Page 39 of Bull's Boy

The day before felt more like a dream than reality. The time they’d spent together at his house, talking and learning about each other between long kisses and the occasional orgasm, had been just about… perfect. Then Malcolm had gone home to get ready for work, and by the time he’d arrived for his dinner shift, Bo’s had been packed, and Bull had barely even caught a few glimpses of him before he’d ended up closed up in his mom’s office to work on the next schedule once things thinned out a bit.

He was hoping they could talk before things picked up for lunch. He really wanted to check in and see how Malcolm was feeling after his big sexual epiphany over the weekend. There had been no sign of him freaking out or regretting his decision the day before, but had he gone home last night and spiraled aboutliking guys now? Maybe he’d decided that he wasn’t actually developing feelings for Bull after all and it had just been a weekend-long experiment.

Bull had wanted to call or text him and almost caved to the impulse lying in bed that morning and wishing Malcolm was snuggled up next to him. But he didn’t want to come on too strong. If Malcolm was still interested but Bull pushed too hard, he worried Malcolm would retreat and want to go back to being only friends.

Not even friends, really. They’d barely been more than coworkers before the party.

He slowly finished clearing the table, barely glancing down and almost dropping a plate covered in ketchup and hardly touched hash browns as Malcolm and Dahlia clocked in. After returning from stashing their belongings in the employee break room, Malcolm finally saw him and smiled.

The little bit of excitement Bull hadn’t been able to tamp down dwindled at the sight. It wasn’t the same smile from yesterday, intimate and a little shy. It was his server smile, the one he gave customers, the one Bull was used to getting before the weekend.

Fuck, maybe he did regret things.

He dropped his head and finished bussing the table, and then he hauled his tub into the kitchen to unload. Bracing his hands on the edge of the sink, he bowed his head and took a few deep breaths. He needed to get his shit together and stop assuming the worst. If he weren’t so gone on Malcolm already, he wouldn’t be having a little meltdown over a damn smile.

“Are you sick? If so, you need to get the fuck out of my kitchen.” The angry, accented voice snapped him out of his spiral, and he turned to face Raul.

“I’m not sick.”

The head cook narrowed his eyes and took a step closer, running his gaze over Bull’s face and then down his body in a quick assessment. “What’s wrong, then?”

“Got my hopes up about something,” Bull said vaguely and waved a hand in the air. “It’s nothing.”

Raul grunted disbelievingly but left him alone, going back to cursing at one of the line cooks. Butch, who’d worked there nearly as long as Raul and was best friends with the ornery man, yelled back from the walk-in, “How many times I gotta tell you I don’t speak Spanish, Raulito?”

Bull ignored their familiar bickering and took one more deep breath, straightening his shoulders. Maybe Malcolm didn’t regret everything that had happened. Maybe he just wanted to keep whatever was growing between them outside of Bo’s. It hurt Bull’s heart, the idea of hiding when he’d rather plaster the news on a billboard erected outside the restaurant, but he’d respect Malcolm’s wishes.

It wasn’t fair for him to expect everything to be as easy as it had seemed the day before. Discovering this new side to himself was a huge change for Malcolm. It made sense he didn’t want to deal with advertising it and explaining his sexuality to a bunch of people yet.

He was worth waiting for though.

Bull was pretty sure a part of him had always known that, had been waiting and hoping that if he was just patient enough, Malcolm would see just how good for him Bull could be.

He wasn’t going to fuck it up now.

The dinner rush was in full swing when Bull spotted a couple of familiar faces. He made his way across the dining room and saw Malcolm was at a nearby booth, chatting with the small group as he input their orders. As he neared his destination, Bull tried to make eye contact, but Malcolm either ignored him or didn’t notice, his whole focus on the family in front of him.

The pair in the corner booth noticed him right away as he neared though.

“Hey, Bull!” Lukas said cheerily, sliding out from his side and wrapping Bull in a quick but tight hug.

Bull smiled down at his ex-boyfriend, returning the hug and then ruffling his dark hair. Lukas tried to scowl as he ran a hand over his head, but his big, Disney-princess eyes softened the expression.

“Hey, Bull,” Lukas’s best friend, Kevin, said, not rising from the booth but offering a warm smile.

Bull nodded at him and waited until Lukas had dropped back onto the bench seat before asking, “Where are your better halves?”

Kevin snorted, but Lukas grinned, his eyes sparkling with the kind of affection that was almost palpable. He and his husband were disgustingly in love, and it was rare for him to come in without John. “They’ll be joining us in a little bit.”

“If Singer lets them,” Kevin added with an eye roll. “That guy’s such an asshole sometimes.”

Bull wasn’t sure who that was but nodded sympathetically and offered to get their drinks. They were in Malcolm’s section, and he couldn’t stop himself from trying to help as Bo’s got slammed. The kitchen was struggling to keep the grilled cheese bar full, and the servers were running their asses off. He told himself he’d do the same for any of his staff, so it wasn’t special treatment.

Lukas waved him off, laying a hand on his wrist with an affectionate squeeze. “You don’t have to do that. I’m sure our server will be over in a minute, and you’ve probably got more important things to do with how busy you all are.”

Bull shrugged guiltily. He’d been bussing tables and helping to keep things filled since business had picked up, and there was always work in the office to do, unfortunately. He was pretty sure his mom had never placed the paper products order, and that needed to be done before they ran out of napkins.

“I’m glad you came over to say hi,” Lukas said, giving his arm one more squeeze before letting his hand drop to the table. “If you can, swing back by when John and Hank get here.”

---