Chapter 25 - Nadia

I blinked at the tall, spectacled man. A handsome man, despite his quiet demeanor. The one I’d just snapped at.
“Oh,” I said.
“It’s just that, you know,” Andy said, removing his glasses and cleaning them with the corner of his shirt. “Since rehearsal is canceled, if you didn’t have any plans, we could… I don’t have plans, is what I’m saying, so it might be a good time to… If you want to go on…”
“I’d love to,” I said, stopping him from embarrassing himself further. “Once we go home and change, that is.”
“Yeah, sure.” He returned his glasses to his face. “I figured for our date we could—”
I stuck out my hand to stop him. “You don’t need to tell me now. Make it a surprise.”
“Um.” His wavy blond hair shifted against his forehead as he cocked his head. “What if you don’t like what I choose?”
“Then the night will be ruined and I’ll hate you forever.” I punctuated it with a warm smile. That did the trick of calming him down, and he smiled with me.
We rejoined the others, who gave us funny looks. “Lecturing her about spilling the beans on Vandercant?” Ryan asked. “Damn dude.”
Before Andy could explain what we had talked about, I made my eyes wide and my voice meek. “He threatened to kick me out of the house if I opened my mouth again to Director Atkins. You guys wouldn’t let him do that, w-w-would you?”
I really sold it with the stutter at the end. Andy didn’t have a chance to defend himself before the others started shouting.
“What the fuck, bro!”
“Dude, she didn’t mean to spill the beans...”
“Dearest Nadia is a guest in our home! How can you be so callous after a mere slip of the tongue?”
I finally stepped between them and laughed. “I was joking! Everyone relax! You can stop white-knighting me now.”
Dorian laughed first, and wrapped a friendly arm around Andy’s shoulder while we walked away from the theater. Ryan and Braden joined in the laughter a moment later.
“It’s nice to know I can turn you guys against one another if the need should ever arise,” I teased.
“A theatrical Yoko Ono,” Dorian praised. “But more talented, of course.”
Andy looked flustered at suddenly being the target of everyone’s anger. It made me feel bad for a moment, until he said, “I have decided to cancel our date.”
“What!”
“I will take my good friend Ryan out instead. What do you say?”
“Fuck yeah, I’m in,” Ryan said. Skin slapped as they high-fived over my head.
“No!” I said. “I want to go on the date!”
A tiny smile crept onto Andy’s stoic face. “Perhaps I will change my mind by the time we get home.”
I smiled ruefully. I suppose I deserve that.
I stole glances at Andy as we hopped on the train back home. I typically liked confident guys—what woman didn’t?—but there was something absolutely adorable about the bashful way Andy had asked me out. Like he was afraid I would say no. The only way it could have been any cuter is if he passed me a note with a “do you like me yes/no” option, teenager style. I was looking forward to getting to know him. The date was a good opportunity, since we hadn’t really spent any other time together.
Besides, his was the most complicated of the arrangements. Dorian wanted friendship. Boom, easy. Ryan wanted a fuck-buddy. Slightly more complicated, but done.
Andy wanted a potentially long-term relationship. There were a lot more hiccups along the way. We had to enjoy being around each other, we had to have emotional chemistry, and then we had to have physical chemistry—if we even got to that point. Out of all the guys, my situation with Andy was most likely to fail.
But for now, like all first dates, it was full of excitement and potential. Anything could happen.
Beyond that, I was excited to go out. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a real date. I just never had the time. Rehearsal being canceled gave us a rare opportunity that wouldn’t mean staying out until midnight.
I wonder where he’s going to take me. He seemed like he’d been thinking about it. More than just a dinner-and-a-movie situation. Something more fun.
We got home and split off. I went up to my room, and was pleasantly reminded that I now had my full wardrobe here rather than one set of clothes and three pairs of underwear. I needed to do laundry, but that could wait a day or two. Did we have a washer and dryer here? I didn’t see one when they gave me a tour of the place.
As I started picking out my favorite outfits, I realized I didn’t know how dressy I should be. Andy might be taking me to a fancy restaurant, and I sure as hell didn’t want to feel under-dressed twice in one day.
I went downstairs and poked my head in his room. “Andy?”
Dorian was reclined on one of the twin beds reading a magazine. “He just got out of the shower.” He jerked his head toward the bathroom door.
I approached and knocked. “Andy? How dressy should I be tonight? You’re taking me to Per Se, right? Nothing more casual than an evening gown?”
On the bed, Dorian chuckled.
The bathroom door cracked open, and through the steamy air I caught a glimpse of Andy’s body. A towel protected his groin—held there with his hand, not wrapped around his whole body. There was almost zero body fat on him; the muscles and veins practically jumped out like a child’s pop-up book, especially the vein that ran across his pelvis. He didn’t just have a six-pack; he had an eight-pack, with two extra ab muscles peeking up from the towel. He was toned like fucking Brad Pitt from Fight Club.
Andy looked tall and stringy when he wore clothes. Now I could see my assumptions were far from the truth.
Holy shit.
“I hope that’s a joke,” Andy said, “because I don’t think I could afford a table at Per Se unless I saved up for a year.”
I had to force myself to focus on what we’d been talking about. The date. Right. What I had to wear.
Good lord. He’s like an anime caricature of a ripped dude.
“Definitely a joke,” I said. Was I sweating, or was it the steam from the bathroom clinging to my forehead? “So, uh, how dressy do I need to be?”
“Not at all,” Andy said. “Well, don’t wear yoga pants and a ratty t-shirt. Dress nice, but comfortably. We’re going to be having fun.”
“Ohh, I like fun!”
I winced. It sounded cheesy and stupid. Who didn’t like fun? But when I tried to think of anything more clever I fell into a trance from those delicious abs, and the sharp lines of his oblique muscles…
“Alrighty then,” I said. “See you in a little while.”
I turned away from the door to find Dorian staring at me from the bed. He raised his eyebrows in an amused expression. I rushed past him and back into the hall before he could comment on what had just happened.
Alrighty then. Who was I, Ace Ventura? I felt like the female equivalent of the douchebag guys who stared and got all stupid when they saw a big pair of tits. Maybe it was because I’d been caught off guard. I expected Andy to be the least buff dude in the house, not the most shredded.
As I retreated back to my room, Ryan called out from his open bedroom, “You alright?”
I paused in my doorway and said, “What do you mean?” a little more casually than I intended.
Ryan walked to his door. “You look like you’re running from zombies. The fast kind.”
I shook off his comment. “Just thinking about all the things I have to do to get ready. Girls take more prep time than guys before a date.”
“Right, right,” he said carefully. He brushed back his messy red hair and then reached up to grab onto the upper frame of his door, which made his arms bulge. “Have fun tonight. Make sure you don’t go to bed unsatisfied.”
I scoffed and sputtered at the comment. “It’s our first date. Andy wants a serious relationship, so…”
I left the rest unsaid, but Ryan only smiled. “I didn’t mean Andy.” He winked. “Have a good time.”
And just like that, he disappeared back into his room.