Connor drove us into the city, navigating the confusing layout of the roads with ease. Asheville, North Carolina was a large, heavily populated city, and even though I had lived in the area my whole life, I still found myself getting mixed up when I had to drive myself around, so I was more than happy that Connor was acting as chauffeur.

We decided to try out a little hole in the wall, which was well known for serving authentic Italian food. The single room space was dimly lit and the few tables that were available sat spread out from one another by several feet. The warm, inviting atmosphere relaxed my nerves, and when we were seated, I was relieved to finally be able to focus solely on the man in front of me. Connor was wearing a navy, fitted button down, the sleeves rolled up to expose his toned forearms. The fabric draped his body effortlessly, hugging it in all the right places, and I found myself staring more than once.

Once we had our drinks, Connor studied me through his gold, metal frames before breaking the comfortable silence, "This is nice, isn't it? I'm glad you're here, Bo."

"I'm happy to be here," I blushed, the heat rising in my cheeks.

"So, um, you're still okay with the fact that we're both men?" Connor said quietly, a slight tremble in his voice. "To be honest, when I found out you had a girlfriend, my first thought was that my advances might push you away. It can be a struggle for some people to realize such a huge, unfamiliar thing about themselves, but that doesn't seem to be the case for you."

I took a deep breath in, seriously considering Connor's words, the concerns he had, and began to explain, "Growing up in church, even if we weren't the most zealous family, well, let's just say that it exposed me to some heart-wrenching situations, and while I couldn't help the people who were affected at the time, I think I was able to learn from them. One situation in particular involved a friend who attended church camp with me every summer when I was kid. We were friends for years, and I cared about him a lot. Well, one day, I got a letter from him. That wasn't unusual since we wrote letters to each other frequently, but in this letter, my friend explained that he had actually fallen in love with a boy at his school, someone I didn't know. I'm not sure how, but well, his parents found out about it. Turns out, they were going to send him away to some religious boarding school if he didn't repent. Fucking insane, right? So this incredible, vibrant person I had grown up with agreed to completely change himself to meet their standards. The next summer, when I saw him again at camp, he was a totally different person, Connor. His eyes were dull, and he had lost the vibrancy that made him so...him.

"To me, it was so blatantly obvious that my friend, who wasn't hurting anyone, was forced to change just because he didn't love who the church--society--wanted him to. The whole thing felt wrong, and so unbelievably cruel. Even when I explained the situation to my parents, who I had always considered to be kind and understanding, well, they just sighed, saying it was a private family matter and that I should keep my nose out of it. I watched others go through similar things after that, and honestly, that's probably what led me to begin questioning everything about my faith. It just didn't make sense to me that a book, which supposedly preaches all about love, would condemn genuinely good people for doing just that.

"To be clear, I'm not religious anymore. I don't really know if I ever was since it was always just pushed on me by my parents. Ah, um, sorry, this is probably way more than you wanted to know, I just didn't know how to explain it without giving you the whole story. To your point, though, I'm not the type of person to stand in the way of my own happiness, Connor. You and I have something, so I'm not going to deny myself the opportunity to explore that. Am I confused about what it all means? Sure, I am. Am I kind of freaking out about what that means, um, physically? I mean, I would be lying if I didn't say yes. But I'm not sweating it, you know? Guys wouldn't hook up with other guys if it wasn't enjoyable, right? I mean, logically it wouldn't make--"

"Bo," Connor interrupted, an amused smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, "please don't worry about that right now. Listen, I promise to only ever make you feel good--better than good, actually--but you need to know that I am more than happy to wait until you're ready for that, okay?" A look of pure sincerity settled on his face, and the spinny, whirly feeling in my gut suddenly intensified.

I take it back, I'm ready now. Wait, what the fuck am I thinking? You said you would keep it in your fucking pants, Bo! Goddamnit.

"Thank you, Connor," I whispered, attempting to ignore my rambling inner monologue, which had devolved into absolute, mad fucking chaos.

"Thank you for sharing all of that with me. It's heartbreaking what happened to your friend, but unfortunately, that happens all the time," Connor replied. He hesitated, almost like he wanted to say something else, but then took a bite of bread to indicate that he was finished speaking. What was that about? No, don't push. I'm sure he has his reasons.

Our food arrived, looking and smelling absolutely delicious, and we continued to talk about various things throughout our meal. I knew that Connor was going to want to pay, so I decided to be a little shit and beat him to it. I excused myself from the table, telling Connor that I needed to use the restroom, but instead used the opportunity to slip the waiter my debit card.

When I sat back down, Connor's eyes narrowed on me, a bemused expression on his face. "Think you're sneaky, huh? You should have let me pay, Bo."

"Nope," I said, popping the 'p.' "I felt like it, so I did it."

"Well, okay then. Is it strange that I really like this bratty side of you?" Connor lowered his voice, a sensual grin curving his lips. "How would you feel about going for a night drive after this?"

I smiled, "As long as I get to pick the music."