Wednesday Briefs: One Night Part 4



The Wednesday Briefers are back! Each week we write a 500-1000 word story, with a group of prompts. We had several prompts available this week, including the one I used, "As time goes by ... ". I hope you enjoy!

One Night Part 4

“I don’t know, as time goes by he’s been growing on me.”

Loren frowned. “How many dates have you been on?”

Bear set a stack of cups on the bar. “Three this week.” Bear hid his excitement behind a nonchalant shrug. “It’s no big thing but he does an amazing goodnight kiss. Or hello kiss. Or we’re sitting on the couch talking and your lips look lonely kiss.”

“What?” Loren stared at him. “You kissed him? I mean, he kissed you?”

Rolling his eyes, Bear grabbed another stack of glasses. “Yes, Dad, but I promise that’s all we did. I’m a good boy.”

Bear watched Loren mutter under his breath, unable to hear what he was saying. The other man seemed nervous.

“What is with you? You’ve been weird lately. I mean, first you seem annoyed by me going out with Kameron, then you think dating him is a good thing, now you wig out when I say I kiss the guy I’m dating. Like that’s unusual or something.”

One of Loren’s tells was chewing on his lip. He was going to town on it. “John won’t kiss you if you make your mouth bleed,” Bear pointed out.

Loren stopped.

“I really like Kameron. He’s interesting; we have a lot in common. He’s not trying to play it cool, worrying about waiting three days to call me back but he’s not been pushing things further. We have a good time together. I think we could be starting a real relationship,” Bear said. “I asked if he wanted to go furniture shopping with us, if you don’t mind. You should get to know him, then you can tell Jimmy what a good guy Kameron is when I finally break the news I’m dating someone to the overprotective ass.”

“Shit.” Loren looked away from Bear’s frown. “There’s something you don’t know, Bear.”

“What? What don’t I know?”

A loud voice came from the back hallway as someone came out of the office. “That I’m here.”

“Jimmy!” Bear ducked under the bar and gave his brother a big hug. It was like squeezing a statue. “Jeez man, lay off the gym rat routine.”

“Gotta stay in shape so I can intimidate my little brother’s boyfriends.” Jimmy raised an eyebrow. “You’re dating someone?”

Bear nodded and grinned. “This guy named Kameron. He’s pretty great actually; I think you’ll like him.”

"Hi Loren." Jimmy gave him a weird look.


Loren sighed. "Hey man."


Jimmy sat down in one of the bar stools. “How’d you meet this guy? Does anyone know him?”

“Here at the bar.” Bear slid a bottle of water over to his brother. “I’m getting to know him. We’ve had a few dates.” He kept the kissing comments to himself. Jimmy knew he was gay and had no problems with it, but Bear didn’t want to hear details about him making out with women either so he figured some information was better kept private.

“You could meet him tonight.”

“Sorry, bro, gotta work.”

Bear frowned. Jimmy had been working an awful lot lately. He looked tired; his face shadowed by scruffy beard. “Loren and I are going furniture shopping tomorrow; I invited him. You could tag along, grill him.” Jimmy would never turn that down.

Jimmy peeled the label off his bottle, shredding it into pieces on the bar. “We’ll see. I might have to work tomorrow too.”

Loren laughed. “Yeah, like you're sorry about missing shopping.”

Shrugging, Jimmy smiled. “A chair is a chair.”

“Neanderthal. You’d still have that ratty card table set up in your dining room if I hadn’t shopped for you.” Loren snapped the white towel he’d had hanging over his shoulder at Jimmy. “Now clean up your mess. The bar’s opening in ten minutes.”

Jimmy swept his paper into the trash. “All right, quit your nagging. I have to go anyway.”

He gave Bear another hug. “Be careful, little bro.” The hug went on for almost a full minute. Jimmy finally pulled back. “We’ll get together when I’m done working this case, okay?”

Bear nodded, keeping his worries about Jimmy’s weird behavior to himself. He smiled lightly and joked, “I’ll be sure to be careful tomorrow. I won’t let Loren pick out anything hideous or too uncomfortable for you to sleep on when you stay over.”

“Good. He’d pick something designed to destroy my back,” Jimmy mocked whispered.

Loren scoffed at them. “Whatever. You,” he pointed at Jimmy, “get out of my bar and you,” he pointed at Bear, “get back to work.”

They both flipped Loren off at the same time.

***

Bear’s good mood lasted all night, even though it was a crazy shift. When he commented on the weirdoes crawling out of the woodwork someone told him the full moon was the next day. Figured. He worked up a good sweat dancing to the music behind the bar, making good tips even after Kameron arrived and showed the entire bar Bear was taken.

Their kiss was scorching.

“I brought some friends tonight,” Kameron shouted. “But I thought we could get late breakfast before shopping tomorrow. Sound good?”

“Okay.” Several patrons were watching as they waited. “It’s busy tonight, so I can’t chat anyway.”

“I gotta grab my wallet out of my jacket for our tab.” Kameron walked away; Bear couldn’t help but watch. Damn that man had a hot ass.

“Hey, Bearykins.”

Shit. Bear looked over at the man standing across the bar from him, having hip checked two other men to fit right up front.

“Fitz.” The flamboyant man grinning at him was a regular who lived to flirt with Bear.

And anything else with a penis.

“Who’s the hot stuff trying to suck the brains out of your mouth?” Fitz asked. “You finally have a boyfriend?”

Bear shrugged with a small smile.

The man pouted. “So I have no chance of getting you in bed tonight?”

Kameron reached over Fitz’s shoulder, holding out his credit card. “Nope, he’s taken.”

Damn. Bear was so hooked.

TBC

 

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