Free Dragon's Heart by Stephani Hecht Page B

didn’t tower over Blake, which had to be a first. In fact, they were about the same height.
    “You actually read my comic?” Blake asked, his question ending with an embarrassing squeak.
    Deke flashed him a smile, the one that had always made Blake want to melt into a puddle of goo. Sweet, with just a hint of dimple and showing off perfectly white teeth, it was better than anything Blake had seen a professional model sporting.
    “Sure, I read it. I’ve been following it since you first started posting weekly pages up on your website,” Deke said.
    Blake felt like he’d won a million dollar lottery and an Olympic gold medal on the same day. He even took his dorkiness a step further by bouncing a bit on his feet, probably coming off as some excited school girl.
    “I can’t believe that you, of all people, like my comic. That’s so cool.” Blake ran a hand over his hair. “I watch your show every week. I even record it so I can re-watch it whenever I get spare time.”
    Deke gave a knowing smile as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “So, let me guess, you have a major crush on Linda?”
    She was the starring actress on the show and had a habit of showing more skin than clothing. Which had never made sense to Blake. After all, if he’d been in a zombie apocalypse, he’d be covering up as much of his body as possible so one of the shufflers didn’t bite or scratch him.
    A heat came over Blake’s cheeks as he shook his head. “No, Linda isn’t exactly my type.”
    “Relax, I was just kidding you. Given the fact that your comic has a gay theme, I kind of figured that you were more of a Mike or Lex kind of guy.”
    The heat grew worse as Blake began to fiddle with the name badge hanging from his neck. “Actually, you’ve always been my favourite.”
    There was a long, drawn out pause and Blake looked up to see that Deke was shooting him a sceptical glance.
    “Riiiiiiight,” Deke drew out. “Because the computer nerd always is the hottie when compared to a fireman and ex-CIA agent.”
    Blake shrugged. “I can’t help it. I like both you and the character you play.”
    “You don’t even know the real me.”
    “I saw you in a few interviews.”
    “That’s not the real me. That’s what the PR people and my agent want me to pretend I am.”
    Deke turned around and began to walk away and Blake saw his only chance quickly evaporating. Deciding he had nothing to lose, he blurted, “I saw you when you played Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream.”
    Deke froze for a moment, before he slowly turned and arched an eyebrow. “You saw me in a production I did during my senior year of high school?”
    “Yeah, I did.”
    Cocking his head to the side, Deke narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Okay, then what school did I go to?”
    “Mt. Clemens High. Only then you didn’t go by the name of Deke Masters. You were called Eric Davison.”
    Deke’s gaze flicked down to Blake’s name tag. “And if that’s the case. Then how is it I don’t know you? Are you using a pen name or something?”
    God, could things get any more humiliating?
    Blake shook his head. “No, I was a freshman at the time, who just worked in the lighting booth and helped paint the props, so you probably didn’t notice me.”
    In fact, Blake was certain that Deke hadn’t noticed him. For all the time Blake had spent shooting the cute senior furtive glances, never once had Deke returned the look.
    “You were really good. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody play Puck better,” Blake said, once again nervously fiddling with his name tag.
    “And just how many times have you seen A Midsummer Night's Dream?”
    Every chance I could get. Because even though none of the others starred you, at least it was some way for me to remember you. To relive the connection we once shared, even if it was one-sided.
    Blake gave what he hoped was a casual shrug. “Oh, you know. A few times in college. I went to one of those artsy places, so they were always