Chapter 15
Horror.
Seeing Bas fling himself out of the restaurant's booth felt like an entire band was performing a drum line on my heart.
It wasn't the fact that I was scared or worried for Bas to see me with Qwill.
It was the fact that I hadn't had a chance to talk to him about it yet and now I had no choice but to address it without having had time to prep.
At Bas' sudden movement, Kroven turned to him with a confused look destroying his face. Across Kroven’s pale creature features, I saw his pointed ears twitch in response to Bas’ reaction, his red eyes reflecting the alarm they protruded.
“What's wrong, blomsjett?”
Qwill set his eyes on me before looking at Bas with the same weirded out look Kroven did. He kept swiveling his head between us.
Kroven finally glazed over me, recognition registering in his eyes. “Thayer? What are you doing here?”
“This is my date,” Qwill nodded. His handsome face squished as he gave me a look. “You know each other?”
“Thayer is my best friend,” Bas cleared his throat, looking absolutely floored. “We used to live together before I moved in with Kroven.”
“Ahh, wonderful.” Qwill smiled, clearly not registering the awkwardness that was evident in the air. “Then everyone's familiar to with each other already.”
“Thayer and I are going to the bathroom before we order.” Bas settled, walking over and grabbing my wrist before he started dragging me to the back of the restaurant in lieu of the bathroom.
Kroven and Qwill had matching expressions of bewilderment as I struggled to keep my balance as Bas' surprising strength led me further into the restaurant.
By the time he threw us both inside the men's bathroom, I was trying to regain autonomy over my body as he checked the stalls.
Bas made sure that we were alone as I leaned against the bathroom counter.
Bas placed his hands on his hips and stared at me like he had swords for irises.
“What the fuck, Thayer? You're dating Qwill?!”
“I haven't had a chance to tell you yet,” I tried to explain. “I didn't know you knew Qwill. Or that Kroven did. I had no idea you two would even be here tonight.”
“Qwill didn’t mention Kroven’s name when you asked about who the hell you were meeting for dinner?”
“No!” I elevated my voice, clearing my throat at the realization that my voice was amplified by the bathroom’s walls. “Qwill didn’t tell me.” My head tilted as I amended. “Well, I didn’t exactly press him either, but that’s because it didn’t matter to me who his friends were.”
“Okay,” Bas exhaled, taking in a new breath before continuing on. “Let’s move on to the fact that you’re dating Qwill.”
I sighed. This wasn’t how I thought tonight was going to go. I’d been looking forward to meeting Qwill’s friends, hearing stories about Qwill that would, inevitably, further my fascination with him. Drama hadn’t been at the forefront of my mind at all.
That being said, I understood where Bas was coming from.
He’d only known me to date women. Human women, at that, so me strutting up with a male Orb on my arm, well, I could see how that would be startling as fuck and confusing as hell.
I just didn’t want to get into the weeds about it.
My relationship with Qwill was just that.
I didn’t want to feel like I had to validate my blossoming relationship, even if it was my best friend standing in front of me.
“It just sort of happened.” I shrugged, not wanting to meet his eyes.
I ran my hand through my tousled hair. “Qwill came into the club and his friends bought him a lap dance with me. He’d been a fan of my routine and got to experience it up close.
After that, I’ve been trying to reconcile how I’ve been feeling around him and I finally decided to explore it. ”
When I looked up from the bathroom floor, I fully expected to see irate feelings reflected in Bas’ eyes. Fortune graced me as I saw the subtle smile on his face, followed by his eyes wobbling with emotion.
“Thayer, I’m so happy for you! You should feel free to explore what you’re feeling. I just—”
The sound of the bathroom door being pried open took both of our attention from us. A tall guy wearing flannel and blue jeans took a single step inside before he saw us.
Without even looking at each other, Bas and I said in complete unison, “No.”
The guy sighed, shrugging his beefed up shoulders and biceps. “Dude, I just gotta piss.”
“No.” Bas said again, sauntering over to the bathroom door and ushering him out. He gave the guy a subtle shove out of the doorway before closing the door and throwing the lock.
When he turned back around to face me, his earlier softness returned.
“I just wish you had told me! This is, like, front page fucking news. Thayer Nguyen dating an Orb? A male Orb?” Bas invisibly preened as he rolled his shoulders.
“I’d think you were copying me if it weren’t so sensational of you to switch teams.”
“I haven’t switched teams, just joined a different one.” I smirked. “The more options, the better success rate.”
“You’re ridiculous.” He laughed, walking over to me and throwing his arms around me in a hug. “But I’m really happy for you.” When I pulled back from the hug, he left a light punch on my arm, pulling a yelp from me. “Next time, tell me more promptly, please.”
“You got it.”
Beats were resounding from outside the bathroom, the door being knocked on with abject persistence. Either the guy that Bas had locked out really had to piss or other people were told about the men’s bathroom being locked and were trying to address it. Bas gave me a shrug and I just laughed.
“Is now a bad time to mention I bottomed for Qwill?”
“You what!?”
The beating on the door was getting wilder, and after sharing a glance with Bas, we silently decided to move our detailed conversation elsewhere. We walked over and I made haste of unlocking the door.
Three guys, including the guy that we’d locked out and someone who obviously worked at the restaurant, were waiting for us on the other side.
“Is there a problem?” He asked.
“Not anymore.” Bas said without missing a beat, plastering on a smile. “My apologies.”
Bas grabbed my hand and pulled me back the way we came before the staff or the two guys could argue that we’d taken way too long. As we were walking back to the booth, seeing both Kroven and Qwill coming into view as they laughed together, Bas nudged me in the ribs.
“Qwill’s a great guy, by the way.” Bas nodded. “He’s babysat Diana before and I caught him spewing baby talk to her, so he passes the test.”
“The test?” I snickered, curious.
“The best friend test. Qwill’s approved to keep dating you.”
“Yeah, okay.” I shook my head.
It made me feel warm and comfortable that Bas approved of Qwill, not that I would ever give him the satisfaction of knowing so.
We finally made our way back to the booth, sliding next to our respective dates.
Qwill and I were in the farthest booth, facing away from the front of the restaurant.
Kroven leaned down and gave Bas a kiss on the forehead as he wormed his way into the booth.
The smile they shared made me only slightly envious.
Qwill must have noticed, because underneath the table, he grabbed my hand and placed our conjoined fists on my thigh, rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb. Meeting his eyes, I smiled wide.
“Everything okay, I assume?” Kroven asked, glancing over at us across the table.
“All good.” Bas and I said together.
“A pleasant surprise that we’re all aware of each other,” Kroven added. “Should make for an easier flow of conversation.”
“Yeah, yeah, kumbaya.” Bas waved him off, cuddling into Kroven’s side as he squared his eyes on Qwill and I. “I wanna hear how you two met.”
I rolled my eyes at him, but Qwill smiled and squeezed my hands before speaking.
“I can tell you about the first time I laid eyes on Thayer.”
Hearing such a prompt made my heckles stand on end. I’d figured he was going to talk about the night we met, because in retrospect, it was pretty comical. But it seemed like he was going to talk about a time he’d been to the club before I’d been aware of him.
“It was a few weeks before we met,” Qwill said to me, his golden eyes burrowing angles of adoration at me.
“I’d just befriended Garth Lo and Teme, and they kept talking about how cool Downpour was, so I decided to join them.
We watched some generic routine and then they announced you.
” Qwill tilted his head, shaking his head as he closed his eyes in remembrance.
“You were wearing the blue version of your costume instead of the gold you would eventually switch between during the cowboy routine.” He opened his eyes, memories swimming in them.
“And I knew right there that if someone could have plucked my type from my head, they’d done it by letting you walk across that stage.
” He paused to reach over and cup my jaw, his thumb sliding over my skin in syncopation with our intertwined hands underneath the table.
“I’d never seen anyone more beautiful in my life. ”
Sincerity dripped from every word Qwill delivered. The look he was giving me the entire time he spoke was eating at my insides, my belly burning with want and need to believe him. When Qwill was saying it, I never believed anything more.
Overcome with emotion, I leaned over and placed a kiss on his lips, his light grip on my jaw tightening as our lips parted.
The only reason I kept my tongue at bay was because I heard the sound of a throat being cleared and remembered that Bas and Kroven were watching us.
Qwill pulled back before I did, clearing his own throat.
“Sorry.” He said.
Bas’ eyes were wobbly with sentiment. “Don’t be. That was beautiful.” He fake sniffled and then playfully swatted Kroven. “You should tell me things like that more often.”
“Whatever you want, blomsjett.” Kroven cooed, bending down to kiss his boyfriend’s jaw.
“It was beautiful,” I said to Qwill, reaching out and putting a hand on his chest. “Thank you for always making me feel like the most beautiful thing in the room.”
“Only speaking the truth.” Qwill bent down and lifted our conjoined hands, placing a kiss on top of them in tandem before leaving me with another smile.
Kroven leaned forward over the table. “Now you’re just trying to make me look bad.”
Laughter burst out across the table, all of us guffawing to our hearts content.
It felt good to share a space with Qwill while enjoying the company of my best friend.
I was grateful as hell that the double date had ended up being with Bas and Kroven.
It enabled me to relax a little through dinner, through stories of how Qwill and Kroven met through a sangamar named Exo, through all the feelings bubbling inside me just waiting to be let out.
Knowing me, a few more words of affirmation from Qwill and I was liable to burst.