Chapter 5 #3
Once that piece of yum was firmly packed away in his belly, Lincoln looked up from his plate—right into Emmett’s wide eyes. He was staring openly, as if transfixed by something Lincoln was doing. Lips parted, his breathing just a little faster.
Lincoln’s gaydar pinged hard toward the Yes side of the scale. He hadn’t meant to seduce Emmett via food consumption, but apparently he’d done that very thing. Emmett’s own food was barely touched.
He tilted his head until he could make eye contact with Emmett, then winked. Emmett’s forked scraped across his plate, and he looked away. At his food, the table, the wall, everywhere but at Lincoln.
Embarrassed Emmett was Adorable Emmett, so Lincoln decided to turn on the charm and flirt for real. “That was one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth,” he said.
Emmett made a cute little squeaking sound, then drowned it with long gulps from his soda.
Too many gulps too fast, because he started choking.
Then coughing into a napkin, face flaming, and Lincoln regretted his words.
They got a few curious looks from other diners.
Lincoln pushed Emmett’s own water glass closer. Emmett took a swig, then coughed again.
“Sorry,” Lincoln said.
Emmett shook his head. “I’m the one who can’t drink soda without choking.” His voice was raspy, and that shouldn’t have been as sexy as it was, given the circumstances.
“Yeah, try not to do that again.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Emmett resumed eating his lunch, while Lincoln picked at his chips and fished for a new topic of conversation. Something that wouldn’t end with another coughing fit. While Emmett’s family was a somber topic and off the table for now, he wanted to know more about the guy.
And the musician in him wouldn’t let go of the singing thing. “What’s your favorite song?” Lincoln asked.
“In general?” Emmett said around a bite of steamed carrot.
“To sing.”
“‘Sound of Silence’ by Simon and Garfunkel.”
Lincoln’s pulse jumped. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“That’s mine, too.”
Emmett’s eyebrows rose. “You’re just saying that.”
“No, really. It was one of the first songs that Dominic and I played together. Neither one of us is that great of a singer, but we both loved Simon and Garfunkel, so we made it work. When Benji joined XYZ, he had the perfect voice for it, and we added the song to certain venue sets.”
“I bet you guys sounded amazing.”
“We did.” Lincoln had never been a fan of false modesty.
XYZ had been a fantastic group, and last year they’d almost touched the dream that had kept Lincoln going since he was a teenager.
They had fucking deserved to play in New York City at the Unbound finals.
They had deserved to be heard and seen by tens of thousands of people.
At least Dominic and Benji were still out there living that dream.
Their server swung by to see if they needed anything. Lincoln asked for a water refill, then excused himself to piss out what he’d already consumed that day. The bathroom had the same beach-chic decor as the restaurant, and he found himself staring at a foam crab while he whizzed.
Everything about his day so far had been confusing as fuck. Emmett came across as interested, but he never directly flirted with Lincoln. Maybe it was only an intellectual interest, and not sexual.
Except for watching Lincoln eat like he wanted to be the one between Lincoln’s lips.
Usually Lincoln wasn’t shy about asking for what he wanted.
Shyness had never gotten him anywhere, and he never had time for it.
Only Emmett was different. He didn’t want to come out and directly ask Emmett if he was gay.
He got an odd sense that if Emmett wasn’t, the query could damage this brand-new friendship they were building.
Lincoln would rather move forward with a friend than risk the odds of it having potential to be more.
Right now, he could use a friend over a lover.
You keep telling yourself that.
He zipped, washed, and returned to the table. Emmett had finished most of his food, and Lincoln’s second water was there.
“Our waitress asked if we wanted dessert,” Emmett said. “I told her I wasn’t sure.”
“I’m stuffed.” Lincoln couldn’t even find fun in that innuendo. “You want to head out? Find something else to do?”
“Sure.”
They settled the bill and tip, and it wasn’t until the humid heat struck his skin and the midday sunshine turned the world momentarily white that Lincoln realized he’d forgotten his sunglasses at the table.
Tiny hammers pounded against the backs of his eyes, and Lincoln stumbled.
He shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Emmett grabbed his forearm. “Oh no. Your sunglasses.”
“Shit. Yeah.”
Lincoln allowed himself to be shuffled to the side. Emmett took his hand and pressed it against something metal. “It’s a railing,” Emmett said. “Hang tight, I’ll get them.”
He didn’t like that Emmett left him, but it was way too necessary, so he stood there like a moron, rubbing his eyes, pissed at himself for being so stupid. And for not bringing a migraine pill with him.
“I’m back,” Emmett said a bit later. Cool plastic pressed into his free hand. “Here.”
Lincoln slipped the sunglasses back on and hazarded a peek. The world was less bright, the sun less painful. But the hammers remained, damage done.
“I’m so sorry, Lincoln, I should have noticed.”
He shook his head, which only made the base of his neck throb. “It isn’t your job to make sure I don’t do stupid shit like that.”
“Still. I feel bad.”
“Please don’t.” He resisted the urge to squeeze Emmett’s hand in reassurance. “This was my own fault. But can we walk back to the car now?”
Emmett’s face fell. “You have a headache.” Not even a question.
He hated seeing Emmett upset, especially over him. “The start of one, and I don’t have any migraine pills on me.”
“Do you want to wait here in the shade? I can go get the car and pick you up.”
As reasonable as Emmett made that sound, in midday summer traffic it could take twenty minutes for him to drive four blocks. No. Walking would get Lincoln sitting down in an air-conditioned car way faster.
“I can walk.”
“Are you sure?”
No. “Definitely. Let’s go.”
Lincoln set off with more confidence in his stride than in his heart. He absolutely hated that his fun day with Emmett was about to end in a painful migraine.
Fuck my life.