Monsters—from the Id!

“Hey, stranger!”

I knew that voice. “Hey yourself,” I said as I turned around. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

Jason smiled. “It helps if you get out.” He wrapped me in one of his classic bear hugs when I stood up. “Still hung up on Nick?”

“Trying not to be,” I said, sitting back down. “You here by yourself? Want to join me?”

He sat down opposite me. “Actually, I’m waiting on somebody, but if you’re cool with it…?”

I shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

Jason flagged down a server and ordered a drink. “Emilio should be here soon.”

“Emilio?” Then I caught the glint in his eye. “New guy?”

“Yeah.”

“How long?”

“Couple of months.”

My eyebrows crept toward my hairline. “Couple of months? How long has it been since the last time we hung out?”

He thought for a moment. “About five months.” He sighed. “Shawn, you really need to get out of the house. You’re losing track of time. Life’s going to pass you by and you won’t even notice because you’re still wrapped up in Nick.”

“It isn’t that,” I said. “It’s just that I’m getting too old for the whole dating thing.”

“You’re thirty-four.”

“Yeah. Thirty-four, and all the guys running around out there are way too young for me.”

He looked pointedly at me over the rim of his glass. “All of them?”

It took me a minute, and then I remembered who I was talking to, and the fact that he was forty-seven. “Okay, not all,” I conceded. “But still, most of them are at least ten years younger than me. Guys my age are generally partnered up.” I held up a hand as I saw his mouth open. “I said ‘generally.’ And it seems like any of the ones my age or older are preying on kids.”

Jason looked…guilty.

Just then I heard someone behind me say, “Hey, handsome.” I turned around to see a kid standing there. At least he looked like a kid to me.