4
Monday night, Alex is nearly ten minutes late. Panting as he rounds the corner to the movie complex, his stomach performs a slow, lazy somersault when he sees Ben standing inside the door. Dressed in dark jeans, a plain button-down shirt, and a dark blazer; the man is certainly attractive. He appears to be trying to send a text message while juggling a bucket of popcorn and two sodas. A packet of peanut butter M&Ms rests on top of the popcorn but when he sees Alex, Ben stops and smiles before shoving the phone into the front pocket of his jeans. The action rocks the popcorn bucket against the soda and they begin to topple. Alex lunges forward and steadies the cups, takes the popcorn bucket. Smiles when Ben snatches the M&Ms.
“Sorry,” Alex says, still out of breath. “Got caught up on the rower.”
“Right. Of course.”
Ben mumbles about fitness freaks all the way through the dark theatre toward their seats.
#
The first trailer is well underway when they sit down and this time it’s Alex’s turn to nearly drop the soda as he tries to tuck his gym bag under his feet. He cringes with embarrassment when Ben leans forward to see what he is doing.
“Sorry,” he whispers, “I would have been here sooner, but you seemed to have a thing about me showering.”
Someone shushes them and after a moment, Alex hears Ben mutter “dork” but when he glances to his right he can just make out a grin. Five minutes into the film he notices Ben’s knee resting against his and misses most of the film wondering what it means.
The night is still warm when they leave the theatre, dumping empty popcorn and soda cups in the garbage on the way out.
“Hungry?” Ben asks, easing the car into the traffic. “We could get a burger.”
Unsure of himself, Alex stares out the window, trying to think. He’s reluctant to end the evening but ... he takes a breath before speaking.
“Tempting as that sounds, I have an early staff meeting, so unfortunately I need to take a rain check.”
Ben nods.
“No problem. You free Friday by any chance?”
“I could be,” Alex says hoping he looks more confident than he feels.
“How do you feel about steak at Tony’s Grill? They usually have live music on Fridays. Or if you have somewhere else you prefer, I’m easy.”
Alex shifts in his seat to look at Ben.
“Tony’s sounds good,” he says.
“Tony’s it is, then.”
For the remainder of the drive they talk about their interests. Ben has a black belt in judo, plays squash two or three times a week to stay fit – he flips Alex off when he sees him smirking – and Alex runs and cycles. Both play chess and both prefer PlayStation to Nintendo.
Ben turns into Alex’s street, easing the BMW into the free spot a few doors down from Alex’s building. When he gets out of the car, Alex raises an eyebrow.
“Told you, there are crazies out there,” Ben says.
#
The few street lamps are more than enough to see by when Alex stops in front of his building, one foot on the bottom step.
“So, Friday at Tony’s?” he asks, feeling awkward.
“Friday at Tony’s.” Ben’s mouth twitches upward. “I’ll pick you up.”
“You don’t have to, I can me -”
“Hey, I’m not ruining a perfectly good steak because you get stuck on the rower again,” Ben says. When he smiles, small crinkles frame his eyes and Alex catches his breath. Ben goes up a step and he is, for once, taller.
“What are y-?”
Before he can finish, Ben leans forward and brushes a kiss over his mouth and Alex forgets what he was going to ask.
“Oh,” he murmurs and tilts his chin up, all attempts to remain distant forgotten. When Ben kisses him again, he closes his eyes, slides a hand across the brushed cotton of the button-down shirt and steps up. Hands grip Alex’s forearms, fingers pressing into the muscle, and he lets himself be pulled forward as Ben’s tongue flicks along his bottom lip, fingers tightening when Alex shivers and opens his mouth. After a moment, Alex breaks the kiss, trying to catch his breath.
Ben’s hands slide around Alex’s waist and pull their bodies closer. Clutching the back of Ben’s shirt, Alex glances around them at the street, relieved to see they’re alone.
“You have no idea how much I’ve been dying to do that,” Ben says, his breath warm against Alex’s cheek. “But, I should probably go, you have a long day tomorrow and need to sleep.”
“I do have a long day tomorrow,” Alex agrees with a sigh, trying to will the blood away from his cheeks. And anywhere else it has no business being at that moment.
“I’m going to be in court all of Wednesday and Thursday.”
“So,” Alex leans back so he can see Ben’s face, “Friday at Tony’s?”
Ben grins and nods.
“Yeah, Friday at Tony’s.”
They kiss again and this time Alex presses against Ben for a moment before the lawyer pulls away.
“If I don’t go now, we’re going to get arrested here at your front door,” Ben says, his voice low and rough.
Alex sighs, steps back to put more space between them, and nods.
“Okay you better go. We don’t want to make the headlines.”
“No, we don’t.” The crinkles are back around Ben’s eyes and Alex forces himself not to stare. “Eight o’clock on Friday?”
“Perfect.”
Alex watches Ben walk back to his car, returns the salute the lawyer tips in his direction as he drives past, then lets himself in the building.