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“For fuck’s sake. One of those fancy Korean cheesy corn dogs, I’m guessing?”
Victor laughed again. “At a hot dog cart in Paris.”
Slapping a hand over his face, Oliver shook his head. “Paris. Right. And they use ketchup on their hot dogs?”
“Spicy mustard,” Victor said softly. Oliver dropped his hand when he felt a light touch against his wrist, and he looked down to see Victor waiting, tentative and hesitant. Oliver shifted closer and pressed against Victor’s palm, and long, powerful fingers tangled with his. “It was served in a baguette.”
“Of course it was,” Oliver said, rolling his eyes with a grin. “A baguette.”
Victor met his gaze steadily. “It was very delicious.”
“Oh. I’m sure it was.” Oliver shifted his legs wide and gently tugged on Victor until he was standing between them. He was playing with fire, but he no longer gave a single shit if he got burned. He ran a touch up Victor’s leg, setting his hand behind his thigh, and gripped.
Hard.
Victor let out a sharp breath.
“Remind me, pretty boy, to show you the finer points of the American version. And while we’re at it, the best gas station burritos in the city.”
Victor looked down at him, his eyes shaded with his own sunglasses, but he was biting his lower lip. “Oliver…”
“Mr. Bennett?”
Oliver jumped and released Victor, who took a few stuttered steps away. They both turned and saw a man who looked to be about Oliver’s age. He was tall and muscular, with long, dark curls pulled into a bun at the nape of his neck, and his tan extended well below the collar of his polo.
He was very good-looking, and Oliver didn’t miss the way his gaze lingered on Victor as he stuck out his hand. “I’m Pierson Meyers. It’s good to meet you.”
Victor nodded, then cleared his throat. “It’s nice to meet you too. This is Oliver.” There was a beat of hesitation that felt like it carried on forever. “My date.”
Oliver’s heart thumped too hard in his chest as he jumped to his feet and offered his hand. Pierson took it and gave Oliver an appraising look, but there was no judgment in his gaze. Or resentment. And his handshake was strong, but it also seemed oddly kind.
“It’s nice to meet you, Oliver. We don’t do this very often, so this is pretty exciting.”
“You mean to tell me that absurdly rich guys don’t usually buy the head marine biologist’s time to impress his date?” Victor asked.
Oliver almost choked on his own tongue, and for his part, Pierson just laughed softly and shook his head.
“It’s a first for me. But Casey told me that when you two were talking, you had a pretty strong appreciation for marine life,” Pierson said.
Victor’s smile turned a little shy, and he squeezed his fingers around his cane handle like it was a nervous habit. “Something like that. If you saw all my elementary school interviews about what I wanted to be when I grew up, they all had something to do with the sea. Though when I was six, I think I said I wanted to be a whale.”
Pierson laughed, his gaze fond enough that Oliver felt an irrational pulse of jealousy, but then he said, “My fiancé was the one who introduced me to my love of biology—and somehow, he’s in accounting, and I’m here.”
Victor laughed and held his hand out, and it took Oliver way too long to realize he was offering it to him. He took it, their palms slotting together like they belonged that way, and Oliver swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat.
“What about you?” Pierson asked.
Oliver shrugged when he became aware Pierson was talking to him. “History. Ancient history is kind of my specialty.”
Victor’s brows lifted a little, but he said nothing as Pierson grinned. “I’ve always been a history hobbyist. Ask me anything about the trireme and I could go on for hours.”
Oliver’s grin widened. “Pierson, my darling, don’t even get me started. We’ll never leave the parking lot.”
Victor squeezed his hand tight enough it stung, and Oliver glanced up at him to see tension in his face.
If Pierson noticed, he said nothing. Instead, he beckoned them toward the ramp. “Fair enough. Let’s get going. They’re getting ready to start the penguin feeding in about ten minutes, and I thought it might be a good place to step in.”
He walked faster than them—likely because he didn’t realize Victor moved slower—so Oliver took the opportunity to lean toward Victor’s ear. “Did I do something?”
