The Party Boy's Guide to Dating a Geek (Clumsy Cupids) (28 page)

Carley dropped his arms from Ash's waist and

shrugged. "Yeah, just for a little while. I have an

early meeting tomorrow, and you know Jae will be

tired when he gets home. He put in another double

today."

"That sucks. I feel like we barely see him

anymore."

"Yeah." Carley frowned. "Well, hopefully,

they'll hire someone soon. I don't know why they're

being so slow about it. That line cook quit over a

month ago."

"Just being cheap probably. You know Jae has

to cover whenever someone gets sick or goes on

vacation or whatever. As far as I know, they never

pay him any overtime when he works those crazy

hours. He's getting robbed."

Carley sighed. "Cheap bastards."

"Yep." Ash would have said more about Jae's

bosses, but the apartment buzzer rang then, setting

off a nervous fluttering in his belly. He tugged

down his waistcoat and smoothed his jacket with

trembling hands. Why he was suddenly so anxious

he had no idea. Ash supposed he just wanted Fee

to think he looked good, wanted to see Fee's jaw

drop and appreciation light those brown eyes, to

know Fee yearned as strongly as he did.

Sometimes with Fee it was hard to tell.

Carley grinned at him. "I'll get it. That way you

can make your grand entrance."

He left the room before Ash could say anything.

Ash smiled to himself and shook his head. Carley

could be a little over the top at times, but Ash

loved him. After Ty, Carley was his closest and

oldest friend. Ash wasn't sure what he would do

without the two of them, even if things had been a

little strained with Ty lately.

Ash heard the door open and Carley's breathless

"oh, my God," and Fee's "Happy Halloween" in

response. Then nothing but dead silence.

He left the bedroom, growing more puzzled by

the second. It was rare for Carley to be struck

speechless, but that was apparently what had

happened. Carley stood there gaping at Fee. Fee

was blushing and shifting his weight from one foot

to another. Ash couldn't blame his friend for

staring, though. Fee looked … incredible.

The outfit he wore wasn't too different from

Ash's in style. The jacket was dark gray instead of

black, the waistcoat beneath the same color but

with a subtle pattern Ash couldn't decipher (he

thought maybe he could see wheels and gears like

the inside of a clock). Fee's gloves were the same

dark gray, as were his pants, though they also had a

faint, white pinstripe. He had goggles hanging from

his neck, a pocket watch attached to the third

button of his waistcoat, and he was holding a

black, steel-tipped cane. Instead of a normal

handle or knob, the hand rest had been designed to

look like a clockwork revolver of some type. The

barrel glowed blue, and Ash spared a brief

moment to wonder if it would actually shoot, but

then his mind went back to how
holy-God-

amazing
Fee looked.

Ash had known the sight of Fee in a suit would

probably be something to fuel his fantasies for

years. As it turned out, he'd underestimated. Maybe

the rest of his
life
would have been more accurate.

His fingers almost cramped as he resisted the

urge to grab Fee and drag him off to the bedroom

caveman-style. Ash wanted to strip Fee down and

explore every inch of skin he revealed with his

tongue and teeth, and if he could judge by the way

Fee was looking at him, the feeling was mutual.

"Oh, God," Ash forced out. "We should … we

should go before …"

"Yeah," Fee said.

"Yeah," Carley echoed, still wide-eyed and

breathless.

It was Carley's contribution that finally broke

the tension. Both Ash and Fee laughed, and then

Carley joined in, his expression somewhat

abashed.

"Okay," he said, shooing them toward the door.

"You guys go. Have fun. Try not to break any

hearts."

Ash grinned. "No heart breaking tonight," he

joked. "Promise." He turned to the door, but Fee

reached out to stop him.

"Wait. Before we go, I brought you a little gift."

The fluttering in Ash's belly intensified. "Oh,

yeah?"

Fee nodded and peeled one of his gloves off so

he could reach into his pants' pocket. He withdrew

a small linen bag and handed it to Ash. "I didn't

know if you'd have any accessories. I thought you

might like this."

Ash opened the bag to find a soft, black leather

wrist cuff. There was a metal plate attached to the

front by four small hooks and engraved with the

words, "Not all who wander are lost."

"I love it," Ash whispered, tracing the letters

with a fingertip. "Thank you so much."

"What does it mean?" Carley asked from beside

him, reminding Ash that his friend was still there.

"It's from one of the poems in
Lord of the

Rings
," Fee answered. "It's about Aragorn."

Carley's expression went dreamy. "Mmm,

Viggo."

Fee laughed. "Yes, him."

Ash smiled up at him and extended his arm. "Put

it on me?"

"Of course." Fee took the cuff from his hand,

wrapped it around Ash's wrist, and buttoned it on

the second set of rivets so it fit snugly. His fingers

lingered on Ash's skin. "It looks good," he said.

Ash curled a hand around Fee's nape and drew

him down for a brief, hard kiss. "It looks
great
."

12.3

The party was different from what Ash had been

expecting. He'd thought it would be something like

the conventions he'd seen—cardboard props and

lots of nerds dressed up in cheesy cosplay—but

steampunk fans apparently took their costumes

very seriously. He saw accessories and outfits so

extravagant he couldn't even begin to guess what

they might have cost.

Ash had to admit, it was impressive overall. He

wasn't crazy about the music, but the club was

awesome, and with everyone dressed up, it almost

felt like they'd been transported into another

world.

He was having fun, mingling with the people

Fee knew, drinking, dancing. He and Fee could

barely keep their hands off each other. Ash

constantly had to be touching him, even if it was

something as casual as his fingertips in the small of

Fee's back, and Fee seemed to feel the same way.

He'd occasionally link his arm around Ash's waist

to draw him close and nuzzle at his neck. Ash

broke out into goose bumps
every
time.

Ash was hopeful about where the night might

lead—especially if things continued as they had

been. Fee's little touches and kisses were keeping

him constantly on edge, but he didn't doubt that Fee

had every intention of delivering on all those

unspoken promises later. He was looking forward

to it more and more as the evening progressed.

And then Donovan showed up.

Fee didn't look surprised to see him, which

annoyed Ash a little. He would have appreciated

some warning so maybe he could have made sure

they were gone before Donovan arrived. At that

point, all Ash could do was hope Donovan

wouldn't linger, but after a while, it was clear that

if Donovan had a plan, it didn't include leaving

Fee's side.

Ash could grudgingly admit that Donovan

looked good. His outfit was more sky pirate than

dapper gentleman like Ash and Fee, a bit more

rakish, and he had guns holstered on his hips. The

brown leather worked for him. Under different

circumstances, if they'd been friends, Ash might

have told him so. But right then, he just wanted

Donovan gone.

Too bad it wasn't meant to be. Wherever they

went, Donovan trailed behind them. Whenever they

tried to talk, Donovan interrupted. The stories

always started the same way—
"Oh, yeah, that

reminds me of when Fee and I …"
—and then went

on for a good twenty or thirty minutes.

By the fourth such occurrence, Ash was about

ready to snap. It turned out he didn't have to. When

Donovan did it again, irritation flashed across

Fee's face. The time after that, Fee cut him off

midway. "Donovan, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," Donovan said, shooting Ash a

triumphant look.

Ash's fists clenched. Fee put a hand on Ash's

arm and squeezed a little. "We'll be right back."

Ash nodded, jaw tight, but he really had no

intention of staying behind. If Donovan tried to pull

something on Fee once they were alone, Ash

wanted to be there to see how Fee handled it.

Maybe he should have felt bad about it, but

Donovan had been causing him grief from the very

beginning. No matter how much Ash might have

trusted Fee, he didn't trust Donovan worth a damn.

He gave them a bit of a head start, and then

followed as Fee led Donovan to the coat check

area, which was dim and deserted. Ash watched as

they disappeared around the corner before moving

close enough to overhear what was being said. He

leaned back against the wall and tried to look

inconspicuous. It was hard when his guts were

churning. Ash wasn't sure what he would do if

Donovan confessed and Fee returned his feelings.

Die from humiliation, probably.

"—with you tonight?" That was Fee's voice.

Donovan's responding sigh was so loud and

long, Ash heard it clearly even above the pounding

music. "Fee, I have to ask … what are you doing

with him? He is
nothing
like us. What do you guys

even talk about?"

"Well, it's really none of your business, but Ash

and I find plenty to talk about. And why does it

matter to you why I'm seeing him?"

Donovan sighed again. "Really? You don't

know? You and me, Fee.
We
should be together. It

wasn't long ago when you were asking
me
out. I

thought at first you just wanted a little something

from him, and that was whatever. But you're

dating
him now? Building a website for him? Has

it occurred to you he might be using you just for

that?"

"Donovan …" Fee trailed off for a moment. "I

volunteered to make that site for him. Ash never

asked. He would never ask."

Ash wanted to cheer at the fact that Fee would

defend him. At the same time, it made him feel a

little guilty for spying. He shifted uncomfortably

and considered whether or not he should walk

away.

"But how do you—" Donovan started, but Fee

interrupted.

"You know, I tried to give you the benefit of the

doubt. When the site disappeared from the RTFS

server, Ash thought you might have deleted it on

purpose, seeing it was for him. I defended you. I

mean, why would you? But you did delete it.

Didn’t you?"

Donovan was quiet for a few seconds. "I did,"

he finally admitted. "I'm sorry. I know it was

wrong." Ash wanted to look then, to see Fee's face,

but he didn't dare.

"Look, Don. I did ask you out once, but you

were smart to say no. It was probably the best

thing for our friendship."

"Don't say that. I care about you, Fee. A lot. I

can't think of a better basis for a relationship than

friendship."

Ash's stomach twisted. He took a step away,

unsure he wanted to hear Fee's response to that, but

he couldn't force his feet to go any farther. He had

to know.

"But that's the thing," Fee said. "I care about

you, too. I do. Just not like that. What happened

before was me mistaking my feelings. Some

friendships aren't meant to cross that line."

"Come on, Fee. I
know
you. Way better than he

does. I really think we could have something if you

gave it a chance."

Ash managed to get his legs moving then. He

didn't have to stick around to know what Fee was

going to say. In fact, looking into himself, he

realized he'd never actually doubted how Fee

would respond to Donovan. It was his jealousy

that had compelled him to spy, and now he