Serial Dating

Time For An Intervention

The empty solo cup was swept out of his hand. Lee turned towards it and found Milo standing next to them, looking ticked and wearing a threatening smile as he addressed Roland. Roland raised his hands in surrender.

Lee stepped forward and, likewise, Roland backed off. Lee looked back at him and raised a hand to him. Roland clapped onto it and gave him a tight squeeze before passing behind him, back to where Simon was sandwiched between the two girls from the speakers.

Lee looked back at Milo, who was sniffing the empty solo cup. Lee flicked it out of Milo's hand before leaning back to take in the sight of Milo looking absolutely baller.

Milo's black hair was spiked that evening, adding a solid three inches to his height. Not only that, but his legs were flattered with a pair of high-waisted green slacks synched at the waist by a black belt. As if that wasn't enough to get Lee's mouth watering, the white shirt he tucked in was collared, elbow-length, and unbuttoned down to his pecs.

Overall, the look should have been made illegal.

It was too loud to talk, so Milo took him by the hand and dragged him around the outskirts of the crowd. Lee staggered after him, grinning as they passed Roland. Roland discretely high-fived him.

At the basement archway, Milo took them on a detour elsewhere. Lee hadn't exactly "toured" the place, so the kitchen was new to him. It was, somehow, empty. Milo slid the doors to the kitchen closed behind them.

Over the bass thumping through the walls, Milo said, "Why did you come with Roland?"

Lee leant back against the island counter and said, shrugging, "Why'd you set up Tinder on my phone?"

Milo stared at him like he was crazy. Lee raised his eyebrows at Milo, who had his back in front of the door like he expected Lee to make a break for it. Milo ran a hand through his hair and looked away. The tension in his face faded a little, replaced with just plain stress.

"Do you want me to delete it?" Lee said.

"I—" Milo started, strained. He shook his head and said, eyes on the ground, "You can do whatever you want."

"Be realistic," Lee hissed. The sharp edge to his voice had Milo looking up and meeting his eyes. "Do you want me to go dance with Roland?"

"No, fuck no!" Milo cried, only to realize what it meant for Lee to be in possession of a dating app. Milo cursed again and said, "I-I don't... I don't know, Lee. Could you just—delete it? Please?"

Lee hid his relief. He caught his breath in his throat before clearing it and saying, "No." Milo's shoulders tensed and, honestly, it looked like he was about to cry. "I'm not getting rid of it unless you delete yours."

"What?" Milo cried, and Lee jumped at the severity of it. Realizing that he had completely screamed it, Milo put a hand to his chest and cursed, relaxing a fraction. He looked away and said, "I'm not—! I'm not deleting it. It's a messaging app, too—I talk to people on it—"

"You're making excuses for it! It's a fucking dating app, Park!" Lee shouted. Milo flinched. "It's no different than me using it to message Roland."

"It is different—"

"No it fucking isn't," Lee seethed, jabbing a finger in Milo's direction. "I'm attracted to him, but we're just talking. What bothers you is the first part. It's no different than how I feel about your fucked up date schedule. The only reason you talked to anyone on that app is because you're attracted to them, Park."