Jerk

She shakes her head. “I’ll see you tomorrow then. Be safe.” And off she goes, seeing herself out.

After taking a breath and coaching myself to play it cool, I slowly approach the front desk. Danny spots me right away, gives me a cheery smile, then seems to finish up rather quickly with his phone call, hanging up. “Romeo! How was your workout?”

I’m totally loving how attentive and smart he looks in his tight polo today. “It’s really more like a therapy session with my music playlist than an actual workout,” I admit.

“You’d be surprised how many people use the gym as a solo therapy session.”

“But it was great anyway. Cleared my head. Helped me get past my … strange Sunday.”

“Strange Sunday?” Danny folds his arms on the counter and leans forward, curious.

Well, I just kicked that door wide open, now didn’t I? “I went on a movie date with a guy.”

His eyes light up. “Oh! That’s awesome!” Then he squints and pushes at his glasses. “Hmm. I’m gathering from your tone that it didn’t go well …?”

“It turns out he … had some special interests I couldn’t quite fulfill. He wanted me to talk down to him and rough him around. Dom stuff, I guess. Also wanted me to call him my little bitch and kept asking me to be meaner to him. He even wanted me to spit on his face while he rubbed my feet.”

“Wow, that sounds … less than boring.”

“So I guess I wasn’t the guy he was looking for. And he agreed after the movie, told me he thought I ‘wasn’t assertive enough’. He needed—and I quote—a ‘real, cocky, badass douchebag to own the shit out of him’. He didn’t mention that part in his dating profile. Or else I clearly overlooked it.” I shrug. “I hope he finds his Prince Charming … or in this case, his Prince Douche. Either way, it’s not me.” I lean in and bring down my voice. “He, um, also wanted to blow me right there in the theater, but—”

“Wait. Really??”

“I wasn’t about to take advantage of the poor guy. Especially since I knew by that point that I wasn’t what he wanted. It just isn’t right, you know what I mean?”

A smile touches his eyes. “That’s rather noble of you.”

I lift an eyebrow. “It is?”

“Yeah. It really is. Most of the guys I know would’ve gone for the easy lay, no matter what. Or let him blow them, just to get sucked off.” He wags a finger teasingly at me. “I knew there was something special about you, Romeo. You don’t play around with guys’ hearts. You’re one of the nice ones.”

The nice ones. “I am?”

“Of course you are.” He smacks me on the arm and laughs. “Don’t act like it’s such a huge surprise. You know you have a good heart. It’s obvious.”

Would it still be so obvious if he knew how badly I lusted for him? If he knew what I really thought of his boyfriend Joey? If he knew that I’d leap at any chance to be close to him, even if it was wrong?

“Thank you, Danny.”

He also leans forward on the counter, bringing our faces close. “I’m just saying the truth. Though I’m also sorry the date didn’t turn out well in the end. Don’t be discouraged.”

I gaze into Danny’s sweet eyes. “Hey, at least I got a free foot rub out of it.”

He chuckles. I love the way he laughs. “And so your bad luck streak continues.”

I smile appreciatively. I love that he remembers little details of our conversations like that. “The bad luck streak continues, indeed.”

Just then, a loud bang of a weight dropping startles me. I turn to find two gorgeous, muscled men at the bench press, one of them spotting the other. At first I just assume they’re a pair of friends, until the one on the bench gets up and gives the other a kiss on the lips. They smile, slap each other’s backs, then go for another set.

I sigh wistfully, watching them. “I guess I just gotta hold out for … something like that to drop into my lap.”

“Looks can be deceiving, you know.”

I turn back to Danny to find him frowning, gazing at them, too. “What do you mean?”

“Not everyone is as happy as they look on the outside. Not every ‘perfect’ thing you see is … perfect.”

My lips part. Is he about to tell me how unhappy he is? Is this the moment of truth?

“And the more you romanticize guys like that,” he goes on, “the more you forget that they are human beings, too. They get moody. They get needy. They throw tantrums, or smell weird, or have annoying habits.”

Does Joey smell weird? Does Joey have annoying habits? “I guess you’re right.”

“Maybe.” He smiles as his eyes return to mine. “I just think everyone’s always chasing this idea of a ‘perfect guy’, like they have any idea what he actually looks like or who he is. But who really knows what will make us truly, lastingly happy?” Danny shakes his head and shrugs. “It isn’t always what we think. Or who we think.”