Page 99 of See My Words

“Good work, partner.” Dawn punched his shoulder lightly and hurried off to an appointment with a potential new fabric supplier. Scott hung his jacket on the hook by the back door, rolled the sleeves of his dress shirt up to his elbows, and tied his half apron on. Then he grabbed his order pad and got to work.

The afternoon flew by as he waited on his customers, chatting with the regulars and getting to know the new ones. The lunch crowd was boisterous and kept him on his toes, and at one point he took a quick, much-needed break, checking his phone and noticing with delight he had a text waiting from Minh.

They’re home! it exclaimed, followed by a string of heart emojis. Late last night! Check out club’s Insta!

Scott swiped over to Spectrum’s Instagram account, which yielded a short video of Chris barreling onstage to surprise Teena midshow. He smiled as he watched Chris sweep her up into his arms to kiss her senseless while the entire place hooted and hollered.

Awesome! he texted back. Call me when you come up for air ;)

No reply, but then he hadn’t really expected one. Scott finished his bottle of water, trying not to think too hard about the fact he hadn’t heard from Rylan. In fact, Rylan hadn’t updated his Instagram in months, or his Facebook page. He had completely distanced himself from his life in the States.

Well, that’s what you wanted, isn’t it? You wanted Rylan out there, getting the chance to show the world his talent. And oh, what a talent it was proving to be. The compassion and insight he brought to everything else in his life was evident in his work, too, and one of his photos had even been picked up by a major news outlet and promptly went viral. Scott still felt a thrill when he thought of it, a pride in Rylan that made him feel like he could burst.

Chase your happiness, Ry.

As hard as it had been to let him go, and as much as he missed him, this was one decision Scott would never regret.

Scott tossed his water bottle in the recycle bin, brushed his hair, washed his hands, and headed back out to the dining room. He was relieved to see the lunch rush was winding down, and there were no new customers waiting at the hostess stand.

Scott busied himself helping the other servers with their tables, doing some of the fetching and carrying for them, even the busing. He was standing at the bar waiting to pick up a drink order when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.

“Table for one?”

The voice was achingly familiar, and Scott froze in place, the tray of drinks forgotten. Could it be—his heart started to pound, face flushing hot. He clenched his fists on the bar top, afraid this was nothing more than a vivid auditory hallucination, conjured up because of his earlier thoughts about—

“Scott?”

If I’m imagining this, I’m truly going crazy.

Scott took a deep, shaky breath before turning slowly around to see Rylan indeed standing there with a tentative smile, his nose and ears red from the cold. Scott blinked, his throat tight, and all he could do was stare.

When he didn’t say anything, Rylan’s smile faltered. “I’m sorry, you’re working. I can come back later if—”

The words broke the spell and galvanized Scott into action. “No!” he burst out, and in two giant steps had Rylan in his arms, crushing him against his chest. “Don’t leave.”

Scott welcomed the pain of Rylan’s fingers digging into the muscles of his back as he wrapped around him and held on tight. At last Scott pulled back and looked down at him, cupping his cheeks in his hands to kiss him gently, ignoring the tittering of the patrons on the nearby bar stools. They stared at each other until the sound of clinking glasses broke the spell, and the bartender called out in a voice filled with amusement, “Very touching, Scotty, but the ice in these drinks is gonna melt if you don’t get them out to the table.”

“Shit.” Scott let go of Rylan, smoothing down the front of his shirt self-consciously and adjusting his apron. “Wait here for a sec.” He grabbed the tray of drinks and hefted it to his shoulder, hurrying to distribute them to a table full of women on a lunch date. One of them remarked that he reminded her of her grandson, and he was forced into a conversation.

Scott did his best to be charming, but he couldn’t help but cast a few glances over his shoulder toward the bar, terrified Rylan would get tired of waiting for him and decide to leave after all. Relief made his knees go weak when he saw Joy, the hostess, lead him to a booth in the back and hand him a menu.

A few more minutes of smiling chitchat with the ladies and he was finally able to break free and take the tray back to the bar. He took the opportunity to lean against the counter for a moment, sucking in a few deep breaths and trying to pull himself together.

“Just when you think you know someone…” the bartender drawled, smirking.

Scott glanced at him. “Is it gonna be a—problem?” he asked carefully. He hadn’t come out as bi to anyone at work except Dawn, and a few people were sure to be shocked. In fact, he noticed with a pang that Joy was pale as a ghost, and she wouldn’t look at him, her body rigid as she stood at the hostess stand.

The bartender grunted, a slightly offended look passing over his face. “Nah. Live and let live, man.”

Scott quirked his lips at that, reaching across the bar for a knuckle bump before heading over to where Rylan sat, perusing his menu.

“What’s good for lunch?”

“You really want to eat something?” Scott asked in surprise, and Rylan gazed up at him with a slow smile that made Scott want to kiss him senseless.

“Hmm. I’m told that’s what you usually do in a restaurant. Especially when you’re hungry.” His voice was warm, teasing.

Scott felt his cheeks turning red. “Right.”