The Party Boy's Guide to Dating a Geek (Clumsy Cupids) (11 page)

"Jeez. Calm down. I'm here, aren't I?" Carley

put his hand on Ash's forearm and squeezed. "I'm

just annoyed because so far, this guy is a first-class

prick."

"He's just—"

"Shy, I know," Carley finished. "So you've said.

But from everything you've told me, he sounds like

an asshole. And now he's an asshole who's

standing you up."

"He's just running late." Ash took the last

swallow of the beer he'd been nursing for the last

half-hour.

"Did he call to tell you that?"

"No."

"Text it?"

"No," Ash said more forcefully. Carly made his

'poor baby' face and Ash suppressed a growl.

"It's okay. Happens to the best of us at least

once."

Ash checked the time again and dropped the

phone on the table. "It's never happened to me."

Carley patted his arm. "Don't worry. We'll find

you someone better. He'll be sorry he stood you up

when he sees how happy you are. Oh, look at that

fresh meat." Carley's gaze was fixed on a man

standing behind the bar. "I wonder who Demian's

new friend is. Besides dibs!"

Ash chuckled, but he agreed. The man was hot

from what he could see. The wine glasses hanging

from the rack above the bar blocked his view of

his face, but everything else was exactly what

turned Ash on. Dark hair slicked back on the sides

and pushed forward in a tumble of messy curls in

front. A tight, black T-shirt and dark jeans hugging

a long, lean frame. They watched as he ran a finger

under one of his sleeves to try to loosen it.

"Jesus," Ash breathed. "Did he borrow those

clothes from his little brother?"

"If so, thank you!" Carley said with a tip of his

bottle. Demian turned and pointed in their

direction. The man moved to one side to look at

them, and Ash choked on his own saliva.

"Fuck. That's him."

"
Him
him? Your asshole?"

Fee smiled and shook Demian's hand before

walking around the bar and to their table. He

looked so different from what Ash was used to.

His glasses were gone and the baggy jeans and

nerd-centric T-shirt had been replaced by the tight

clothes clearly outlining every muscle on his body.

Clunky boots added a few inches to his already tall

height, and it looked like he was even wearing

eyeliner.

"Sorry I'm late," Fee said, standing at the end of

their table.

Ash was too caught up in Fee's new look to

respond. He'd thought Fee was hot before, but this

was smoking.

Fee stood there not saying anything, shifting his

weight from one foot to the other, until Demian

walked up behind him and set three beers on the

table.

"On the house. Thanks for your help, Fee.

You're a genius."

Fee looked uncomfortable with the praise, but

he nodded. "No problem at all. Glad I was here

early and could help out."

Carley kicked Ash's leg under the table,

breaking the spell that seemed to hold him.

"Help?" Ash asked.

Demian wrapped an arm around Fee's shoulders

and pulled him close. Jealousy flared through Ash.

"Fee was here waiting on you when I came

storming out of the office yelling about that damn

computer again. He offered to take a look, and we

kind of lost track of time while he got me up."

Ash felt a rumbling through his body and was

shocked to realize it was a growl that had come

from him. Everyone looked at him, and he coughed

to cover it. "He got you up?"

"Can I be next?" Carley asked. Ash glared at

him before he looked up at Fee. Fee was blushing

and staring down at his boots.

Demian shook his head. "You perv. Seriously,

Fee. Think about my offer," he said with a pat to

Fee's back before he left.

"Offer?" Ash asked.

"He needs a little IT help. That's all."

I'll bet,
Ash thought.

"So, you're Fee? I'm Carley." Carley stuck his

hand out, and when Fee took it, he pulled Fee

down to sit next to him. He scooted his chair

closer to Fee. "I've heard a lot about you."

Fee nodded and pulled his arms in close to his

body. "Felipe Navarro."

Carley couldn't seem to take a hint, Ash thought.

He leaned in close to Fee, not noticing, or more

likely ignoring, how Fee inched away as Carley

moved in close to him. "What a great name."

"Thanks." Fee took a long drink from one of the

beers.

"So, you work with Ash's brother?"

"Uh, no, not really." Fee took another sip and

Carley started on one of the others.

"Fee works Mari's department," Ash supplied.

"Yes, I work with Marisol," Fee said.

"Who's department?" Carley asked, leaning into

Fee.

"Marisol's?" Fee repeated. Ash saw Carley

shiver when Fee rolled the 'r' in her name. Ash

flicked his leg out to kick Carley under the table,

but Fee jumped instead.

"Sorry. My foot slipped." Ash glared at Carley.

Fee picked at the label on his beer bottle before

taking another sip. "So, do you guys hang out here

often?" he asked nervously.

"All the time," Carley answered. "Just never this

early."

"You get here later?"

"Well, the shop is open until one on Fridays,

and cleanup takes at least an hour, so it's usually

pretty late when I make it here. Carley pretty much

hangs out here all night, though."

"But you managed to get off tonight?"

"He hopes to," Carley said.

Ash nearly sputtered on the sip of beer he had

taken. He shot Carley a look, but Carley just

shrugged.

"I don't work until tomorrow," Ash said. Carley

shook his head and rolled his eyes. Ash looked

around the room to avoid meeting their looks and

saw Demian waving at them from behind the bar.

"I think Demian needs you again."

Fee looked that way and then turned back to

Ash. "Please excuse me for a moment?"

"Sure. We'll be right here," Ash said. Fee

nodded and left, and Carley snorted. "What?" Ash

asked.

"You're off until tomorrow?"

"Well, technically I am."

"Ash."

"Midnight does start a new day. But who cares

about that. What do you think?" He held his breath

while he waited for Carley's verdict.

"He's scorching hot."

"But?"

"But he's different from us."

"That's what's so intriguing about him."

"Just be careful."

"Careful of what?" He didn't think Fee would

hurt him, at least not purposefully. "You see how

nice he is."

"Yeah, he's a sweet, innocent little puppy."

"Maybe I need some sweet and innocent in my

life." Ash shuddered, remembering the last few

jerks he'd let in. Users and losers who saw what

the world had and were pissed it wasn't theirs. Joff

had been an angry drunk, and Theo was just an all-

around jerk with a mean streak. Carley put a hand

over Ash's on top of the table, as if he knew where

Ash's thoughts were going. Ash smiled and Carley

looked back at Fee standing near the bar. He

sighed as Fee bent over to pick a piece of paper up

off the floor.

"Damn."

"Yeah," Ash said. They were laughing when Fee

returned to the table.

"He just had a question. I'm sorry to interrupt

anything." Fee was blushing as he quickly glanced

away.

"What?" Ash asked. Fee nodded at their hands.

"It's not what you think," Ash said, jerking his hand

away.

"Ugh, with him? Please." Carley leaned back in

his chair. "I know way too much about him to go

there."

"What's wrong with me?" Ash asked.

"You're a slob. And you snore."

"I do not snore."

"Yes, you do. That's why Jae moved to Archie's

room after he moved out. He could hear you

through the walls." Ash stared at Carley, his mouth

hanging open. Fee laughed. Carley pulled on Fee's

arm, urging him to sit back down. "That's not even

the worst of it," he said in a conspiratorial

whisper. "He farts in his sleep, too."

"Carley!"

"It's true." Carley held one hand up.

"Sometimes, we have to Febreze the entire

apartment. That's why Jae, he's our other

roommate, why Jae is always feeding him. We

hope if we change his diet he won't gas us out of

the place so much."

Fee laughed and leaned back in his chair. "I had

a roommate in college who ate nothing but cheese

pizza. His were the worst."

"I don't fart." Ash pouted, horrified Carley

would bring something like that up. Fee leaned

forward and put a hand on his arm.

"Hey, we all do it," he said, and Ash smiled at

him. "Except me, of course."

"Jerk." Ash laughed. As mortified as he was by

the topic, he had to admit that it worked to break

the ice. Fee was laughing along with them, and

Carley seemed to defrost a little, too. "And what

about your bad habits?"

"Mine?" Carley put a hand to his chest and

blinked. "I have no bad habits."

"Oh yeah? Then why do I keep tripping over

your shoes on the way to the bathroom? And why

does Jae yell about the dishes you leave in the sink

all the time?"

Carley smoothed a hand over his hair and

sniffed. "Gremlins."

Fee snorted at that. "Mogwai," he said in a

squeaky voice.

Carley giggled. "I love that movie! Gizmo was

so cute."

"So was Zach Galligan," Fee said quietly, as if

he were afraid to admit it out loud. He looked up

and Carley grabbed his arm.

"Oh my God, he so was. All those curls. I just

wanna run my fingers through them. I remember

one night in high school, I dragged my friends over

for a Gremlins/Waxworks marathon. We stayed up

all night watching all four movies until sunrise,"

Carley said. "In retrospect, I don't think the other

guys appreciated him as much as I did."

"Well, at least they had Phoebe Cates." Fee

tipped his bottle.

"All hail Phoebe," Carley said with a laugh. He

and Fee both took a sip from their beers.

"Waxwork, though? How did you manage to find

out about that one?" Fee asked.

"Crazy aunt. She made sure my film education

was well-rounded. She must have had a thousand

DVDs. All from the '80s and '90s. Some of the

weirdest shit you've ever seen. How about you?"

Fee's smile faded. "I wasn't the jock my dad

wanted, so I spent a lot of time in my room with

the web for company."

"Is that what got you interested in computers?"

Ash asked.

Fee shrugged. "Part of it. They're just something

that I picked up easily."

Ash snorted. "Easy for you. I'm a moron."

"Stop that. You're not a moron," Fee said.

"I am compared to you."

"I don't know the first thing about tattoos."

Ash shrugged. "What's there to know? And

what's that got to do with computers?"

"You know art and ink, I know ones and zeros.

Neither of us is stupid. We're just different smart."

Ash and Carley stared at Fee until the music

changed. Fee shifted nervously in his chair.

"Wanna dance?" Ash asked.

Fee's eyes went wide, and he glanced at Carley.

"Uh, sure?" He stood up and Ash grabbed his hand

to drag him to the edge of the dance floor. Fee

looked like a deer trapped in headlights. Ash put

his hands on Fee's hips and pulled him close.

"Just follow my lead."

Fee nodded and started moving. The beat was

fast, and Fee was a better dancer than Ash

expected. He easily kept up with the rhythm, and

they gathered more than a little attention. Three

different guys danced closer and closer, nearly

crowding Ash out. Fee kept his eyes shut, moving

along with the beat, hardly noticing the press of

bodies. Ash did notice, though, especially when

Gil made his way over. Gil stood in front of Fee,

watching him dance. The sparkly pop song

changed to a stronger, thumping bass, and Fee

opened his eyes. Ash saw fear flicker across Fee's

face before he looked down at the floor.

"Excuse me," Fee mumbled as he turned away.

He looked around, obviously searching for their

table.

Ash stepped in front of Fee. "I'm right here."

Fee nodded and his body relaxed. He started