Page 78 of Love Limits

Zhong drew. Ash drew again. They finally looked up. It’s a second date.

Zhong felt himself pulling back a bit in surprise. Really? How had they not even heard about the first date? This was terrifying. He thought he’d have a lot more time.

Ash blushed. Yeah. I met a guy named Josh and he seems really nice. It was just coffee, but he’s a Daddy and he’s into puppy play, too. So, um, I guess we’re going to have another date.

Zhong willed his face not to show what he was thinking. He should be happy for Ash. This was exactly what they wanted.

What Zhong wanted was someone to play Ticket to Ride with him and eat the dinner he made and snuggle on the couch. Ash would probably still do that with him sometimes even if they had a new partner, right?

Maybe Zhong should hint at the poly question. It was one of the biggest ones that he hadn’t answered.

No, that didn’t make sense. It would depend on the other person. Ash should figure out if they were interested in someone else, and then Zhong would figure out a way to fit in.

Zhong took a moment to draw some more trains, then fixed a smile on his face. That’s exciting! So, is this the end of the Disastrous Dating Club?

Ash chuckled. Don’t get ahead of yourself. He could still be totally boring or pick his nose or something. This dating thing is a long game.

Well, there was that at least. Sounds exhausting. When he’d finally met Mick from the ace group, he’d known in an instant that they wouldn’t get along and stopped going. But he still hadn’t contacted anyone from that website thingie. He hadn’t even looked at it. Maybe he should.

It was just hard to find the motivation when Ash was around and Dustin was finally starting to have time for him again.

Seriously, Ash continued. I still have to talk with him about my body. And he hasn’t really figured out how to talk to someone who speech reads. He mentioned that he’d be willing to learn to sign, but we’ll see. Ash took their turn, making yet another loop.

I still can’t believe you date hearing people. They’d had this conversation before, but it was nice going over familiar ground.

Yeah, it’s a pain. But I’ll take two out of three. I mean, if my partner is comfortable with my Deafness, it seems only fair that I should be comfortable with their hearing.

Zhong wasn’t convinced. ASL was always the thing that Ash was willing to let go, even though he talked about how much he wanted a Deaf Caregiver.

And if Ash wanted two out of three… Zhong was Deaf. And he had no problem with Ash’s gender identity. He felt like he hadn’t messed up the age play scene too much. Ash sure seemed relaxed and happy, so that had to be pretty close to two-thirds, right?

You sure you don’t want to hold out for a Deaf Caregiver? He knew it was selfish to say.

Ash took a long time taking their turn before they answered. Which was weird because Ticket to Ride really didn’t give you a ton of playing choices. Eventually Ash drew a Destination card.

When they finally looked up, they had this earnest look on their face. If there was a Deaf Daddy who wanted me, I would be very interested. It looked like they were trying to say something else, but what?

The only Deaf Daddies in their area were apparently Dustin and this guy Ash had met at a munch over the winter who had his own boy now. Zhong was only a pretend part-time Daddy. He only did it because it made Ash happy.

Zhong took his turn. He’d missed an opportunity to claim a loop last time because he wasn’t paying attention and now Ash had taken the short path that he needed. He claimed the route anyway, still playing automatically.

Ash claimed Chicago to Omaha, waving their hands in victory.

Zhong had to smile, seeing them so exuberant. Why couldn’t everything just stay like this?

So this guy seems pretty good? He finally asked. If this was going to be like Dustin’s relationships, he should probably meet the man. Get used to him. Landon had turned out to be pretty cool. Zhong loved it when the four of them hung out together, which was so much better than any of Dustin’s exes.

Yeah. Ash perked up, but they still seemed hesitant.

What do you like about him?

Ash drew a couple more cards, considering. I mean, I don’t know him that well. He has a nice smile. He’s a doctor but he didn’t say anything derogatory about me being a nurse.

Really? That happened? What type of bullshit was that? That seems like a pretty low bar.

He invited me for a playdate next week. He says he has a playroom at his house. Ash looked wistful.

Are you going to talk with him about your body next week then?