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I was glad he wanted it to go well but worried about how anxious he was.
“I will tell you exactly what I mean.” Shifting my gaze between the two guys, I aimed for serious and relaxed, so neither of them would question what I said. “Right now, I am saying that I’m enjoying our date and I like hearing what’s on Gareth’s mind. I will make sure you know if any of that changes.”
Eventually, it might get frustrating if I never learned about Gareth, but for the time being, it was fine and I liked the peek into his head.
“Now, Gareth.” Focusing my attention on him earned me a sigh from the slightly dramatic sub. “Are you having a hard time figuring out what to pick for dinner?”
His nod seemed to have a cascading effect because Cashel started to do it too without much thought.
“Alright, we can handle this.” Not a problem.
Turning to Cashel, I nodded toward Gareth’s menu. “What do you think Gareth should have for dinner?”
He didn’t even have to think about it. “He wanted a burger earlier but we didn’t have the right stuff to make it for lunch and the schedule said we were supposed to be eating spaghetti.”
So schedules were important?
Got it.
“I think that sounds good. Bacon, barbecue, or traditional?” It only took seconds for Cashel to explain what condiments should go on Gareth’s traditional burger and it felt like they were both relieved to have gotten over that hurdle.
“Gareth, what should Cashel get for dinner?” Yep, it was definitely the right way to go because he didn’t even have to look down at the menu to answer.
“He wanted a salad too but his last date said salads were for, well, something rude that Brady’s mom would wash my mouth out with soap for saying, so I’m not going to say it, but he’d like the steak salad too and onion rings.” Once the flood of words stopped, he seemed to deflate like stress had been the only thing holding him upright. “Dating is a lot easier when I don’t have to think about me and Cash can do it.”
He seemed slightly confused by that as he turned to Cashel. “Why didn’t we think of this earlier?”
Adorable.
And so focused on making sure Brady was happy they’d forgotten to worry about themselves…or maybe it was just easier than trying to work out what they wanted out of a relationship?
“I don’t know.” Cash didn’t seem entirely honest as he answered the question but I didn’t call him out on it, and I did my best not to react when he shot me a quick glance. It was clearly anare you going to tell on melook, but I just pretended not to notice.
“It’s working now, that’s what matters at the moment.” Then, giving Gareth a cheeky grin, I looked over toward the games on the other side of the large building. “And in a few minutes, the only thing that will matter is how many points we can get.”
He seemed delighted with that plan and started chattering away about what he wanted to play and what he thought Brady would think of the whole thing. After a bit, I could feel Cashel’s stress growing again.
Gareth seemed to unconsciously notice it because he kept sending smiles toward Cashel but that wasn’t really helping. So when he turned toward the games and started plotting again, I reached under the small table and rested my hand on Cashel’s thigh.
He went completely still and suddenly seemed to have more interesting things to focus on rather than getting worried about Gareth’s delightful chatter.
It took several long seconds where I kept my hand completely still and continued talking to Gareth before Cashel relaxed again. But once he did, I slowly moved my fingers, barely caressing the sexy, stressed-out man.
It was obvious that he wanted the date to go well, but I couldn’t tell if it was because of his own desires or Gareth’s. They were so entwined that they seemed to be always focused on the other and not what they wanted.
Having our date together for the first time had definitely been a good idea, but it left me wondering what I should do going forward…and that led to a lot of other interesting questions about firsts. But I knew they could wait until we’d gotten to know each other more and Gareth had figured out how he felt about spankings.
Fearful or fascinated.
It seemed to be a toss-up at the moment, and I thought that was one of the reasons he found it so easy to talk about Brady. That cutie was a safe topic that he knew inside and out and didn’t have to worry about since I already knew Brady was little and interesting.
He probably could’ve gone on all night but our barely-managing-not-to-smile waiter was a wonderful distraction when he came back to get our order. To say he found us funny would’ve been an understatement, but after sending him away three times earlier, I couldn’t blame him.
“Great. I’ll get this in and bring you guys more drinks.” He gave me a wink as he shook his head, obviously grasping the dynamics, and it made me wonder if I’d seen him at any BDSM events in the area.
But before I could get distracted down that mental rabbit hole, I thanked him and focused on my dates. “Alright, with that all set, I’m going to be nosy.”
Rubbing my hands together like an evil villain got a grin from both of them, which I thought was a good change of pace. “What are your favorite desserts?”
