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David couldn’t remember the last time someone had actually shocked him. Macalister punching Otto most definitely qualified. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, David never would have believed the uptight man had it in him.
That he’d done it for David meant the world to him.
“What are you doing here anyway?” David asked. That had been another surprise. After their last encounter, David figured he’d never see Macalister again.
A light blush stained Macalister’s cheeks. “Um, I, well...” His eyes shifted to the floor as if he wanted to look anywhere but at David. Then Macalister’s spine stiffened and his shoulders squared, those deep brown orbs stared right at David like he were the center of the world.
It wasn’t something David could ever remember experiencing before, but now that he had, David had to admit he enjoyed the feeling.
“I owe you an apology.” Macalister’s voice was as stiff as his body and David wasn’t so sure he was fond of the formality. “I know I said I didn’t like you at first, but I need to explain what I meant.”
Yep. David definitely didn’t like where this was going. “Look, you don’t...”
But Macalister cut him off. “Yes, I do. Please, just hear me out.”
David was inclined to deny Macalister, but he did just save him from Otto, so he felt he owed him this. “Fine. But you better make it quick.”
The crestfallen look that flashed in those brown eyes had David suddenly wanting to rescind his comment. Great. Now he knew what Macalister must have felt like when he’d spoken too quickly. Words really did have a way of hurting someone.
“It’s just...” Macalister took a deep breath as if steadying himself. “I have a difficult time with change.” The words just seemed to explode out of him. It was pretty obvious Macalister wanted to get this uncomfortable situation over with as soon as possible.
David didn’t want to insult him further by saying, “Duh,” so he kept his mouth closed.
“Look.” Macalister ran his fingers through his hair, tugging on the strands as if agitated with the conversation. “When I met you...” Macalister seemed to be looking for the right words to say. “You were the absolute opposite of anyone I knew and I guess, I wasn’t sure what to make of that...of you.”
Another long breath was expelled as Macalister dropped his hand back to his side. “I’m making a mess of this again, aren’t I?”
It wasn’t easy to hear Macalister tell David how different he was. If anything, it was like a punch to the gut. He was tempted to take offense. It was the honesty in which Macalister spoke that held David back from telling him off. “I think it would help if you just said whatever it is you have to say.”
“That’s just it.” There was so much weariness in Macalister’s voice, that David actually stopped feeling so defensive and just listened. “I don’t know how to explain it. I’ve never been good with dealing with people. It’s like I’m always sticking my foot in my mouth and offending someone.”
He raised his hands up away from his sides and gave a shrug. “I don’t even know what I’ve done most of the time.” Then he dropped his arms and took a deep calming breath. “I like you. I more than just like you. I want to go out on a date with you and I haven’t had any interest in anyone like that since my sophomore year in college. Yes, in the beginning I was put off by your eccentric appearance, but it wasn’t because I wasn’t attracted to you. I just...” Macalister once more seemed to be searching for the right words.
By the exasperation on his face, he hadn’t found them, but spoke anyway. “I just was taken aback. Where I come from, guys don’t wear makeup, or dye their hair purple. I’m not saying that it is bad, but for me, it takes time to get used to. If that isn’t okay with you, and you never want to see me again, I’ll understand, but I hope you can at least understand I never meant to insult you.”
Something deep within David melted. Hearing Macalister’s confession made a lot of sense in regards to many of the man’s reactions since they’d met. Apparently, when David didn’t respond right away, Macalister took it to mean that David didn’t want anything to do with him, for his shoulders dropped and he turned to leave the spraying room.
David didn’t even have time to think before his mouth opened and he was calling out, “Wait.” He hadn’t planned on saying it, then again, he hadn’t thought of what he wanted one way or the other. But David was someone who trusted his gut. If it was telling Macalister to stay, then he had his answer.
David was prepared to not just forgive Macalister but to agree to go out with him. “I’m free tomorrow night if you want to take me out to Papa Nick’s.” It was David’s favorite Italian restaurant on the square.
Macalister stopped in his tracks but didn’t turn around right away. When he did, David could see the mix of disbelief and hope in his brown eyes. “Really?” Macalister asked as if afraid just by speaking, reality would come crashing in and he’d find out this had all been a dream.
David smiled. “Really.”
“Is six a good time?” Macalister had his phone out as he asked the question.
“Sounds good to me.” David wasn’t picky about when he ate, although Papa Nick’s could get busy at that time on a Saturday night.
Macalister was already ahead of him. He put the phone to his ear, already calling up the restaurant. “Yes. I’d like to make a reservation for two tomorrow at six.”
He could hear someone on the other end say something and Macalister moved the phone away from his mouth and asked David, “How about six-fifteen?”
“That works, too.”
Macalister gave him a beaming smile and made the reservation. When he hooked the phone back onto the clip that was attached to his belt, he said, “Would you rather I pick you up here, or at your house?”
“My house.” He knew Macalister well enough that he didn’t mind if he knew where David lived. It didn’t hurt that Macalister was trusted by Andy.
After giving Macalister his address he watched the man practically skip out of the tanning salon. Tori, who had gone up front shortly after Macalister had knocked Otto out, said, “Will wonders never cease? I thought hell would freeze over before seeing him float out of here.”
***
“What do you mean, you have nothing to wear?” Shine stood in David’s walk-in closet and stared at the clothes that were packed into the fairly large space. “You have more clothes than a coon dog has ticks.”
David had no idea if that meant a lot or not. Shine’s sayings were too damn confusing for a southern city boy. He had grown up near Atlanta so he had no knowledge of what a coon dog even was. Or why he would have ticks. There were collars to stop that sort of thing, weren’t there?
David shook his head, not caring one way or the other if Shine was making any sense. “I need something that is sexy, yet not so...” David hated to say it, “flamboyant.”
“What are you talking about?” Andy said as he pulled out a few different outfits for David to try on. “These represent your personality.”
He sighed. “I know. That’s the problem. According to Mac it was my eccentric nature that turned him off to begin with.”
Both Shine and Andy turned to stare at him with their mouths opening and closing like fish. It was Shine who recovered first. “I swear if I ever meet that man, I will find the nearest switch and beat his ass.”
“Why would you ever agree to out with him if he felt that way?” Andy asked.
It was a good question. One David had been fuming about as he’d stared at his closet that afternoon realizing he had nothing that wouldn’t be considered ostentatious. If only the thought of having to buy something that was more conservative didn’t give him hives, David would have dragged his friends shopping.
“Even if you wore a suit, it wouldn’t change your hair and makeup, or are you planning on doing something about those?” Shine was right, damn it.
“I just want to look nice for Macalister,” David wailed. This was never going to work. “What was I thinking?”
Actually, that was easy. He’d been staring into those big, puppy dog eyes that had seemed so lost and alone. Then there was the fact that all David had been dreaming about was that rock-hard body and saying yes had seemed like his only option.
Who was he kidding? He just wanted to jump into bed with Macalister. If he was lucky, he would learn what it would be like for the man to lose control.
Idiot, idiot, idiot. Good looking men had always been David’s downfall. That and letting them fuck him too soon.
“What am I going to do?” He threw himself on his bed as if his world was ending, which, in a way, it was. If he couldn’t be himself, David wasn’t quite sure how he was supposed to act.
“You are going to be yourself.” Andy held up one of David’s favorite “out on the town” shirts. It was a button up purple, fuchsia, yellow, and green floral print with fitted three-quarter sleeves along with his fuchsia solid pants, tucked into a pair of brown ankle boots. It was one of those outfits that made him feel good about himself.
“Yeah,” Shine agreed. “And if that prick can’t handle it, just call us and we’ll teach him a thing or two about manners.”
David started to tear up. It was good to have friends as amazing as Andy and Shine. If he were honest, all his friends were great, but these two had a way of always making him feel better.
“You’re right.” He got up off the bed, grabbed the hangers from Andy’s hand and headed into the bathroom. “Do you two mind hanging out while I get ready?”
Shine groaned. “Fine, but you better have something to drink.”
Andy laughed. “This is David we’re talking about. He has more wine than the cellars at Twisted Vine.”
David chuckled as he started the shower. Andy might have been exaggerating, but not by much. He did like his wine, after all.
