Chapter 14

Dawson

"I'm sorry Mr. Richards,but your table isn't quite ready yet," the hostess said in the most graceful tone possible. I knew we were early, but I guess I had not realized how early. I really put the pedal to the medal, arriving a whole twenty minutes early. To be fair, there was no traffic, and I guess all that nervous energy got channeled into my lead foot.

"It's fine," "Nolan said, kindly and politely as I sighed. This date was off to a terrible start. Not only had I managed to sound like an absolute ass in the car, but now we were going to have to wait around for twenty or so minutes until we could eat, and I was seriously starving.

"You can find us at the bar, when it's ready," I said with a shrug, flashing her a smile and turning to make my way to the onyx bar.

Sedona itself was pretty uppity in its design but the bar was something else entirely. Long, sleek, shimmering black onyx from one end to the other, the gemstone and resin design was one that could only be appreciated up close. The top of the bar itself looked like one of those cracked geode rocks from fourth grade science class but much sexier, and the bottles of top-shelf liquor were lit from behind with blues and purples that made even the bottles themselves look divine.

"What can I get you, sir?" the bartender asked, his vague transatlantic accent perfectly in line with the aesthetic of the place.

"What you got on tap?" I asked, noting Nolan approached the bar slowly, picking up an acrylic table sign of drink specials, looking nonplussed.

The bartender slowly rambled on, but I couldn't focus on his words. All I could focus on was Nolan. His skin lit up with the outlying glow of the lights behind the bar, biting his perfect pout. Which made me swallow hard, made my cock twitch.

"Sir?" the man asked me again, and I realized I must have completely tuned him out, so I waved my hand, nodding with a smile. "The last one," I said, hoping to hell that whatever it was I just ordered wouldn't be dry and bitter as hell.

"And for you, sir?" the bartender turned to Nolan, his lips pulling up in the corner. It was the smallest smile, but it was a smile I hadn't been given.

Oh no, you don't, asshole. This one's mine.

Immediately, I froze upon my thoughts as Nolan looked up from his drink specials, big brown eyes oblivious to the bartender's subtle flirt.

I'd never thought of Nolan as much more than a thorn in my side for the last two years—well, unless you counted my fantasies but that was different.

Because fantasy was certainly not reality, and the reality was that Nolan didn't belong to me, not even in the slightest. He drove me damn near to drink with his incessant nitpicking and oversight of the claims I filed, and aggravated the hell out of me with his uncanny way of showing up just when I didn't want him to, but it seemed like somewhere along the line, my entire brain had done a complete one eighty.

The reality was that at some point, whether it was the race, or him showing up to take care of my brother because it was important to me, or maybe it was the night he showed up at M's Place and won bingo... somewhere along the line I'd changed, and I no longer wanted to make Nolan's life a living hell.

I just wanted him.

To make his cheeks turn scarlet, to get him so flustered he couldn't speak, to fuck him so good he wouldn't be able to leave his fucking couch.

I swallowed harshly as that reality set in, because I knew this wasn't a date.

But maybe I wanted it to be.

So, I decided if this date-not-date was going to be a disaster, I might as well make it a pretty one.

"Oh, uh, I'm not..."

"Tell the nice man what you want, baby," I taunted him, which made him flush.

Dawson 1, Nolan 10, bartender 0.

"If you have questions or would like a recommendation," the bartender said smoothly as he leaned his arms across the surface, his voice smooth and rich like the bar itself.

Nolan set the drink specials down, chewing on his lip as if contemplating what to order with great thought.

"I'll have the Elderberry Fizz. Please," he said poignantly.

"Will that be all, sir?" the bartender asked, his voice must huskier than I liked.

I moved closer to Nolan, only by an inch, placing my hand at the small of his back, which made Nolan jump nearly five feet off the ground.

"See, now was that so hard?" I teased.

Nolan side-eyed me from underneath his thick, black glasses and smirked. "You are insufferable, you know that?" he said as he cocked his head to the side, blowing a stray piece of hair out of his eyes.

"It is my number one goal in life. To be an insufferable bastard," I said, flashing him with a grin as I turned to look at the bartender. "That'll be all, thanks."

Twenty minutes turned into thirty minutes, as there had been a party before us who was in our spot, who just didn't seem to want to leave. Normally, I would have argued, gotten angry that I was planning on spending good money there too, so why the hell wasn't I capable of being seated on time, but I'd already accepted this date-not-date was an epic disaster, so what else could I do? Especially after two beers of my own, knowing I needed to slow down or we'd be catching an Uber home.

Which didn't sound bad, but then again, I didn't want an audience with Nolan. In fact, I didn't want anyone else with Nolan but me.

Mine.

All mine.

My buzzed thoughts wandered to places they shouldn't, my little Nolan fantasies threatening to take the driver's seat.

Despite his cocky, bratty attitude at times, Nolan hadn't been the clearest on his signals. While I knew without a doubt at this point he did in fact like guys, and he'd made a few comments about me and my calendar shoots, I wasn't entirely sure if he liked... me.

He did insult your taste in music.

Whether or not he liked me—the mean underneath the charisma and the humor—shouldn't have mattered to me at all.

Why did I care if he liked me?

It wasn't like every man I fucked in my life liked me for my winning personality. Sex was just that, sex.

And sometimes it was way hotter when I was balls deep in some pretty asshole that didn't respect me or like me at all.

But my feeble, inebriated mind warred with my heart and my hunger, desiring something more.

I wanted him to like me, because I liked him. More than I ever thought I would.

We followed the waiter, who was dressed in a get up that looked strangely reminiscent of a penguin, Nolan giggling the entire way. After the second Elderberry Fizz, he seemed to have loosened up and I wasn't complaining.

Once we'd both ordered our meals, and the waiter had left us once again, I had Nolan all to myself, which I enjoyed far too much.

"Glad to see you're enjoying yourself," I said genuinely, relishing in the smile that formed across his face. He nodded.

God he has a nice smile.

My entire body loosened at the sight.

Shit, I definitely need to stick with water.

"I am, actually. I... I can't remember the last time I've even done something like this."

"Like what?" I asked involuntarily, and took a sip of my water.

"I mean, it's been awhile since I've been out on a date in general, let alone with someone like you," Nolan said as he spun his stir stick in his drink.

"What do you mean, like me?" I asked, confused.

"Confident, brave. Sexy," he said, and he took another drink, hiding his blush behind his glass. But I wasn't about to let him off the hook. Not now when he seemed keen on dishing out compliments.

I'm a sucker for a little praise, so sue me.

But something about the way he said the words felt deeply genuine, and I couldn't help but rise to his bait, especially because it made me feel like I'd just won bar bingo.

Well, well... maybe I should take Nolan out for a drink more often.

"Is that so?" I said as I tapped my fingers on the table, steeling my gaze on his pink cheeks. "You think I'm... sexy? Is that why you're always up my ass?" I teased him, my own smile forcing its way across my face.

Nolan shook his head. "I mean, how many times have you gotten naked for the damn calendar? Like four times?"

"You counted?" I asked coyly.

Nolan shrugged, taking another sip of his drink. "Absolutely not,"

Liar.

"You know, you're not quite what I thought you were either. For the record." The words came out of my mouth of their own volition, causing Nolan to peer up at me over his thick frames.

"Wha... what do you mean?" he stuttered.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, you're still a giant pain in my ass, but I thought... I thought I knew you. But I'm just starting to scratch the surface, I think."

Nolan looked up at me with big, bright puppy dog eyes, his entire expression shifting like I'd just told him the last piece of cake was his.

As far as I'm concerned, he can have whatever he wants tonight... and I do hope there's cake.

"I hope that's not a bad thing," he whispered, his eyebrows furrowing.

Oh you sweet, sweet man...

Who the hell burned you?

I looked him in the eye, mustering as much seriousness as I could when I said, "No, Nolan. Not at all. In fact, I—"

Before I could spill all my secrets and newfound desires out on the table like a teenage girl, the waiter came with our food, shattering the strange sort of tension that had grown between us, and neither of us had any thoughts about anything but the absolutely fantastic food in front of us.

When we'd both devoured our meals plus dessert—a delectable chocolate horchata cake—and the check came, Nolan immediately tried to grab it.

"Ah, ah... paws off, baby."

"Come on, we can split it. You don't have to—"

"I want to, Nolan. Seriously, just let..." I sighed as I watched his face intently.

"Just let me take care of you."