coffee

part twelve

The Bucks is dead when the tiny bell above the door rings. Ryan doesn't feel it then, but change flutters in through the door with the beautiful guy that walks in. Ryan is momentarily distracted by golden locks and blue eyes. The guy smiles at Ryan, revealing a sparkling set of white teeth. Ryan looks for a second row; this guy is a shark, and Ryan is only a defenseless minnow.

"Hi there," the guy says. His eyes flick down to Ryan's name-tag, then back to his face. "Ryan is a really nice name. I'm glad I have a name to put to such a pretty face."

"Uh," Ryan says. "What can I get you?"

"Sean," the guys supplies. "My name is Sean."

"Right. What can I get you, Sean?" Ryan asks.

"Well," Sean smiles, reaching over the counter to brush his thumb over Ryan's cheek. "Are you on the menu?"

"N-no," Ryan stammers, a blush creeping up his cheeks.

"That sounds like a yes to me."

"But I have a -"

"Date with me tonight," Sean says, nodding. "Yeah, I know. I'll pick you up here around seven. Wear something sexy."

"Boyfriend," Ryan finishes lamely, but Sean is already leaving, twirling his car keys around his index finger. "Wait!" Ryan calls. "You didn't order."

"I got what I wanted," Sean replies, smirking as the door closes behind him.

"Well, fuck."

-

Ryan is on his break, talking with Brendon on his cell phone in the employee lounge. Brendon is talking animatedly about his day, but Ryan's mind is elsewhere.

"We hanging out tonight?" Brendon asks, jarring Ryan from his thoughts.

"What?" Ryan says. "Oh, uh, no. Sorry, Bren, something came up, and I had to take Jenny's shift tonight. Sorry," he adds, as though that would help get rid of the stench of betrayal.

"Oh," Brendon says, sounding loud-and-clear crestfallen. Ryan hates himself. "Well, that's okay. I'll just come visit you."

"Don't you have studying to do?" Ryan snaps. Brendon is silent for a minute, and Ryan is sure he's hung up.

"Did I do something?" Brendon asks, sounding genuinely confused. Ryan sighs.

"No," he says.

"Well," Brendon says. "Did you do you something?"

"No," Ryan says. Not yet, he adds silently. "Look, Bren, I gotta go, my break's almost over. I'll talk to you later."

"I love you," Brendon says, unsure.

"You, too." Ryan hangs up his phone, and promptly punches himself in the face. "You are an asshole," he tells himself.

-

Sean shows up at the Bucks at seven, and Ryan does not salivate. Or, at least he makes a solid effort not to. Sean looks good, impossibly good, and Ryan knows that this is not a good idea. He also doesn't care.

"Your chariot awaits," Sean says, pressing a warm hand into the small of Ryan's back. Ryan should flinch, pull away from the affectionate contact, but he doesn't. Instead, he leans into the touch, smiling up at Sean.

"Lead the way."

-

Somehow, they end up stumbling through the door to Ryan's apartment, lips locked, arms around each other's waists. Ryan suspects that the equation involved alcohol and the filthy things Sean whispered in his ear over dinner. He doesn't care.