Eddie hung in the back of William's mind. There hadn't been any attempts at contact since those messages the other night, and it almost felt like he'd imagined the whole thing. It didn't matter, anyway. Eddie couldn't do shit to him, not that he'd even try. He could be a violent person under his own roof, but he wasn't the type who'd get physical in public. At least, William didn't think he was. He hadn't seen Eddie in years. Regardless, Eddie didn't have any of his information, just his phone number, apparently. He could try and contact him as much as he wanted, William would just block him every time.

But there'd been no further contact, so there was nothing to worry about. It'd just shocked him, that was all. After all those years of silence, he'd believed that Eddie was out of his life for good.

And now, he had a new man.

William went to Send Noods for lunch every day that week. He sat at the counter and chatted with Dakota about life and work, and nothing in particular at all. Sometimes it felt like he was talking Dakota's ear off, but he didn't seem to mind. He stood at the counter, prepping vegetables or whatever ingredient was needed at that moment, just grinning and listening. William wished that they were alone so he could take him and fuck him right on the counter. It was painful to sit there and have to restrain his desire to jump him. But at the end of William's lunch visits, Dakota would take a quick break to go see William to his car, where they'd finally get to kiss and hold each other, even if just for a few moments. William couldn't wait for Saturday. He had it all planned out. He would take Dakota to the park for an evening picnic, where they could stargaze. The news had announced there would be a meteor shower that night, so it would be super romantic. Nate would be at a sleepover at Jenny's, so Dakota could come back to the condo and the two of them could spend the entire night learning about each other's bodies. It would be perfect.

And, he was even thinking about introducing Dakota to Nate. Things just felt right between them. Maybe he was getting ahead of himself, but he was excited for his son to know that he was seeing someone. It would make Nate so happy.

"Going to lunch," William called, getting up from his desk. Parker raised his hand up over the top of his monitor and made a thumb’s up.

"Send Noods?" Kell asked.

"Yup."

"Have fun. Take as much time as you need."

Both Kell and Parker were pleasantly surprised to hear he was seeing Dakota, though Parker was a lot less vocal about it. "He seems like a good guy, from what you've told me," he'd said. "I think you know what you're doing. You've gotten a lot more self-aware. I'm not worried about you."

William hoped he did know what he was doing. Seeing Dakota certainly felt like the right decision.

The restaurant was winding down from the lunch rush, and William took a seat at the counter. Dakota gave him a nod and a smile but had his hands full pushing out bowls of ramen and couldn't come over to give him a proper greeting. Ellie brought William a glass of water, and he sat and watched as Dakota worked his magic. He really loved watching him cook. Seeing him take command of the kitchen and using his skills with effortless precision was not only surprisingly sexy, it made William proud. Every time someone came by and complimented Dakota on his food, William thought, "Yeah, that's my man's ramen you love so much."

Finally, the last of the lunch crowd cleared out until just a few stragglers remained. William put in an order for a bowl of spicy miso ramen and watched as Dakota and Tom put it together.

"So you guys are going on a date this Saturday, huh?" Ellie said, leaning against the counter next to William.

"Our second date," William said. "Officially," he added.

"That's so cute." She turned toward Dakota and spoke loudly. "Looks like dating isn't so bad, huh? Now you're probably thankful I was such an annoying bitch about it, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Dakota said, laughing. "I get it, I get it. I appreciate you being my personal matchmaker, Ellie."

Ellie smiled proudly. "Damn right."

"One spicy miso ramen, for one spicy miso ramen." Dakota grinned and put the bowl in front of William.

"Did you just refer to me as a 'spicy miso ramen'? You're so lame, Dakota."

Dakota laughed and shrugged. "One hot noodle?"

William looked down and shook his head, grinning. Ellie groaned. "Now I really know you two are a couple. Wow..." She left to go clear the dirty tables.

Dakota pulled out a big cardboard box of mushrooms and started to slice them as William looked on, slurping down his ramen. Dakota was fast with the knife, and it filled the air with a chattering machine-gun sound as he tapped it against the cutting board. The whole mushrooms seemed to fall apart like magic as he went over them. William watched his hands, fascinated with the deft control he had over something so dangerous. He'd noticed before that Dakota's knuckles were calloused and marked with circular scars. It had made him curious, but he hadn't asked about it before.

"What happened to your knuckles, Dakota?"

His chopping slowed for a moment before picking up speed again. "Oh, just... From when I was younger."

"From cooking?"

"No, from before I became a chef. It's a pretty long story, we can talk about it later."

"Oh, okay," William said.

What were they from?

A memory suddenly flashed through his mind of Eddie angrily punching a hole in the wall during an argument. When he'd retracted his hand, his knuckles were cut and bloody. William pushed the thought away, but it left him with a strange feeling.

"Hey," Dakota said in a low voice as he leaned in. "When you leave, come around to the back of the restaurant."

William looked up, a noodle dangling from his pursed lips. He sucked it up. "Okay," he said, intrigued. They chatted a bit about their plans for their date the following day, and William quickly finished up his ramen.

"Heading out now?" Dakota asked, reaching over the counter and taking William's bowl.

"Uh, yeah. I... should get back to work." The past few days, William had always spent a little while sitting and talking after he'd finished eating. Dakota had never hurried him out like this, so it only made him more interested in the secrets hidden in the back of the restaurant. He paid for his meal, employee discount included, and said goodbye to Ellie and Tom. Dakota walked him to the front of the store and gave him a kiss.

"Just drive your car around to the back alleyway," he said to him.

"Alright... What are we doing?"

"IOU," Dakota said, and at first William had no idea what he was talking about. Then he remembered, and his heart did a flip.

Dakota slipped back inside and William went back to his car, practically running to get to it. He swung it around to the alley that ran behind the restaurant and its neighbors, which was closed off on the opposite side by a tall fence and a thick row of bushes and was empty except for a couple parked cars and a dumpster. He saw Dakota coming out the rear door, and he pulled the car up to him and shut off the engine. When he got out, Dakota kissed him, slamming him up against the side of the car. William felt a surge of life down in his pants. He pushed his hand down and grabbed Dakota's crotch and felt his growing hardness, and sat down onto the driver's seat and quickly popped open Dakota's pants and pulled out his cock. He didn't waste any time sucking him down. Dakota moaned and gripped the roof of the car with both hands.

"Hold on," he managed. "Ah... This is supposed to be an IOU. Mm, shit... That feels good."

"Yeah, you owe me this." He took Dakota into his mouth again, happily watching his reactions to each movement of his tongue and caress of his lips.

"Ohh, fuck..." Dakota tossed his head back and moaned. Then he tensed, and William felt his cock flex inside of his mouth. "Shit. Someone's coming."

William looked and saw a car was driving down the alleyway towards them. He slid down the seat until he was sitting on the floor of the car in the door frame, so that his head was hidden from view behind the steering wheel. Then he continued to pleasure Dakota's cock. One of Dakota's hands flew down and gripped the top of his head in surprise, but William kept going.

"Oh, shit," Dakota murmured, resting his forearm on top of the car as if he was leaning against it. William stroked his cock, and his palm made naughty wet noises as it ran up and down his length. "He's looking at me."

"Oh yeah? What are you doing?" Then he sucked him down again.

"Ahhh... I'm, ah! I'm waving at him."

"Mm." He could hear the soft purr of an engine and crackle of tires on asphalt as the car slowly rolled by them. When it was gone, Dakota pulled his cock away and lifted William up to his feet.

"You're fucking naughty."

William had never done anything like this before, and nearly being caught had turned him on so much. He was aching for him, and he could feel that he was dripping wet with his omega arousal for Dakota. He quickly moved to undo his pants and pushed them down to his ankles as Dakota tugged him into a kiss. Then he turned William around and pushed him up against the car and after quickly sliding a condom over his dick, inserted himself inside with one quick and ravenous thrust. William cried out with pleasure and clutched at the steering wheel to stabilize himself. Dakota let out a satisfied groan like someone stepping into a hot bath to soak sore muscles. He grabbed William's other arm, pulling it behind his back, and began to fuck him hard and fast. William matched his rhythm, pushing back as Dakota slammed forward. The car rocked and squeaked on its suspension. William moaned, loving the roughness of it. His hand slid down and hit the horn. He tightened in surprise, and Dakota grunted. "Shit, I'm gonna come soon..."

"I'm gonna come too," William murmured. "Fuck, fuck, fuck... Oh, fuuuuckk."

He felt Dakota swell up inside of him as he came, and his own cock throbbed and made a mess all over the seat. The horn beeped one more time as he lost his grip on the wheel and crumpled onto his forearms onto the side of the seat cushion.

"Oh shit," Dakota breathed, like he was just realizing what they'd just done. William pulled himself to his feet, but his legs were wobbly. Dakota held him steady, and they both buttoned their pants and straightened themselves out. Dakota looked around to see if anyone had been watching, but the alley was empty. Then they both started to laugh. "Well, that was kind of crazy."

"I had no idea I would like it that much," William said, sliding his arms around Dakota's neck and pulling himself up into a kiss. Dakota was so tall.

"I was expecting I'd suck your cock in the backseat or something, but yeah. That was hot."

Dakota brought a towel out from the restaurant and helped him clean the seat off. The entire time, William wanted to take him and throw him into the back to go for another round, and he probably would've if he didn't have to go back to work.

"So... tomorrow," he said, and they both chuckled at the casualness of going from fucking in an alleyway to discussing date plans.

"Yeah?"

"Could you come swing by my place a little early? I'd like you to meet Nate before I take him to his friend's house, if you're okay with that."

"Hell yeah. Of course. I'd love to meet Nate."

William grinned. "Great." He kissed Dakota, and then gave him a tight hug. "I wish I didn't have to go, but I guess we have adult responsibilities and stuff."

"But I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah." They kissed again, and William slid into the car. He waved to Dakota as he slowly pulled away and felt a tightening around his heart. Damn. He missed him already.