“What do you think?”
“It’s good,” Jason said as he handed the cup back to Abe. “I’ll try it that way next time.”
Abe nodded and took the mug. “Did you have a nice Christmas?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Uh-huh. I went to Utah for a few days. Saw my family. It was nice.” Abe ran his finger around the rim of his cup and then looked up at Jason from underneath his lashes. “So this is weird, right?”
“No,” Jason replied too quickly. When Abe arched his eyebrows, Jason sighed. “Maybe a little.”
“I can go.”
For a second, Jason considered agreeing. He didn’t need a new friend and he could find sex easily without awkward conversations or frequent trips to coffee shops. But then he remembered what his cousin Asher had said about coming home to someone who was thrilled to see him, and he felt a pang of longing for the same thing. Jason not only wanted someone to feel that way about him, he ached with the need to feel the same in return. And the man across the table was the only person who had ever captured his attention long enough to make him want a repeat, let alone a threepeat.
“No, don’t go.” He reached out and grasped Abe’s forearm. “I know I’m not good at this, but I don’t want you to leave.”
“This?”
“Conversation,” Jason clarified.
Grinning, Abe said, “You definitely have an easier time talking when the clothes come off. I’ll give you that.”
The memory of Abe’s lithe body bared of clothing slammed into Jason’s brain. His belly tightened and his cock filled.
“Wow.” Abe coughed and then cleared his throat. “I’ve heard the phrase ‘undressing someone with your eyes’ but I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen it happen until just now.”
“Sorry.” Jason shrugged unapologetically. “You’re hot naked.”
“I should probably be offended, but I’m too busy being flattered.” Abe paused. “And you’re hot naked too.” His forehead creased. “That was a really strange round of compliments.”
Jason chuckled. “Yes, it was, but thank you.”
“So, you need help making conversation. Let’s see….” Abe drew in a deep breath. “We’ve gone over the best way to order chai and our respective naked hotness, so I think the only thing left to talk about now is CrossFit.”
“What?”
“CrossFit. It’s the big exercise thing everybody’s doing. You haven’t heard of it?”
“No. But the people I talk to about exercise don’t normally give me those types of details.” Those people were patients, but Jason didn’t yet feel ready to give Abe specific biographical information about himself. There were only so many cardiothoracic surgeons in town, and his occupation combined with his first name and age were enough for Abe to learn a lot more about him.
“That’s because they don’t do CrossFit,” Abe said. “If they did, they’d tell you all about it before they said a single other thing, including hello or their name. It’s one of the requirements in their membership contract.”
“Really?”
“Seems that way,” Abe said with a shrug. “So, no CrossFit. Um, okay, I have another conversation idea.” He leaned forward and smiled broadly. “I’ll ask a question, and you answer superfast without thinking about what you’re going to say. Like, gut responses. Then you do the same to me. Sound good?”
It sounded ridiculous, but Jason didn’t have any better ideas, and he liked how Abe’s eyes sparkled when he got excited, so he said, “Yes. Sure.”
“Cool.” Abe pursed his lips in thought. “Three things you enjoy. Go!”
“Uh….”
“No thinking!” he exclaimed.
“I don’t know. I, uh—”
“Gut reaction!”
“Fucking, college basketball, and cold pizza,” Jason replied hurriedly. He froze after the words popped out of his mouth, surprised by what he’d said. It was true, but not exactly the kind of information he threw out there. Except he had.
Abe was silent for few moments, then he blinked, cleared his throat, and said, “What’s your favorite team?”
“Duke.”
Abe nodded. “And you like your pizza cold?”
Apparently they were moving forward with the conversation. Okay. “I like it hot too, but, yeah, I like it cold better. I always order extra so I can put it in the fridge for the next day.”
“I see.” Abe nodded again. “So, uh, do you have plans tonight?”
“No.” Jason shook his head.
“Neither do I.” Abe glanced down, bit his lip, and then looked up again. “Want to come over and do that first thing you enjoy?”
“Yes,” Jason said in relief, and then, worried he had taken a misstep in his goal of getting to know Abe, he added, “I mean, we can talk some more if you want to.”
“God, no.” Abe shook his head and stood up. “I think we need a break from that. It was exhausting.” He smiled, letting Jason know he wasn’t upset. “But it’s early, so we can try again between rounds.”
The turn of events was unexpected but welcome. Very welcome. So Jason quickly rose and followed Abe out of the coffee shop. It seemed he was a better conversationalist than he had realized. Or a worse one. Didn’t matter. Either way, he was getting laid.