The Party Boy's Guide to Dating a Geek (Clumsy Cupids) (7 page)

bites. "As soon as you accept Jack's proposal."

"Simmer down there, buddy. Let's just see how

this goes first."

"You know you can't resist me," Jack said.

"I hope she can at least resist until I leave. I

came for dinner, not the show."

Jack leaned over to kiss Mari. "Well, we better

get to dessert so you can take off then."

"You guys mind if I just bug out now? Maybe I

can come back Saturday."

"Uh-huh," Mari said.

"What?" Ash attempted to look as innocent as he

could.

"Don't even try to play me, kid."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Like you didn't hear me on the phone when you

came in."

"I may have overheard something about a cake

and some kind of charge." Ash knew he was

busted, but he wouldn't admit it easily.

"Nice try," Mari said. "You know we're having

a party for Fee this Saturday."

"Oh, there's a party?"

"Weren't you leaving?" Jack asked.

"But if there's a party, I'd be happy to help out."

"You were thinking that if you could crash his

birthday party, Fee would have to listen to you,"

Mari said.

"Well, I may owe Fee an apology."

Mari snorted. "That's an understatement."

"Look, I know I screwed up. I wanted to say I'm

sorry to the group, but I couldn't. I just had to get

out of there by the end. I've never been so

embarrassed in my life."

"You kind of brought it on yourself," Mari said.

Ash sighed. "You're right. But I really would

like to apologize to him."

"Why don't you try sending the apology through

the blog?" Jack suggested.

"No." Ash shuddered. The idea of Donovan

intercepting another one of his messages made his

skin crawl. "I think it needs to be done in person."

"I'll pass your message along," Mari said, taking

the empty plates into the kitchen as Jack steered

Ash toward the front of the apartment.

"Come on, Jack. Help a brother out a little?"

"Good night, Ash. Thanks for stopping by." Jack

pushed him out the door.

"Wow. What's with the sudden rush?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to bug out tonight?"

Jack glanced over his shoulder.

Ash held up his hands. "I get it. I'm leaving.

Have fun."

"Ash."

"Seriously, bro. Have fun."

Jack grabbed Ash's arm as he turned. "Saturday

afternoon, at our pool. Say around three?"

Ash hugged Jack. "Thanks. You're the bestest

brother I've ever had."

"I'm the only brother you've ever had, you goof."

"Then the odds were in your favor. Give Mari a

kiss for me." Ash bounced down the stairs to the

bus stop, but his mind had already fast-forwarded

a week ahead.

3.2

"Earth to Ash. You in there?" Ty asked over his

drink at Deli's Wednesday night.

"Hmmm?"

"I asked how many tats have you done?"

"About thirty?"

"Jesus, Ash. I thought you had more in your book

already."

"I've been busy," Ash said.

"At this rate, it's going to take five years to get

our place."

"I'll work on it, all right?"

"You need to get more done, Ash. We can't even

think about getting a shop until you're more

experienced."

"I heard you, okay? I promise I'll work on it."

Ash looked around the bar and then stood up. "I

need a refill. How about you?"

"I'm good."

Ash danced his way to the bar, moving with the

music DJ D-Kay was spinning. One of the regulars

grabbed his hips and pulled Ash close as he tried

to pass.

"Hey, Ash. Been a while," he whispered as he

ground his cock against Ash's ass. He started

walking toward the bathrooms, pushing Ash ahead

of him.

"Not tonight, Gil," Ash said.

"Come on, it's been so long." Gil tightened his

hands on Ash's hips and took another step toward

the back of the club. "Just a quickie?"

Ash stopped short and pushed Gil's hands off.

He turned around to look Gil in the eyes. "I said

no."

"What gives? You've never turned a good time

down before."

"Well, there's always a first time for

everything." Ash pushed his way through the

crowd and went back to the table.

"Where's your refill?" Ty asked.

"I didn't feel like having one after all." Ty

leaned over to put the back of his hand against

Ash's forehead, and Ash smacked it away. "What

are you doing?"

"You must be sick if you're stopping at three."

"Jeez. Is that really what you think of me?" Ash

asked under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. You know what? You're right. I'm

going home."

"Let me take you," Ty said as he pulled out his

keys.

"No, I'm good. See you tomorrow."

"Okay, Ash. Get better."

Ash stuffed his hands into his pockets and

walked back to his apartment. Carley was out at

dinner with a vendor and it was still early enough

for Jae to be cleaning up after the dinner shift at the

restaurant. He snuck into the apartment, just to

make sure no one was home, and went straight to

his bedroom.

His mind was reeling as he collapsed on the

bed. He stuffed a pillow under his head and rested

a hand on his filling cock, not really intending to

rub one out, just enjoying the pressure as he

thought about the night's events. Ty's ribbing him

about his drinking, questioning Ash's dedication to

their plan, Gil's advances. Was he really that bad?

Did everyone think he was nothing but a

superficial party boy? If that was true, he would

have taken Gil up on his offer, he'd still be at the

club drinking the night away.

He could still feel Gil's hands squeezing his

hips, pulling him close, trailing a hot path along his

groin, even after he stripped and showered. Gil

had been right; he'd never turned a sure thing away.

He'd enjoyed casual fuck-buddy hookups in Deli's

bathroom more than once. Gil was always good

for a quick rub 'n' tug in the stalls, and the man sure

knew how to use his hands.

Ash's cock started to respond to the thought of

the way Gil jerked him off. But something just

didn't feel right about it. Gil was always hot and

ready, and Ash wasn't exactly a virgin, but the

memory didn't affect him the way it might have in

the past. Now, if it had been Fee's hands on Ash's

groin, Fee's body covering his back, urging him to

a secluded corner, that would have been a different

story. Ash would have led the way and plowed

over anyone in their path.

Just the idea of Fee pressing against him in the

dark made Ash's cock twitch. He rubbed it,

imagining Fee's hands, the soft palms hot against

his dick, the calloused fingers wrapped around his

shaft. His dick hardened under his hand, straining

against the fabric of his Superman briefs. Ash

glanced at the door to make sure he'd closed it.

Then he slipped the material down his legs and

kicked it off the end of the bed. He planted one

foot on the mattress and reached down to cup his

balls. His erection rubbed against his wrist as he

toyed with himself, brushing a finger over his hole.

He pictured Fee's face as he wrapped his free

hand around his hard cock. Precum dribbled out

his slit, easing the way for his fist as he pumped

hard. He pulled in long strokes, up, cupping the

head, twisting the foreskin over it, then pulling

back down to the root. He spit on his hand and

worked around his hole a little more and

considered digging out the lube and plug from the

bottom drawer of his nightstand, but he'd worked

up to the perfect rhythm: stroke, twist, pull,

imagining how it would feel to do this if Fee were

there, watching from across the room.

Ash's fist traveled up and down his cock faster,

letting the fantasy take over, thinking about Fee.

Dark eyes blown wide with lust, his breath

increasing as Ash got closer to the edge. He tried

to slow down, but he was too close. His balls

tightened under his hand, and he came, spilling

over his fist and crying Fee's name. He kept

pumping and imagined Fee leaning over him. The

hairs on the side of his neck stood up and a chill

shot down his spine, making him shudder and

break out in goose bumps. His body jerked and his

back arched as he gave himself a few more tugs.

"Fee," he whispered as he rolled over and

wiped his hand on the far side of his sheet before

he settled on his back.

3.3

"What do you think of this?" Ash held a shirt up

to his neck.

"Seriously, Ash. You can't crash his birthday

party," Carley said.

"I'm just visiting my brother. What's wrong with

that? How about this one?"

"Other than stalking the poor man?"

"I'm not stalking him." Ash pulled a pair of

shorts out of the dresser and held them up. He put

them against his waist and turned toward Carley.

"You've emailed him, harassed his coworkers,

and forced your way into his hobby. Does any of

this seem out of line to you?"

Ash looked at Carley. "I just asked Mari about

him. I wanted to check on his hand. And apologize

for crashing his meeting."

"You keep telling yourself that." Carley crossed

his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow.

"Wait till you meet him."

"After what happened at his meeting? He sounds

like an asshole."

"It was mostly that Donovan guy, not him. And I

did kind of try to bullshit my way through it."

"And you said he acted like he wasn't interested.

So why not just drop it?"

Ash looked at his reflection and shook his head.

"I don't know, but there's something about him."

"There's something about the all the guys you

hook up with. And God, no, not those." Carley

pulled the shorts out of Ash's hand.

"Why not?"

"Because you're not going to his party," Carley

said, holding the shorts away from Ash's reach. He

turned back to the closet and started rifling through

Ash's clothes.

"Carley—"

"Try this on."

"What?" Ash looked at the shirt Carley was

holding out. He had a pair of jeans in his other

hand.

Carley sighed. "Look, you're going to visit your

brother, not going to Fee's party. If you show up in

shorts, you might as well take a present."

"A present!" Ash said. "Do you think I should go

get one?" He had been going back and forth about

picking something up all week.

"No, Ash. Jeez, one would think you'd be better

at subtlety." Carley selected a white belt from the

cluster on top of the dresser. "If you show up in

shorts bearing gifts, you might as well abandon

your cover story now." He held the belt out. Ash

took it with a smile.

"Thanks, Carley."

"Yeah, well, we'll see."

Ash changed into the outfit Carley picked and

held his arms out for inspection.

Carley made a few adjustments to the shirt and

picked at a seam before nodding his approval. "I

still think this is a bad idea, but break a leg."

Ash gave him a hug. "Have a great day," he said

as he left the apartment.

His palms were sweating by the time he got to

Jack's place. He stopped outside the gate to the

courtyard and took a couple of deep breaths. "You

can do this, Ash. He's just another guy." He pushed

the door open and looked around.

There weren't many people by the pool. A few

guys Ash didn't recognize pushed each other

around in one end of the water and Mari sat at a

table talking to an older woman. Ash felt a stab of

disappointment when he didn't see Fee or Jack

anywhere, but a splash to his left caught his

attention. He turned and nearly forgot to breathe

when Fee stood up in the shallow water. Fee's hair

covered his eyes and his arms flexed as he reached

up to push it off his face. Streams of water ran

down his neck and chest. Ash had to snap his

mouth shut to keep his tongue in it. Otherwise, it

may have tried to escape his body on its own and

lick every bit of water off Fee. Ash couldn't take