24 Dates

Chapter 3

Chapter 3December 3rd

“Someone’s gotten lucky.”

Victor jumped at Sara’s voice. “Sara! What? No, I was…”

“Daydreaming.” She grinned.

Had he been? He’d been looking out the window, smiling like a fool. And what for? Because Jian had bought him Thai food.

“Everything okay with Jian?”

“Yeah, sure.” Why? What had she heard?

“Great.” She smiled and adjusted her jacket. “Dave will miss him. Are you heading out now too?”

Victor nodded. It was five, time to go. He shut off the computer and grabbed his jacket and bag. He was on the verge of asking what Dave would be doing. Jian hadn’t mentioned anything about him quitting work, but they hardly ever spoke about Jian’s work anymore.

“I heard on the radio that it’ll get colder this weekend.”

“Will it?” Now it was too late to ask about Dave.

“Yeah.” She made an exaggerated shiver. “I won’t leave the house if it does.” She pushed open the door and grinned at him. “And there he is.”

Victor frowned at her. “Who?”

“Your beau.”

Victor stared across the parking lot, and sure enough, there Jian was, leaning against his pickup truck with his arms crossed over his chest. Victor gave a surprised huff of laughter, grinned at Sara, and jogged toward Jian. “What are you doing here?”

“Picking you up.” Jian pulled him in for a hug, and Victor bit back a moan. Those dark eyes he’d spent hours drowning in when they’d been falling in love, sparkled. “To make sure you won’t be late for our date.”

“A date?” Victor laughed. “We’re going on another date?”

“We are.” Jian squeezed his hand. “Do you need anything from home?”

They were going somewhere? “I…eh…I guess it depends on what we’re doing? I’m not dressed for anything…” He gestured at himself. He wore jeans and a shirt, nothing fancy at all, and he wasn’t dressed for long hours outdoors either.

“You look great.”

Victor’s heart somersaulted. “Thank you.”

Jian adjusted his seat and steered out of the parking lot. “Did you have a good day?”

“Same as always.” He shrugged. He didn’t mind his job, but it wasn’t like he looked forward to going there either. “One of the teachers had to go home in the middle of the day. Threw up during a lesson.” Victor shook his head. “I hope it isn’t the stomach flu.”

Jian gave him a wide-eyed look. “Did you talk to them in person?”

“No.”

Jian blew out a breath. “Good. We don’t have time to get sick.” We?

“Lots to do at work?” The disappointment raining over him was chilling. It had been great to get to see Jian while he was still awake these last three days.

Jian shrugged. “There are a lot of things I have to fix.”

Damn. Victor didn’t ask what things, and he remained silent for a few minutes. Jian drove out of Northfield and turned east.

“Are we going to Courtland?”

“Yes.”

“I could’ve met you there. If you’d told me we were going to Courtland, I could’ve driven there so you wouldn’t have to drive back and forth.” Victor didn’t drive often, he had no need to when it only took him fifteen minutes to walk to work, but he had a car.

“I haven’t been in Courtland today.”

“What?” Where had he been?

“I didn’t work in Courtland today, so it’s not going back and forth.” Jian drummed the steering wheel and reached back behind Victor’s seat. “Here.”

Victor stared down at the wrapped sandwich on his lap. So it wasn’t a dinner date. As if Jian had read his mind, he grimaced. “First, I figured I should book us a table on the Windmill, but there isn’t enough time before—and after, it’ll be too late. By then, you’d be starving.”

Victor nodded and bit into the sandwich and groaned. “This is delicious.” He had no idea if Jian could understand him since his mouth was full, but there was avocado, tomatoes, alfalfa, and more.

Jian grinned. “I’m glad you like it. I followed a recipe for a f*****g sandwich.”

“You made it?”

Jian shrugged and focused on the road. When had he had time to make it?

They didn’t talk much on the way, mainly because Victor was eating—it was what he told himself anyway. He refused to believe he and Jian couldn’t talk anymore.

Jian parked outside the arena where big signs announced a comedy club night. “We’re watching stand-up?” Victor grinned at him. When they’d lived here, they’d often gone. It was marketed as amateur night, but some of the names had gotten pretty big, at least online.

“Yeah.” The look Jian gave him had butterflies playing tag in the pit of his stomach. “It used to be great. I always loved going to comedy club with you.”

Victor nodded, not sure he’d be able to speak without his voice cracking. “I love you.” It wasn’t more than a whisper, but it was there. He couldn’t remember when he’d last told Jian, but he’d never stopped loving him. Things had been crappy, his feelings hurt far too many times, but he still loved Jian.

Jian pulled him close, his lips soft on Victor’s. “I love you, too.” He opened the door. “Come on, we’re a little late.”

Victor hurried out of the pickup and followed Jian toward the entrance. The dim lighting had him squinting, but they found their seats, and Jian bought them a beer each. As the first laugh rolled through the audience, Victor blew out a breath and allowed his muscles to unclench.

The night was over too fast, and by the time they got back to the car, Victor was alternating between grinning and yawning. “That was great!”

Jian squeezed his hand before unlocking the pickup. “It was.”

Only a few minutes into the drive, Victor closed his eyes and didn’t wake until Jian gently shook him after having parked in their driveway.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”

“It’s okay.” Jian touched his lower lip with his thumb. “Go to bed.”

“I haven’t fixed any lunch for tomorrow.” He didn’t want to cook now, but he was pretty sure there was nothing in the freezer. Perhaps he could go to the cafe and grab something.

“I’ve got you covered.”

Victor blinked at him. Jian never made him lunch; he took sandwiches to work. Now was not the time to get snippy, though. He could have a sandwich for lunch. It wasn’t the end of the world.