Adam and Yle

Hey guys! Sorry about the long wait between chapters. With school and work, unfortunately this story has been put on the backburner. I hope you enjoy the latest installment! As always, feedback and comments are highly appreciated.

H.V.

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CH. 04

"She's a beaut, isn't she?"

Sam probably had to hold back his laughter when he saw my face.

"A 1965 Metallic Blue Ford Mustang Convertible? No fucking way!"

I had forgotten that I was speaking to my boss, and not some random guy off the street, but he didn't seem fazed.

"I know. Took me about a year to restore her, but I must say it was worth every penny."

I practically had to pick my jaw up off the floor and wipe the drool off my chin before I even got near the car.

I hadn't realized how long I had been standing there staring at the car, but Sam's question snapped me back to reality.

"You ready? I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

I had to scoff at that. How original.

"Liked that one, did ya?"

"It's a classic," I said as we slid into the car.

Sam started her up, pulled out of the Employee parking lot, and headed for Buster's.

"So, just tell me where to go."

"Uhhh, it's about 10 minutes away. Head down Clarence St., make a left on St. George, then a left on Mills."

"Gotcha."

It was pretty much a quiet drive there. I figured Sam thought I was admiring all the fine details in the car, which I was, but I was also wondering why he was being so cool with me. I mean, he is a very nice person to everyone, but my wishful thinking is in overdrive. I thought I'd prod a bit.

"So how long have you been working at Palms?"

"Going on a year and a half next month."

"Wow. So you've been there for a while."

"Yup. It's a great place to work. There's good benefits, get to meet great people, not to mention stay in shape...for free."

"Makes sense. And you said you met your girlfriend there?"

"Yes. Michelle."

"Cool."

There was a pause in conversation.

"Why do I feel like I'm being interrogated," he said with a hint of a smile on his lips.

I laughed nervously.

"Sorry, just trying to make small talk."

He laughed.

"It's cool. I mean, we're gonna be friends, not just co-workers."

"You mean 'Boss' and 'minion'."

He laughed again. I felt that stirring in my stomach once more.

"Whatever you say," he said smiling.

We pulled up to Buster's and luckily found a spot to park in right out front.

"Well this is an interesting place," he said with a bit of uncertainty while pulling open one of the double doors.

Now it was my turn to laugh.

"Yeah, I know, it doesn't look like much from the outside, but it's been here since I was born, so they gotta be doing something right."

We walked towards the back to Kyle and mine's usual table when I noticed that practically all the women in the joint turned their heads to look at us, or rather, him.

We plopped into the booth and Sam reached for a menu. He skimmed it for a minute before he excused himself to the bathroom and asked me to order him 3 slices of cheese pizza.

"Should I get us some beers?" I called out after he got out of his booth.

He stopped and turned around.

A wicked grin appeared on his handsome face.

"A beer? Aren't you like, 13 or something?"

"Ha-ha." I couldn't think of a witty retort because I was smitten with the fact that he was joshing me.

I just sat there stupidly with a dorky grin on my face as he pushed through the bathroom door.

I began skimming the menu, though I don't know why—I had been going there since forever. I was simply restless for the time Sam was gone, waiting for him to return. I started looking around the room, seeing if there was anyone I knew. I didn't see Kyle so I assumed he was on his break, most likely with Jenna. I was about to walk over to the jukebox when I saw a familiar face staring my way.

Oh shit. It was Corey.

In my lustful haze, I had completely forgotten about him and the fact that he worked here. We locked eyes and he gave me the obligatory male greeting: "The Nod". I guess my body language told him to come over, seeing as he started walking towards my table.

"Hey, how's it goin'? It's Adam, right?"

"Right. Corey. It's going swell."

"Cool, cool. I didn't see you come in."

"Oh, ha, yeah. Actually, we just got in a second ago."

"We? Are you with Kyle?"

I shot him a look of confusion.

"Huh? Kyle didn't come to work today?"

"Nope. Didn't call in sick, either."

"Huh. That's odd."

Corey then hollered across to the kitchen where he informed Kenny that he was "taking a ten".

He then plopped down in the seat across from me—Sam's seat.

"So how's your job been?"

"Uh, it's been good. I, uh, I...it's...it's really fun."

I hadn't forgotten about the embarrassing incident between us and how his utter sexiness made me lose my system of speech...not to mention the anxiety I was feeling.

"Well, that's good. There's nothing worse than a boring job. It's actually pretty okay here though, you get to meet a lot of cool people everyday."

"Good. Good. So how's Kyle treating ya'? If he gives you any shit, just tell me and I'll make sure to beat some manners into him."

He laughed out loud at this.

"No, he's really cool actually. I can see why you guys are best friends."

"Yeah, we are."

I don't know why I felt the need to reaffirm this. Was I feeling threatened? Nothing was said for a few seconds, then a few seconds more. We just stared at each other. I started wondering what the hell was taking Sam so long in the bathroom. I looked over to the bathroom door—no movement. Shit. My face felt familiarly hot and I was probably starting to blush. I felt trapped. I felt like Corey knew I had been checking him out the last time I was here. I was sure I was about to bolt when I felt something touching my leg. I practically froze, knowing what it was. Despite the fact that it was completely elementary and childish, the fact that Corey was running his foot up and down the length of my calf gave me an immediate boner. Holy shit. Corey was gay. AND he was hitting on me. I was too shocked and embarrassed to look at Corey's face, so I focused on the plaid tablecloth. Thoughts started running through my head as the blood rushed from one head to the other. Does this mean that he knows I'm confused? Did he tell Kyle? HOW did he know? Do I LOOK gay? I don't know how long this little footsy session would've lasted (probably long enough for me to shoot my load right there at the table), but it didn't last long.

Someone clearing their throat made me nearly jump out of the seat.

"Sam!"

I don't know why I felt the need to scream.

"Hi there. You doing alright? You look a little off," he said with a laugh. "Are you still reeling from me calling you a kid?"

"Oh no. I'm fine."

"Great."

He looked at me, and then he looked at Corey.

"Hi. I'm Sam."

He extended his hand.

"Corey, this is Sam, my boss over at Palms. Sam, this is Corey. He works here with Kyle, my friend we were talking about earlier."

They looked each other up and down, then Corey got up and shook Sam's hand.

"Nice to meet you," they both rang in unison.

"Do you wanna join us for a slice of pizza?"

"Oh, I wish I could, man. I gotta get back to work but I'll probably be by your table later on."

"Alright. It was nice meeting you."

Corey headed off towards the kitchen, but not before giving me a wicked grin.

"Sorry about taking so long in there. I needed to call Michelle and I didn't want to lose your respect over some of the things you might've heard me say."

I laughed nervously.

"So where's the beer?"

"Shit! I forgot to get them."

As if by magic, at that exact moment, Corey came over with a pitcher of beer and a large Cheese pizza.

"It's on the house guys."

"Oh no, I couldn't let you do that—"

Sam and I both muttered faint refusals.

"It's cool. In celebration of Adam and his new job."

"I say that's something to celebrate," Sam said.

"Thanks Corey."

"No problem," he said as he made his way to a table across the room.

"That was nice of him."

"Yeah. Wasn't it?"

The rest of lunch was rather a blur. Sam and I talked and laughed—just like any two guys shooting the shit. We talked about girlfriends (past and present), sports, movies, and all the "Getting to Know You" topics. He reminisced about high school and about how he was "such a geek". Yeah, right—ALL the hot ones say they were geeks—but his honest and humble attitude made me believe every word of it. I told him about all my "girl problems" and how I couldn't stay in a steady relationship (though I withheld the fact that I was a virgin and that I was the one who would never put out), but how I thought that Missy was "The One". Pfft. Yeah RIGHT. Once again, just something to say. Whether an hour or a day had passed, I didn't know. I was so involved with Sam; with him as a whole. Not only was he sexy as hell, but he was intelligent (He practically memorized his old college psychology and biology book), charming, and extremely humble and polite. I imagined that the way I was feeling right now is the way he felt when he was with his girlfriend—pure bliss. I felt a lurching in my stomach when I acknowledged the old adage: "All good things must come to an end."

Apparently, more than an hour had passed (two and a half to be exact) and Sam had to go and pick Michelle up from work since her car had broken down on the freeway earlier that morning (That's what the phone call in the bathroom was about). He politely offered me a ride even though I knew he was in a rush, but I made up an excuse about having to meet Kyle here in ten minutes anyway.

"Are you sure? I mean, I could give you a ride no problem."

"No, really. It's cool. Thanks though."

"No problem. Please thank Corey again for the pizza."

"Will do. I'll see you at work tomorrow."

"No doubt. I won't be late this time. See ya."

He slammed his car door shut, pulled out of the spot, and headed down the street. I waited till he was out of sight, and then nearly collapsed on the wall. God, I missed him already. I felt like I could float all the way home. I didn't know that simply having lunch with a person could be so deadly. I kept telling myself that if for any reason he turned around and came back, I would blow him right then and there, despite the fact that he was straight. I felt that worked up.

I sat myself down on the sidewalk and looked nowhere in particular. I wished I had a cigarette—like in the movies. I imagined myself taking a long drag, exhaling, then closing my eyes. Just imagining it made me feel even better.

About ten minutes had passed and I still hadn't gotten up off the sidewalk. I probably would've sat there all day had I not been snapped back to reality.

"Adam? Hey, Adam!"

"Huh?"

"You okay, man?"

It was Corey.

He repeated himself.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I was just thinking about work and stuff."

He laughed.

"Riiight."

It was as if he could read my mind and was having a laugh at my expense with all the dirty things running through my head.

"Aren't you supposed to be bussing some table?" I said with a rather jokingly snobby air as I struggled to push myself up off the ground. During the twenty or so minutes I remained on the floor, daydreaming, my leg had betrayed me and fallen asleep.

Corey, seeing as how I was struggling, steadied me by grabbing hold of my waist and I instinctively grabbed onto his shoulder.

"Leg's asleep?"

Based on the shit-eating grin on his face, I knew he damn well knew the answer to that and was simply teasing me.

"Yeah, ha ha. Awkward position."

This was indeed an awkward position. I felt like we were taking a prom photo—his hands on my waist and me awkwardly holding his shoulder.

"Thanks," I muttered as I finally let go of his shoulder. He took this as a cue and let go of my waist.

"Listen, Kyle just called and said something about having to help Jen with some issue she's apparently having."

"Huh? So?"

"Well, didn't you tell that guy Sal that you were waiting for him to pick you up?"

Shit. I had forgotten that whole elaborate story as to why I didn't need a ride from him. I guess that's what happens when you tell lies upon lies. It occurred to me then that I had told Sam that I didn't need a ride, but never said anything about it to Corey. How did he hear...?

"Oh, yeah. Right. It's Sam, by the way. Not Sal."

"Oh...sorry."

There was a moment of silence between us where either of us didn't know what to say.

"So do you need a ride home?"

"Uhhh. Yeah. Sure. Are you all done here?"

He nodded.

"Just finished. My car's out back."

I nodded as calmly as possible and followed him through the tiny alley and into the parking lot. We made our way through a bunch of crappy old sedans and stopped next to a particularly ugly one. I heard the "beep beep" of a car alarm being disengaged in the distance. I was thinking what a shame it was for a guy like Corey to be stuck driving a heap like this, when he looked at me and laughed.

"What are you doing? Get in."

I pulled on the rusted door handle and it didn't budge.

"Well? How am I supposed to if the door is locked?"

He laughed yet again.

"Not that one. THAT one."

He nodded in the vague direction of a car I KNEW couldn't possibly be his.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah...Right."

He shook his head as if to show his disappointment with my disbelief, opened the door, plopped into the driver's seat, and started the car.

Once again, I'm sure if it could've, my jaw would have been on the floor.

There he was, sitting in an ice silver metallic 2008 Audi A8.

No 20 year old deserved this car. Shit, NOBODY deserved this car.

I stumbled over and plopped down in the micro-suede bucket chair and gently closed the door. There was an odd silence. I wasn't looking at Corey, but I was sure he was smiling from ear to ear.

I started to ask the question I'm sure he got ALL the time.

"How did you aff—"

"—Don't ask. I don't know.

"What do you mean, 'You don't know'? It magically appeared in your driveway with your name on it?"

He laughed.

"Practically. I honestly don't know! A few weeks before we left from Yuma, I came home from school and it was sitting there in the driveway. When I asked my dad about it, all he said was 'Don't worry about it. It's an early graduation gift.' Not one to complain, I left it at that."

That smug bastard.

"You are one lucky son of a bitch."

"I know. I think my dad was trying to butter me up—trying to make me feel better about uprooting my whole life and moving it to Los Angeles."

"Shit, I'd move to a whole 'nother planet to get a ride like this."

God. I realized how pathetic I was probably beginning to sound—like an eager little girl fawning over some guy and his hot ride. I quickly tried to recover.

"I mean, it is a nice car, but it doesn't beat the sentimental value of my Uncle's '91 Buick Century that I sometimes drive. Wouldn't trade that for anything."

There was a moment of silence where we both just looked at each other—then exploded into laughter. Knee-slapping, can't breathe, jaw-hurting, stomach-holding laughter.

"Ahhhh god. That was a good one."

We were still in the parking lot when the dark clouds came rolling in—looked like another storm was on its way.

"So...you wanna drive?"

"W—What?"

"You heard me. I'm awfully tired and don't feel like driving your sorry ass home, so if you want, you can drive yourself home while I rest."

"You're kidding. What if I drive this thing off a cliff? Or decide to hi-jack it and take you hostage or rather throw you out while going 50 on a curve?"

Ha laughed.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself. Plus, I can easily overpower you if it came to that."

I snickered. Corey was in great shape, but him, take ME down? That was entertaining.

"Switch seats asshole."

God. I was getting sassy with this man that I hardly knew. He brought out playfulness in me that I didn't know I could share with anyone besides Kyle. I reached for the handle when he grabbed my arm.

"Just crawl over. I don't want the suede to get wet."

"Huh?"

He looked at me like I had a learning disability, and spoke with the same manner.

"IF YOU OPEN THE DOOR, THE RAIN, WHICH IS FALLING FROM THE CLOUDS, WILL WET THE SUEDE."

I hadn't realized that it had indeed begun to rain.

"Uhhh, okay."

Corey swiftly unbuckled his seatbelt and began to crawl over the gear shift. I quickly fumbled with my seatbelt and began to do the same. Corey was practically on top of me as I tried my best to wiggle out of the chair and cross over, without hurting his car. I was breaking out into a sweat when I realized that I would have to wait 'til Corey WAS on top of me to switch seats. With his face a mere inch away from mine—I nearly lost control. Something primal came over me, telling me to grab him and kiss him hard. He had very light stubble growing in, almost undetectable to the eye, and his cheeks were stained with blush as well; it was starting to get hot in the car and all the movement wasn't helping. I could smell his cologne, and it drove me temporarily crazy. I don't know how much time had passed, but his question brought me back to reality.

"Dude. Are you gonna move?"

"OH. Yeah. Crap, sorry."

I slid out from beneath his hovering body and maneuvered myself into the driver's seat.

"You ready for the drive of your life?" He smiled wickedly.

"Uhhhh, yeah."

"Just keep her under 50."

"Heh, right."

I slowly put the car in drive and pulled out of the parking lot. Corey didn't really need to tell me to keep it under 50. I didn't even surpass 25. Everyone knows that people become stupid when it rains in Los Angeles, and I didn't want to take any chances. The whole drive home was pretty quiet. I was concentrating on driving and Corey did seem somewhat tired. I would've enjoyed it more, but my head was still spinning from the day's earlier activities. I was still thinking about Sam...eager to see him again, but I was also starting to feel strong feelings for Corey—animalistic feelings. I slightly lost control whenever I was around him. I didn't understand these feelings. Throughout my four years at Thurgood, I never experienced it. Not to sound smug, but the girls came after ME; I didn't really have to do anything about it. Having a man that coyly threw himself at me was an altogether new experience.

By the time we pulled up in front of my house, it was pouring rain and I didn't see my mom's car in the driveway. No one was home and I left my keys in my goddamn locker at Palms. Corey looked at me confusedly when I silently cursed.

"Shit. I don't know where my mom is and I left my keys at work."

"Do you want to drive back to Palms? We can go get it."

"Everyone's already gone for the day. Do you have a cell phone?"

He opened up the chrome glove compartment and pulled out a small cell and handed it to me. I quickly dialed my mom's number.

"Hello?"

"Mom. Where are you?"

"Are you serious? I've only told you for the last WEEK that I was taking Ben to see your father in San Diego this weekend."

"What?! Why? What could he possibly want from you and Ben?"

"Honey, don't get upset. He called me and said he wanted to see him—that we needed to 'sort things out'. Just give him a chance."

"Yeah. Whatever. Listen, I left my keys at work in my locker—"

"Look under the doormat, Ad. There's food in the fridge. I'll see you Sunday night."

I closed the cell phone and handed it back to Corey. He looked at me questioningly.

"Don't ask. It's a long story."

He nodded.

"Well, thanks a lot for letting me drive. It was intense."