by Rhys Everly
Why was he so scared of me? Was I being rude? Was it my resting grump-face? Or was it my voice? Many people had taken offense at my dry tone. But if he was Nathan’s boyfriend, I didn’t want him to be scared of me.
“Much better, thank you,” he said and rubbed the back of his head.
I made to get up to check he hadn’t cut himself or cracked his head open, but at that moment Yaya came up behind him, set up the platters of food on the table, and then looked at Kyle’s head.
“It’s just a bump. Hopefully the ice took care of it. You’ll be brand new once you’re watered and fed, I’m sure,” she told him and patted his shoulder.
“Thank you,” he answered, and Yaya fetched the rest of the dishes from the kitchen island. The rest of us helped ourselves to some lamb and lemon roasted potatoes.
“Where are you from Kyle?” I asked.
Kyle tried to hide his chewing and smiled until he was finished before he answered.
“New Harlow born and bred.”
“Do you go to Nathan’s college?”
Kyle nodded.
“He’s Kyle, Dad,” Nathan frowned.
I stared back at my son with a similar frown.
“I know. So you said,” I replied.
Nathan sighed loudly.
“Dad, who’s my best friend?” he asked, looking at the ceiling.
I glared at him, waiting for him to answer, but he didn’t. After a few awkward moments, I shrugged.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Oh my God, Dad. You’re so annoying. I’ve only been talking about Kyle for the last three years. Did you hit your head also?” Nathan stabbed his potatoes with his fork and the scraping sound made my skin crawl.
I didn’t remember him mentioning Kyle before. Surely he’d talked about college and his friends, but I didn’t remember him talking about Kyle. Had I been so out of focus when we talked, as rare as it was, that I didn’t pay attention to names? Probably.
“I’m an old man, Nathan. I’m sorry,” I said.
“You’re not old,” Kyle mumbled, barely audible, but we all heard him all right.
I turned to look at him, and he panted in an attempt to laugh his comment off.
“Well, it’s true,” Yaya added.
“You know my memory,” I said to Nathan.
Nathan grimaced.
“So you can remember how to make a hundred cocktails and how to sign, yet remembering my best friend’s name is a no-go. Real nice, Dad. Why don’t you punch him in the face while you’re at it,” Nathan said.
So they were friends, not boyfriends.
For some weird reason that made me feel better, and the weight on my chest seemed to lift, even though I hadn’t even known it was there.
“Nate! Shut up. It’s okay,” Kyle said. “No need to be so rude.”
“I’m rude? Fine, whatever.” Nathan stuffed his face with meat, and I turned to Kyle again.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Kyle grimaced at my son and looked back at me. “It’s okay. It’s his time of the month,” he said, and both Yaya and I laughed while Nathan flipped him the bird. “We do go to the same college. We share some minors, but our majors are different. I am doing business management,” he said.
“And what do you wanna do? When you graduate?” I asked.
“I don’t know just yet. I am too stressed about this year to think that far ahead,” he said. “But probably run my own business of some sort.”
“Well, I wish you the best of luck,” I said and turned my attention to my food while Nathan let some of his anger wash away with enough food to satisfy both his belly and Yaya’s need to please.
I wolfed my lamb down, and once I finished my potatoes, I excused myself.
“Time for me to go to my own business,” I said to everyone, then looked at Kyle. “Nice to meet you, Kyle.”
“Likewise,” he replied.
“Hey,” Nathan exclaimed and spoke his first words in the last ten minutes. “Dad! You’ve got a small business.”
I narrowed my eyes and grimaced. “Yes, Nathan. Since you were a little kid. Did you only just realize?” I asked.
“No, it’s…Well, Kyle is looking for a small business to do his senior project, and”—Nathan pointed at me—“you’ve got a small business, so why don’t you help each other out?”
What was he talking about? What senior project? Helping each other out how exactly?
“Kyle can help you grow your business, and you, Dad, can help Kyle out so that he doesn’t fail his class and in order to apologize for how rude you’ve been. Plus, you’ll get an extra pair of hands.”
I shook my head, but I didn’t need to say anything because Kyle spoke first.
“Oh, no. It’s okay, Nate. I don’t want to impose.”
“You’re not imposing, dude. You’d be helping each other out. You’ve got less than a week for your deadline, and my dad has a bar. So…a perfect situation,” he said.
“I have no clue what all y’all are talking about. And I’m already super late. Sooo…” I said and made for the door, but Yaya raised her voice.
“Andrew Karagiannis, don’t you walk out that door before the conversation is finished.”
I stopped in my tracks.
“Okay,” I said and turned around. “I’m listening.” There was no escape from Yaya’s wrath if it awakened. And I’d already tested the fates enough to know better than to test her.
Nathan explained, and Kyle filled in some of the gaps.
Kyle had to go out and help a small business, then write his senior thesis about his experience and achievements, and it all sounded super great. He was looking to be like those freelance business development people you hired to help put your business back on track, only with less experience.
It was probably exactly what I needed to put Andy’s Bar back on the map in Cedarwood Beach. The only problem was…
“I can’t afford to pay you,” I said.
The look on Kyle’s face made me want to change my mind and offer him whatever he needed if only to bring back his smile.
Four
Kyle
“I’ll do it for free,” I said and almost shot out of my chair.
I couldn’t believe my luck. Of course I knew Nathan’s dad had a bar, but it never occurred to me to ask him. Probably because it was an hour away from where I lived, but I was desperate not to fail my class.
“I can’t let you do that. I don’t want to take advantage of you,” Nathan’s dad said.
His voice and his tone still sent shivers all over my body. When I fell in the bathtub, all I could see and feel was him. His touch. His voice. His eyes.
I didn’t know if I’d be able to work in the same stratosphere with this guy let alone in the same room, but I wouldn’t let my perverted, messed up mind get in the way of me and my degree.
“If it means I don’t fail my class, I’ll do anything. Please, Mr. Karagiannis. I really need this,” I begged.
It was hard to control the quiver in my voice. This guy, my best friend’s dad, was making me weak at the knees for more than one reason.
Andy seemed at war with himself.
“It doesn’t have to be a complete redesign of your business,” I started, but that made his eyes go hazy and wide. “We can just implement simple techniques to get more profits, like advertising or marketing. If there is a specific area where you think there’s a problem or room for development, I can help with that, too.”
Andy Karagiannis took a big breath that seemed to last for hours. All eyes were on him, especially mine. I might not have been able to look him in the eyes up until that moment, but now that my future was in his hands, I couldn’t do anything but.
“Come on, Dad. What harm could it do? Worse case, nothing changes. Best case, you make more money?” Nathan said when his dad didn’t say anything.
“I don’t know, you guys. I’m already late for work, so I can’t think about it right now,” he said.
Yaya Marina, as she insisted I call her during lunch, spoke up. She seemed so adorable when I first got here and during our meal, but when she spoke to her grandson, it was clear there was no messing with her.
I want to be her when I grow up.
“There is nothing to think about here, Andy. The boy needs your help and you need his. So pull your head out of your ass and tell him when to come into work,” she said.
I almost giggled at her words, but thankfully, I restrained myself from further embarrassment in front of hunky Andy.
Nathan’s dad looked at his grandma and sighed.
“Fine. Why don’t you come in tomorrow at five? Nathan can give you the address. I gotta go. I am way too late,” he said, and with that, he dashed out of the door before I could say another word. I didn’t even manage to say thank you.
“Well, that was…unexpected,” I said when I heard the door shut.
“Oh, wasn’t it,” Yaya Marina agreed.
She and Nathan broke into a fit of laughter that was too infectious for me to stay unaffected.
“I have to say, Mrs.…erm-Yaya Marina, that was quite admirable. I can see why everyone loves and respects you so much,” I said.
“You haven’t seen nothing yet,” Nathan mumbled, and Yaya threw a potato at him.
“Watch it, mister,” she said.
We spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up our food, and when we were done, Yaya served us her home-made orange pie, which was to die for. Everything had tasted amazing. It made me want to live here just so I could have Yaya’s incredible cooking readily available.
When it was time for Yaya to pick up her great-granddaughter, Nathan’s sister, from school, we took that as our cue to head back to town.
It was when we were in Nathan’s car and already halfway to New Harlow that I turned to my friend.
“Thank you,” I said.
“What on earth for?” Nathan asked, not taking his eyes off the road.
“You know. Hooking me up with your dad and everything,” I replied.
Nathan cringed. “Dude, like ew. If you want a sugar daddy, go get one that’s not related to me.”
I froze and stared at him. Had he seen inside my head? Or was it obvious that I found Mr. Andy irresistible?
After a pause that lasted too long, Nathan nudged my thigh and cracked a smile. “Don’t mention it. That’s what friends are for.” he said.
I turned up the music for the rest of the way, blasting some RuPaul tunes which we both sang along to until we got stuck in traffic on the way into the city. And that was when it hit me.
“Not to sound ungrateful, but, I just realized I don’t have a car,” I said.
Nathan slapped the top part of his wheel with the heel of his palm and cursed.
“Damn it. What are we gonna do now? The plan is a bust,” he said. “If only you had a friend whose car you could use.”
“Nah,” I said. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Oh, but I am,” he said without missing a beat.
“Are you sure you trust me?”
Nathan grabbed my thigh and looked at me.
“I’d trust you to pull cocaine outta my ass,” he said with such a serious face it was impossible not to laugh.
“You’re such a dildo,” I said.
“Right back at ya.”
“Seriously, though. Thanks.”
I could have kissed him right about now if he wasn’t driving. And if he wasn’t my best friend. And if that wasn’t so completely icky.
“Just remember that when my dad shouts at you for serving the wrong food to the wrong table or something,” he said, and I froze.
“Oh crap. Is he that scary at work too?” I asked.
Nathan took a few moments before he replied. The traffic had finally started to move, and we soon entered the city.
“He wasn’t. But since mom died, he’s become…different. He’s still mourning her loss, and I understand that. We all miss her. But I just wish he would try and move on. I don’t think he’s been happy for a long time,” he said.
I didn’t know what to do with this information, so I tucked it on the back of my mind until it was needed.
Nathan had lost his mom long before I met him, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t come up in conversation before. According to him, Lucy Karagiannis had been the second matriarch of the family, and everything she did, everything she put her mind to, she always had the support of the community around her. She was always striving to help those in need, organizing fundraisers, or teaching sign language classes.
“He probably just needs time,” I said.
“It’s been five years. I don’t know how much longer he needs,” Nathan countered.
“God. You’re scaring me now,” I admitted.
Nathan glared at me for a moment before returning his attention to the road.
“What? I don’t want him to shout at me. He’s already scary enough to talk to,” I said.
Nathan laughed. “Don’t let that get to you. He’s a real softy underneath. And if he shouts at you, he’ll have to deal with me,” Nathan said.
When we arrived at my house, Nathan pulled up in front of it and came in.
“Momsy! Are you in?” I shouted from the top of my lungs.
Mom’s ethereal figure appeared from the top of the stairs with a smoking stick of sage and proceeded to join us on this floor.
“Hi, Mrs. B. I’m sorry about him. He forgets his indoor voice, sometimes,” Nathan said and gave my mom a hug.
“You don’t have to tell me,” she chuckled. “Where have y’all been. Are you hungry? We can order a pizza.”
Mom was not a cook. Not for lack of trying, either. But after years of burnt food and liquid cakes, we’d decided it was best if she didn’t venture into the kitchen.
“I’m still pretty full,” I said, “but if y’all want some, I’ll have a slice.”
“And by that he means…” Mom started.
“He’ll have a whole pizza to himself? Yeah,” Nathan finished her sentence.
“Fuck you both,” I said and opened the fridge to grab a can of soda.
“Don’t be mad at us for telling the truth,” Nathan said.
“Don’t pay him any mind. Anyway, I just cleansed upstairs, so I’d give it a few minutes,” Mom said and then picked up the phone to order from our usual takeout.
We all sat down in the living room with our boxes of pizza and watched some rich housewives being rich somewhere in America. Nathan fell asleep on the couch as usual and mom retreated to her office to do some painting, which left me to finish the show on my own.
What an eventful day. Thank the Lady Goddess it was the weekend tomorrow because I didn’t know how much more bad juju I could take.
My phone buzzed on the coffee table and I picked it up to read the message.
“Hey babe. Im feelin horny,” it read.
Oh, Trent. Sometimes I wished he would just call me to hang out and watch a film instead of constantly booty-texting me. Obviously, we were still strangers with benefits, but it wouldn’t kill him to put his dick aside once in a while.
Was I only good for a fuck? My head was still sore from the fall earlier, and I couldn’t imagine having him over after everything. Even if I was in the mood, Trent was a hard pounder and I didn’t need a migraine.
“Not today Trent. I’m exhausted,” I sent back.
A few minutes later, I got a reply.
“WTF? So Im only good for u when u need som dick? And wen I do, u blow me off? I thought this was supozed to work both wayz but I can see now that Im just your fuck buddy, but your not mine. Im done with you Kyle.”
I blew raspberries and reread the message.
What an asshole! Was he for real suggesting that I was the only one booty calling, when he did that to me almost every other day? And I rarely said no to him, unless I had to study. I hadn’t actually called him myself to hook up since college started. And he had the audacity to te
ll me I was using him? He was using me. Like everyone else I’d ever met, dated, or was in a relationship with. And then they all got sick of using me and dumped me.
I shouldn’t be surprised. It was bound to happen. At least I didn’t have any feelings for him, so no real loss there.
Could this day get any better?
At least I wasn’t gonna fail my class.
But I was gonna be working for my best friend’s hunky grump of a dad. This wasn’t gonna be any fun, was it?
Five
Andy
I ran out the door, got into my car, and drove to the bar before I could think too much about what I’d just agreed to. I was still so confused about what had happened this morning. I didn’t know what Kyle could do for my business that I hadn’t already tried myself, but I didn’t want to say anything in front of Nathan and Yaya or offend Kyle again.
Partly this was because I didn’t want Nathan to turn on me like he did during lunch, and also because I didn’t want to make Kyle’s smile disappear again. It was way too vibrant and beautiful.
What’s wrong with me?
I’d never thought of another man’s smile as beautiful and vibrant before. Why was it happening now?
Was it because it’d been too long since I’d last had sex with anything other than my fist?
It was a little after four when I got to Andy’s and found Rachel and Johnny leaning on the bar. There were four tables inside. One was a regular—an elderly man who had lost his wife a couple years back and drunk his sorrows away on a daily basis—and three couples nursing bottles of wine or glasses of beer.
“Hey boss,” Rachel said as soon as she saw me and stood up straight.
Johnny stayed where he was while Rachel walked off to check on one of her tables.
“How’s it been?” I asked.
Johnny looked around and then at me.
“These are the only tables we’ve had all day,” he said.
I turned to face the floor and the crazy amount of empty tables and chairs, and my whole body felt like lead. This was pointless. Instead of making money, I was losing it day by day.