Chapter 10 - Gabe

When Nate ran off into the shower I'd been worried that he was upset. Last night had been better than I had ever imagined and over the years I had imagined a lot. 

When he told me he would be right out I figured he needed a bit of time on his own to figure out whatever was going through his head. So, I decided to head into the kitchen to see if I could find something for breakfast. 

Maybe if he wasn't sure of it all I could soften him up with a good meal. I heard the shower turn off at the same time the phone rang. It was his landline so I decided to answer it for him. 

"Hello, Na…" I was cut off.

"Nate! You useless son of a whore!" 

The angry voice shouted and I seethed. I was about to retort when the voice continued. 

"Did I beat you so fucking hard last time that you've forgotten you have responsibilities?"

Beat him hard last time? Was he talking about the night I went to the hospital? Had this guy been the one to hit him? But why? Who was he?

"Answer me you fucking faggot! Are you too busy with some fags dick up your arse to think about your own damn father!" 

I froze, my back stiffened and my eyes went wide. That's when Nate walked in and tried to take the phone from me but I wouldn't let him. 

"Fucking stupid whore, just like your mother. She loved to sleep around too, fuck knows if you're actually mine. I hope fucking not! Don't forget to bring me some whiskey you useless shit, and get the good shit none of that watered-down shite you get on the cheap. I don't care what these bitches say, I want that whiskey!"

I heard a rustling and then a quieter, kinder voice came on the phone. 

"I'm sorry Mr Lee, your father got hold of the phone, we thought we put it out of his reach. He isn't doing well if you could visit him soon that would probably make him feel better."

"I'll let him know," was all I said before hanging up the phone. 

Nate's wide eyes and scared look told me everything. He knew who had been on the phone, and it wasn't the first time his father had called and spoken to him like that. 

"Nate?" I asked after clearing my throat and taking a calming breath. 

Nate moved to the couch and slumped down. He rested his head in his hands and I could hear him groan. Slowly, I moved to sit beside him. He flinched a little as I placed a hand on his back but soon relaxed into my touch. 

"Does your father call and talk to you like that a lot?" I asked. 

He nodded, not bothering to lift his head, which was probably a good idea. I didn't need to see my reflection to know there was a burning rage in my eyes. 

"Has he just started doing that or …" I asked not wanting to voice my suspicions. 

Nate groaned, leaned back and rested his head on the back of the sofa. He stared up at the ceiling not speaking. Slowly, I reached for his dressing gown and opened it wide. 

Those scars, and the ones I'd felt last night all made sense now. My heart hammered as I slowly traced a few. His hand stopped mine as his eyes flicked towards me.

"He did this, didn't he?" I asked and he nodded again. "Was he the one that beat you up the other day when I came for you?" 

Nate nodded with a sigh and sat up straight. He clasped my hand in his and I could feel it tremble. 

"My father has always been cruel. When I was very little it had been taunts and jibes but then it became physical as I got older. He always made me feel as if I wasn't good at anything. He'd find any reason to hit me."

I watched as one of his hands traced over one of the scars. My heart broke and I instinctively wanted to reach out to him but I held back. 

"Father's beatings got worse when I went to high school. I made the mistake of telling him I wanted to try out for the sports team and he told me I was too weak. I went ahead anyway and when I proudly told him I had not only made the team but the coach was impressed with me. The coach had been so surprised that someone so small and slight had been as fast as I had been or as strong."

Pride filled me for a brief moment before I realised what must have come next. Nate touched one scar in particular; it wasn't as big as some of the others. 

"He laughed and said he would prove how wrong the coach was. Father dragged me outside, punched and kicked me before breaking a bottle and giving me this. I withdrew from the team the next day."

"What about your friends? Surely they would have noticed?" I wondered how Mia could have missed this given how close they were.

"I didn't have any friends then. Father was well-known and ran the best bar in town. Put on a different persona around other people, no one would have believed he was that kind of monster behind closed doors. At school, I focused on my studies and that was it. Then Mia arrived during our senior year and she wouldn't take no for an answer."

He smiled faintly at the memory and having known Mia I can imagine what she did. No doubt she hounded him until he gave in, or she found a way to force him.

"I was the only one without a lab partner so I had to work with her. Since we'd spent a lot of time together she noticed things, like the odd bruise on my arms or how I would flinch when I bent to get things. She was convinced that I was being bullied by some jocks and even said she would beat up whoever it was." 

We chuckled. Despite being small for her size I could picture her squaring up to a group of football players. Them towering over her and she not giving a damn as she got right up into their faces. Ordering them to leave Nate alone.

"I told her she didn't need to concern herself and she begrudgingly accepted. I always made us do any project we had to do at school. Then she insisted that doing it at my house would have been better but naturally I resisted."

Nate stood up and went to his fridge, he returned a moment later with two beers. He handed me one before taking a huge drink of his. With a sigh, he paced back and forth in front of me. 

"She wasn't happy that I wouldn't budge, so one day after staying late at school she followed me home. She heard father shouting at me, then him hitting me and she put two and two together. I begged her not to say anything. Graduation was only a few months and then I would go to college and never see him again."

His pacing was starting to make me seasick so I stood and stopped him in his tracks. I took his bottle from him and placed both drinks down on the table. Then I took him in my arms pulling him flush against me. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around my waist and laid his head on my chest with a sigh. 

"But you still see him, don't you?" I asked. 

"Not at first, I did exactly what I said I would do once I left for college. Then a few months ago I was contacted by a hospice. My father has extreme liver failure and not much time left to live. He named me the next of kin and I've been going to see him. Stupid, I know."

I gripped him tighter and he responded in kind. We stood there for several minutes just enjoying the feel of each other. Nate sighed against my chest and for the first time, I felt content. With my past lovers, it was all about sex and fun. 

Now, standing here with Nate, it was all I wanted. To spend time together holding each other and doing nothing else, well not entirely nothing else. Using one hand I lifted his head to meet my gaze before giving him a small kiss. 

"I know I don't have the right to tell you what to do, even though I want to scream at you to never see him again. However, can I ask, that if or when you do go to see him please let me go with you, ok?" I begged.

Nate nodded and I sighed, pulled him in and wrapped him in the tightest hug I could manage. He sighed into my embrace burying his face in my chest. 

"Does Mia know you still go to see him?" I wondered aloud. 

"Yeah, she isn't happy about it but I only go a couple of days a month. It's mainly to pay the monthly bill and or show my face. Usually, he's asleep or too sick in bed to reach me. That night he'd been well enough to be out of bed," he said whilst holding me tighter. 

A few hours later, I was still at Nate's. We held each other for over half an hour before our stomachs rumbled simultaneously, ruining the moment. We both looked at each other and smiled. 

Nate cooked us French toast and as we ate I had visions of licking the syrup off of his body as I watched it run down his chin and fingers. I grabbed one of his hands and began to do just that. He let out a pleasurable moan as my dick quickly became half-hard.

Afterwards, Nate had some work to do but I hung around. I hadn't wanted to leave just in case this was some kind of dream. I decided to read one of his many books but I was instantly distracted. 

Nate was sitting at his desk, the noonday sun created a glowing ring around his body. From where I was sitting on the sofa, I could see only half of his face. He wore those glasses that had my dick filling once again, he looked sexy as fuck. 

He had the whole sexy professor look going on. I remembered those fantasies I had in college about playing the naughty student being reprimanded by his professor. A huge part of me wondered if he would be willing to role-play. 

----

After a few hours, Nate finally pulled back from his laptop and stretched. He groaned as he turned and looked at me. Just as I was about to open my mouth his stomach rumbled once again. With a chuckle, I stood, holding my hand out towards him. 

"Come on, let's go out to eat," I suggested. 

We picked a small bistro restaurant near my club, which I often went to. I chuckled as he eyed the menu hungrily. The waitress, a busty brunette I'd seen many times before, adjusted her top as she approached and I inwardly rolled my eyes. 

Thankfully, Nate was too engrossed in the menu to notice. She smiled sweetly at me as she clicked her pen. 

"Ready to order handsome?" she asked. 

Nate's head shot up and he followed her gaze. She was looking at me but I was looking at him. I gave him a small wink and a smile started to cross his face. 

"Babe, have you decided?" I asked sweetly, mimicking the tone of her voice. 

The waitress did a double-take. I continued to smile at him and Nate blushed beetroot red. He slowly nodded and fidgeted with his shirt.

"Erm … yes honey, I'll have the chicken salad with a side of fries. What about you?" he asked. 

"That sounds good. I'll have that too," I said finally looking at the waitress. 

She was still eyeing us with a wide-open mouth. 

"You're kidding right?" she asked after a minute. 

I raised an eyebrow at her. I knew what she was asking but I played dumb. If she wanted to make a fool of herself, well that was her prerogative. Nate looked uncomfortable but he squared his shoulders and sat straighter. 

"Is there something wrong?" he asked. 

His confidence was for show, mainly for her benefit, but it was sexy as hell. I loved it when he opened up and took charge. Hopefully, I could get him to do it more often, especially when we were naked and in bed. 

"Well, I just … I mean …" she stammered. "Are you two really together?" 

Nate nodded and flicked his eyes at me unsure. I nodded too, urging him on. 

"Yes we are, is there a problem?" he stared at her strongly, unwaveringly and I wanted to take him right there. 

"Well, you two just don't look like you would go together. I mean you look like you spend all your time reading books or doing hard math problems and he's just too damn hot it should be illegal."

Her voice turned seductive towards the end as she turned back to me. I felt like gagging. So, I reached for Nate's hand that was resting on the table and he willingly accepted it, gripping me tight. 

"Well, not that it's any of your business, but I do spend my time reading and I am a maths professor. Also, just because Gabe is good-looking doesn't mean that he wouldn't be interested in someone like me," his eyes burned into hers. 

"Well I mean, come on, look at you two … Wait! I get it! Are you one of those buttoned-up types who gets all freaky when the lights are off?" 

She was now insulting Nate and I was seething. 

"Excuse me!" he called out, shocked. 

That drew the eyes of several other patrons as well as some other servers. One, in particular, made his way over quickly. 

"Is everything ok?" he asked. 

His badge said he was the manager and I was about to rip into him about hiring nosey, rude and downright insulting servers. However, before I could, Nate spoke up. 

"No, everything's not ok!" he started. "This server has been inappropriate. First, she tried to flirt with my boyfriend in front of me and then, after learning of our relationship, implied that we couldn't possibly be together as I'm a nerdy professor and he's too good-looking it should be illegal. After that she's insulted me, implying that to be with Gabe I must be some type of nympho whore when the lights are off," he spoke calmly. 

"What! No, I didn't! You're misunderstanding what I said," she stammered. 

"Really? I don't think so," I smirked. "I heard you very clearly too. You implied I couldn't be attracted to someone like him and you said that he must be, now what was it you said exactly? Oh yes! You said that he must be the button-up type that gets all freaky when the lights are off."

The woman opened and closed her mouth, she had no clue what to say. I guess she hadn't expected me to back him up. A small cough from the table next to us drew all our attention to a small elderly couple. The woman smiled at us before turning to the manager. 

"That young man is right. We heard her say that too," she confirmed. 

The manager turned back to us. His face looked calm and collected but his eyes held a different story. Something told me this wasn't the first time she'd done something like this. 

"I'm terribly sorry for all this. Please, order whatever you like, it's on the house. I will send another server over to take your order," he then turned to the woman and pointed towards a small hallway. 

I imagined that was where his office was and doubted that the woman would be working there any longer. We sat down and I turned to the couple next to us. 

"Thank you," I said. "Please, allow me to pay for your meal as a sign of gratitude."

The woman waved me off with a smile. 

"There's no need for that young man, and you are very welcome. You two have the right to love whoever you want. Take me and my husband. When we first got together nearly everyone hated us. A white woman and a black man, let me tell you it was unheard of then. We turned many heads, and even my own family abandoned me. Luckily, Edgar's family took me in and I've had the best life I could have possibly had. No regrets!" 

We both smiled after them as they got up and left holding hands. I turned back to Nate with a chuckle as a new server came and took our orders. We ate our food happily and enjoyed the rest of the day.