Page 26 of Christopher

But that was what Chris did. He looked around for the waitress, waving her down when he saw her. She looked like she’d rather be anywhere but here, but this was her job, so she came.

“I’m sorry, but this man is bothering us. Is there anything you can do about it?” he asked.

Her gaze bounced from Drake to Chris before stopping on Drake. “Is everyone all right?”

Drake wanted to die. She was seriously asking him if he was okay. Part of him thought it was sweet that she was ready to stand up for a man she didn’t know if he was being abused, but another part of him was incredibly embarrassed.

“I’m fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “If it wasn’t for my disastrous blind date accusing my mate of hurting me.”

The waitress paled. “Oh. I’ll get the manager.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

“I’ll protect you,” Karl insisted.

Drake wanted to smack him. “Please, protect me fromyou.”

Karl blinked. “What do you mean?”

“You’re embarrassing me. My mate isn’t abusing me. He’s not hurting me, and he’s not forcing me to do anything. I’m here with him because I want to be and because he’s my mate.”

Had there ever been a worst first date? Drake couldn’t imagine so, and it could still get worse. Maybe he was about to suffocate with a piece of bread or something, and someone would have to perform a tracheotomy on him. At this point, he’d rather get that tracheotomy than continue talking to Karl.

Thankfully, the waitress returned with the manager. Since Karl was accusing Chris of being controlling, Drake took it upon himself to explain the situation. He told the man that he and Karl had gone on one date, and Karl hadn’t taken it well when Drake had met his mate.

“Of course. I apologize,” the manager said before turning to Karl. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave, sir.”

“I’ll sue you.” Karl didn’t seem to care much about Drake anymore. He’d finally realized that he’d gotten everyone’s attention, and not in a good way.

“Feel free to do whatever you want as long as you leave,” the manager said.

Drake stayed tense until Karl finally turned away. He wanted to cry. Would that help? Or would it make the date even worse?

“I’m really sorry about this,” the manager said as he turned toward Drake and Chris. “I’ll comp your meal.”

“Could we have it as take-out?” Chris asked. “I think my mate needs to get out of here.”

“Of course..”

Drake stared at his hands on top of the table. He was playing with his napkin, which was better than screaming.

“Hey,” Chris said. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m such a disaster. I can’t believe Karl, of all people, decided to make a scene. I can never show my face here again.”

“Then we’ll get take-out. You need to relax, Drake. I don’t think anyone holds you responsible for what happened. It was clear that Karl was doing everything by himself, and people heard you saying I was your mate. I guarantee you that they have a worse opinion of Karl than of you.”

Drake wasn’t sure how that was possible, but he didn’t think telling Chris would work, so he pressed his lips together. He stayed silent until the manager returned with boxes, and once they had their food, he almost ran out of the restaurant.

The problem was that he couldn’t relax even once they’d left. Chris had seen all of this. He’d been a part of it. It would make sense for him to decide he wanted nothing to do with any of this, and Drake wouldn’t even blame him.

He turned to Chris, an apology on his lips, ready to face whatever Chris was about to throw at him. He didn’t get a word out because Chris was smiling at him in a soft way that appeared fond rather than horrified. “How about we sit on a bench and eat while looking at the stars? It’s cold, but not that cold. As long as we hurry, I think we can avoid frostbite.”

Drake tilted his head up. The starswerebeautiful.

But not as beautiful as his mate.

“Yeah,” he murmured. “Let’s look at the stars together.”

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