Tongue Tied

Chapter 6

I was five minutes late to Roger's, the sports bar Alec and I frequented. We often spent Friday nights bitching to each other about our work week over a couple beers and burgers. That was the only place you could find the two of us openly getting along in public because Roger's was on the far edge of town where no one we associated with went, so we weren't concerned about our friendly burger dates - if you could call them that - being noticed.

The place was crowded, as usual, with football fans who'd just left the eleven o'clock game. I spotted Alec on the far side of the building through the mass of jersey-wearing beer drinkers. He was sitting at a small table, bottle in hand, surrounded by full booths near the corner.

"The traffic was a nightmare," I rolled my eyes at how frustrating it had been having to weave my way in and out of cars leaving the stadium.

Alec set his beer down, a smirk dancing across his lips. "Be honest," he said in a teasing voice. "You had to stop somewhere to take care of yourself because you couldn't stop thinking about how hot Saturday night was."

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, earning a smack on the arm from me. It didn't faze him though. Hitting his muscular arm was like throwing a punch at a brick wall. It didn't do shit to the brick wall.

I shook my head causing him to chuckle louder. I'd never tell him, but he sure was cute when he laughed.

The waitress chose that point to interrupt our exchange. I felt a twinge of jealousy at how obvious she was making it that she found Alec attractive. I put my hand on top of his on the table and slowly ran it up his forearm. She seemed to take a hint, even though the impression I was giving off was complete bullshit. Alec wasn't mine. I didn't know why I was jealous.

"What was that?" He cocked an eyebrow, that sexy smirk returning.

I realized my hand was still on his arm and quickly removed it. "What?"

Thankfully, he just shrugged it off and didn't say anything else on the subject.

His third beer and my first arrived soon after, and Alec decided then was the right time to inquire about why I had been pissed off.

"Sean Ashworth is on my last nerve," I told him after I finished relaying everything that had gone on in the meeting forty-five minutes prior.

Alec raised his eyebrows, sipping his beer. The waitress had brought over our burgers halfway through my spiel. I had yet to touch mine and he was almost finished with his. I was also only two swigs into my Budweiser and I just knew he was silently judging me for it, amusement written all over his face.

"Is that all?" he asked jokingly in response to my fifteen-minute speech. He hadn't gotten a word in edgewise the entire time.

I groaned and took a long swig of beer. "I'm really stressed, Alec. It's not that funny to me. Corbin and Hilliard are going to be furious if I don't pull this off perfectly."

He sighed and leaned closer to me. Rarely did I go to him to vent about anything. Actually, I often didn't vent to anyone. I'd try to brush it off and act like nothing was bothering me. Alec was probably surprised I'd decided to go into great anger-laced detail over our lunch. We almost never discussed business, mostly because we didn't trust each other not to take what the other said and run with it for our own personal gain. I had a sinking feeling I'd end up regretting telling him about my meeting with Sean but I chose to be optimistic about it, telling myself we were pretty good friends now and he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize my professional endeavors.

"Well, it sounds like you're on the right track with the poster boards." Alec tried to sound cheerful. I wasn't feeling the optimism, however. "Corbin and Hilliard has graphic design artists, don't they? Just see what they come up with. And in the meantime, brainstorm the commercial while you wait."