Kiss Me Tenderly

My gaze flickered from Alex who was sitting there stock still, both our jaws hanging out, at a loss for words.
“Uhhhhh…” I didn’t even have time to try and fabricate an answer before another waiter came and interrupted us.
“Hey, Nicky, isn’t your shift over?” the mildly attractive guy asked him, sidling up to us. He smiled up at Nick, a bland look on his face. The guy’s soft dark hair framed his face, his fringe falling over his eyes. Not bad. I prefer Alex though.
“Yeah babe, I was just talking to a few friends of mine,” Nick answered and to my complete astonishment, slid his arm around the shorter guy’s waist. Nick leaned down and nuzzled the shorter guy’s hair, causing him to blush profusely and giggle, punching him softly in the chest.
“Stop that,” he pouted playfully, attempting to push Nick away.
“No,” Nick growled, pulling him closer and pressed kisses all over his face. Alex and I looked at each other, eyes wide.
What in the fuck was going on?
Nick looked up, ginger hair spilling into his face, almost like he had forgotten we were sitting right there.
“Oh I never properly introduced you guys. Alex, Jack, this is the most glorious piece of ass you’ll find anywhere, Greyson. Greyson, this is Alex and Jack,” Nick smiled down at Greyson, adoration evident in his eyes.
My head was spinning, my entire world turned upside down. What the fuck? I was sure I was sitting there with the expression appropriate to one who had just been clubbed in the head. Alex was the first to recover, plastering a begnign smile on his face, holding a hand out to Greyson.
“So nice to meet you! I’m glad Nick has found someone to take care of him,” Alex shook his hand warmly, sparking up small talk between the two men.
As Alex and Greyson chatted, I slowly fell out of my stupor and began to realize how quickly uncomfortable the situation could get. Here I was, a man out for a nice date with his boyfriend and by some odd, ugly twist of fate, his ex boyfriend was there, working at the restaurant that his current boyfriend happened to work at as well.
Jesus fucking Christ.
As the minutes wore on, I shifted uncomfortably in the seat, my jeans rasping against the seat. My anxiety was starting to kick in, my face starting to feel hot and cold at the same time, prickles running up and down my arms. I could feel Nick’s eyes on me but when I turned to look him full in the face, he wasn’t turned towards me at all. My fingers started tapping on the formica topped table, just to move, to keep the flight or fight instinct from taking over and moving both Alex and myself out of the place. I swallowed hard, nervous energy spiking.
God, could they talk any longer?
The subject moved from favorite colors to animals to music to our fucking kids for Christ’s sakes before Nick stepped in.
“We should probably get going babe, it’s getting late and your mom’s probably waiting for us to bring her books back,” Nick wrapped an arm around Greyson’s shoulder, fingers molding to the shape of his shoulder. I saw a wince flash across Greyson’s face before he nudged Nick murmuring something about ‘hurt’.
This was the guy that… Was bleeding… During sex… Ew.
Does he know that Alex received that picture?....
I inwardly cringed. Let’s hope not.
“….so nice meeting you, Jack, Alex,” Greyson smiled broadly at us both, extending a hand to us. I quickly shook his hand, mumbling something about it being nice to meet him too and to have a great rest of his night. I shook hands with Nick as well, forcing myself to not recoil in revulsion, his touch lingering a bit too long in mine. As soon as I pulled away, I rubbed my hand on my jeans, willing the uncomfortable skin crawling sensation to go away as quickly as possible.
We watched the pair walk away in silence, Nick’s hand resting gently on Greyson’s lower back, almost forgetting why we were here in the first place. I think we both were kind of shell shocked that Nick was dating someone who wasn’t a total DICK.
Soon after they left, yet ANOTHER waiter approached the table, this time, a meek looking blonde chick, chewing on her lip ring rather anxiously.
“Good evening, are you two ready to order?” She practically squeaked, her blue dip dyed hair quivering.
I looked over at Alex, trying to wake myself up and not think so hard about this. So the guy is dating someone who’s not Alex. At least he’s not harassing Alex anymore, right? Right. So now I can let down my guard and relax and just have a nice night out with my own lovely boyfriend. Right?
Right.
By the time we placed our orders, Alex and I were back to our normal selves again, a silent agreement made not to ever talk about what had just transpired here ever again. We finished our date, kicking each other under the table, stealing bites of sushi off each other’s plates. I had to teach Alex how to eat with chopsticks, a lesson which he eventually abandoned and used a fork the rest of the night, pouting when I teased him about not being able to handle two slivers of wood. I paid for the dinner, insisting that I pay and only relenting when Alex huffily announced that he was taking me to get ice cream for our next date and there was nothing that I could do about it.
As we walked out the door, hand in hand, I leaned down and whispered in Alex’s ear, “I had a great night. Thanks for talking me into this.”
Alex laughed and kissed my cheek.
“This was really fun, we should do it again. Thank you, sir Jack Barakat, for showing a guy a good night."