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Ben said nothing to that. He doubted he’d regret not taking a swing at him, but it probably would have been satisfying. He eyed the plate of cookies again, but his run-in with Chris had ruined any appetite he might have had.
“So. Who’s on the menu tonight?” Nova asked in the silence.
Ben huffed a laugh and shrugged. “His name is Chad.”
“Wait. Not that guy from—”
“No,” Ben interrupted in a rush. “Hellno. That was Chaz.”
“Ehh,” Nova said, stroking his chin and making his cheekbones look even more prominent. “I don’t like it.”
“I have a feeling I’m not going to like it either,” Ben admitted. “But I’m here, so I might as well get through it.”
Nova bit his lip, and Ben couldn’t stop staring at the way his teeth dug into the rosy-colored flesh. His stomach swooped, and the feeling got worse when Nova let his lip go and licked it. “Want to come up with a new signal?”
Ben cleared his throat, then said, “How about…‘help, help, my date’s a giant douche’?”
Nova burst into laughter. “Not subtle, but I like it. I think it might be better if I just keep an eye out.”
Ben felt warm all over but also strangely guilty. “You don’t need to keep doing that, you know.”
Nova leaned in a little closer, and Ben had to physically stop himself from mirroring him. “I don’t mind. I like watching over you.”
Fuck. Fuck. Ben had to catch his breath and control himself. There was no way Nova meant that the way Ben wanted him to. “I feel like a bad friend,” he said.
Nova’s smile lit up his face like the sun. “Are we friends?”
Ben flushed. “Customer?”
“I like the first one better,” Nova said, then reached out and curled his fingers around Ben’s shoulder, his thumb absently brushing his neck. “You did save me from imminent death during my brief period without shelter.”
“I doubt you would have died,” Ben muttered.
Nova laughed. “Fine. Frostbite at the very least. I could have lost fingers and toes, and I happen to think I have very nice fingers and toes.”
Ben’s breath left him in a rush, and he felt his cheeks pink. He hadn’t seen Nova’s feet, but the man had gorgeous hands. “That would have been a shame.”
Nova’s grin widened. “You’re sweet.”
Ben couldn’t help but smile back in spite of the feeling that he had an entire kaleidoscope of butterflies living in his stomach. “What can I say? I can be a nice guy.”
“The good kind too,” Nova said with a wink. He pulled his hand away in a slow drag, which had Ben physically keeping himself from letting out a noise of disappointment. “I really like you, Ben. I don’t want to see you suffer.”
“I like you too,” Ben admitted softly.
There was a moment between them—a profound and easy silence that Ben wasn’t used to. It stretched on and on, balancing on the cusp between something and nothing.
Then Ben’s phone buzzed with a text. The spell was broken, and he pulled back, taking his phone out and feeling a small pang of disappointment when he saw it wasn’t his brother on the screen. It was some spam about his extended home warranty—something he didn’t need on his rented apartment.
“I should get out there,” Ben said when he glanced at the time. He was two minutes late, but he was hoping Chad would be later.
“Okay. Just remember,” Nova said, then brushed his nose in a mimic of their first signal.
Ben laughed and copied him. “See you out there?”
“Go get ’em, tiger. And good luck.”
Ben nodded, but as he stepped into the hall and started toward the bar, he realized he wasn’t sure he wanted his luck to be good at all.
