Page 8 of How Not to Date a Griffin

“We’re not too far from the park. Wanna take a walk?”

“Sounds lovely,” Nolan agreed, and motioned with the hand holding the jacket for him to lead the way.

Reid pointed ahead and walked alongside Nolan as the cars passed, splashing them with light and casting their shadows along the concrete, side by side.

“So I have to ask. Bubblegum and chocolate?” Nolan asked, and Reid could hear the doubt in his voice.

“Hey, don’t knock it til you try it, Mr. Vanilla. Who gets vanilla?” Reid teased.

Nolan lifted his hands in innocence. “There was too much to choose from – vanilla is easy.”

Rolling his eyes, Reid scoffed. “Everyone knows what vanilla tastes like. You could’ve picked the ribbon one, with the caramel and dark chocolate mixed in. The best of all three worlds.”

“I could have. But what if I didn’t like it?”

“Trust me, you can’t go wrong with anything in there.”

“Fine, fine. Next time, maybe,” Nolan acquiesced.

Next time? Reid’s heart did a little flip at the idea of it.

Next time.

The iron gates of the park entrance came into view, and this area did have the twinkle lights and fancy lamp posts reminiscent of the hoity-toity district he’d flown Nolan to.

“This is one of the nicer parks in the area,” he explained. “Perfect for eating ice cream on a gross summer night.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” Nolan said. Except his sleeves were still rolled up, and he kept shuffling the suit jacket from arm to arm when it got too hot against his skin.

“Maybe after, we can find somewhere with air conditioning,” Reid suggested haltingly. As if he expected Nolan to end their night, to decide he’d spent enough time with the lowbrow griffin taking him to shops that had seen better years, maybe even decades.

But the smile Nolan sent him was the complete opposite, as if he was… excited about the prospect of spending more time together.

Reid refrained from narrowing his eyes. Could this be a…?

Surely not.

He’d know if it was a date.

No. Nope, this was just two strangers, casually spending the evening together, getting pizza and ice cream and… sitting under the romantic string lights of the park.

Reid studied Nolan for a moment. Was this a date?

No. They’d just met, barely knew each other. So what if they were doing date activities? Didn’t necessarily mean it was a date. They were just strangers turned friends. Yeah.

And for all Reid knew, Nolan could be straight.

Did straight just-friends hold hands for blocks at a time?

Oh, give it a rest.

Reid had been burned by his fair share of straight guys, and knew better than to read too much into any kind of interaction. But how couldn’t he?

“So, you like plain cheese pizza and vanilla ice cream. What other daring things am I gonna learn about you tonight?” Reid asked, unable to bear the silence and his thoughts any longer.

Nolan chuckled, and—

Reid’s brain white-screened as a dollop of melted ice cream landed on the back of Nolan’s hand. He didn’t even pause as he tilted his hand slightly and licked it off, tongue extending to let the creamy drop stain it before he swallowed, throat working as his hand returned to the upright position.