Covet Thy Neighbor

profession aren’t too keen on having beers with guys like me.”
    He traced the rim of his glass with his middle finger. “Well, you might find that I’m not like a lot of people in my profession.”
    Yeah. We’ll see about that . I tried to push back the bitterness that a cross or a fish inevitably raised, but it was a challenge. Damn it, I liked Darren, but his goddamned job made him off-limits for dating. Or anything else, for that matter.
    Disappointing, but such was life. He was free to believe, just as I was free to not believe. It just put us very firmly off each other’s menus. I had no doubt I was as far off his as he was off mine; how much had I heard in my religious days about the perils of being the only Christian in a relationship? About being unequally yoked? Yeah, this wasn’t going to happen.
    “So.” I forced a grin. “Is this the part where we start loudly debating creationism versus evolution until they throw us out?”
    He laughed. “We’d need a few more beers for that, don’t you think? Maybe some tequila shots?”
    “Good point.”
    Darren drummed his fingers on the side of his glass. “For what it’s worth, I’m not usually the type to get into loud debates. I mean, not unless someone really wants to, but even then . . .”
    “So I’d have to provoke you.”
    Laughing again, he shook his head. “You’d have to work pretty hard to provoke me into something like that.”
    I raised an eyebrow. “Then you, sir, are obviously new to the neighborhood, because that has ‘challenge’ written all over it.”
    Darren raised his glass. “Your funeral.”
    Fuck, dude. You are so my type, you asshole.
    He took a drink, and as he put his glass down again, he said, “Also for what it’s worth, we probably agree on more things than not. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that science and religion aren’t mutually exclusive.”
    “Fair enough.” I considered seeing what it would take to get him into a loud debate, but I was enjoying his company and my beer. “Well, beliefs aside, something tells me you and I are going to get along pretty well.”
    “I’m getting that distinct impression myself.”
    We let the topic of religion die, and bantered about safer subjects instead. All the while, as we drank and talked, I couldn’t help feeling a little bummed out. After all, Darren had checked all the boxes and pushed all my buttons. Maybe I’d mistaken his lingering eye contact as flirty when it was just a sign of confidence. Maybe it was just wishful thinking that had made me drawing flirtatious, loaded conclusions from every move he made. Except, with the way he smiled now and then, or narrowed his eyes just right, it was hard not to read something into it.
    But even if we were both flirting, the fact was that ministers didn’t do one-night stands, and Seth Wheeler did not date Christians, never mind ministers. No matter how hot they were. Or how available. Or suggestive. Son of a bitch.
    After we’d each finished a third beer, we left Jack’s and wandered back toward our apartments. I opened the door beside my tattoo shop and gestured for him to go ahead. Good thing these stairs were dark: I couldn’t see his ass, which gave me a reasonably good chance of making it to the second floor without breaking my neck.
    The hallway between our apartments, however, wasn’t so dark, and it wasn’t Darren’s ass that held my attention. Or mine that held his.
    “Um.” He shifted his weight, but still didn’t break eye contact. “Thanks for . . . for showing me around the neighborhood.”
    “Yeah.” I swallowed. “Don’t mention it.”
    We shook hands, mostly because nothing else seemed appropriate at that moment, at least not to me, but still didn’t walk away from each other. And didn’t let go of each other’s hands.
    Eye contact. Broken. Eye contact. Broken.
    God, he was gorgeous.
    Seth. Dude. This way lies madness. Walk away. Walk the fuck away.
    Darren chewed his lip and met my eyes. “So, this might be a bit forward, but I’d like to see you again.”
    “You will.” I grinned in spite of the way my heart had just accelerated and the fact that I hadn’t yet let go of his hand. “We live in the same building.”
    Darren laughed. “You know what I mean.”
    “Yeah, I do, and I—”
    He used his grasp on my hand to pull us together, and kissed me.
    The motherfucker kissed me.
    Not fair. Not fair at all. It was a crime against humanity that a man this hot and