Because I Want To - Grace R. Duncan Page 0,51

our first date.”

Adam blinked at him for a moment. “Holy shit it is, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Matt managed a smile. “So….”

Turning to the closet, Adam frowned too. “Um… what should we wear?”

Matt hadn’t meant to make Adam worry. “Just jeans and, I guess, a nice shirt?”

Adam nodded. “Okay. I don’t have much else.” He made a face. “Except the suit I wear to funerals.”

“Uh, yeah, no.”

“And I’m not even going to fit this stuff much longer.” Adam shook his head, grabbed the green shirt Matt loved on him—did Adam know that?—and disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door.

That worked just fine with Matt. He’d chosen his best jeans and the silk button-down shirt in deep red Adam always told him looked good with his coloring. As soon as he dressed himself, he went down to hide the gift in the car—Adam would see it going into the restaurant, but there was no help for that—and get the keys from Craig for Adam’s mom’s car. He tried to sit in the living room to wait, but every time he sat, he jumped back up as if he was forcefully ejected from the seat. He gave up and paced the living room.

“You’re going to give yourself away like that,” Laurel said, coming out of the kitchen.

Matt gave a weak smile. “Not much I can really do about that. I can’t calm down.”

She crossed the room to pat him on the shoulder. “I can understand. I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about, though. It’s not going to be as hard to convince him as you think.”

“I hope you’re right.” Right then, the sound of footsteps on the stairs sounded, and Matt took a breath. “Thanks,” he muttered to Laurel, who patted his shoulder again and disappeared into the kitchen once more.

Adam came into the living room, and Matt couldn’t stop the sharp intake of breath. He hadn’t done anything drastic, but Adam had worn his best jeans and the green button-down shirt. And he’d also attempted to tame his wild blond hair some. He even had earrings in, which he hadn’t worn much recently. “Hi,” he said, blushing.

“Hi, yourself.” Adam’s obvious nervousness somehow helped calm Matt down. “You’re ready, then?”

Adam nodded. “Yeah.”

They grabbed their jackets and gloves—December was firmly in place, and Pittsburgh in December liked to bite the fingers and toes pretty badly. Matt even helped Adam into his coat, making Adam blush.

“You’re adorable when you blush, you know,” he said in Adam’s ear.

That only made his face turn redder. “Not nice,” he muttered, making Matt chuckle.

“It’s true.”

Adam shook his head and elbowed Matt in the stomach. “Come on. The baby’s hungry.”

“The baby is?” Matt asked, chuckling. He felt a lot better with the byplay. He didn’t know if Adam saw his nervousness and was doing it on purpose, but either way, it helped. “Not you.”

“Nope. Not in the least—”

Adam’s stomach grumbled right then.

“Right. I didn’t hear a thing,” Matt said, pulling open the front door.

Adam didn’t bother to reply.

Chapter 22

Matt had to focus on driving. He didn’t do a whole lot of it. They rode the bus to classes. He even rode it to the bookstore, so he didn’t spend a lot of time behind the wheel. On top of that, even though it was only a Wednesday, traffic was crazy in places. Finally, though, he found a spot near the steps of the parking garage in Station Square. Adam looked at him curiously, but Matt pretended not to see and took the box out of the back seat.

“What’s that?” Adam asked.

“Nothing,” Matt said.

Adam scowled. “Obviously, it’s not nothing.”

Matt frowned. “Let me give it to you inside, okay?”

Adam shook his head, but he was blushing… and smiling.

Matt’s nervousness kicked up a few… thousand… notches as they walked to the front door of the restaurant. He held on to his sanity as much as he could while he held the door for Adam, then stepped into the lobby.

“Hey, uh, bathroom, quick?” Adam said.

“Okay,” Matt agreed, actually grateful, hoping the few moments might give him a chance to ease his nerves a little. He smiled as he approached the host, a tall, broad, balding man. “He’s pregnant, so…”

The host just smiled back. “I have two kids. I remember helping my husband hunt for bathrooms.”

Matt laughed. “I imagine it’ll get worse later.”

The host nodded. “Yup. Especially the third trimester. So, two?”

“Yes. Um, if you have something kinda quiet…?”

“I’m sure I do.” The host studied the map on his podium for a moment, then