Page 10 of How Not to Date a Griffin

By the time Reid reached the chocolate part of his ice cream, he was trying not to get a fucking hard-on in the middle of the park with this hot, oblivious business guy sitting next to him.

This was going to be a very long night.

And part of him didn’t mind at all.

Nolan

Ice cream had been a terrible idea, in hindsight.

It was impossible to eat politely, and if Nolan looked anything like Reid did, trying to catch the melted drops before they could meet his skin, it was downright indecent.

But he tried not to focus on that. Instead, he eyed the string lights and avoided the gazes of passersby who might glance twice at two grown men eating ice cream cones.

The wafer cone crunched and crackled between his teeth and for a brief moment, it was a flashback to his childhood.

Then finally, blissfully, he was done with his ice cream, and balled up a napkin to dab at a sticky bit on the back of his hand.

Against all odds, with two scoops of the strangest combination to work through, Reid was right behind him, and they chuckled at the loud crunch of his waffle cone.

Nolan checked the time on his watch and deemed it late, but not late enough that he was willing to sacrifice more time with his new…

Well, referring to Reid as a friend after only a few hours together seemed presumptuous, but acquaintance inspired a distant quality that didn’t ring true, either.

“You’ve got something… there,” he said, waving a hand in the general direction of Reid’s face. Reid mimicked his hand with the napkin and tried to swipe at the spot. “No, on your nose, to the right—“

“Here, you do it,” Reid interjected and handed him the napkin.

Their fingers brushed as he passed the napkin, and even though Nolan had straight-up held Reid’s hand not a half hour ago, it made something in him flutter with excitement.

He brushed at the smudge of chocolate on Reid’s hooked nose, and slowly warmed beneath his gaze.

“There you go,” he murmured, and scrunched the napkin up.

“Thanks,” Reid responded, gaze heavy and alight with something Nolan was certain meant he wasn’t ready for this night to end, either. “So. Dinner, dessert. Drinks?”

Nolan failed to keep his smile to himself. “I assume you have a place in mind?”

“Do I ever. Do you like games?”

Please, not sports. “What kind of games?”

Reid stood and offered Nolan his hand, and by god if his cheeks didn’t flush again at just the thought of the casual contact.

He laid his palm in Reid’s and was pulled from the bench in one swift move, and then Reid was leading him through the park, beneath the twinkle lights. They shone gold against his skin, and Nolan let himself stare as it reflected off his burnished blond hair and copper beard.

The man was attractive, yes. But continuing the evening had nothing to do with the small—tiny, even—crush that was developing.

Averting his gaze to the archway of the park, he let Reid pull him through the streets, who seemed uncaring and clearly unaffected by the simple action of holding his hand.

Maybe this was something friends did? There was no reason for Nolan to look so far into it. This was just a chance meeting of strangers who were having a decent night out on the town.

Shamelessly, Nolan realized he much preferred his time spent this way than at some long, suffering dinner where his father complained about the perfectly decent service and snubbed his nose at the delicious food, telling stories of other places he’d been and had better, only to impress the “lesser” men at the table whose approval he sought.

No, Nolan didn’t feel a certain type of way about that group of men. Not at all.

“I can hear you thinking. What’s up?” Reid asked.

Coming back to the present, Nolan glanced at his new companion and winced. “Just thinking… I’ve had much more fun so far than I ever would have had at dinner.”