Chosen Boy [7] bxb Bdsm

Fourteen

*** I just want to say that Lia HATED this idea and BEGGED me not to do any of this. It's not her fault :) I came up with this all on my own, I promise. Don't hate her lol.

I had every intention of going home but I just somehow didn't. I considered coffee but ended up at a small bar instead. It was busy enough for me to be invisible but not so crowded that I couldn't find a seat at the bar. Perfect. I didn't even look up until the bartender was standing right in front of me and when I did my brain froze. It was him, it had to be. But it couldn't be.

"Chris?"

"Nick?" I managed to eek out without sounding like a moron. It was him, it had to be Nicky. We'd been inseparable all through high school until he'd decided that he was going to stay the 'straight and narrow' path as he put it and go to college on a lacrosse scholarship while I was practically chomping at the bit to take him to prom and then run my school's LGBTQA club. I'd planned out matching tattoos and how we'd decorate our new dorm room. Then he'd quietly announced his decision to attend a different school and had broken up with me only a week before we were supposed to leave.

"What can I get you?" he answered with a smile and I realized anew that we were actually in public.

"Vodka tonic please."

"Coming right up." Oh that smile, the one I had never been able to resist. It was still there, along with the pearly white teeth, slightly crooked nose and head full of dark brown curls. Now there were just a few extra laugh lines and a bit of a beard that wasn't, my favorite. Damn. I wouldn't even let myself think about his eyes. Plus he apparently knew how to make a drink. And, since this was a gay bar, maybe he'd finally come out. I could dream, right?

I watched him work, noticing his shirt tighten across his shoulders as he reached into the cooler for a bottle of Bud and put it on the counter before reaching up to grab a glass that was likely for me. He certainly hadn't had all those muscles after high school, although he'd always been fit. Now he was just more... well more 'man'. He seemed comfortable in his skin and I was truly glad.

Of course, eight years ago I'd wanted him dead. Well, not dead but I had been heartbroken. I'd lost my boyfriend and bestfriend in one fell swoop and yes, I'd gotten over it because it hadn't really been his fault either but still, feelings had lingered for years. Maybe even longer, remembering my immediate attraction to Dare and realizing how silly I'd been to not see their similarities. The difference was that I knew Nicky, we'd known each other inside and out for three straight years almost a lifetime ago and even now I could pick out his cologne amongst the crowd.

He put my drink down with a smile and lifted his index finger in a 'wait' sign before he disappeared. I sipped my drink and sat as the crowd thinned out. Apparently they'd opened up both the jazz lounge and the dance floor so the main section of the bar was emptying quickly. Good, let them go. I was going to enjoy my drink and make sure all was well with Nicky.

"Hey, long time no see" he said, wiping the counter next to me.

"It's been awhile. How are you?" I asked, honestly wanting to know.

"I'm okay." He tilted his head and shrugged slightly and I knew there was probably more to the story but he didn't say anything other than "what about you?"

"I'm good. Busy, but I can't complain. Was in a car wreck last weekend though, that I'm happy to bitch about."

"Ooh, you okay?" he asked and I could tell that he was honestly concerned. "Of course you're out and drinking, so that's a good sign."

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I've seen you on TV a few times. You look good. I mean, like you're doing okay."

"Still in?" I whispered. "You should rethink your job. And those pants."

He laughed and it was a sound I had never thought I'd hear again. "I SO deserved that. No, I'm as out as can be. Just took me a bit longer than you. I didn't want to come across as a sleaze ball by looking like I was hitting on you after all this time."

"Well were you?" I asked, smiling.

"No. Do you want me to?"

He had me there. "Probably best if you don't."

He nodded as he went to take another order and it was several minutes before he headed back my way just to get stopped when two new guys walked up to the bar. I watched his easy banter with the customers and tried to tamper down the resentment that was building. Why the hell couldn't he have figured it out earlier? I'd always known that living a lie was impossible and it's not like I hadn't tried to convince him. We could have gone to college together and who knows what would have happened. We could have been happily married by now or at the very least we would have had more time. I felt cheated but that's just the way life is. Hating him for it wasn't going to get me anywhere but after the encounter with Greg it seemed like my emotions were weighted towards the negative. I raised my glass when he looked my way and he nodded. Maybe another drink would help.

"Chris?" he called and crooked his finger, pointing to another stool. "Mind moving?"

Not if it meant I'd be able to talk to him more. I brought my empty glass and he took it from me, our fingers touching as he did so. I pretended to not feel the sparks and so did he but there was just so much history. I couldn't help but think to some of the times we'd held hands walking through his parents property down to the lake. We'd sunbathed, skinny dipped and explored everything there was, including ourselves. I'd lost my virginity there and so had he and when I finally blinked my eyes and looked up I almost expected to be there, ankle deep in the reedy water. He was lost too, transported back in time. I knew him too well to not notice, to not be able to read him.

He sat a new drink in front of me and smiled a shy, regretful smile. "It's been a long time Chrissy."

"Yeah. Too long."