Carson smiled at him, then lifted his arm and gestured to a waiter at the next table and said, "Please take these drinks away. We'll have coffee instead."
When he sat down, Evan said, "Thank you. You didn't have to do that, but it was nice of you to do it."
Carson stared at his lips and said, "I can live without drinking. I've never been anything more than a social drinker. I can take it or leave it. And I admire your honesty."
After that, Carson seemed to take control of the entire evening. He ordered for them, made sure Evan's coffee cup was always filled, and he even stood up and held Evan's chair when Evan went to the men's room. While they ate they talked about Kenny, then Evan's new books. Evan told Carson he'd just signed a contract to write three historical romance novels that he'd been debating. Then Carson told Evan about how much he loved teaching, that he'd always wanted to be a teacher, and that his only hobby was boxing. He liked to ride horses, too. But boxing took up so much of his free time he found it hard to find more free time for riding.
Evan said, "I'm not all that surprised you're into boxing."
Carson's head tilted back. "Why not? Most people are. Let's face it, most people don't think of gay guys and boxing at the same time. And I'm an English teacher."
"Most people are idiots," Evan said. He sounded like Jeffery. "They like to put gay men into little boxes, tie the boxes up with a pink ribbon, and keep them in there. You have that hard, wiry kind of body most boxers have. I don't know anything about boxing myself, but from what little I've seen I think you actually do look like a boxer. " He was picturing how he would look in a jock strap and those cute little white ankle socks.
Carson looked into his eyes and said, "I think that might be the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a long time."
Evan shrugged. "It's the truth."
"I have a match on Friday night," Carson said. "It's not professional boxing. It's just an amateur match at a small gym I go to downtown. But I'd like you to come and watch."
Evan smiled. "I'd like that. I've never been to a real boxing match. I just don't want to see you get hurt."
Carson made a fist and fake punched Evan in the arm. "I'm pretty good. At least I try to be, anyway."
After dinner, Carson took care of the check and held Evan's chair while he stood up. Evan had tried to take the check, but Carson had insisted on paying. Then Carson walked him to the corner and hailed a cab for him. He didn't make one single attempt to take Evan back to his apartment, and he'd told Evan he lived in Chelsea, not far from the restaurant. He didn't put his hands in any inappropriate places or touch Evan in a seductive way. When the cab pulled up to the curb, he opened the back door and waited until Evan sat down. Then he leaned forward, kissed Evan on the cheek, and said, "I had a nice time. I'll call you this week and let you know where the boxing match is. I can't get together with you again until after the match because I'll be in training for the next few days. I actually shouldn't have gone out tonight. I hope that's cool."
Evan looked up at him and smiled. "It's fine. I had a nice time, too. Thanks for dinner."
As he was about to close the back door, he stopped and leaned forward. He made a fist again and fake punched Evan in the chin. "I'll see you on Friday."
Chapter Eight
When Evan returned to his apartment that Tuesday night, he found Kenny in the living room doing math homework and watching TV at the same time.
Kenny turned the minute he walked through the door and said, "Sorry you had a bad time."
Evan set his keys on the dining table and sent his son a sideways glance. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, it's not even eleven o'clock and you're home from a date," he said. "I guess it was pretty boring with old Savione. He's kind of like that sometimes. I swear I have to pinch myself sometimes in class when he's reciting Shakespeare."
Evan took off his coat and joined his son on the sofa. "Actually, I had a great time. Mr. Savione is not only interesting, he's very nice and there's a lot more to him than you know about." He almost said Carson acted as the perfect gentleman, but he figured that might make Kenny uncomfortable.
Kenny didn't look up from his math book. He seemed disappointed to hear Evan had enjoyed himself. "What do you mean?"
"He has an interesting hobby," Evan said. "He's an amateur boxer."
"Oh, I know about that," Kenny said. "Everyone knows about that. He's on the Internet."
Later that night, after Kenny had gone to bed, Evan Googled "Amateur Boxing Carson Savione" on his laptop and he found a few photos of Carson. He'd been modest during dinner. Evan discovered he was fairly well known in amateur boxing circles and he belonged to some kind of national boxing association that sounded important. But Evan wasn't interested in those details, at least not at first. He found it more interesting to focus on the photos of Carson wearing boxing gear. One photo in particular, with Carson standing slightly hunched and braced for battle with boxing gloves, showed him wearing adorable white boxing shorts and no shirt. It looked as if the photo had been taken while he'd been jumping up and down. His hair and chest were wet with perspiration, he was wearing a mouth guard, and there was a bruise on his left cheek. It was one of the sexiest photos Evan had ever seen.