but he’d save Fridays and Saturdays for someone more compelling. Why was Harvard wasting his time with a Tuesday-night guy?
Aiden slid into the booth opposite Neil. Harvard and Aiden always sat on the same side of the table, but today it would be different. Harvard wanted it to be different.
Harvard also wanted his best friend and his boyfriend to get along. Aiden smiled with the concentrated intensity of a star, leaving Neil no choice but to be dazzled or go blind.
“Sorry we’re late,” said Aiden. “My fault. Always is.”
Neil sounded slightly dazed, as well he might. “That’s okay.”
Aiden’s face was beginning to hurt, but he had to keep the smile pinned in place. Harvard would now be sitting next to Neil. Aiden would be forced to watch it.
Then Harvard slid in next to Aiden.
Aiden was just turning to Harvard and beginning to smile for real, when Neil said, “Uh, Harvard?”
“Oh God, sorry!” exclaimed Harvard. “Force of habit.”
He slid out of Aiden’s side of the booth, abandoning Aiden with a stranger. The random date sat down, and Neil made an interrogative sound. “This is…?”
“This is, ah, my date,” said Aiden.
“Whose name is…,” prompted Neil.
“Blair,” Aiden answered.
Harvard coughed. Aiden glanced over at his date and Harvard, who were both shaking their heads.
“Huh,” said Aiden. “Brandon? Still no? Tip of my tongue.”
“This is your date whose name you don’t know?” asked Neil, blinking.
Aiden had been right to dislike Neil on sight. Neil was a judgmental and unkind person, but for Harvard’s sake, Aiden offered a sheepish shrug.
Harvard said quietly, “His name is Bruce.”
Aiden tried to be a carefree rogue, winking at Neil and then his random date. Usually, carefree roguery came to Aiden more easily. “Clark and I are more about the raw animal passion than the in-depth conversation.”
Random date seemed pleased to hear this. He moved in slightly closer to Aiden. Aiden felt crowded.
“In-depth conversation… about names,” said Neil. “Also, his name is Bruce.”
“And your name is Neil,” said Aiden in a conciliatory fashion. “We’re all introduced. Fabulous to meet you, Neil.”
That was a shocking lie but told in a good cause. Neil leaned his shoulder into Harvard’s, smiling back at Aiden. Of course Neil was pleased with how his life was going.
“Likewise,” Neil told Aiden. “I’ve heard a lot about you. You and Harvard grew up in each other’s pockets, Harvard says.”
Harvard smiled.
“You’re like brothers, I guess,” Neil proceeded.
Harvard stopped smiling. Aiden bit his tongue. The taste of blood made him feel nauseous.
“Not really,” said Aiden’s random date. “My brother and I used to try to make each other eat dirt. Mom had to put us in time-out on opposite sides of the house. Aiden and Harvard are, like, inseparable. Everyone at Kings Row thought they were dating for, wow, the first five months of school.”
Harvard seemed surprised by this information. Neil seemed deeply displeased to hear it.
“When we want your input, we’ll ask for it, Peter!” snapped Aiden.
His random date stopped trying to slide his arm along the back of the booth behind Aiden’s shoulders, whistled under his breath, and took out his phone.
The server came to take their order. Harvard frowned at the menu.
Aiden relaxed, feeling on familiar ground. “Why do you always do this? You know you always look through every item on the menu and then pick the sweetest thing. French toast for him. Oh, and then let’s split the brownie sundae.”
Harvard smiled over the menu at Aiden. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Oh cool,” said Aiden’s random date, still looking at his phone. “Bring three spoons.”
Aiden raised an eyebrow, slightly shocked by his date’s bad manners. “You can’t just share our dessert, Tony.”
“His name is Bruce!” Neil exclaimed in the tone of one sorely tested.
Aiden didn’t even know why Neil was annoyed this time. He was glaring from Harvard to Aiden, and back again. Aiden might well have done something wrong without noticing, but he was confident Harvard had done nothing wrong. Neil was being deeply unreasonable.
“Of course you can share the sundae, Bruce,” Harvard said. “Would you like a spoon, too, Neil?”
“I absolutely wouldn’t!”
Aiden was completely at a loss. Who hated brownie sundaes? What kind of person had Harvard brought into their lives?
Neil visibly made the decision to shake off his gloom, and gave Harvard a smile that made Aiden feel unwell. “Why don’t you share a dessert with me?”
“I already said I’d share a dessert with Aiden,” said Harvard, and then brightened. “I guess I could go for two halves of different desserts.…”
Neil looked dissatisfied with this