“After college. Went to Baltimore for my first job. Moved to Atlanta for another job. Moved to Lawrence a little over a year ago.”
“But not for a job offer this time,” Paul said. “What made you leave Atlanta if it wasn’t for a new company?”
He felt Ace stiffen in the seat next to him. Paul kept brushing against the landmines.
“None of my business?” Paul guessed quietly.
“Just a story for another time,” Ace said. “Gotta leave something for the sequel.”
“Fair enough.”
“Your turn now,” Ace said. “Tell me your fairy tale.”
“Awww,” Paul complained. “But I had so many clever follow-up questions.”
“We’ll save Q-and-A for later.”
“Fine. Once upon a time-”
“That won’t be necessary, doc,” Ace laughed.
“Let’s see, what do you already know?”
“You’re a chiropractor. You have a brother. You take, um, interesting vacations.”
“Right. Well, you’re about caught up, then.”
“Nice try, McDonnell. Where are you from?”
“We McDonnells are Kansas City natives, actually. Mom and Dad moved to South Carolina a few years ago because they got tired of all the ice storms and stuff.”
“Why Lawrence then?”
“I went to KU for my undergrad. Went to New York for my M. D. and then my chiropractic studies. Came back to Lawrence because I missed the town.”
“So you have an M. D. and a chiropractor degree? Why aren’t you doing a general practice right now?”
“I like the chiropractic stuff better,” Paul says. “I told you about my mom, right? And her bad back?”
Ace furrowed his brows. “Yeah, I think you might have. My memories of that night don’t have a lot of words in them.”
“Just the dirty ones,” Paul murmured.
Ace looked like he was trying to swallow his own lips.
“Anyway,” Paul continued, “I liked making a real difference in people’s pain in a very specific way. And I think having the medical degree helps make me a better overall chiropractor.”
Ace nodded. “So, that’s your work. And I’ve met your family well, the local ones. Any secret ex-boyfriends in your story?”
“None that could be fairly called a boyfriend,” Paul admitted. How sad was that? He was thirty-six and could honestly say that he’d always been alone. “What about you?” he countered. “Any exes in your fairy tale?”
Ace’s smile tightened on his face. “A few.”
“Are they the ogres?”
Ace kept his eyes fixed on the passing landscape and didn’t respond, which gave Paul his answer. He wished Ace would feel comfortable telling him about those ogres, but he knew how hypocritical it was of him to expect one-sided openness.
At the stadium, Paul was pleased to note Ace’s shock at how close their parking passes allowed them to park. They were practically up against the building.
“I know,” Paul said. “Holly is totally spoiling me with these tickets. I don’t know how I’ll ever live with the cheap seats again.”
After a stop to buy Ace an overpriced Royals hat, they got settled in their seats a few rows behind home plate. There was a good crowd for a Thursday night, which the presence of the Red Sox surely helped to bring about, but it wasn’t so crowded that they were flanked on all sides by other people.
Sitting so close to Ace, Paul felt his insecurities getting the better of him. He felt like he was wearing a blinking sign on his head screaming, “I’m on a date! With a dude!”
“You need to unclench,” Ace said, breaking the tense silence.
“You can’t tell if I’m clenching or not,” Paul said through his teeth.
Ace turned toward him. “When you’re here with Steven, do you worry that people are thinking you’re on a date?”
Paul blinked at him. “No. I guess that never occurred to me.”
“I’ll give you some helpful tips here, from your personal gay sensei,” Ace smiled. “At sporting events, you can assume most of the guys are here on man dates, not date-dates.”
“Or with their brothers.”
“Exactly. But when you see two men in a romantic, candlelit restaurant, that’s more date-date territory.”
“Gotcha.” Paul relaxed a little bit and settled into the familiar sounds and rhythms of a baseball game. He was so grateful to Ace for reading his mind like that and knowing just what to say. The more he was around this guy, the more he wanted to be around him.
It was easy to get sucked in to the game, especially when you sat so close that you could plainly see the players’ expressions. Ace wasn’t exaggerating about his baseball knowledge; he coached the game just like every other guy there and jumped up with an excited roar whenever the Royals managed to move the ball out of the infield.
Midway through the game, Ace polished off his second beer and scraped the leftover cheese from the nacho tray. He looked over at Paul with big blue eyes as he slowly licked the cheese from his finger. Paul swallowed hard and fought the urge to lean in and find something of his own to lick.
“Paul, can I ask for something a little childish?” Ace asked, licking the last bit of stray cheese from his lips. Paul bit back a groan.
“Uh, sure,” he grunted.
“I know it’s silly, but I need something sweet to balance out this salt and beer,” Ace said. “Can you get me a cotton candy?”
Paul blinked. “Cotton candy?”
“I can’t go to a ball game without it. I told you it’s childish.” Ace smiled and looked down. “It’s easier to score some cotton when I take Sonya’s kids to a game. Kids are the best candy beard.”
Paul smiled warmly. “Well, I think I’m secure enough in my masculinity to buy cotton candy without a child involved. Baby steps, right?”