"So," Troy began, putting the menu down on the table. "A Shirley Temple is just 7-up and grenadine?"
"Right," Ryan said as he set his water glass down in front of him. "And when you add vodka to it, they call it a Shirley Temple-Black."
Troy shook his head as if he understood, but in the middle of one of those nods, his brow furrowed and he looked questioningly over at his boyfriend. "Why would they call it that? It doesn't really make any sense."
"Well," Ryan started. It really was amazing how many little things Troy didn't know about. Ryan just chalked it up to the fact that he spent most of his life on one court or another throwing around balls big and small. "When Shirley Temple got married she took her husband's name, but kept her own, too, so she just changed her name to Shirley Temple-Black."
Troy still didn't look like he comprehended what his boyfriend was trying to explain, so Ryan continued. "When you add alcohol to a drink you're 'de-virginizing' it. When you get married you, more than likely, have sex with your significant other and are no longer a virgin. That's why they call it a Shirley Temple-Black." Ryan explained further.
"Oh," Troy said as comprehension dawned on him. "So if I ordered your favorite drink, we could just call it a Ryan Evans, but if we added alcohol to it we'd call it a Ryan Evans-Bolton?"
"We could," Ryan said, smiling. "But what makes you think I want to stick with you forever? I've got shit to do." The harshness of his words was lessened by the fact that he was holding Troy's hand and smiling the entire time.
"Well," Troy pointed out. "That ring on your finger sure says something about what your intentions are with me."
Ryan smiled and lifted his hand up to inspect the promise ring that Troy had given him just the other day for their anniversary. "Yeah," he said. "I guess I'm stuck with you. The ring says so."