“You absolutely should date,” she said. “It’s wonderful that you’re putting Owen first, but you deserve happiness, too. If you ignore what you want and need, it’ll just end up making you miserable in the long run.”
“You’re right, and I really would love to date a guy, after all these years of wondering what it was like. So, how do I meet someone, aside from a dating app? I really don’t like those.”
“Try spending some time in the Castro, which is LGBTQ-central. You know I’ll happily babysit for you. I’m sure Lark will too, he adores his nephew.” She smiled at Owen as she said that, and he smiled back before resuming the important task of chewing on his teething toy.
“Honestly, I don’t think hanging out in the Castro would help a whole lot. I see the most gorgeous man every morning after my run, but I can never bring myself to speak to him. It’d be the same thing in a club or bar. I’d be too shy to approach anyone, and it would be depressing to sit there waiting for someone to choose me.”
“So, don’t do that last part, the sitting and waiting. Go to a club with Lark and Dylan or some of their friends and just enjoy yourself. If you happen to meet someone, great. If not, you can still have a good time.”
“That sounds fun, actually. I could use a night out.”
“No doubt! In fact, think of it as a form of self-care. I’ve seen my friends with kids go through this. Taking time for yourself ultimately makes you a better parent, because it recharges you and makes you a happier person.”
“I’ll see what I can do to make a night out happen,” I said. “In the meantime, tell me about the single guys who’ll be at the party tonight.”
“Well, there’s Eliot, for one.”
“Eliot as in our housemate the librarian, who lives upstairs?” She nodded, and I said, “That’s a terrible idea, for two reasons. First of all, what if we tried going out and it ended badly? It would be so awkward to keep seeing each other day after day. In fact, one of us would probably have to move out.”
“I guess. What’s the other reason?”
“We’re way too similar. I can picture us going out to dinner and spending the whole date reading.”
JoJo chuckled at that, which made Owen smile again. Then she said, “I can totally see that. So, yeah, maybe you need someone who’s different than you, that whole opposites attract thing. The other single guy who’ll be at the party is a firefighter named Heath, who used to work with Dylan. He looks like a big, blond Viking, and he’s a nice guy, though I’ve heard he really doesn’t do commitment.”
I frowned and asked, “That’s it? The only single people at a party with forty guests are me, Eliot, and a commitment-phobic Viking?”
JoJo looked apologetic. “I could be wrong. It’s not like I know all of Lark and Dylan’s friends. That’s just who I can think of off the top of my head.”
I finished my water, and as I washed the glass at the sink I said, “It’s fine. I wasn’t expecting any miracles at the party tonight.” I put the clean glass in the drainer and dried my hands, and then I told Owen, “Be right back, buddy. Auntie JoJo’s going to hang out with you while I take a shower.”
As I started to go, JoJo exclaimed, “Noah! Kel’s business partner is single, and he’ll be there tonight. I almost forgot about him.”
“Yeah, but he’s obviously in love with Kel.” That wasn’t much of a surprise, given how cute our other housemate was.
“But Kel has a boyfriend.”
I glanced over my shoulder and said, “I don’t think it matters.” JoJo looked like she was mulling over that bit of information as I left the kitchen.
* * *
The dinner party was set to begin with cocktails at six, but Dylan’s friends River and Cole arrived at four, accompanied by Skye and Dare. Skye was River’s younger brother, and River and his husband Cole ran a successful catering business and had come to help with the food. “Dare and I are here to not help at all and to eat everything faster than they can make it,” Skye joked.
His husband rolled his eyes and grinned at Skye as he said, “Actually, we carpooled with River and Cole because parking’s pretty tough in this neighborhood. And that means we get more baby time!” They both seemed pretty enamored of Owen, and they came upstairs with us and sat on the floor while the baby crawled around and chewed on his toys.
I’d met Skye and Dare twice before over the last few weeks. They fascinated me for a number of reasons, including the fact that they both had successful careers in the arts. Dare was a dancer and ran an all-gay troupe, which had recently been featured in a national magazine. Meanwhile, Skye was a metal sculptor who was becoming famous, and whose work was in high demand. Not that they’d told me any of that, because they were very humble about their success. I’d heard it from Dylan after I’d met them for the first time.
They also fascinated me because they seemed so different from one another, but somehow they were a perfect match. Skye was a wild child with blue hair, worn out overalls, and a T-shirt with a Smurf on it, while Dare was neatly dressed all in black and seemed a lot more reserved than his outgoing husband. On the surface, I wouldn’t have expected them to fit together, but they clearly adored each other and had been happily married for several years.
At the moment, Skye was putting on a puppet show with some stuffed animals, and Owen watched in wonder and laughed at Skye’s silly voices. Meanwhile, Dare turned to me and asked, “So, how are you liking San Francisco, Logan?”
“It’s growing on me. There’s still a lot I want to explore, like the Castro. I think it might be fun to check out some of its clubs.”
The only reason I threw that out there was because my conversation with JoJo was still in the back of my mind. I really didn’t expect both guys to instantly perk up, and Skye exclaimed, “Dare and I fell in love while working at a club in the Castro! Are you free tomorrow night? If so, we’ll show you around and introduce you to some people.”
That took me by surprise, and I stammered, “Oh. Um, you don’t have to do that.”
“We want to! We were just saying it’s been too long since we visited our friend Preston. He used to work with us, and then he ended up buying the club where we all met.” Skye’s blue eyes were lit up with excitement.
“Okay. Let me check with JoJo to see if she’s available to watch Owen.”
I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent her a text, and JoJo replied a few seconds later with: Hell yes, go out tomorrow night! We’ll move Owen’s porta-crib into our room, so you can stay out as late as you want. And before you start to worry, let me remind you that Yolanda is a pediatric nurse and I’m awesome, so the baby will be in excellent hands.
I sent back a thank you, and then I told my new friends, “It looks like we’re on for tomorrow night.”
Skye and Dare flashed me matching smiles, and Dare said, “It’ll be great. You’re going to love it!” I wasn’t sure if that was true, but I knew it’d definitely be an interesting experience.