“I’m just getting out of the shower.” I wrapped a towel around my waist and put on deodorant. Danny came into my room with a coffee in each hand.

“Got your caramel latte with an extra shot.”

“Oh my God. You’re the best.”

He kissed my cheek, then sat on the bed. I took a drink and moaned because coffee was life. I went to my dresser and grabbed a pair of boxer trunks, pulling them on under my towel as we chatted about the aquarium and how much better he felt after having been sick…which holy fuck, I’d forgotten about. I was losing my shit.

A few minutes later, we were out of my apartment and taking MARTA to the aquarium. “Are you excited to see all your little fishies?” he teased.

“Be nice to me. You know I love them. I wish I had the money to get a big salt-water tank.”

“I know you do. You’ll get one eventually.” This was nice, hanging out like we always had. I’d always felt comfortable with Danny, like I could just be.

“Thank you. I’m glad you called. I really did miss you.”

“I missed you too, hermano. I know it hasn’t been that long, but I need my Eli time.” He dropped his head against my shoulder and rested it there.

“I need my Danny time too. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” He sat up, looked at me, and scrunched his nose up like it was a silly question.

We came to our stop and got out. It was a quick walk across the park and around the water fountain toward the aquarium, and then Danny was paying and we were going inside.

“I wonder what they have that’s new,” I said, eager to spend this time with him. I wondered if Shaw liked the aquarium or ever came here, a thought that had totally come out of nowhere.

“What’s that? You frowned.”

“Nothing.” I shook my head.

We explored the aquarium together, took our time at all the tanks. My favorite thing was that Danny never rushed me, even though we’d seen some of the sights over and over. We petted the sharks and watched the seahorses. I rambled, and he listened. Danny really was the best kind of friend.

About two hours later, we were exiting the aquarium. He motioned toward the tables in front of a lemonade stand. The Coca Cola Factory and the Center for Civil and Human Rights were across from us, with a grassy area in between.

I told him I’d grab us drinks, and he nodded. Once I was back, I sat across from him as he set his phone on the table.

“What have you been up to?” I asked.

“Nothing exciting. I was sick, then working. I hung out with Garrett one night.”

I groaned. Because of course he went out with Garrett.

“You don’t seem to like him very much,” Danny said.

“You don’t seem to like Shaw either,” I countered, when really, I had no reason to. Shaw and I weren’t hooking up like Danny and Garrett, and we also weren’t pretending to be seeing each other anymore.

“That’s because you and I know of him, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

I rolled my eyes. “Shaw isn’t going to hurt me.” I didn’t like Shaw that way because he drove me crazy, and he would never want to settle down anyway. “Are you and Garrett still…?”

“Hooking up?” He smiled. “Sometimes, yeah, but it’s not serious or exclusive, which I know you disapprove of.”

“For me,” I told him, then conceded. “And maybe it annoys me about other people too.”

Danny laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

It was hard being different that way. Obviously, I knew there were gay men my age in Atlanta who wanted something more, but I felt outnumbered. “Are you still…whatever you were with him before?”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “It was just a thing. I like having sex with him and hanging out with him.”

I waited for that familiar feeling to hit me…the want, the heart-eyes-cartoon feeling. Waited for my pulse to speed up, and to wish Danny wanted something with me, but it wasn’t there. It was stalling or some shit, and I couldn’t make sense of it. Why wasn’t I acting like a lovesick fool? Why wasn’t I creating Danny and Eli love stories in my head?

“He’s not an asshole like you seem to think he is,” Danny added. “But I think it was the chase, like we said. I’m over it. Are you and Shaw still hanging out?”

I shook the confusing questions from my head. “Yeah. We’re just friends, though. It’s not anything. It might have seemed like it, or maybe I made it seem like it, but yeah, just friends.” And the F word hadn’t even gotten stuck in my throat once. Go me.

“I still think he’s kind of a dick. It felt like he was trying to mark his territory or some shit. You make sure he knows I’m your best friend and not going anywhere.” Danny winked, playfully, and oh my God, why wasn’t I swooning? What in the hell was wrong with me?

Tags: Riley Hart Stumbling into Love Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net