Well, he got a free coffee out of this day, at least. Mateo had wasted just about all of his morning reading rather than making any progress, but he could enjoy the little things.
That was one of the reasons why he had stopped reading in general when he got older. He would get so engrossed in a book that he wouldn't be able to think about anything else until it was completed. Even then, it would take a whole day or two just to get the story out of his head. He could never write something that could bring someone to a completely new world, but he had enjoyed it when he read regularly.
He hated that Lucas knew that fact about him. Mateo had been wanting to keep that in his past for so long. But all it took was one bookstore that they both had the honor of going to for a job and his whole secret was out.
Mateo was glad that Lucas wasn't the type to spread stuff like that around to everyone else. Instead, he liked to torture him by finding books that he knew Mateo would get invested in and taunt him with it.
But, now that he was thinking about it more, maybe it was actually something that would work in his favor. After all, now that he was slowly coming back to the real world, he had noticed that the coffee boy was looking over to him a lot. He wasn't expecting the man to be nice to him, especially not after what had happened the last time.
Hmm. Maybe his type was more the shy ones. He could pull that off. Some silent curiosity mixed with a handful of glances his way and he could have him hooked.
...
Oh, who was he kidding?! Mateo wasn't the shy type. He never had been. He was handsome and he had always been handsome. There wasn't any reason for him to be insecure, nor was there any reason for him to be shy or act coy. When people threw themselves at him, it just wasn't necessary.
There had to be some kind of approach that would work on him. Mateo felt like he was getting somewhere with him too, like he had somehow gotten him curious enough about him for Mateo to get a foot in the door. That was all he needed when it came to this. Just a little wiggle room and he could get this whole operation going.
What was he talking to him about before? He had still been swimming in those words so much that he hadn't been able to remember what they were even talking about. All he knew was that he somehow got his next coffee for free. It tasted really good, and had the kind of warmth that he always enjoyed when it was cold outside. Mateo never understood why people would want to have cold coffee right now. It wasn't snowing or anything, but still. It wasn't the kind of weather for cold coffee.
A bookstore. He was talking to him about a bookstore. It had to be the only thing the man actually talked to him about that wasn't in regards to his work or himself. Maybe if Mateo got him to talk more about other things, he could swing it back to a potential date and warm him up a little.
"Hey," he walked up to the breakfast bar. It was connected to the counter that the workers were using to prepare the drinks. "What place did you recommend me again?"
"Agatha's Books," Anton said, cleaning something that he couldn't see. "It's a bookshop just a few places down from here. It seems kind of small, but you'd be surprised at how many books you'd find there."
"I think I'm more surprised that you recommended me something," he smiled. "I thought I was going to have to go somewhere else for recommendations."
"I told you that when we were busy," he said. "I can't have a full on conversation when we're in the middle of a rush, you know."
"Sorry about that," he apologized. He was actually warming him up! This had to be the most remarkable thing he had done yet. Lucas was going to be amazed. "I guess I got too carried away."
"If you're going to come here and try and find someone," those blue eyes caught his easily. "You should at least get to know the town a little more."
"Maybe you should tell me about it," he leaned his chin on his hand, looking adamantly at him. "I feel like we got off on the wrong foot."
"Getting on the right foot isn't going to make me want to date you, you know," Anton said. He just couldn't get over just how those soft baby blue eyes could hold so much authority to them. They were gorgeous to look at, though.
"Maybe you could just show me that bookstore?" he asked. "It shouldn't take but a half hour."
"And that's what you consider a date?" he raised an eyebrow.
"No," Mateo smiled. "I consider that just a tiny step to us getting to know each other. That and I really don't know where this bookstore is that you're recommending."
That gaze left his again as the coffee boy looked to the door. It seemed like another one of his workers were coming in. Mateo didn't even look at the time. He didn't want to. He already knew that it was late as it was. The more he thought about it, the more his body would wish to shut down for the rest of the day.
Beauty rest was important. But not as important as getting under this man's skin.
"Fine," Anton sighed, taking off his apron. "You're lucky that I'm able to get off the clock."
"Wait," he followed him like a puppy to peanut butter. "You're actually going to go there with me?!"
"You aren't that bad of a person when you aren't trying to force me into your bed," the brunette crossed his arms. "Especially when I don't even know your name."
"I never told you my name?" he almost stopped in his tracks with that. If it weren't for the fear of losing the man that he had finally convinced to go somewhere with him, he would have stood frozen. He always gave people his name.
Come to think of it, that must have been why he called him sir all those other times. Mateo had been wondering that. He put his name on the paper that he was going to hand him when they first met, but Anton didn't take to that approach.
He liked the soft approach, like those soft eyes of his.
"No," Anton answered. "And you still haven't."
"Mateo," he told him. "Mateo Thompson. It's weird to know your name when I haven't even introduced myself properly."
"You should probably work on that here," Anton told him. "Usually people like to know each other's names before they want to climb into their beds."
"You'd be surprised."
"Anyone who's worth it is going to take more effort than a smile and some compliments."
"That's the first time I've heard you give yourself a compliment," he chuckled. It was funny seeing him this way. He was cute talking about what he should and shouldn't do with strangers. Mateo talked to plenty of strangers. There were many who didn't care for names, even the big wigs of corporations.
And when it came to the bedroom, there were plenty of fun nights with strangers to be had. It all made for a wild time.
He made the brunette stop in his tracks with that. Those blue eyes were on him again as he frowned. It was the kind of frown that showed that he wasn't really mad, just unwilling to admit that he was right. Mateo enjoyed that frown. He was better at this than the man thought.
"You really are something else, Mateo," he shook his head in disbelief, gesturing towards the door that was closest to them. "Here it is."
The store was tiny with wood trim around to give it a homely look. The door was made of glass with the name of the bookstore etched in gold right onto it. The inside had fairy lights of all kinds of colors. It really looked like a wonderland.
"Did they decorate for the holidays already?" he asked, taking in everything that he could. He hadn't been to a bookstore that cared this much for their decorations. Some of the bookshelves looked like they had handwritten notes on them.
"Agatha always makes her place look like it's straight out of a fairy tale," Anton answered, opening the door for him. "What kind of books are you even into, anyway?"
"I don't know," he shrugged, walking in. "I wouldn't say I exactly have a type."
"You don't have to pretend, you know," Anton crossed his arms. He looked good that way. It brought out his hips more. "It isn't a good look on you."
Oh, but that was a good look on him. Mateo had to reign himself in more than he thought he would. This was going to take a lot of mental patience if he was going to actually be able to keep this up with him.
"I like thrillers," he answered. "Especially when they're hard to get."
Author's Note: Hi guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Mateo's such a cute person. His level of confidence is one that I could only dream of having. I'll give him props for that. Also, I'm glad to bring some more scenery into this story. Agatha's bookstore is relatively new, even though in the story it's one of the oldest businesses in general. I might just go a little more into it in the next chapter.
Thanks for all the votes and comments! I'll see you all soon with another update.
-Saturn