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Had he ever worked this hard to get a date with a guy? That wasn’t a brag. It was a legit question. Not that Kenji dated a lot. When you were over three hundred years old, dating kind of lost its thrill. Back in his small town, he’d been seeing a guy named Maceson, but Kenji had known things weren’t going anywhere between them.
That was another reason he’d bounced. Maceson was the epitome of pretentious and self-absorbed, but he’d also become too clingy. To the point that he would get jealous if he saw Kenji talking to another guy. Simply talking to them. No flirting involved.
Another reason was the fact that Kenji needed a break from the backstabbing and constant bickering of the pack, particularly Kramer’s bullshit.
Kramer was his alpha. Kenji couldn’t even with Kramer. How the spoiled asshole, who couldn’t lead a thirsty dog to water, had become alpha was beyond him. Sure, the guy was good-looking and was charming enough to have some pack members follow him around like puppies, but Kramer wasn’t leader material.
No, that wasn’t right. Kenji knew how Kramer had gotten the position. His daddy. Luther would do anything to make sure his son stayed in power, even stoop to threats and bullying. There were loyalists who would happily do Luther’s bidding if anyone in the pack voiced any displeasure at how Kramer was running things.
Kenji had gotten out of there before he’d shoved his fist down Kramer’s throat. Was it possible to choke and die from someone else’s arrogance?
He was seriously considering making Midnight Falls his home. What did he have to go back to? Not a damn thing.
God, how Kenji missed the days when Ajax ruled their pack. But after Ajax’s father died, Kenji’s friend had lost his passion for leading. He had also lost his confidence, and that was when things started to unravel. Ajax had been a good alpha, one who genuinely had the pack's best interests at heart, and Kenji had been proud to be his beta. But without Ajax at the helm, the pack had fallen into chaos, and Kenji just couldn’t handle it anymore.
At least Ajax was now doing something he loved.
“Okay. We can do dinner.” Tido waggled a finger at Kenji. “But just as friends. No more animal documentary narratives.”
Kenji laughed. “And here I thought I’d hit that out of the park.”
“You did,” Tido said. “Except for the part where I was stalking you.”
“I never said you were stalking me!” Kenji loved how Tido was starting to open up a bit more and getting over the frostiness from earlier.
“Anyway, how about the dinner around six?” Tido asked. “I have some things I have to take care of before then.”
Kenji was pumped now. “Six it is. I’ll pick you up.”
“I live across the street,” Tido said with half a laugh.
“A gentleman always—”
“If you say, ‘picks up his date,’ then I’m cancelling our plans. This is not a date.”
Kenji made the motion of zipping his lips as he pulled into Tido’s driveway. “See you at six,” he said as Tido quickly jumped out of his SUV and ran to the front door like Kenji would try to follow him inside.
What on earth had Tido been through to make him act this way? Kenji had no idea, but hopefully he would find out.
* * * *
Sweet hell. What had Tido been thinking? He should have declined dinner and gotten as far away from Kenji as possible. Now he was looking forward to seeing the guy again.
Tido had also lied about having things to do. He never had anything to do unless he was hanging out with his friends or doing some grocery shopping.
That was why he’d called Alan. Unless one of Tido’s friends was with him, life was boring as fuck. The kind of boring where you thought watching drying paint was excitement. One time, he’d kicked over a potted plant in his house just so he could clean up the mess.
“Why exactly was I swearing off men?” Tido racked his brain but couldn’t remember. All he could think about was Kenji and their dinner plans.
He’d showered right before Alan had dropped by unexpectantly, so Tido didn’t have to do that. He was already dressed. So now he was bored. He tried to find something on television, but nothing interested him. He went into the kitchen hoping he’d forgotten to wash a dish, but the sink was empty. The trash had been taken out last night. He’d dusted yesterday.
Finally, Tido gave up.
It was only two in the afternoon, but maybe he and Kenji could have a late lunch or an early dinner, like they were seventy and trying to catch some early-bird special. Tido didn’t care. He just wanted to get out of the house.
And it was Kenji who wanted to take Tido out, so Tido showing up four hours before their not-date shouldn’t be a problem. If anything, he could tell Kenji that the things he’d had to do had been wrapped up early.
As Tido stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, he felt an odd sense of excitement mixed with trepidation. It was the kind of feeling you get when you're about to go on a blind date or, in his case, a casual dinner with a person who could become a friend.
