Page 25 of What I've Tasted of Desire

But Alex didn’t seem to mind. I led him towards the hostess stand. I could his muscles tense up as we made our way through the crowd of folks waiting to be seated. He hated crowds. With every step, I was second-guessing my decision to bring him there. Fuck, could I have been more inconsiderate?

“Hi. Two, please.”

Without looking up from her tiny computer, the hostess replied, “It’s going to be at least an hour before I can get you seated. Did you want to wait?”

Idiot! You should have made a reservation!

But I hadn’t known if this was what Alex had wanted to do yet. I glanced over at him.

He’s uncomfortable! You can’t make him stand here in the middle of all these people for an hour! GET HIM OUT OF HERE!

“How long for a to-go order?”

***

Alex looked surprised as I backed my SUV up to the wall on the top level of the old stadium’s parking garage. I silently hoped I hadn’t made him uncomfortable by secluding him like this. It was dark, and damn-near abandoned, making it an amazing spot to look out over the expansive city lights.

I hit the button to release the hatch and got out of the car to open Alex’s door. He looked up at me and hesitated for a split-second, but stepped out.

“Wow,” he exclaimed as I closed his door and he took in the view I’d brought him all the way up here to see.

I let him stand there and enjoy the panorama for a moment while I went around to the back of the car and folded down the seats to make room for us to climb inside the trunk. This might not have been the best back-up plan, but I prayed I could still show him a nice evening. And that my lack of preparedness hadn’t already chased him away.

You absolute baboon, no one wants to eat a steak dinner in the back of a stranger’s car!

Alex made his way around the car and I smiled, gesturing for him to climb into the back. Once we were both seated crisscross in the trunk, I left the boot open to enjoy the view, while also reaching over him to crank the heater up so we would’t freeze.

“Is this okay?” I asked, handing him the styrofoam container that housed his meal.

Alex nodded, taking the container from my hand. The tips of his fingers brushed against mine as he took it, sending shivers shooting up my arm.

I quickly recovered and dug through the other bag to get him some utensils.

Fuck!

“Uh…” I started with a nervous chuckle, “It doesn't look like they gave us any silverware.”

Your faux pas are akin to the Hindenburg Disaster…

Despite the inexplicable travesty the date had turned into, Alex gifted me with a soft smile, picked up his steak with his hands, and took a bite out of it.

We made our way through the meal like a couple of cavemen, getting the worst of the mess off our hands with some hand sanitizer and napkins.

“This isn’t exactly how I pictured us having dinner this evening, but I’m really happy you decided to come out with me,” I ventured.

“This was p-perfect,” he said softly, not turning his head away from the view. “The city looks so b-beautiful from up here.”

“I wish you could see the stars, though. In Montana, there’s no light pollution. It feels like you can see the whole Milky Way on a clear night.”

“That m-must b-be amazing! “

“It is. Do you like to go camping?”

“Sure.”

“I haven’t been in years. What’s your favorite thing to do out there?”

“S-s’mores,” Alex answered after a moment's pause.

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