Imposter in Zebra-striped Briefs by C.C. Dado

reassuringly.
    “Okay.”
    “All right, I’m going back home,” Josh said, standing up and moving toward the door. “You got everything covered here? Do you need to jump in the shower and do a little complimentary manscaping before he gets here?”
    “What? What are you talking about?”
    “Nothing, dude.” Josh chuckled as he headed out the door. “Have a good time. Call me in the morning.”

Chapter 11
    The date (David)
     
     
    DAVID PARKED his vintage blue Ford Bronco in front of Nathan’s brownstone and dropped his head onto the steering wheel, contemplating what he was about to do. All he knew was he could not stop thinking about that night, replaying what happened with Nathan and trying to make sense out of it. He was so tired. He hadn’t really slept since the night of the bachelor party.
    David took a deep breath, wondering if his Sounders T-shirt and soccer pants were too casual. He wasn’t a soccer player anymore, but he’d never gotten out of the habit of dressing like one. Maybe he should have at least put on a decent pair of jeans. David grabbed the pizza and beer off the passenger seat, shaking his head at himself, and hopped out of the truck. He walked up to the front door and hit the buzzer for B-2.
    “Hello.”
    “Uh, hi, Nathan. It’s David.”
    “Oh, I will buzz you in.”
    The buzz of the door felt like a prison cell closing. When David got to Nathan’s door, he was just opening it. David thought he looked nervous, which made him feel better. He also thought he looked adorable, which made him feel worse.
    “Hi.”
    “Hi,” Nathan said in return as they stood there staring at each other, not moving. “Oh, uh, come in.” Nathan moved out of the doorway and motioned for David to enter. When David went in he noticed a partially packed or maybe partially unpacked living room, with empty boxes and hundreds of books stacked against the walls.
    “I grabbed a pizza. I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I guessed and got half-vegetarian, half-meat eater’s.” David handed the pizza box to Nathan.
    “That works. Thank you.”
    “Are you okay with me being here?” David asked, looking into Nathan’s green eyes. He had a sudden urge to push up the glasses that had started to slide down Nathan’s nose a bit in his nervousness.
    “Um, sure. Why wouldn’t I be?” Nathan said, turning around and stepping into the kitchen to set the pizza on the counter. “Do you want pizza now?” He started rifling through the cupboards for plates until David laid his hand on his shoulder and turned him around.
    “I know this is weird, and I’m sorry. I just… I need to know why I can’t stop thinking about you. I know it’s not fair to you. I have no idea what is going on. I have never been attracted to another guy before. I thought maybe we could hang out together as friends and give me some time to figure it out. I swear I’m not trying to lead you on or anything like that. I honestly thought when I left here the other night I would pretend what happened between us never happened, but I can’t.”
    Nathan stared into David’s eyes, not speaking, leaving David to wonder if he was about to be asked to leave. Instead Nathan grabbed a beer off the counter and handed it to him. “You turn on the game, and I’ll dish up the pizza.”
    David accepted the beer. “Thank you.” They both knew he was talking about more than just the beer.
    “So you like to read?” David asked once they got settled on the couch with the game on and pizza in hand, looking around at the overflowing bookshelves.
    “Yes,” Nathan admitted, looking embarrassed by the vast amount of books he had.
    “Are you some kind of genius or something?” David noticed there wasn’t any light reading, from what he could tell. It was mostly science and medical textbooks and geographical novels.
    “Technically no, I was three points shy of that title.”
    “So what does a ‘technically not a genius guy’ do for a living?”