He nodded, and I tried not to show how happy I was at letting my inner-geek flag fly. “How about companion?” I asked.

“Donna Noble,” he answered without missing a beat. “And Rose.”

“I’m going with Amy. I just loved her entire storyline. She and Rory are my favorite fictional couple. The crap they go through is intense, but they still get their HEA.”

Jake licked his lips, smiled. Fuck. Did he realize how sexy he looked when he did that? Now his lips were all shiny and shit. I looked down at my hands, trying hard to focus on the topic and not on the fact that I could feel myself getting hard.

“Want a tour?” Jake asked, kicking off his shoes and placing them neatly on a rack next to the door. I followed his lead, taking off my socks, too, and leaving them bundled up inside my sneakers. The hardwood floors were cold against the soles of my feet, matching the chill in the air. I peeked at the digital thermostat and saw he kept it at a brisk sixty-nine.

Straight boys and their overheating bodies. Hopefully, evolution helps them out at some point.

Jake spoke a command, and the rest of the lights slowly came on, bathing his living room in a warm golden tone, highlighting the soft browns of his leather couch and the rich beige of his entertainment stand. A massive TV hung on the wall, framed by a strip of lights taped behind it, currently set to a shifting rainbow pattern.

Huh. Interesting choice.

“You’ve got a green thumb, huh?” I asked, noticing all of the thriving plants around the room. There was a row of succulents on the windowsill, a couple of large tree-looking things potted in massive black clay pots with rubbery leaves, and a few trailing plants that let their vines hang down a bookshelf packed with an assortment of books.

“I do,” Jake said, looking around with a glint of pride in his eyes. “Got into it pretty recently, actually. I used to kill even the fake plants I had. One night, I had an edible and a glass of wine and went to town, researching and ordering things online. Turns out, I really like being a plant guy.”

And imagine how much you’d enjoy being a plant gay.

I made my way over to the fireplace, where a couple of framed photos of Jake and people who I assumed were his close friends and family sat. One of them showed only two people: Jake and his girlfriend, perched on the ledge of a jagged rock formation, backpacks strapped to them and smiles plastered wide. She was the one I’d seen come into the office a couple of times.

“You two look happy here. Where was that?” Asking as if I didn’t know what the hell the Grand Canyon looked like.

“Letchworth State Park.”