Chapter 2

With a laugh, Chris said, “Told you.”

I turned off the TV but didn’t bother to unplug it. “Guess we’re back to entertaining ourselves.” Leaning against the counter, I raised a leg and nudged Chris’s hip with my foot. “I do a mean strip tease. Wanna see?”

Chris jumped back, terrified. “No,” he scowled, but the way his gaze darted to my crotch made me laugh. He wanted me, I could practically taste the curiosity and need wafting off of him like the stale smell of grease that clung to us both when we clocked out at the end of our shift. But I had no intention of getting with him, and my relentless teasing kept him at bay and on guard. He was the type to try and wheedle me into a handjob in the walk-in freezer, or maybe a quick dick-licking in the back storeroom. Anything to get him off and satisfy his as-yet-unrelieved libido. But, as long as I made the moves, I could keep him off-balance and flustered. Any sexual innuendo from me was instantly shot down, thank God. It was fun to watch him get all bent out of shape when I flirted with him. And hey—it was something to do.

Turning back to the TV, I pushed the buttons along the bottom and sighed. “Too bad there’s no VCR. I have some great Bel Ami porn tapes I could bring in. Those European boys are hot.”

“I’m not—” he started.

Suddenly a thin tray slid out from underneath the TV and I cut him off. “It’s a DVD combo.” I laughed and pushed the release button again to close the tray. Over my shoulder, I winked at Chris. “What do you think of that?”

“Do you have any porn on DVD?” he asked, a little too eagerly.

“I’m sure I can come up with some,” I replied. A look of horror crossed his face at my pun, but I added anyway, “Get it? I can come—”

“I got it.” Chris turned back to the safety of the grill, where his burgers were slowly charring from inattention, but his gaze kept straying towards my butt. “I wasn’t asking,” he tried to clarify. “I mean, I don’t wantyou to bring them in or anything. I was just saying…”

The way he blundered on made me laugh again. “I know what you mean.” He sighed in relief and I said, “You want to take them home to watch. I understand. I’ll see what I can do.”

“No—”

“What kind of guys do you like?” I pressed on. Chris shook his head, his mouth moving without making a sound. “I’ve got mostly blondes because I like twinks myself. But seriously—what do you look for in a guy?”

Chris found his voice. “I don’t—”

I wouldn’t let him finish. “Young? Old? I have some about this guy, Lukas? You might like him. He looks a little like me. Tall, blue eyes, brown hair. My dick’s bigger, though. You want a porn star that looks like me?”

The spatula flew out of Chris’s hands and struck between my shoulders before falling to the floor. “Shut up!” Chris hollered—his standby response whenever I pushed him too far.

Despite the greasy smear that stuck my T-shirt to my back, I laughed as I picked up the spatula. Chris’s face had turned a dangerous shade of red, his breath hard and fast as if he’d just run a marathon. I tried to wipe the smile off my face and held the spatula out like a peace offering. When he took it, I couldn’t resist a final jab. “You might want to wash that off before you use it again.”

“Fuck you,” Chris replied.

I grinned. “So you admit you want to?”

I had to duck around the sandwich counter to avoid the spatula a second time.

* * * *

As the holidays rolled around, business picked up at the new shopping mall across town, but we were too far away to see any of it. Even with Christmas just around the corner, the only other place besides us that stayed open all night was Wal-Mart, which had its own eatery. Once midnight rolled around, Sylvia’s all but curled up and died. The door stopped opening and the hands on the clock stopped moving, and the only way I found to break up the monotony of the night was to mess with Chris and fuck with the TV. I must’ve put that damn television on every counter in the kitchen and once out in the main dining area, but I could never get in a picture to save my life. And, despite my teasing, I would never bring a porn flick to work, though from the way his eyes glittered brightly whenever I brought out the TV, Chris thought otherwise. When I finally had enough of flipping through blank channels, the movies I brought in were holiday classics. Tossing a handful of DVD cases onto the sandwich counter, I told Chris, “I hope you’re not Jewish.”

He scooped up the DVDs before they slid to a stop. As he read the titles, though, his ill-concealed excitement disappeared. “The Santa Clause?” he asked. “Miracle on 34th Street? Rudolph—what the hell’s this?”

“Oh, that’s a good one,” I told him, watching disappointment settle into his features. I tried not to laugh. “It’s about this reindeer? Who has this glowing nose…”

Chris slapped me with the DVD case. “I know what it’s about. I thought you were bringing in some of your gay porn.”

My eyes widened in mock surprise. “Shit! I totally forgot you wanted to borrow some. I’m so sorry, Chris. I’ll bring them tomorrow, how’s that?”

Instantly he took a step back. “I don’t wantthem,” he tried, glaring at my grin. “I didn’t say I wanted you to bring any. Damn, Patrick. You’re always twisting around every little thing I say.”

“You know you love it.” I took the DVDs back and scanned through them, looking for something to watch. I felt Chris’s hot gaze on me, saw his foot slide a little closer to mine, and added, “I bet you go home and jerk off thinking about everything I say to you. Why don’t you just ask me, Chris? I know you want to get with me. Just ask and see what I say.”

“No,” he whispered. I didn’t know if he meant no, he didn’t want to ask or no, he didn’t want to see what my answer would be. Or maybe he was pre-empting me, he knew I’d say no so he said it, too. But who knew? I could surprise us both and say yes.