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It was just as well, but he didn’t have a lot of hope for the rest of the dates Aaron had set up. If anything good came out of them, it would come from sheer luck, not from any work his brother had put in. Childhood conditioning told him he should be grateful his brother cared enough to do this.
Life and experience told him that he didn’t have to thank his brother for putting him through this on the heels of recovering from the pain of his past relationship now that he was able to recognize it had always been toxic.
Love was not enough, he told himself. It applied to Taylor once, but he had to let it apply to his family too.
With a breath, Ben stood at the window in his office that overlooked the courtyard, and then he tapped the middle light on his chanukiah. It made a soft, satisfying clicking sound as it lit up. He moved his finger to the left and hit the first light in the row, then the second. The blessing left his lips in a whispered rush just to get it over with.
The ache in his sternum was back, but it was accompanied by a deeper stress from the night before. He felt like tonight couldn’t get much worse than Chaz, but what if it did? Could he keep relying on the kind bartender to get him out of it? Nova was going to think there was something wrong with him if it happened again.
The merry-go-round of unanswered questions was enough to give him a migraine, and the pounding in his temples followed him outside in his still-flimsy coat. He tucked his scarf tighter around his neck as he started along the path toward his car, and he was picking up speed when he heard his name on the edge of the stiff winter wind.
“Ben! Hold up!”
It definitely wasn’t the sound of a student, but the voice was familiar, so he slowed his pace and turned. His heart ticked up a few notches when he recognized the dark curls, even with Nova’s face half covered by his own chunky knitted scarf. He was half running toward Ben, and he had a dark bundle in his hands.
“I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t return this,” Nova said, gasping for air as he shoved the coat at Ben. “I saw what you were wearing last night, and I didn’t want you to freeze to death.” He gave an exaggerated shudder, but Ben knew the guy must have been chilled to the bone himself.
With a small laugh, Ben took it, then jerked his head toward the parking lot. “Wanna warm up in my car?”
“Oh, hell yeah. I’m on foot, and I feel like I’m dying,” Nova said.
“It’s below freezing!” Ben gave him a scathing look as he got his car unlocked, and he turned on the engine the second Nova was in and the door was shut. “Why are you walking?”
“Lent my car to my sister,” Nova said. “I’m going to take the bus to work.”
“You could ride with me,” Ben suggested, sighing as the air began to warm. “I’m heading there right now.”
Nova gave him a quick up-and-down look as he pulled the scarf from the lower half of his face. The thing was very badly done and very clearly homemade. “Another date? Not with that same jackass, right?”
Ben winced, which made Nova laugh. “Luckily, no. My brother set me up on blind dates this week as his gift to me.”
“How many?”
“Eight,” Ben said from behind a heavy groan. “Tonight’s number two.”
Nova offered him a look of sympathy. “Make sure you’re seated by the bar again. I’ll keep an eye out since apparently you can’t remember our code.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t going to signal you. I—wait. Did you hear everything he said to me?”
Nova’s face fell as he nodded. “He wasn’t exactly keeping his voice down.”
Dropping his head against the wheel, Ben squeezed his eyes shut in mortification. “I can’t show my face there again.”
“If it’s any consolation, no one remembers you. After you took off, he got wasted, ate three plates of wings, then when my front-of-house manager tried to ask him to leave, he threatened to piss in the ice bin. He finished the night by puking on the mat outside the front doors. One of his friends came to pick him up and saved us from calling the cops.”
“Are you serious?” Ben asked, rolling his head to the side so he could look at Nova.
“I wish I could make shit up like that,” Nova said wistfully. “It would make my life choices a lot smarter than actively trying to run a business where people pull this crap.”
Ben laughed softly and finally sat up. “Thank you. Seriously, thank you. That was the worst date I’ve ever been on.”
“Might not want to test the universe,” Nova warned. “The week’s just getting started. Who’s on the agenda tonight?”
Ben dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone, opening the app. He stared at the guy in the photo—attractive, just like Chaz, but Ben couldn’t really get a read on the thumbnail of his face. “His name is Mark.”
“Hmm. I know a couple Marks,” Nova said in a tone that was not very promising. “Anything special about this Mark?”
“Film student,” Ben said, scrolling through his bio. “Oh. Graduated. He’s done six indie films. Three awards I’ve never heard of, and…” Ben hummed. “He’s five foot eleven and a half.”
