.”
Gina didn’t know I wasn’t sexually active, and I planned on keeping my little secret just that: a closely held one. Dating in New York City as a gay man in his mid-twenties, and being celibate? Let’s just say the idea is practically unheard of.
Just as I pushed away from the table to leave, I glanced toward the front door a final time. A tall, stunning, blond Wall Street-type, stood looking around the restaurant until his eyes landed on the only single person there, me. He flashed a smile that could be employed by a dental company’s ad campaign.
I swallowed hard as he headed my direction, sliding out of his overcoat and handing it to the maître -d’ with barely a hint of regard. Entitled was my immediate instinct.
“Wow!” he stated, holding my arms and stepping back to assess a man he’d just seen a moment ago. “You’re hot as fuck, Cole.”
“Thank you,” I replied, motioning to the chair opposite me. “And you’re kind,” I added, mentally noting that he was probably a twelve out of ten. Why was he single?
He ordered a scotch and then studied me. “Gina has good taste yet again,” he stated.
“You’ve done this before?” I asked.
“Oh, hell yeah,” he announced. “Four, maybe five times with Gina.” He leaned forward and grinned, whispering. “I think I’m her go-to guy when she has her heart set on matchmaking, and you do not disappoint, mister.”
“She didn’t tell me that,” I stammered, unsure of what the expectation for the night would be.
He waved me off and leaned back, quickly emptying his glass and waving at a server. Not our server, but the nearest one. “Oh, Gina,” he began, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “Bless her heart. She reads those ridiculous man-on-man romance books and thinks she’s creating one herself.”
“I see,” I mumbled.
Carter was Hollywood handsome. The type of man that had no doubt been handed the gene-pool winning lottery ticket. Square jawed, tan, abundant and perfect hair, that smile of his, and a body that even a dress shirt and slacks couldn’t hide.
He leaned in again, this time closer, and he cupped his mouth so as not to be heard. “Please tell me you’re a top.”
“Excuse me?” I asked, making sure I’d heard him correctly.
“I’m a massive bottom,” he stated. “Aren’t we all? God, every man I meet in this fucking city is a bottom.”
I knew what he was asking. Sure, I wasn’t sexually active, being that I intended to save myself for the right man, but I wasn’t oblivious to gay culture.
“I haven’t had to make that decision yet.”
“So, you’re vers?” he asked, winking. “Which is totally a bottom in gay speak.”
“I’m not having sex,” I said, feeling like he was about to be disappointed with my news.
He laughed out loud, obviously caught off guard and drawing the attention of a few neighboring eyes. The same eyes that had already indiscreetly been eye-banging our table since Carter arrived. Perhaps their sadness at my being alone earlier had been replaced with envy.
“Currently?” he stuttered, a small laugh escaping. “Or ever?”
This wasn’t the conversation I wanted to have with a virtual stranger, not to mention a dating prospect on a blind date, but Gina didn’t know my stance, so how could I expect him to be prepared for my unusual position on the matter?
“I’m waiting until I meet the right person,” I confessed, checking the couples around us to see if they were listening. “Ideally, I’d like to date for a period of time. Get to know the man and grow fond of him before jumping into bed.”
“Nooo… you’re kidding, right?” he asked, glancing at all corners of the restaurant. “Am I being punked?”
I ignored his question, hoping he was joking. “That doesn’t mean that the person I date has to be a virgin when we meet, but I would appreciate if they abstain while we get to know one another. You know, in the beginning.”
His eyes narrowed, and he pointed toward me, a grin spreading across his face. “You’re Mormon, right? I’ve heard of those people.”
“I’m totally serious,” I replied, feeling uncomfortable while discovering he was shocked and assumed I had to be pulling his leg. “I mean, that’s what I’d like to find. That is why I’m here tonight, Carter,” I added.
