Three Strikes Ch. 08

He glanced over and nodded for me to continue.

"Contrary to the evidence before you, I'm not a total slut. I don't hook up very often and before you, I've never in my life not used a condom. I don't know what the heck I was thinking, but that was not normal for me."

I noticed I was using my hands too much. A nervous habit that helps me help drive my point home. I quickly put them back on my lap. I didn't wanna seem desperate or like I might be trying too hard to convince him of my innocence.

"Anyway, I needed you to know...you know, that I'm not totally irresponsible, and yeah, it was stupid..."

I trailed off, not exactly sure what else to say because I'd basically made the point I'd set out to make.

"Yeah, me, too. Before you, I've never had sex without a condom, either. It was...different," Shane admitted.

I skeptically looked at him. Different wasn't the word I would've used to describe how it felt about it. There were a lot of words that could've been used, but I don't know how I felt about different being one of them. I raised my brow.

"Different?"

He lightly strummed his fingers on the steering wheel, nothing obsessive, but enough for me to take notice of his...nervousness?

"Well, yeah, different. Good different. Really good different."

He glanced at me to check my reaction in case he'd gone too far, which he hadn't. I smiled at his adorableness and decided to ease his worries.

"Yeah, really good."

"Yeah," he said, too casually.

He smiled and relaxed. He wasn't lying when he said it was really good, in fact, thinking about that night and how impossibly close we were had caused a slight situation in my pants, which I ignored.

I wanted to make sure we were on the same page so I sternly pointed my finger at him.

"But it won't happen again."

"Of course not. It was stupid," he responded immediately, but without much conviction and maybe even a little disappointment, although I doubt he'd ever admit it.

"So stupid," I reiterated, to myself.

The more I'd thought about how amazing the sex was, the weaker my conviction became. Maybe my conviction was directly related to my dick; the stronger one became, the weaker the other one became. That was definitely the contributing factor I told myself. It would also explain the reason I went YOLO in the first place.

There was an awkward presence in the air, directly caused by the fact both of us were sporting partials. I'm sure we were both disappointed that sex, without a condom, was off of the table. I couldn't help but beat myself up for not enjoying it as much as I could've when I had the chance.

We didn't have time to dwell as we pulled into the clinic parking lot. Any way you rolled the dice, getting your blood drawn with the person you had unprotected sex with, the same person you might be at the beginning stages of dating, was awkward. Certain things that were better left to the imagination.

That was why, on the way to lunch, we'd decided we weren't going to be people who spent their date recited every known fact to each other. If we wanted to know what the other person's favorite color was, then we'd have to pay attention.

I think there was an unwritten competition to keep things as vague as possible.

By the time Shane had dropped me off at my house, I'd learned he had three brothers, his parents were still married, he was an independent contractor (but I didn't know what he did), he'd recently bought a fixer upper, and the truck he drove was his because his brother couldn't afford it. He took over the payments, otherwise he'd prefer an SUV over a truck, but the truck had grown on him.

"Will I see you tonight? Maybe I'll come early and watch your game before I play," I asked as I stood next to his truck.

"Well, we were supposed to play Hank's tonight, but I just received a text saying it was cancelled. It turns out the board received a ton of complaints this morning so Hank's is possibly getting pulled from the league."

He held up his phone and, sure enough, he'd received the information via text only minutes before.

"I'd go to watch your game, but I'm going to have dinner with my family. We were planning on something tomorrow but decided to squeeze it in earlier. I felt like having an open schedule tomorrow, you know, for other things..."

I could tell by the look on his face that he was dropping hints that he was free. He wanted to spend the day with me instead of his family.

"No problem. Have fun with your family, maybe I'll see you tomorrow?"

He smiled brightly, "Yeah. Can I pick you up in the morning? Ten fifteen?"

I returned his enthusiastic smile.

"Ten fifteen. Don't come any earlier because I need time to get presentable. No more of that arriving unannounced bullshit."

"No promises," he winked.

He started pulling away before I could reprimand him. As I walked toward my house, I wondered if he'd actually show up early. After all, he appeared to be the type who might do that since he seemed to enjoy chasing, pinning, and torturing me earlier. I decided I wasn't going to chance it by waiting until the last minute to get ready.

*** *** *** ***

The DONNAS came over so we could get ready for the game together—it felt good to be included again. I hated being the only regular-looking baseball player on the team and I loved the time I spent with my friends. I'd decided to tell them everything that had happened with Shane. I hated keeping secrets from them, even if they disagree with what I'm doing.

"I knew it! Shane was being so weird that night. He's always been nice to us, but last Friday, he was way too nice. After we got to the bar though, he was suddenly nervous. He kept staring at the door and looking around. At first, I thought he was on drugs, but this makes sense, too," Oliver remarked.

Sammy was visibly upset and disappointed.

"I'm not going to lie; this information is mildly disappointing. I actually thought I had a chance with him, but now I feel like such a dumbass," he pouted.

I felt terrible. I suspected he had a crush on Shane, but I couldn't help how things had played out. I went and sat next to him on the bed and rubbed his back in an effort to console him.

"Salami. I didn't mean to interfere. I didn't know."

I rested my head on his shoulder and he let out a hollow laugh.

"Don't worry, it was obviously wishful thinking. Looking back, it's obvious he was into you. After we beat them and we went to the club, he was watching you the whole time. He occasionally talked to other guys, but even then, he was watching you. At first, I thought he was helping you out, but I kinda doubt that now."

I looked around at the rest of the group and hoped some of them might have advice on how to deal with sad Sammy. Sad Sammy was the worst and it usually took a group effort to cheer him up. Although, I got a bit of an idea...

"I've been meaning to ask you, Salami. What are your views on older men?"

Sammy perked up at that question and curiously looked at me.

"Well, how old?"

"You tell me, it's an open-ended question."

Everyone else shot me knowing smirks and winked at my epic distraction while Sammy thought about the question.

"Feed me a scenario," he said.

"Okay. What if there was an older, well established gay gentleman, who hadn't had a lover in many moons, and you were the sexy, twenty-something twink who could bring him joy and pleasure he's never known before?"

Sammy's eyes sparkled at the idea.

"Like a cub?"

"Yes, like a cub."

"I might be interested," he smiled, happily.

"Well, you might meet someone like that tonight at the game, so you better get ready for the ball, cub-erella!"

*** *** *** ***

We finished getting ready and arrived at the park with fifteen minutes to warm up. AARP hadn't shown yet, but they'd mentioned they were going to make it to one of the games so I'd hoped that would be it.

They did end up coming twenty minutes into the awesome game we played against Pete's Printing. They were kind and wonderful to play against, and in the end, we were victorious. Once we cleared the dugout, I introduced the DONNAS to AARP and they all seemed to hit it off.

The only thing that could've made the night better was if the DAKS had been there, also. The gay crew, the manly crew, and the old men crew. We'd be the ultimate threat—yeah, we were basically on the same level with the Power Rangers.

The best part was introducing Mickey to Sammy. Mickey had been watching me with lust filled eyes but I wasn't about that life, not when I had the prospect of Shane. I had a feeling Mickey and Sammy might hit it off since Sammy was slutty enough to be turned on by a much older man. Plus, I'd been watching Mickey and the dude had money. Not that he'd be a sugar daddy, but I bet Sammy would get a lil sumin for doing a lil sumin.

As we left the park, Sammy ran up to me as giddy as I'd ever seen him.

"Hoo,my,god! He's so cute! Isn't he cute?"

He was acting like a teenage girl who'd just gotten noticed for the first time by the hunky quarterback. I can attest that this situation didn't bare the slightest resemblance.

"Yeah, he's pretty cute," I lied with a lot of enthusiasm.

"I gave him my number! Can you believe I gave him my number? Oh, my god! I shouldn't have done that, huh? He's going to think I'm a slut, isn't he?"

Yep, classic teenage girl.

"No, he's going to think you're a slut when you let him nail you on the first date," I teased.

"Maybe," Sammy kissed my cheek and pranced off.

*** *** ***

Shane was supposed to be at my house by ten fifteen that morning, which meant he'd probably get there around ten, so I was going to be ready by nine just to be sure. My shower was as luxurious as ever with my beloved LUSH products.

My mind wandered to Shane and there was definitely a fantasy of soaping him down and spending extra time on his beautiful, curvaceous boo-tay and strong thighs. My preference had always been bottoming, but topping Shane would be the ultimate top fantasy for me.

I'd knead his ass and run my hands down his thighs while watching myself move between his soft but muscular mounds. It was rare for me to masturbate to the thought of topping, but as it turned out, that particular Shane fantasy was quite stroke friendly.

"Donovan?"

I froze naked, I'd just stepped out of the shower seconds before.

You've got to be kidding me!

I looked at the clock—nine twenty-two. I didn't bother drying off, I simply wrapped the towel around my waist and stormed down stairs (without any real anger). Sure enough, there he was, sitting at the kitchen table and looking as snug as a bug in a rug.

"What are you doing here? Coming over early isn't a thing you can do...stop it!"

"But it's more fun this way."

His brown eyes were dancing with amusement as he tried to hold back his smile, which only made him that much cuter, which was almost impossible.

"Let me watch you get ready," he said, biting his lip playfully.

I looked at him as if he'd gone crazy.

"Ab-so-fucking-loot-lee-not! Between yesterday morning and this morning, you've already tried to skip a hundred and fifty levels. Watching me get ready? Oh, hell no! That's like a six months into a relationship step. No way. You get to sit here and suffer in silence for the next forty minutes. That should teach you to come early."

With that, I turned on my heel and ran back upstairs. I hated feeling pressured into getting ready. I always gave myself an adequate time frame to shower and do my thang without feeling rushed, but since he was there, I felt rushed. Half of me wanted Shane to sit alone until exactly ten fifteen as a punishment while I took my time, but the other half of me wanted to hurry up so I could go downstairs and keep him company. Ultimately, I decided on somewhere in the middle.

I did my normal routine—moisturizing from head to toe, hair, face (special moisturizer), teeth, brows (making sure they're shaped), and then clothes. I'd wanted to make him suffer so I tried to pick out an extra good, I'm not trying too hard to look sexy, but I know I look so fucking good, outfit.

I'd briefly seen what he was wearing—navy blue chinos, a light-blue, plaid, collared, shirt with a grey sweater.

That boy could clean up, I thought to myself.

I decided on a pair of mustard-yellow slacks that were snug in all of the right places (which was everywhere), a white shirt, a grey, plaid blazer, and leather shoes. I triple checked myself in the mirrors from every angle and finally decided I was ready.

"Are you tired of waiting, yet?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen.

Shane immediately stood and tried to hide his double-take as he checked me out. I didn't mind, though. I didn't take forty minutes to get ready so he'd look elsewhere.

"No, not at all. Actually, I just finished arranging your kitchen cabinets. I think my new arrangement is more economical now and even a little fung shui if you're into that."

What the fuck. I didn't care how charming his smile was, I'd cut him if he touched my kitchen. Who does that anyway? Who rearranges someone else's kitchen without asking?

"You didn't!" I stared into his eyes.

I rushed into the kitchen and started opening cabinets to figure out what kind of damage he'd done. I just knew it was going to take me a whole day to undo it. I was on my fifth cabinet when I heard Shane laughing, it was about the same time I realized nothing had changed.

"First, you show up an hour early..."

"Fifty-two minutes," he interrupted with a smug ass smile.

"Fifty-two minutes early, which made me rush."

"This is your rushing?" He teased.

"I'm so done! Do you want to go to brunch or not? Is this your way of canceling?" I teased.

Shane walked over to me and put his arms around my waist. He was smiling like the devil and I knew he was going to lean down and kiss me, which I wasn't opposed to, but I had a point to prove. I ducked away from his advance, broke free from his arms, and walked toward the door wearing my own smug smile.

"In your dreams, sucka."

*** *** ***

I'd never been to The Endless Brunch and it was wonderful. I heard lots of wonderful things but nothing had prepared me for the actual experience. First of all, it was more upscale than I'd expected—a 'jackets required' type of situation. The inside was beautiful, but not your typical five-star restaurant with white linen and stuffy wait staff.

No, each table had a different theme, which made the restaurant full of color. Normally, I would've thought it was borderline too much—too much color, too much non-conformity, too busy, too much chaos—but amongst the too much was just the right amount of simple, classic, and elegance to pull it all together.

There wasn't a menu, per se, so you basically got to choose if you had any dairy restrictions (vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, dairy free) and, other than that, they did all of the work. We'd started with tea and biscuits, then we had ten more courses that were all mouthwatering, delicious finger food.

I sank my jaws into a bite-sized piece of chicken and vegetable quiche and my shoulders instantly relaxed in pleasure. My eyes shot to Shane when I moaned, a little too erotically. I finally understood the term food porn. He only smiled. I held up the last partial bite (since shoving it all down my gullet seemed frowned upon) to Shane and moaned again, less erotically this time.

"I'm going to be ruined for all other food. I've never had food this good and I want more. Why is everything so small? I need, at least, twenty-five of these little guys."

Shane laughed as I popped my last bite into my mouth and held up the last partial bite of his.

"Do you want the rest of mine?"

I knew he was joking, but I took the damn offering before he could rescind it. I don't think he expected me to actually eat his food because his mouth was practically lying on the ground.

"Lesson one: Don't offer me food if you don't want me to eat it, especially those little bites of heaven."

"Noted. You're not one of those people who says they're not hungry and then eats all of my fries, are you?" He raised his brow and smiled.

"Absolutely, I am. If we ever go out to eat and I say I'm not hungry, you better order extra fries and probably a burger, also."

We shared fugitive glances and lots of smiles throughout the meal. Conversation was light and easy. Teasing was present but not overwhelming, and the food, of course, was amazing. In my wildest dreams, I wouldn't have ever thought brunch could rival dinner in the romance department, but it did.

Plus, unlike dinner, where they tend to cycle everyone through as quickly as possible, brunch was slow and steady. We didn't finish until noon, which was actually the worst part of the whole date. I didn't want the date to end and I was used to dinner dates where, when you're finished, you could go back and have a nightcap.

It also seemed more acceptable to make out for a while before you gave the excuse of, it's getting late and you should be going. What were we supposed to do after brunch? Was he going to take me home and that's it? I hoped not. I didn't know what I wanted, but I wanted more than parting ways.

Shane was a gentleman and helped me put my jacket on, which no one had ever done before. As it turned out, he had a thing about wrinkles, he kept sliding his hands across my shoulders and down my arms, you know, smoothing out the fabric?

"You're going to wear holes in my favorite blazer if you keep doing that," I teased after the fifth pass.

Shane's hands seized immediately and his face flushed red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. You just look good and you have great shoulders," he smiled, shyly.

As we walked out of the restaurant, I chuckled at his addition of 'great shoulders'. I did have great shoulders, but that wasn't something I was usually complimented on.

"So, you're a shoulder guy, yeah?" I bumped his shoulder playfully.

"Yes, among other things."

"Yeah? What else?"

I looked at him anxiously. Excited to hear what he had to say. He scoffed at my question and raised his brow.

"I thought we weren't divulging too much information. You know, take things slow and learning the art of learning?"

"Well, yeah, but how am I supposed to know what to flaunt and what not to?" I pouted.

Shane's laugh was deep, thunderous, and hot as hell.

"Don't worry, you tick all of the right boxes. Just keep doing what you do." He paused before continuing, "What about you?"

We both blushed at the directness of his question. It was one thing to casually mention something in a conversation—the way he'd mentioned my shoulders, but it was another to be so direct. We were both slightly embarrassed. I wasn't an overly bashful person but walking through the parking lot of a super fancy restaurant wasn't the ideal location to tell him his boo-tay lit my fire.

"I don't have a specific body part that I'm overly attracted to. As a general rule, I appreciate almost all of the male anatomy. Each guy has a feature that catches my eye, but it's different from person to person."

"What's my feature? What caught your eye?"

This time, Shane blushed at his cute as hell question.