He swallows again. “How ... how long have you been alive?”

I laughed. “Do you really need to know all that? It’s boring. I’d rather talk about something more fun.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Talking with someone who doesn’t age is pretty fascinating. Not boring at all, in my eyes. Besides, you talked about wanting to change things -- this is a change, isn’t it? Having the option to be open with someone in a way you haven’t been able to before?”

“I’ve been able to. Plenty of times. That doesn’t ever mean it was a good idea.”

He smiles. “So, you’re used to just sleeping with a guy and then going your separate ways, never to see each other again? Well, that’s not what I’m about. Sex means something to me. It’s about forging a connection with someone emotionally, and I don’t just do that with anyone.”

I frown. “So, you invited me here to ... to not have sex? To just talk?”

“To have a date.”

I stand. “I don’t date. I should probably just go.”

He stands as well. “Wait. I think we could get along really well --”

“Let me stop you right there. When I first saw you, I wasn’t thinking about getting to know you better. I was interested in seeing you naked, and having my dick in your ass. That’s as far as it went. And that’s as far as I want it to go.”

“You’re telling me you’ve never really connected with someone and slept with them in a way that was more than fucking? You’re telling me you’ve never made love to someone?”

I’m about to say no, but I remember Matt, and the moments we’d shared right before he’d been turned back, and right after.

I frown. “Maybe. I don’t know.”

“If you don’t know, then you haven’t.”

“Not true. I may not know because we didn’t talk about it. But it felt ... different than the other times.”

He nods, looking like he might understand. “Okay. And you wouldn’t be interested in feeling that way again?”

I sigh and, after a moment, nod, uncomfortable. “I don’t ... I guess so. But ... well ...” I sigh again. “Why is this so important to you?”

He smiles a very cute smile. “Like I said, I don’t just sleep with guys. And, well, you seem different. There’s more to you than meets the eye. Obviously. But I’d like to get to know you before anything happens. That’s all.”

I’ve never encountered a man like this. I’d met men who wanted to get closer, but they’d slept with me first as a way to try and do it. By the time they realized I wasn’t available to them in that way, I was gone. Or they were dead.

We simply stare at each other for a moment.

“Well ...” I break the silence. “I guess I can stay and talk a little longer.”