Eddieâs out at a gay bar, sees the most gorgeous man heâs ever clapped eyes on nursing a half finished beer at an otherwise unoccupied table, and canât resist offering to buy him a drink. The man looks at him with droopy hazel eyes, and he seems⌠Well, he seems sad. But he smiles, and accepts, despite being so far out of Eddieâs league itâs ridiculous.
His name is Steve, newish in town and recently single. He catches Eddie noticing the tan line from a ring thatâs no longer on his finger and adds, âI was married. Iâm⌠not anymore.â (Eddie guesses it must have been a rough divorce.)
Steve is bisexual, he also mentions hastily with a faint blush that tells Eddie the attraction might actually mutual.
They chat for a few hours, comparing their early lives growing up in small towns (Steve in Indiana, Eddie in Colorado) and their current jobs (Steve works in an office doing something the only explains as âreally, really dull,â Eddie in a local community center organizing afterschool activities for local kids and DMing for a couple different youth DnD groups) and music tastes (neither of them are huge fans of whatâs playing in the bar). After a while, Steve admits that heâs in a rut.
âYou looking to change that, sweetheart?â Eddie asks, and part of him wants to jump up and down and punch the air at how smooth that came out holy shit. Because Steve smiles shyly back (itâs like the fucking sun coming out a from behind a cloud) and says that yeah, heâd like that.
Fast forward to next morning. Eddie wakes up drooling on a perfectly hairy chest and a pounding in his head that doesnât actually hurt, itâs just loud. Knocking, he realizes eventually, and reluctantly hauls himself out of bed. Whoever it is at this unholy hour of⌠uh, 10am, can just deal with the fact that heâs answering the door in his boxers, covered in hickies and scratch marks, and with bedhead so wild it makes him look several inches taller than he actually is.
Only to be informed by the woman at his door that she knows Steve is here because she tracked his phone to this location. âOh! Not like that,â she adds hastily when Eddieâs eyes go wide. âNo, Iâm not, like, a jealous girlfriend or anything, thatâd be weird, heâs like my sister. I meanâwell, itâs hard to explain. But, anyway, look, I know heâs been having a rough time since his wife died, and Iâm glad he found someone to, um, keep company with, heâs way too fucking picky if you ask meâItâs just, I really canât afford the time off to keep babysitting right now, so if he could be, like, alive by the time school gets out, thatâd be goodâŚ?â
And oh god, Eddie is trying to absorb all that. Steve is a widower? Jesus H. Christ, at some point last night Eddie had moaned that whoever his ex was obviously hadnât known what a good, perfect, wonderous thing they were giving up. Steve is picky, but picked him? Oh, thatâs giving him butterflies. Steve has a kid? Well, Eddie is good with kidsâŚ
Suddenly thereâs a groan behind him and Steve shuffles up to wrap an arm around Eddieâs torso in a loose but affectionate hug. âThanks a lot, Robin,â Steve complains, his voice still rough from sleep, âI hadnât told him about the twins yet.â
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