A Little Side of Geek Read online

  Morris blinked, a wing half-raised to his lips. How the hell had Theo heard he was here so fast? Morris hadn’t even had a chance to say hi to Lincoln. “Sure, I can do that. Should I order now?” He still wasn’t sure what he wanted because his stomach was demanding all the food.

  She shook her head and gathered his menu. “I think you’re getting chef’s choice. Oh, I’m supposed to ask if you have any allergies.” She gave him a questioning look, and Morris shook his head. “Good.”

  “But what if it’s something I don’t like?” Morris couldn’t help but ask, not that there was much he wouldn’t try at least once, but there were principles.

  “Knowing the boss the way I do,” the waitress said, patting his shoulder, “he’d look at you with that smile of his and ask you to trust him.”

  Yeah, Morris could easily picture that. Theo had enough charm for ten men. “Okay, I’ll play his game. But fair warning, I can eat a lot.”

  “I’ll give him a heads-up.” She lifted her empty tray above her head and wended her way back inside, pausing to talk to another table. Lincoln waved to him from the long glass window, then went back to work. Morris broke open a steaming biscuit and slathered it with honey butter. This was so much better than whatever he would’ve discovered in his freezer. He looked out at the boats tied up to the docks on the creek, a blue heron wading through the tobacco-tinted water. It didn’t get better than this.

  He picked up his phone again and texted Felipe. You off bridge duty yet?

  Yeah, why?

  Meet me at the bistro for some drinks.

  Dude 4 real? Scratch that, on my way, but I’m crashing at your place.

  Morris frowned at his phone. Crashing at his place? Something was up between him and Dakota again. But he’d have to wait until much later if he wanted any hope of getting it out of his friend. As he ate and relaxed, his mind still buzzed from all the creative ideas racing through his brain. He pulled out one of his pencils and began sketching on the corner of the brown paper that covered the table, idly working out a new character concept.

  “That’s cool,” a voice said by his side. “I wish I could draw like that.”

  Morris glanced up at Lincoln silhouetted against the lowering sky. “Do you draw at all?”

  “A little, sometimes, not like that, though.” Lincoln braced his tub on one skinny hip. “Mostly I do stuff on the computer. I like making new content for games. Stuff like that.”

  “That’s art too, just a different kind.” Morris pushed aside his empty plate and glanced at the sketch. It was okay, for a scrawl. “Practice at it. I’ve been practicing since I was a kid, and I’m still not happy with what I put out sometimes.”

  Lincoln shook his head. “You sound like Theo. He’s always pushing to do things better.” The slight grimace on Lincoln’s lips spoke volumes.

  “And always pushing you too?” Morris guessed.

  The grimace deepened. “Yeah.”

  “Such is life. My parents were the same. Thanks for telling Theo I was here. I didn’t want to bother him, but I would’ve felt like I was sneaking in and out if I hadn’t said something.”

  “No problem.” Lincoln grabbed Morris’s empty plate and basket. “Better get back to work. I’ve been saving up for a new bike. Another few shifts and I should have enough. Do you want me to tell your waitress you’re ready for another drink?”

  “Yeah, and let Theo know I’m ready for whatever concoction he’s come up with.”

  Lincoln grinned and took off as Morris mentally went through the menu, trying to decide what Theo was going to test out on him. Not long after, Theo appeared with a plate in his hand, and a flush of warmth went through Morris. He hadn’t laid eyes on Theo since Thursday. He’d been chained to his desk trying to get content together for the next show. That hadn’t kept him from listening for Theo’s car in the hopes of a glimpse of him or the chance for a quick conversation.

  “Hey.” Morris rose to greet him, suddenly feeling awkward. Should he give him a quick kiss in greeting like he wanted to? But no, Theo was at work, and his job wasn’t like Morris’s. He had people looking up to him as the boss, so no kissing, but a hug was okay, right? Damn, Theo looked cute, even though his hair had wilted from the heat in the kitchen and his eyes were tired.

  Theo slid the plate onto the table in the midst of Morris’s internal monologue and then solved the issue by rising on his toes and hugging Morris first. “Glad you came. I’ve got to get back to the kitchen, it’s busy, but I wanted you to try this first.”

  Morris glanced down at his plate at the seasoned bone-in steak, the little dish of what looked like creamed corn, and another small dish of greens. “I don’t remember the corn as a side on the menu,” he said as he sat back down again.

  “It’s something new I’m trying out. Tonight’s the first night we’re running it as part of the special.”

  Morris cut into his steak and juices poured out. “It’s bleeding.” He was hungry enough the temperature didn’t matter, and he wasn’t really that picky. He had to point it out on principal. He should’ve known his dinner would be a steak after the way Theo had reacted when he’d told him his preference. It was a silly thing to dig in his heels over, but the voice of his ex, the little slights and tricks he used to try to change Morris, still put his back up sometimes.

  “No it’s not.” Theo grinned and leaned his hip against the table. “I promise you I didn’t cook it rare, not even medium rare. I’ll ease you into appreciating a good steak. It’s warm all the way through,” Theo assured him as Morris lifted a chunk of meat laced with pink on his fork. “If you don’t like it, I’ll make you another with zero judgment.”

  Theo seemed a little nervous, and Morris decided it was past time he got Theo back for his teasing over Morris’s geek loves. He took a bite, frowning fiercely as he tasted. The well-seasoned meat and juice hit his tongue and Morris had a hard time keeping a straight face as Theo’s expression fell. “You hate it.” He reached for Morris’s plate. “I’ll get you a new one.”

  Morris caught his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m messing with you. It’s wonderful.” He dug his fork into the collard greens. The combined flavors were both sweet and smoky with a hint of heat. He couldn’t resist sampling them again. They were tender and cooked perfectly without overdoing them. “Okay, whose idea was this?”

  “Scottie, my sous chef,” Theo said with a smile of relief. “He’s a whiz at coming up with different sides. He wants to revamp that part of the menu seasonally.”

  “I think you should let him.” Morris turned his attention to the creamed corn. He’d had it a few times, usually right out of a can, and it had never been a favorite of his. He suspected Theo was about to change his opinion on that as well. It had none of the mushy, sticky sweetness of canned cream corn. Instead it lived up to its name: creamy, heavenly goodness with subtle flavors Morris tried to nail down and failed. “Yes, you definitely need to let him.”

  “I’ll let him know you think so. He’ll be pleased.” Theo straightened and clasped his shoulder. “I’ve got to get back to the kitchen. Enjoy.”

  Morris savored every bite of his meal and finished up as the shadows lengthened on the deck. Waitstaff came out to flip on the hanging lanterns, but the view wasn’t the same. Morris paid for his dinner and headed inside, stopping at the bar. He spent so much time holed up in his apartment that sometimes he felt the need to be out. He took a seat at one of the stools and glanced at the Nats-Phillies game. Bottom of the seventh, he’d have a beer and stay to the end. If Felipe didn’t arrive by then, he was either making up with Dakota or plotting some flashy and dire revenge.

  He settled back, nursing his drink, half of his attention on the screen and the other half on the restaurant itself. It was neat to observe Theo’s world. Jill stood at the long open staging area between the kitchen and dining room, checking food as it came up and directing the servers. There wasn’t a dish that went by without her looking at it. Morris had no
doubt she’d send something back that wasn’t acceptable, but he couldn’t imagine that happening often. Theo took pride in what he cooked, and the same pride in what they had built was in every gesture Jill made.

  If there was a quiet moment, she was checking on the hostess stand or stopping by a table to chat up diners. She even stopped by the bar to see if the bartender needed anything and then directed Lincoln to get more ice, who did it without complaint. The Boarman family was a team in every way.

  The restaurant’s light wood floors gave it a bright ambiance. The walls were painted a pale blue and covered in pictures of the Chesapeake and surrounding rivers. There were several wide, long windows trimmed in blue that looked out onto the waters, and Morris could believe those vantage points were often packed.

  Jill spied Morris and waved with a tired smile before heading right back to the window. No wonder Theo was trying to take so many shifts. Morris’s twin and her boyfriend worked in the hospitality business. Maybe she knew a manager who was looking for some work, even if it might be part-time. He’d give Makayla a call tomorrow.

  “So is this going to be your new permanent hangout spot?” Felipe asked as he slid onto a stool next to Morris. “If it gets us free food, I’m down for it. If it’s about me watching you moon over a white boy, I’m out.”

  Morris leveled a look at Felipe as he gestured for the bartender. “I’ve been watching you moon over a white boy off and on for months now.”

  Felipe grimaced, and there was a deep-seated frustration in those eyes. “Yeah, well you don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

  “I thought something might be up. This one’s on me,” Morris said as the bartender came over. He waited until Felipe asked for his Corona and an order of calamari. “So what happened?”

  “We were supposed to hang tonight, but something with Brenden came up. That’s the third frickin’ time in as many weeks. Brenden, Brenden, Brenden. Damn, I’m tired of his fucking name.”

  Morris scratched his cheek as he debated whether he wanted to try to say something or not. “I always thought you guys were taking it casual. Maybe if you want it to be a little more, you should clue him in on that.”

  “Be real. If he can’t take the casual seriously, then I don’t even want to know how the hell he’d treat a commitment.” Felipe took a long pull on his beer. “Think back, in all the years we’ve known Dakota, has he ever shown any inclination to sticking with one dude?”

  Morris pondered that. Dakota’s name had been noised around with this guy and that guy for ages, and he had to admit, Felipe was right—none of them ever lasted long. “True, but I thought he seemed to be coming back to you an awful lot lately.”

  “And then turning around and leaving every time Brenden gets a burr up his stick-in-the-mud ass that he needs Dakota to dislodge.” Felipe shredded a paper straw wrapper to bits. “I’m done with taking second place to a man who treats Dakota like a lower-class citizen half the time.”

  Morris pursed his lips and decided not to touch that one. True, Brenden could be prickly, but Dakota gave as good as he got. Their bickering was the cornerstone of the brothers’ relationship. “I’m sorry, man.”

  “It’s okay.” Felipe shrugged and dug into his calamari as it was set in front of him. “I need to blow off some steam before our game night. I don’t want it to get weird. Dakota and I need to call it quits for good this time and give each other a little space.”

  That was definitely something Morris didn’t want to see. He’d been in game groups before when a couple broke up. The tension got to be too much. It usually ended with one or both leaving if the group didn’t splinter all together. Their group was already fractured now that their gamemaster was gone. Morris didn’t want to see it go any further. He liked the bunch they had together.

  “It’ll be okay,” Morris assured him. “Though maybe we shouldn’t play Munchkin. That might get ugly.”

  A sudden grin flashed across Felipe’s face. “There’s a new version out. I bought it last weekend at that gaming table with the hot dude from the store in Richmond.”

  Morris tried to recall the guy Felipe was talking about, but he couldn’t put a face to his description. “Wait a minute, you don’t mean the hipster geezer from the Magick Den, do you?”

  “Geezer?” Felipe rolled his eyes. “You need help. He’s a silver fucking fox.”

  “Well, you’ve got the silver part right.” Felipe’s taste in men was seriously suspect. Trask was okay-looking if you were into tattoos, but he had to be decades older than Felipe. Maturity was nice and all, but Morris didn’t see any reason to take it to extremes. “So you ready for Awesome Con next weekend?”

  An avid gleam lit up Felipe’s eyes. “Oh yeah. I’ve been working on my costume since January. I found out Abby is going as Ripley from Alien.”

  Morris rolled his eyes. “So what are you going to do? An alien?” Felipe had the skills to pull it off.

  “Nah, I’ll save that for when we do an Alien vs. Predator thing. I’m sure it’ll happen. When we have the time to plan out every detail. I decided to go for something a little subtler. I’m doing the android complete with guts and white fluid spattered everywhere.”

  “Nice.” Morris approved. “Ash or Bishop?”

  Felipe shook his head. “We’ll decide by my actions whether I’m the good one or the bad one. I even made a facehugger. I’m so fricken’ excited. You ready for the con? You’re staying in DC, right?”

  “Yeah. It’s too much to try to drive back and forth, especially if I go to any of the after-parties. I wind up exhausted. The hotel hooked me up with a double, so I have an extra bed if you want to crash.” Morris didn’t mind splitting his space with Felipe. His friend usually offered to pay for a couple meals in return.

  “I might take you up on that.” Felipe signaled the bartender and ordered a shot of tequila. Damn, he looked rough. It sucked to have a romance fall apart. “I’ll let you know.”

  Morris leaned back on his stool and glanced toward the kitchen window at the sound of Theo’s voice. Theo leaned one hand on the counter behind the staging area, talking with a large, heavyset brother with a squared-off jaw and a mouth that looked as if it smiled often. The man grinned and lightly punched Theo on the shoulder before disappearing deeper into the kitchen. Theo caught Morris’s eye, winked, and blew a kiss.

  “You really like that dude, don’t you?” Felipe asked as Morris settled the stool back down on all legs.

  “Yeah,” Morris said after a moment’s thought. “He’s easy to talk to and there’s not a lot of drama. Divas irk me.”

  “Yet you hang out with me.” Felipe smirked.

  “I’m not sleeping with you,” Morris retorted. Not that he was sleeping with Theo either, but the thought of doing so sometime soon made the whole evening brighter. For the time being, Theo wasn’t trying to change him—maybe change his taste buds, but not Morris. Just because he was a geek, it didn’t mean he needed to be rescued or saved from himself. He certainly wasn’t looking for this to last, but a nice, hot fling, one that would lure them away from work and stress a bit, would be good for the both of them.

  Chapter Eight

  THEO LINED up the shot, jumped, and watched the basketball sail in a smooth arc to drop through the net. He darted forward, snagged the ball midbounce, and dribbled it back to the end of the driveway for another shot. Morning basketball beat the hell out of jogging or going to the gym, even if the air was already steaming with the promise of more heat and humidity to come. The trees arching over the driveway gave it a bit of shade but also kept the breeze from coming through. That didn’t stop Theo from coming out on the mornings he didn’t have to go to the market. This was his time—no contemplation, no stress, just him and the ball and the net.

  He turned and caught sight of the strange car parked under the trees next to Morris’s vehicle. He was not curious. He wasn’t. After all, he and Morris hadn’t even gone on a date yet. He had no claims to Morris’s complete at
tention even if they were dating. Okay, so maybe he was a little curious, but not jealous. It did make him wonder if he had some competition, though. Could flings have competition? As silly as the emotion was, it was nice to mull over a concern like that rather than the constant worry about the restaurant and his family.

  His concentration was off, and the ball banged off the rim and ricocheted toward the trees. Theo jogged toward it with a shake of his head. Sweat dampened his T-shirt, made it cling to his skin, so Theo stripped it off and tossed it to a corner of the driveway. He drilled the basketball off the backboard with a rattle and thud. He should’ve dragged Lincoln off his butt and made him go a couple rounds; it would be good for the twerp. Tomorrow morning he’d do that.

  The back door banged open and Felipe came around the corner, his dark eyes hot with a vast irritation. He was disheveled as if he’d just roused from bed and dressed only in a tank and boxers. Well damn, maybe there was a little competition after all. And someone who shared Morris’s interests as well. Unlike Theo. The reminder irked him.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you, man?” Felipe asked with a snarl in his voice. “Do you know what time it is?”

  Theo glanced at his watch. “Yeah, after ten. Rise and shine, sunshine.”

  “Nobody fucking rises and shines in the morning.” Felipe stalked forward and attempted to swipe the ball out of Theo’s hands. “It’s amoral.”

  Okay, it was one thing to stalk out of Morris’s apartment half naked. It was another thing to growl at him on a perfectly beautiful morning. But if Mr. Surly thought he could steal a ball from Theodore Boarman, he was having a wet dream.

  Theo danced out of the way, dribbling the ball tauntingly within Felipe’s reach. Felipe made another grab for it and Theo rolled around him, jumped lightly, and sank the shot.

  “Look who thinks he’s the king jock.” Felipe glared, one hand on his hip.

  Theo noted the dark circles under Felipe’s eyes and the pallor beneath his golden brown complexion, and the irritation sloughed off. He took pity on Felipe and tucked the ball under his arm. “Hangover?”