“And you have the audacity to join him?” Dylan feigned shock, letting his jaw fall slack. “The betrayal.”
Kaiden and Rus locked eyes, laughing together in this tiny, uncontrollable fit. It didn’t help that Dylan continued playing this offended old person role.
“Well, if anyone gets to be nervous about the date, it’s me,” Kaiden said, steering the conversation from laughter back to a bit of levity. “It has been a while for both of you. A bit longer for some…”
“Jerk,” Dylan whispered in a ridiculous hush.
“But this is my actual first date.”
“It’s all of our first dates,” Rus clarified, wanting to squash any concern Kaiden might’ve had over him and Dylan perhaps hanging out on a date night without him.
“No, I get that,” Kaiden said with a breathy sigh as he fumbled for words. “I mean, this is my actual first date.”
“Oh.” Rus didn’t know how to respond, suddenly feeling he’d dropped the ball on something so casual.
He shouldn’t have fought so hard for the horror film. He should’ve suggested something a bit fancier for their dinner afterward.
“Hey, it turns out patience is a virtue, or what the fuck ever.” Kaiden shrugged, then gave a big goofy grin. “As far as first dates go, landing two hotties is pretty, well, hot.”
And just like that, the tension at the table washed away.
They ordered food, made small talk, and fell into a comfortable rhythm. Rus talked about his classes, venting a bitabout his upcoming midterms. Dylan mostly shared anecdotes about things the teen residents had been doing around the house or at school in a very mother hen kind of way. Kaiden went over his workout regimen, explaining all the complexities of transitioning between leaning down and then bulking up, all to maintain a healthy frame.
“So, what is a healthy body type?” Rus asked, taking a big bite of his greasy burger.
“Depends,” Kaiden said with an awkward chuckle. “Everyone’s built different. It took me a long time to realize I would never have a twink figure no matter how much I dieted.”
“That was not dieting,” Dylan interjected, blushed a bit, and turned his attention back to his sampler platter—because he wanted a little taste of everything tonight.
“No shade, it’s fine,” Kaiden said, poking around at his grilled chicken and veggies. “I was definitely on the starve-yourself diet when Dylan and I first met.”
“Oh.” Rus set down his burger; the tension had crept its way back into the conversation.
“But me, being the amazing person I am, helped Kaiden find a better plan,” Dylan added. “Well, mostly I just nagged him.”
“More like he slowly introduced me to people that Jasmine knew—because she knows everyone,” Kaiden clarified.
“She really does.” Dylan grinned. “If networking paid.”
“It does,” Kaiden said matter-of-factly, gesturing to nothing, but clearly pointing out how Jasmine’s whole career revolved around networking and raising funds for queer people in need.
“Well, yeah, I suppose,” Dylan said, picking up a southwest eggroll and drowning it in ranch. “But not officially or anything.”
Kaiden and Dylan started playfully bickering back and forth, and topics of lost days and old acquaintances came up. Suddenly, Rus didn’t understand a word that came out of their mouths. They spoke English, the words themselves registered in Rus’ head, yet no matter how hard he tried, the context eluded him entirely.
“I swear, extraverts have it so easy,” Kaiden said, eyeing Rus, and almost immediately noticing the tension.
Rus didn’t want to appear awkward, but he could feel it on his face, in his reserved pose.
“You all right?”
He enjoyed the conversation, enjoyed seeing more and more layers of Kaiden and Dylan every time they hung out, but with that also came the revelation that they knew each other so much more than he ever would.
“Just sometimes feels like I lose myself around your inside jokes,” Rus said, ignoring the pinch of guilt for being honest. “It’s a good thing you guys have. Clearly, you know everything about each other. I just have to catch up, you know?”
“There’s a million things Dylan doesn’t know about me,” Kaiden said. “Trust me.”
“Oh, yeah?” Rus asked. “Like what?”
