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He thought about canceling or postponing their "late lunch"—or, as he called it, their "not-date"—but it was a way to escape the monotonous routine of his life, and he couldn't back out now.
Besides, what would he do for the rest of the day? Dust his clean shelves? Wash his clean dishes? Mop his clean floor? Maybe dust some nonexistent spiderwebs from corners?
“To hell with this.” Tido grabbed his keys and walked out, making sure to lock his door behind him. When he glanced across the street, his shoulders sagged.
Kenji’s SUV wasn’t in the driveway. So much for getting out of the house sooner. Disappointment stuck in his gut as he took a seat on his porch. The gentle breeze felt good as he watched some kids a few houses down play in their yard.
Then he whipped out his phone. “I think I’m making a mistake,” he said before Drake could say a word. “I told myself I wasn’t going to go out with Kenji, yet I agreed to a date. Now I’ve been trying to stay busy until six, when we’re supposed to go to dinner, but I made it clear we could only be friends. I’m a freaking mess.”
“Take a few deep breaths.”
“Dad?” Tido frowned, pulled his phone away, and groaned when he realized who he’d called. His father’s and Drake’s phone numbers were right next to each other, and he must’ve hit his dad’s number by mistake. He winced. “I meant to call Drake.”
His father chuckled. “I kind of figured you didn’t mean to call me.”
“How so?”
“You’ve never called me for dating advice. You usually call your mom for that.”
True. But since he had his dad on the phone, fuck it. “So what should I do?”
“Do you like the boy?”
Tido groaned. “Dad, I’m twenty-six. I don’t date boys.”
“Do you like the guy?”
“Well, yeah, but he’s only in town to visit a friend. He’s not staying, so I shouldn’t go out with him, right?”
“How did I get your mom to stay with me when I was going off to college and she thought we should break up?”
“You want me to get Kenji pregnant?”
His dad sputtered, and it sounded as if he’d dropped the phone. A second later he said, “You show them that they’re the most important person in the world to you, son.”
“But I don’t even know him. We talked for a total of ten minutes. I don’t even know if he’s worth chasing.” Kenji was worth sleeping with, though. If the guy really was going to leave, why not have a memorable night? It wasn’t like Tido would get another shot at someone who looked like Kenji.
“You calling for advice tells me you’re very interested in him.”
“I called you by mistake,” Tido reminded him.
“But you reached out, to Drake, for advice, Tido. The chemistry is there. Why not give this a shot?”
“Where’s Mom?”
“You don’t need to talk to her,” his dad huffed. “I give damn good advice. I’ve been married for twenty-nine years. I know a thing or two about relationships. I have no idea why you’ve never come to me before now.”
He opened his mouth to remind his father once more that he hadn’t called him, that it had been a mistake, but Tido didn’t want to crush his dad’s feelings, even though he was totally calling Drake after this.
“I’ll consider your advice, Dad.”
“If you’d come to me before dating Alan, I could have told you what a weasel he was. A man doesn’t wait for his mom to die to get her house.”
How many goddamn people knew about that? “I have to go. I have to get ready.”
“It’s three in the afternoon,” his dad said. “How long does it take you to get ready for a date? A shower, a clean shirt, dab on some cologne, and you’re ready.”
This coming from a guy who owned the entire catalog of flannel shirts. “More great advice. I’m gonna call you later, okay? Bye.”
