“Come on, Professor. It’s softball, not rocket science.” From the pitcher’s mound, Craig gave an overly animated demonstration of how to play the game. “This is the ball. That’s the bat. You hit the ball with the bat – then run. Got it?”
Ryuu stepped up to the plate. One more word and I’m flunking your ass. There were far worse things he wanted to do to the annoying redhead. Still, the humiliation of having struck out twice already wouldn’t allow him to do more than grin and bear it.
Ryuu watched the ball leave Craig’s chubby fingers. He gripped the bat tightly and held his breath. Prepared, ready, and focused, he watched it float through the air as if moving in slow motion – and right past the bat he swung so fiercely.
“Shit.” Ryuu trudged to the makeshift dugout and handed the bat to Mark. “Maybe I need glasses.”
Mark put his hand on Ryuu’s shoulder. “Don’t sweat it, man. You’ll get the hang of it.”
“I doubt it.” Ryuu crossed his arms and glared at Craig's ridiculous victory dance.
Mark squeezed Ryuu’s shoulder and leaned into him. “That’s why you should play with us more often.”
Ryuu didn't know how to get the jock's hand off his shoulder without embarrassing him. It was apparent Mark had a crush on him. Those big blue eyes screamed ‘do me’ from the moment Mark Gooding stepped into his classroom. Ryuu had shrugged off his flirtations so far, but the man was getting bolder.
Craig barked at his friend. “Damn, Mark, get up there or give the bat to someone else. I’m on a roll here.”
“I’m going to teach him a lesson in manners for you,” Mark said.
“You do that.” Ryuu leaned away from Mark’s hand sliding down his arm.
Ryuu was accustomed to dating shorter men. But, despite the muscular build and scraggly blond hair Ryuu was typically drawn to, he wouldn’t touch Mark with a ten-foot pole.
Turning down Mark’s invitation to join their weekly game had always been easy. Ryuu cutting his usual mid-morning jog short to play a few innings had to do with the guy sitting under a nearby tree.
Ryuu caught a glimpse of the young man on campus the week before. It was the long, dark brown hair that flowed to his waist that sent Ryuu racing down the stairs of the Lillis Building that day. That same hair caught his attention as he ran along the Willamette River today.
Ryuu only caught a glimpse of the stranger’s face, and his black T-shirt showed off his naturally tanned skin. He was much thinner than the men Ryuu was usually attracted to, but there was something about him, something alluring.
Getting a man’s attention was never a problem for Ryuu—they usually came to him—but he wasn’t sure how to approach this particular guy. Craig’s antics, Mark’s come-ons, and the humiliation of trying to play softball for the third time in his life added to insecurities Ryuu wasn’t accustomed to.
Ryuu looked over his shoulder. The young man sat with his arms loosely wrapped around his bent knees, one wrist held by the other hand. His hair flowed in the light breeze. He stared out at the river beyond the playground full of hyperactive children.
The crack of the bat brought his attention back to the game. Mark showed off his physique as he rounded the bases. It was the perfect time to slip away, but approaching a stranger in the park with students watching was not a good idea. Nope, not a good idea at all.
Ryuu ambled across the grass with every pickup line he’d ever heard running through his head. This is stupid. He’s probably a student, which means he’s off-limits. He’s probably straight, and there’s no way a man like that is single.
“Hi.”
The young man slowly lifted his head. His nose sat perfectly on his oval face. Tantalizing brown eyes made Ryuu forget everything he’d planned to say. The man’s eerily blank expression and a slight pinch of his brow gave the impression Ryuu was being studied.
He liked being admired. Why else would he spend so much time at the gym? But Ryuu wasn’t used to strangers looking him in the eye for as long as this guy was.
“Hi.” The man’s monotone voice sounded young.
“Do you mind if I sit here?”
His gaze went from Ryuu’s hand to the ground. “No.” He turned his attention back to the river. The crinkle in his brow disappeared.
Ryuu sat with his back to the water, so he could admire the man without being too obvious. He draped his left arm over his bent knee in a position that showed off his dedication to the gym. He held out his right hand. “My name’s Ryuu Tanaka. Just like redo but without the d.”
The pinch was back, more noticeable than before. The man clenched his fingers and stared at Ryuu’s hand.
Issues! Only someone with problems would have to think so hard about a simple handshake.
After a moment, the pinch released, and the guy finally took Ryuu’s hand. “Daniel.”
Tingles raced up Ryuu’s spine. Daniel’s hand was soft and so damned warm. His grip was firm for such a thin person.
Daniel pulled his hand away and stared straight ahead again.
“Just Daniel? That’s it? No last name?”
“Do you need to see my ID?”
“No, I believe you.”
Daniel’s lips didn’t move much when he talked. The lack of emotion on the young man’s face had Ryuu longing to see him smile.
“I’m an associate professor at the U of O. Are you a student?”
“No.”
“Don’t tell me you’re still in high school.”
“No.”
“I run along the river every day, but I’ve never seen you here before. Do you work around here?”
“No.”
“Do you—”
Daniel slowly turned to face him. “I didn’t graduate from high school. I’m not working right now. I’m not from around here. I don’t come here often. I’m twenty-four. I’m a Pisces. I don’t want to join the game. I don’t want to meet you for drinks later. I don’t have a girlfriend, and I’m not gay. Anything else you’d like to know?”
Ryuu laughed and leaned on his right hand. “Well, that takes care of the basics – and the first twenty minutes of the conversation. Is there anything you’d like to know about me?” Ryuu saw that pinch again, but he didn’t care as long as Daniel kept looking at him.
“No.”
“I teach economics at the U of O. I was born and raised in Osaka, Japan. I’m thirty-one. I’m a Taurus. I’ve been in Oregon for eight years. I do come here often. I don’t want to go back to the game either. I would ask you out for coffee before I’d ask you to have a drink with me. I’m not in a relationship either, and I am gay.”
Daniel’s gaze alternated between the river and Ryuu a few
times.
“Yeah. I’m still here.”
“Why are you talking to me?”
“Honestly, I came over here to hit on you, but you shot that down in a heartbeat. Does my being gay make you uncomfortable?”
“No. Does my being straight mean you’ll stop talking to me?”
“No. Every gay man should have at least one straight friend to keep things interesting.”
“I thought that was, every woman should have at least one gay friend to keep her up on the latest fashions.”
“That’s true too, but I left my straight BFF in Japan, so she’s on her own.”
“She’s probably walking around in pink socks and green pants. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“Utterly disgusted. Maybe I should have checked to see if she’s color-blind before I bailed on her.”
Daniel turned back to the river. “The odds of a woman being color-blind is over twenty to one compared to men, and that’s only if her father is color-blind too.”
Their conversation went from choppy one-word answers to a speedy debate in no time flat. Ryuu didn’t want it to end. “You’re pretty smart for a guy who didn’t finish high school.”
“If you thought I was stupid, would you still have come over here to hit on me?”
“Probably not.”
“Hey, Professor, you’re up.”
Ryuu turned to Mark, flipping the bat end to end. “Play without me. I’m just going to strike out anyway.”
Mark stopped flipping the bat. His happy expression twisted into a scowl. Ryuu turned back to see Daniel’s brows furrowed much as they had been through most of their conversation. It was cute, but he could understand how a man like Mark would see it differently, challenging even.
Ryuu waved Mark off. “I’m done. I’ve had enough for one day.”
Mark turned away, but Daniel continued to stare.
“You shouldn’t go out with him,” Daniel said.
“I don’t date students, and unless you’re a black belt, you should stop glaring at him like that.” Ryuu employed his stern teacher voice. “Hey.”
Daniel flinched. The pinch vanished when he turned back to Ryuu.
“Don’t look at him like that,” Ryuu said.
Daniel opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. He glanced at Mark, then back at Ryuu. “Like what?”
He honestly doesn’t know what I’m talking about. “You might want to work on your people skills.”
Daniel turned away. “He’s trouble.”
“Do you know him?”
“I know people.”
“Really?” Ryuu jumped at the chance to get off the subject of Mark. “That would make you a psychologist, psychiatrist, or psychic. Which one is it?”
Daniel gave him a quick that was stupid look before turning back to the river.
“Okay, smart guy, if you know so much about people, what do you have to say about me?”
Daniel looked him square in the eye. “Your mother is British. I doubt many people know you’re gay, but you’d tell them if they asked. You don’t talk to your family about your boyfriends. You usually get what you want. You like being a teacher. You don’t like dogs, but you don’t have a cat, and you think that guy is just flirting. He’s not.” Daniel glanced at Mark running the bases. “You should tell him you’re not interested.”
Ryuu was stunned. “How did you know all that?”
“You said you’re from Japan, but you’re too big, too tall, and certain words you say have a slight British accent. If your mother was an American, you would have proudly said you’ve been in America for eight years instead of saying Oregon. If you were openly gay, you would have walked up to me instead of making a fool of yourself trying to play a game you suck at. If you were completely in the closet, you wouldn’t have come over here at all. Your job was the first thing you said when you were rambling off stuff I told you I didn’t want to know, and you said the U of O twice since you sat down, so teaching is what you’re most proud of. You sneered at the German shepherd that went by a while ago, and I’m allergic to cats. If you had one, I’d be scratching my eyes out by now. And people who don’t get their way aren’t usually so full of themselves.”
Ryuu smiled, despite the not-so-subtle insults. “You’re a people watcher. I am impressed. I mean, not like the usual just-checking-people-out watcher. You’re one of those…damn, I can’t remember what my buddy used to call them.” Ryuu snapped his fingers a couple of times. “Analytical observer. That’s it. My roommate in college was always rambling off about how there’s a reason for every little thing people say or do. How they can say yes, but their expression actually means no. I didn’t pay too much attention to him. He was a real conspiracy nut, claiming the governments of the world were using the workings of the human mind to control people.”
“He was right," Daniel said. "Social security and phone numbers are designed according to how many numerical digits the human brain can memorize within a sequence. It gets more twisted from there.”
Ryuu put his hand up. “Don’t tell me. I think I’d rather live in ignorance.”
“That’s what they’re counting on.”
Daniel was such a smart-ass. He was cute too, but even sexy people-watchers sitting under trees get it wrong sometimes. “That was good. You got all that just by talking to me for ten minutes. Too bad you’re wrong.”
“About what?”
“My mother is Japanese, and my father is British.”
“Tanaka isn’t British.”
“My father’s biological parents died when he was two. Tanaka is the name of the man who raised him. You were close, though. I’m still impressed.”
The sudden eruption of cheers behind him distracted Ryuu from the conversation. He spotted Mark frantically waving his teammate around the bases. “You’re wrong about Mark too. He’s just a kid with a crush.”
“He put his hand on you three times since you started playing to let everyone know you belong to him. You should tell him you’re not interested if you’re not stringing him along.”
“I don’t string people along. And if you’re not gay, how come you’ve been watching me?”
Daniel cocked his head to the side. “People watcher, remember.”
Ryuu couldn’t stop smiling. Daniel was warming up to him. That little tip of his head, the hint of sarcasm in his voice, and the slight bob of his eyebrows a few minutes before, he was showing a little more emotion with each passing moment. It was subtle, but Ryuu liked it. Daniel was definitely the kind of guy he wanted to get to know better.
“I’m not going out with you," Daniel said. "So you can wipe that dorky smile off your face.”
“I can’t help it. You’re probably the most interesting person I’ve ever met.”
Daniel looked away. “You should set your standards a little higher.”
What little of Daniel’s personality that had come through was quickly fading. “Hey, I’ve got a joke for you.”
“I don’t like jokes.”
“Too bad. I’m going to tell you anyway.” Ryuu scooted a little closer to test his boundaries. Daniel didn’t pull back. “Little Red Riding Hood was skipping through the forest. Out jumped a rabbit and said, ‘Little Red Riding Hood, go back home, or the big bad wolf’s going to lift up your dress and suck on your titties.’” I said titties. Why is he not smiling? “Little Red Riding Hood reached into her basket and pulled out a gun. ‘No, he’s not, I’ve got a gun.’”
Ryuu continued despite Daniel’s unchanged expression. “So Little Red Riding Hood goes skipping along and out jumps a fox. ‘Little Red Riding Hood, go back home, or the big bad wolf’s going to lift up your dress and suck on your titties.’ Little Red Riding Hood reached into her basket and pulled out her gun. ‘No, he’s not, I’ve got a gun.’”
Daniel’s face was as blank as ever, and it was too late to stop. Ryuu skipped to the last verse before digging himself any deeper. “So Little Red Riding Hood goes skipping along and out jumps the big bad wolf. He says, ‘He-he-he, Little Red Riding Hood. I’m going to lift up your dress and suck on your titties.’ Little Red Riding Hood pulls out her gun, lifts up her skirt, and says, ‘No, you’re not. You’re going to eat me like the book says.’”
Daniel stared at him with that blank look. It felt like an eternity of awkward silence, and there was no rock to crawl under.
Eventually, the corner of Daniel’s mouth arched into the most amazing crooked smile. His eyes lit up. He looked to the ground as if he were trying to hide. It wasn’t the laugh Ryuu wanted, but it was close.
“You’re sick,” Daniel mumbled.
“You have to admit that was funny.”
“That was pretty funny. I hope you don’t tell that joke to your students.” There was still a hint of a smile on Daniel’s face when he looked up.
“No, but the ones they tell me are worse than that.” Ryuu pretended not to hear the first drops of rain hitting the leaves above them. Not now!
Daniel looked up at the sky. “The rain’s starting again.”
“It’ll pass quickly. We should be dry under here.”
“It’s going to rain all day.”
“Don’t tell me you’re a cloud watcher too. Can you tell what the weather’s going to be just by looking at the sky?”
“No, but I know how to read a weather report.” Daniel rose.
Ryuu stood up and wiped the grass from the butt of his shorts. “It’s Oregon. It always rains.”
“It’s supposed to get worse.”
Daniel was only a few inches shorter than Ryuu, but it wasn’t until they were standing he realized how thin Daniel was—and not in a healthy way. He appeared weak or dizzy. His eyelids fluttered when he stood.
“Do you want to go over to the covered benches?”
“I’m going home.” Daniel put his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. He turned toward the parking lot with his head down.
“I’ll walk you to your car.” Ryuu came up beside him.
“I don’t have a car.”
“Then I’ll give you a ride.”
Daniel stopped suddenly. “It won’t look good for you to drive off with a guy you just met.”
Ryuu glanced over his shoulder. Mark was paying more attention to the two of them than the equipment he was shoving into the bag. “Students talk about teachers all the time. It’s no big deal.”
“Bye.” Daniel took a step away.
“Wait.” Ryuu put himself between Daniel and those in the ball field. “Can I at least have your number?”
“I don’t like phones.”
Ryuu was getting desperate. “I want to see you again.”
“Why?”
“I like talking to you.”
“What makes you think I like talking to you?”
Ryuu smiled. “Because you didn’t tell me to go away.”
Daniel raised his head enough to look Ryuu in the eye with that lopsided smile half-hidden by his hair. “You’re not as smart as you look.”
“Listen, I’m not trying to turn you to the gay side, but I don’t come across people like you every day. Meet me here tomorrow, after—“
“Thank you, Ryuu.”
“For what?”
“For trying. You’re a nice guy, but some people aren’t worth it.” Daniel turned away.
“Daniel.” Ryuu took a step but couldn’t manage another. “Ah, shit.” The man was right about his reputation. It wouldn’t look good to chase Daniel with students right behind him. Ryuu was forced to watch him walk away.
Daniel was intelligent, unique, intriguing, mysterious, and possibly too far out there for Ryuu’s tastes. Still, it was nice to hear Daniel say his name.
Issues? Nothing Ryuu couldn’t handle. Sick? That’s what medicine was for. Not gay? Disappointing, but not a problem. They would never be lovers, but a good friendship sounded nice. One way or another, Ryuu was going to see him again.
“See you around, Daniel,” he mumbled.
* * * *
Getting away from the park wasn’t easy, with so many people deciding to leave simultaneously. Ryuu sat at the light; his thoughts filled with the conversation he had with Daniel. He knew the odds of ever seeing that man again were slim, so spotting Daniel walking down the street was a bit of a surprise. It was surely him two blocks down, strolling along at a slow, steady pace. He was hard to miss with all that hair.
Ryuu silently cursed all the one-way roads in downtown Eugene and plotted how quickly he could get around the block to pick Daniel up. Ryuu glanced at the red light. Daniel was gone when he looked back.
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”
Ryuu drove up and down every road he could think of, slowly expanding the search area until he finally gave up. The Hilton seemed the most likely place he’d gone, but Daniel didn’t look like he could afford it. And who would call a hotel home?
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