What's better than sex? To Naomi, it's going out with friends for delicious food, winning softball games, and having a whirlwind romance with her close friend. The only problem: despite a decade of friendship, she has yet to come out to him as asexu...
The dog let out a quick groan of contentment and stared at him with those matching chocolate eyes before her focus shifted.
When he looked up at Naomi, she grinned and held a red toy that had captured Cleo's attention. "This is all yours if you let us eat our pizza in peace, alright girl?"
Cleo stood to sit at Naomi's feet. When she handed over the toy and called out 'bed', Cleo trotted it over to a dog bed in the corner of the living room. Once they wandered into the kitchen, they washed her hands. She handed him a vintage-looking plate with yellow and orange flowers in the center. Only then did the décor hit him, from the old diner-like rectangular table to the flower-power upholstered chairs and the hanging cabinet with yellow glass.
"We decided modern homes were for squares."
Kieran chuckled. "You would hate my condo. But I blame Jake for the decorating out of pure laziness, apathy, and lack of funds on my part."
Naomi placed a couple of pieces of pepperoni mushroom pizza on her plate. "Our decision was also because we moved in around free day, and we found some sweet pieces. By sweet, I mean we didn't have to pay a cent for them."
He took two slices of the same and followed her to the kitchen table. "Free day?"
"The day when everyone puts their unwanted stuff on the curb, and you grab everything you can. You'd do well since you said you had a truck."
He sat down across from her. "Didn't realize there was such a thing."
"You're missing out. There was one a couple of weeks ago where we got an almost complete foosball table."
As they ate their pizza together, her choice of topping stood out. "Didn't you say you could go your whole life without pepperoni?"
"It was a metaphor. Real pepperoni is non-negotiable."
"Here, I thought you'd ordered two pizzas for me to be generous."
Her smile was thinner than earlier. She inspected the smaller boxes. "I didn't order these."
"Seemed today called for whatever this brownie-looking thing is."
She set the box down and smiled at him. "Look at you, all thoughtful."
"I didn't want to assume you ate your feelings, cause you don't look like it, but I also remembered the chicken wing and pizza-buying chick."
"As long as you don't judge me."
"Do I look like someone who cares what you eat?" Kieran laughed and patted his stomach.
"Looks can be deceiving." Naomi focused on finishing her slice of pizza.
He sensed her comment was based more on her internal conflict than on their conversation. He'd learned long ago to let a woman bring up what she wanted to say instead of playing a guessing game he'd never win. It'd been a while since he experienced it as Brinny was an over-sharer. Naomi doubled up on her silence by digging into her second slice.
Once they'd finished their third slice without another word, Kieran cleared his throat. "Are you okay?"
She shook her head.
"Was it something I said?"
She shook her head again.
"Anything I can do to help?"
"Don't let me get my hopes up again." The defeat in her tone killed him.
He nodded and offered her the brownie box, which she took without hesitation. He opted not to take the second one in case she needed more chocolate therapy. Once she finished the first, she sighed.
"The most frustrating part is, for the briefest window, I feel normal and imagine I'll have what others do. Like someone will finally say, that's not a big deal, but it's like I've asked them to amputate an arm, or they lie and claim it's fine only to make me wait longer for the inevitable breakup. I always thought Greg would be the one who accepted me because we've been through so much together, and he's my rock." Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she curled into herself, almost halving the height of her torso as she shook.
Did he grab her hand or rub her back or watch her fall apart like an uncaring asshole?
"Do you still want that hug?"
Naomi looked up at him with glossy brown eyes and nodded. Once they stood, she had her arms around his neck with her head resting against his shoulder before he had to contemplate where to put his hands. They fell naturally around her lower back. Her hugs felt like she melted into him, blurring the lines between their bodies. It was hard to tell if five minutes had gone by or thirty seconds, but her crying eased.
"You give great hugs," she said.
"So do you."
He didn't realize how close to her ear he'd been whispering until she shivered against him and pulled away.
"This isn't a Brinny-type situation because I can't—"
"No, sorry, that was a genuine accident. I respect that you're ace. Truly do."
That put a fleeting smile on her lips, but whatever she considered resurrected her frown. "Some days, I want to tattoo asexual to my forehead and be done with allosexual expectations."
"It'd be a conversation starter. On the plus side, other aces might reach out more often."
Naomi sighed. "I guess it's time for me to stay in my lane."
As much as he wanted to tell her she was amazing and plenty of non-douchey regular guys would love her in a heartbeat, he didn't want to set her up for heartbreak. Dating another ace person would be the safest option for her.
"It might curb your disappointment and heartbreak."
Naomi played with a strand of her hair. "I'm too intense for some aces."
"I'm sure there's a pocket of aces like you. The ones who keep wanting to cross the fence even if they get stabbed trying to jump it." One percent of the population included many people.
"How on earth would I find them?"
"There must be an app for that, and if not, I bet Jake would be happy to develop one. I'm getting sick of his healthy eating obsession. I like to eat my junk food in peace."
"Speaking of junk food, don't forget your dessert." As they sat at the table again, she pushed the second box toward him.
"It's all yours if you want it."
She shook her head. "It's good, but you deserve one too."
"You sure?" When she nodded, he took a bite, and warm chocolate filling coated his tongue. It tasted like a creamy store-bought brownie. "That's better than I was expecting."
"Theme of the day."
"Couldn't agree more."
They finished their meal as Cleo came to check on the crumb on the floor situation. After Naomi mentioned they hadn't been out for her second walk today, Kieran offered to go with her.
Once she left the house, her mood lightened, and it shifted the conversation away from her love life. He understood why Greg was drawn to her. She was easy-going, funny, and entertaining as she recounted her stories from dog training and cracked jokes. She was someone he would miss when she wasn't around.
***
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
