Imposter in Zebra-striped Briefs (8 page)

“Sorry,” David mumbled under his breath as he tried handing the bottle back to Nathan without making eye contact. “God, I really am bad at this. I have no idea how this works. I just want to do things for you.”

Nathan tilted his head to the side as he contemplated what David was talking about. It took Nathan a second to figure out why he thought it would bother him, then figured some guys would probably find it emasculating to have someone act like they couldn’t even carry a bottle of wine. But Nathan thought it was sweet. It made him purr inside to have someone bigger and in control. It made him feel cared for, like he could relax and just be himself. Nathan was blown away that this perfect specimen of man was apologizing for doing something nice for him.

“It’s fine. Thank you,” Nathan said, and knocked on the door.

“Hey, glad you could make it,” Josh said as he opened the door.

Josh had on a nice pair of dark jeans with a studded belt, and a black shirt, and his feet were bare. Nathan couldn’t help but notice what a nice pair of feet he had. He froze momentarily, remembering the foot fetish video Josh had sent him. He was definitely into feet. Not in a fetishy way, though. He didn’t want to do dirty things to them. He just thought they were an attractive part of a man, and Josh’s were nice. He wondered what David’s feet looked like. Maybe he did have a creepy foot fetish.

“Hey, my eyes are up here, tiger,” Josh said jokingly, pointing to his eyes, and Nathan reddened at Josh’s teasing.

David grabbed Nathan’s hand and moved closer to his side. Nathan wasn’t sure what was going on, but it seemed like David puffed up a little, handing Josh the bottle of wine. This was so weird. It reminded him of the paper he’d written on the mating habits of wolves in the third grade, where they would pee in a circle around their mate to ward off other suitors. That couldn’t be what was going on, could it? Was David metaphorically peeing on him? As usual Nathan wished he were better at reading people.

The apartment was already alive with energy. Light music was playing in the background. An older lady with big, puffy blonde hair, who Nathan assumed was Brandon’s mom, was in the kitchen cooking with Brandon, and a variety of folks he had met at the bachelor party were mingling in the living room and at the kitchen bar.

Josh smiled at them both. “You guys want a glass of wine or a soda or something?”

“Uh, sure. Wine sounds good,” Nathan said, thinking wine had to taste better than beer.

“I’m fine, thanks,” David said, still sounding marginally irritated, which made Josh chuckle for some reason.

“Well, I think you know everyone here except Brandon’s mom.” Josh led them over to the kitchen bar and they took a seat. “Dotty, this is our neighbor Nathan and his date, David.”

David pulled his hand away like he was embarrassed at being called out as Nathan’s date. Nathan’s earlier excitement about being peed on withered.

“Well, hello, shugahs. It sure is nice to get to meet all of my baby’s friends.” Dotty leaned into Brandon, who was cutting tomatoes, and gave him a kiss on the head.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Nathan asked Dotty.

“Please, you are our guest, honey. You just relax and have a good time,” she said. Brandon winked at Nathan from behind her in an “I told you so” way.

“Momma, you’re using olive oil, not butter on this, right?” Brandon asked, stirring the pasta.

“Of course, honey.” She rolled her eyes at Nathan and David, making them both laugh and making Brandon scowl at her.

“
Momma!
Come on. You know butter is bad for you.”

“Oh, says who? The folks selling you their fancy oil?”

“No, Momma. The American Heart Association.”

“Is he giving you a hard time, Dotty?” Josh asked, walking in and putting his arms around Brandon from behind.

Nathan felt a moment of envy, seeing the look of happiness on Dotty’s face as Josh kissed Brandon on his cheek.

“Y’all are just the cutest couple. I’m so glad my boy met you, Joshua. And don’t you worry. He just frets over his momma.”

Nathan was glad to see Josh was getting along better with his mother-in-law.

“All right, dinner is ready.” Brandon handed a large bowl of pasta to Josh to set on the table. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”

Nathan and David moved to the table with the other guests. The food looked so good. It was a Southern feast for sure. A large serving plate filled with the best-looking fried chicken Nathan had ever seen sat in the middle of the table, surrounded by different salads, pastas, corn on the cob, and bread.

Nathan’s stomach suddenly growled. Thankfully no one noticed because Brandon clinked his glass with his fork.

“I would like to make a toast.” Brandon sounded like he was getting a little choked up. “I never really thought I would actually be here with my family and friends, about to get married to the most amazing person I have ever met. I hoped, but never in a million years did I think I would find someone I love as much as this man.” He grabbed Josh’s hand. “Thank you all so much for being a part of this with us. I wish each and every one of you the happiness I have found.” The sound of glasses clinking echoed through the room, along with the approvals of everyone around the table. “Hear, hear.”

“Cheers.”

Nathan warmed, feeling David’s hand touch his leg under the table. It wasn’t in a sexual way. It was more of a curious touch, like he was unsure what Nathan’s reaction would be. It had his insides purring once again.

As everyone ate they discussed Saturday’s wedding plans. When dinner started winding down, Brandon served an amazing apple crumble with vanilla ice cream. And everyone sat around talking.

“I’m glad my boys have friends like all of you around if I can’t be,” Dotty said, sniffling into her napkin.

“Ah, Momma.” Brandon got up and gave his mom a hug from behind her chair and kissed her on the cheek. “My wedding is going to mean so much more to me, having you here.”

“Thank you, shugah. Your daddy would be so proud of you.” Sympathetic looks showed around the table at the emotion that haunted Brandon’s face. “Now we should let you two get some sleep. You have a big weekend ahead of you,” his mom said, getting up from the table and starting to grab plates.

“Yeah, thank you for dinner,” David said, pushing his chair back and helping clear the table.

When everything was cleared and washed so there was no mess left for the happy couple, David grabbed Nathan’s hand.

“I really have to get going.”

“I’ll walk you out.”

“How about I walk you to your door?” David asked.

Nathan couldn’t even respond. His mind was frantically working, wondering if he should ask David in.

“Thanks for sticking around and helping clean, guys,” Josh said as he walked them to the door.

“See you tomorrow,” Nathan said as Josh closed the door behind them.

They made the five steps across the hall in seconds. Nathan turned around at the door, facing David.

“Do you really have to go?” he asked, sounding marginally desperate and insecure.

“I guess I could come in for a minute, maybe tuck you in,” David said, leaning in and softly kissing Nathan’s lips.

It took an hour until David felt Nathan was sufficiently tucked in.

Chapter 14

In the closet
(Nathan)

FRIDAY MORNING
Nathan sat at his desk trying to focus on the research he needed to do in preparation for their next round of tests. He couldn’t stop wondering if it would be weird for him to leave work early and surprise David at his woodshop. David had stopped by unannounced yesterday, so maybe it was okay. Maybe he would just “happen” to be in the neighborhood. Yeah, that wasn’t a bad idea.

Nathan grabbed his coat and caught the twelve o’clock bus to Freemont before he could talk himself out of it. He might need to eventually get a car, but for now he was adjusting pretty well to public transportation. Better than he thought he would, anyway. He was getting pretty good at not letting his anxiety stop him from doing things lately.

The bus let him off a few blocks up from David’s shop. He got nervous the closer he was to the building. What if David got mad he was there? Maybe they weren’t even open. Maybe Nathan had assumed too much again. Or maybe David would walk up and kiss him like he did last night. The possibility of that happening was too enticing for Nathan to turn around and go back.

Nathan finally saw the big sign out in front of David’s shop. It hung above the front door: Handmade Home. Under that was a list of the store’s items, then
handmade furniture using reclaimed wood
, followed by
woodworking classes available
.

He was impressed David offered classes.

As he approached the building, he saw it used to be a garage of some kind, but the roller-door panels had been swapped out for glass, and one door was rolled up. A showroom of all kinds of amazing handmade furniture took up the right side of the store, while the left side was obviously where the classes and woodworking took place.

Nathan felt a sense of pride wash over him. He could not believe he was dating someone who could make all of this beautifully intricate furniture. At least he thought they were dating. Maybe he should ask David. Nathan wasn’t sure if you asked people things like that.

Inside Nathan saw a few people browsing through the display room. He hadn’t seen David yet. As he wondered farther back, he smiled, hearing David talking with someone; that is until he heard what David was saying.

“I told you I’m not dating anyone. Now get off it.”

His stomach dropped at David’s words. He guessed he didn’t have to ask now. Nathan stood frozen to the spot, wishing he could disappear, not wanting to hear anymore.

“Oh, come on, something’s going on. You usually don’t do anything but work and go home, yet you’ve been out twice this week, and now you’re canceling on the Sounders game tomorrow because you have ‘plans.’ Come on, spill. Who is she?”

“I told you it was no one special. Now go away.”

“No way, dude. Something is up. Is your mystery girl not giving it up? Is that why you’re acting all freaking grumpy and weird? My friend Ashley who you hooked up with at my graduation party is back in town, and stopped by last night hoping to see you. She left her number. She’s absolutely a sure thing.”

“Yeah, fine, I’ll give her a call,” David said, sounding like he was done having the conversation.

Nathan felt like he was going to be sick. He tried to quietly make his way out of the store, but he tripped over a push broom that was leaning up against the shop wall and fell, knocking it down, managing to attract everyone’s attention.

David and the guy he was talking to turned in Nathan’s direction. Time passed slowly as Nathan stood up.

“Um, can I help you?” David said, looking as nauseous as Nathan felt but trying to act like he had never seen Nathan before in his life.

Nathan felt the humiliation wash over him as he realized he was nothing to David but an embarrassment. That was nothing new in his life. He just hadn’t expected it. He had hoped maybe this was real.

Nathan cleared his throat before responding. “Sorry, um, I’m in the wrong store,” he said before turning and leaving as fast as he could out of the building.

Luckily by the time he got to the bus stop, a bus was pulling up. He didn’t even care where it was going. He hopped on, went to the back, and sat down. After a few minutes, he took his phone out and texted Josh.

I went by David’s work today to surprise him.

Ding….
Oh buddy, tell me you didn’t
, Josh responded.

How do you know it didn’t go well?

Ding.…
Not my first straight boy rodeo. Sorry, Nathan.

I thought he really did like me. Maybe I’m just not likeable.

Ding….
Stop it. I think he does like you, but he’s got his own shit he’s going to have to deal with before he figures that out. Where are you?

On a bus to somewhere. Not sure. I got on the first one I saw.

Ding….
Understandable, but not the best long-term plan. Get back here. Come over when you’re home. We can watch movies and drink lots of beer.

I think I need to be alone, but thank you.
He could barely get the text out before his eyes started to water.

By the time Nathan got home, it was dark out. He let himself into the building, hoping he wouldn’t see Josh since his eyes were red and swollen. He heard something up ahead as he walked toward his apartment door. He looked up at who he could only assume were “the gamers” coming down the hallway toward him in full costume. It really was like seeing a mythical creature. The girl was exquisite, her fiery-red hair shaved on one side like a fierce goddess, and at least a foot taller than the minion next to her. The costumes were like something out of a movie. Nathan was almost afraid to make eye contact as they went by him, but she acknowledged his presence with a lift of her chin and a husky-voiced “’Sup” as they passed.

That’s how Josh found him, standing stunned in the hallway, looking at the front entrance.

“Whatcha doing?” Josh asked slowly from his apartment door.

“I think I just saw a unicorn.”

“Do you need to come in?” Josh asked, sounding concerned, probably thinking Nathan was so distraught he was hallucinating.

“No, I’m good. Just want to go to bed.” Nathan went into his apartment, closing the door without saying anything further.

Nathan heard his phone as he crawled into bed.

I’m sorry
was all the text from David’s number said.

Nathan wiped the moisture from his eyes with the back of his hand angrily before burying his head into the pillow, wishing he had never met David.

Chapter 15

Trip to the store

“YOU’RE COMING
with me,” Nathan heard Josh say beside his blanket cocoon.

“What? How did you get in here?” Nathan pulled his covers off his head sleepily, not sure exactly what time he finally fell asleep last night.