Page 4 of My Dear Mr. Corporate

“I would have survived.”

He released me, and we sized each other up. The last time I’d run into him was when I’d returned to town two months ago to stock up on supplies to take with me back up the mountains. I hadn’t dropped in to visit him but had run into him outside the supermarket. It had been an awkward moment between us but then he’d smiled, and I knew he had forgiven me for being such a pain in the ass and severing all contact between us. That was the thing about good friends. They understood when you just needed to fuck off for a while and they didn’t hold grudges about it.

“How long are you in town for this time?” he asked me.

“For good,” I answered.

He looked relieved. “Thank God. It’s about time. I’m glad the mountains helped.” He then spotted Bryan still sitting and pretending as though he wasn’t hearing our conversation. He returned his questioning gaze at me. “Or is it something else completely?”

“This is Bryan,” I introduced, and Bryan promptly got to his feet to shake the other man’s hand. “Bryan, this is my best buddy, Gio. He owns the restaurant, so we can order anything on the menu then go without a tab.”

Gio chuckled as he shook Bryan’s hand. “Nice to meet you. Don’t listen to Tate here. I don’t care who he is. You all get kitchen duty if you skip out on your tab.”

Bryan’s smile didn’t quite meet his eyes. He looked rather stressed. “Nice to meet you too, Gio.”

“Perhaps we can hang out sometime,” Gio announced, turning his attention back to me. “I’d love to stay and chat some more, but I’ve a date with a duck and she’s protesting all the way.”

I chuckled. “You’ve never had a way with the ladies.”

“Unlike you.” His words sobered both of us and he flushed, glancing at Bryan. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay,” I assured him. While he accepted me as his gay best friend, there were still moments when he thought something he said would upset me.

“Call me and we’ll meet up for some tennis or something.” He nodded at Bryan. “See you around.”

As though she had been timing her boss’s departure, the waitress returned with a tray laden with our meal. She disappeared into the kitchen and returned with the rest of what we had ordered. When she left again, after finding out if we needed anything else, I dug into my meal. Across from me, I watched Bryan pick at his food. No wonder he was so slender if he usually ate like this.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked him, pausing to take a sip of my merlot.

He glanced up from his fork. “I’m just thinking.”

“About moving into my bed when we get home?”

His lip twitched a little, but he schooled it into a scowl that didn’t reach his eyes. Something was going on there. His mouth said he didn’t want us to have sex so soon again, but his eyes told a different story. He wanted me as much as I wanted him, but he had some crazy notion in his head that was holding him back. The sooner I figured out what it was all I had to do was fix it and make it all go away.

“Hardly,” he answered. “Get used to it, Tate. We need to get to know each other.”

“What’s there to know? Talking can be overrated. There’s more companionship in peaceful silence shared between two. People talk non-stop. Silence is harder to achieve.” His eyes blazed in warning and I hastened to add, “Not that I’m telling you to be quiet or anything.”

He didn’t respond but returned his attention to his food. He stuffed sautéed vegetables in his mouth, and I figured he only ate with gusto now so he had an excuse not to continue talking to me. I sighed and slowed down my own eating, having lost my appetite. I had to get to the bottom of what was going on with Bryan. It wasn’t just wanting the sex, but I enjoyed having him sleeping in my arms. In the woods, I’d be at peace each morning I woke up to find him tucked against me. I craved the intimacy with him which had been lacking in my life for too long. He had brought back that intense feeling in me, and it felt so good that I didn’t want to lose it.

I wasn’t quite certain who ruined dinner but ruined it was. Bryan and I barely talked throughout the dessert, and when I mentioned if he wanted to leave, he was only too quick to ask the waitress to box his apple crumble and apple sorbet. While I waited for the waitress to return my card and receipt, Bryan excused himself to use the bathroom. No sooner had he left when Gio slid across from me into Bryan’s chair.

“Are you really staying this time?” he asked me.

I nodded. “I enjoyed my time in the mountains finding myself again but cutting myself off from the world won’t help me to fully heal.”

He frowned at me. “I’ve been telling you that for a while now. Why are you just choosing to listen? It wouldn’t have anything to do with that young man you brought here, would it?”

I refused to give in to the urge to blush and shy away from the question. “Maybe. I- I care about him.”

“Hmm. And he seems to care about you too, so what’s the cause of all the tension I sense between you two?”

I shook my head, not too keen on the idea of discussing my budding romance with Bryan. Maybe if we had left the mountains before Keith got to him then I would have declared him to be my boyfriend. Now, with him retreating, I had no idea what to label us. Maybe labels weren’t necessary where we were concerned.

“I’ll drop by your apartment sometime and we can talk more,” I told him, watching the entry for the bathroom. Bryan rounded the corner, glanced around a bit like he was trying to remember where we were seated before he started over. I saw the surprise on his face when he spotted Gio. “We’ll be on our way now.”

I stood as Bryan approached me. “Ready?”

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