“Sohrab.”
Both Jax and his customer—Sohrab—turned at the sound of the familiar voice.
Jax grabbed a highball glass and a chunk of ice and poured Hobbes’s usual. “Hey, Hobbes. This one of yours?”
“Unfortunately.” Hobbes slid onto the stool next to Sohrab and accepted his drink with a nod. “Dr. Sohrab Hosseini, may I present Jax Hall. This reprobate is my roommate.”
“Reprobate, wow. You get that from your Word of the Day calendar?”
“Shut up.”
Jax ignored Hobbes and returned his attention to Sohrab. “I take it the blind date didn’t work out so well.”
Sohrab shrugged. “Well, he was nice, hot, and actually gay. The problem is I’m not sure what possessed my parents to believe he’d actually be available. The guy’s kind of a local celebrity.” Jax was peripherally aware of a dawning look of horror on Hobbes’s expressive face. “Actually I heard he hangs out here sometimes. Ari Darvish? Shit, I hope he doesn’t think I’m stalking him.”
Jax’s stomach suddenly felt like it was full of liquid nitrogen. He forced himself to smile. “You’re safe. In Toronto until Sunday, or so I heard.”
Hobbes kept trying to catch his eye, but fuck that. Jax needed a break from this conversation, and for once, time was on his side. “I gotta go—almost showtime. You want to settle up, or should I start a tab?”
He took care of their bills on autopilot, the other 90 percent of his available brainpower spinning through a loop of what this might mean. Why had Ari’s parents set him up on a blind date? Did they not know he was seeing Jax, or did they just not approve? And why hadn’t Ari told Jax about it?
Jax didn’t have any answers.
But he didn’t have time to dwell on it. He needed to get his head in the game. He sat down at the piano and waited for Naomi to come over.
After the set, Jax took a bathroom break, then found himself at the bar once again. Hobbes was nowhere in sight, but Sohrab hadn’t moved.
“So, I guess I put my foot in it.”
Jax gave a tight smile. “No, not really. Okay, maybe a bit. Mostly it was just awkward.”
Sohrab wrinkled his nose. “Still. I didn’t mean—” He sighed. “Honestly, considering I know he comes here, I probably should have held my tongue around cute white boys.”
Jax cocked his head and poured a beer and a water. He handed the beer over.
“Thanks.”
“Why hold your tongue around white boys?”
“Oh, Ari mentioned he was seeing someone. He was pretty vague on details, but that came up.”
“Ah.” Jax’s stomach churned. Why would Ari mention that? Unless it was to explain why Sohrab—whose skin suggested he too had Middle Eastern heritage—was an acceptable choice and Jax was not.
Sohrab sipped his beer, licked his lips, and said, “Anyway, it was nice to actually meet the guy that’s got Ari so… gaga.”
“Gaga?”
Sohrab chuckled. “He’s crazy about you. I never stood a chance. Anyway, I’ll let you….” He lifted his beer in salute and slipped away.
Jax gave a distracted goodbye and tried to focus on drink orders before he had to head back on stage. So a stranger thought Ari was gaga for him, but Ari’s parents didn’t know about him. Or didn’t think Ari was gaga enough to not leave Jax—
Fuck.Jax needed more music to get himself out of his head.
It was going to be a long night—and a long week until Ari returned.
Chapter Fifteen
ARI DIDhis best to remember to text Jax often throughout the day. He might hate texting, but he was learning that Jax appreciated it. So Ari sent him pictures of his food, the view from the hotel room, and the ridiculous bathroom in it—Jax offered to drive over to help him test the tub and even added a splash emoji—and he tried to send updates about his progress when he could.
