Choices - 25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

After Bryce made himself presentable, they drove in his car the cafe picked out by Nathan. It still amused him at how excited Nathan seemed to be when he learned Bryce would be joining them. Judging by the way both men had behaved, it appeared the attraction went both ways. Maybe there was a chance for the two men to make a connection after all. When he looked over, intending to tease the other man, Bryce’s glum expression made him recall their earlier conversation, and the smile slipped from his face. His friend had been lucky. Things could have ended up so much worse than they did.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Bryce said softly as he navigated the busy streets.

“How am I looking at you?”

“Like you see me differently now. I didn’t tell you what happened for you to feel sorry for me. Maybe I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.”

“I’m sorry,” Liam interjected. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like you’ve changed in my eyes. You’re still my Bryce. I was just thinking how much I’d like to take a two-by-four to those two guys... and to that asshole you met when you were eighteen.”

“You’re the only person I’ve ever told.” Bryce chewed on his lower lip, his expression pensive as he looked quickly at Liam before returning his attention to the road. “Please don’t say anything to anyone, okay? Especially Nathan.”

“Of course not. I would never betray your trust like that.”

Bryce exhaled loudly. “I know you wouldn’t. I’m just not used to opening up this much… it’s unsettling.”

Liam reached across the console to squeeze a lean shoulder. “Your secrets will always be safe with me.”

“Thanks.” Bryce’s smile was finally more genuine as he turned towards downtown. “What’s with the parking down here? I didn’t think this many people lived in Kingston.”

“It’s always like this on Saturdays. I have no idea why everyone wants to run errands on Saturday mornings.”

Circling the block, they found an open spot, and after parking they walked the short distance to the restaurant. It was a popular place with a cozy feel, and the food reminded him of something Marty’s mom might have made. Scanning the tables, he didn’t see Nathan anywhere.

“Are we early?” Bryce asked, also having looked over the crowded space.

“No, I don’t think so, but he did have a late shift so he might be running late today.”

Luckily, even with the crowd, they only had to wait a few minutes for a table to open up. They were enjoying their drinks and perusing the menu for lunch options when a harried looking Nathan finally arrived. Liam heard a gasp from Bryce just as he spotted the ugly bruise on Nathan’s cheek and jaw. The man spotted them, and with a smile that looked pained, he hurried over.

“Sorry,” he apologized as he sat. “It was a long night, and I fell asleep on the couch without setting my alarm.”

“What happened to your face?” Bryce interjected, asking the question they had both been thinking.

Nathan frowned as he touched the injured area. Now that he was closer, Liam noticed the bruising was darker in the centre and there was a cut down the centre of the oblong shaped discolouration.

“We responded to a building fire with possible casualties, on the outskirts of town. The firefighters asked for the gas main to be turned off, but I guess there was still a build-up in the line, and it blew one side of the building apart. This was just from the debris flying through the air. I was lucky…. one of the firefighters got hurt way worse. Fortunately the residents were already evacuated, or it could have been a lot worse.”

“Jesus,” Liam whispered. “I never thought of how dangerous your job could be.”

Bryce nodded, looking a little distraught as his hands twitched on the table. “You could have been badly hurt.”

Nathan gave Bryce a warm smile. “It’s sweet of you to worry, but we’re usually pretty safe. This was just a fluke accident. I’d feel worse for firefighters and the police who put themselves in harms way all of the time.”

“Well, I don’t know them, now do I?” Bryce muttered under his breath before picking up his glass and taking a long sip of his iced tea.

Nathan stared at Bryce for a moment, looking confused, before turning his attention to Liam. “Speaking of injuries, your eye seems to be healing nicely.”

“I hardly notice it at all anymore. Just a twinge every now and then.”

“He really needs to stop putting his face in front of fists,” Bryce quipped, giving Liam a wink. “It’s bad for his health.”

“I heard through the grapevine you pressed charges?”

“Who told you that?”

“I ran into Corey yesterday. He told me Alek convinced you to go in.”

“Alek made me realize I didn’t want to let that asshole get away with it.”

“Good,” Nathan replied with a firm nod. “If you didn’t, I’m sure Bryce and I would’ve found a way to convince you.” He turned to the other man for confirmation and received enthusiastic agreement.

“Damned right.”

Liam rolled his eyes, but was secretly happy he had friends who cared so much about him.

“Enough talk about dangerous jobs and assholes in bars... how did the date go?” Nathan asked after he put in his drink order. “Was it what you hoped for?”

“It was surprising, to be honest.”

“How so? Did he do something wrong?”

Liam looked across the table at his friends, and saw curiosity and affection reflected back at him. “No, he was great actually. We went out to that new seafood place on the waterfront, and then we went to a movie.”

“What did you see? Thanks, Shell,” Nathan paused to thank the waitress when she placed a mug of coffee in front of him.

“I have no idea,” Liam replied, feeling a full-fledged blush warming his face.

Bryce laughed with a knowing look on his face. “Too busy paying attention to the hot body beside you?”

“Something like that.”

This time both men laughed, and teased Liam for several minutes about one-track minds and the effects of diverted blood flow; apparently Nathan was the resident expert… being in the medical field.

“I can’t believe he only kissed your forehead and then left,” Bryce commented when Liam finished his story. “Are we sure he’s still gay?”

Liam chuckled and stole a fry from his friend’s plate. “He’s definitely gay. Alek was just taking things slowly, like I’d asked.”

“Bet you regretted it when you were alone in the shower jacking off,” Bryce responded with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, making Liam choke on his food.

“I think it’s great he’s respecting your boundaries,” Nathan said as he poked at his homefries. “People are always in such a hurry to jump into bed that they miss actually getting to know the person they slept with.”

Liam saw Bryce visibly stiffen, and his expression turned cloudy. “There’s nothing wrong with enjoying sex.”

“No there isn’t,” Nathan replied, turning his head to look at the much smaller man, “but people don’t have to sleep with someone new every weekend either. Being discriminating isn’t a bad thing.”

Liam could tell that Bryce was gearing up for an argument, and didn’t want his two friends to ruin any chance they had at happiness because of a few hot-headed words, so he tried to draw the attention back on himself. “My libido was unhappy with Alek’s willpower,” he said with a grin. “And probably isn’t talking to my brain anymore.”

Bryce looked at Nathan once more before smiling at Liam. “What did you plan for your second date?”

“How do you know we have a second date?”

“That sappy little smile gives it away. Besides, I know you. You’d have planned a second date before letting Alek leave.”

Liam sighed in mock exasperation. “Fine. Yes, I made a date for tomorrow. We’re watching movies and ordering in.”

“Oh… a movie… just the two of you?” Bryce teased.

“You seem happy,” Nathan commented, sounding wistful. Liam wondered what the paramedic was feeling. The look on his face was thoughtful, but he didn’t seem upset.

“I am. I never thought Alek and I would get to the point where we could actually be seen in public and he wouldn’t balk or act uncomfortable because someone might figure out his secret.”

“You might be in happy boyfriend mode, but Alek is going to need to do a lot more to convince me,” Bryce commented with a scowl. “I was there when you fell apart after the breakup. It’s not going to be easy to forget how hurt you were.”

Liam smiled affectionately at the scowling man. “That’s why I love you so much. You’re protective of the people closest to you.”

A surprising flush crept up Bryce’s cheeks as he looked down at the table. “Yeah well, just tell Alek he’d better be extra good to you.”

The rest of their meal passed quickly, and the conversation centred mostly on filling Nathan in on Liam’s history with Alek—with Bryce’s added colour commentary on the subject. “It sounds like you were pretty happy with the guy… except for the secrecy, of course.”

Liam considered the statement as he swirled the last few ice cubes in his glass. “I was, for the most part. You have to understand, though. I’ve been out from a pretty young age, and never denied my sexuality to anyone who asked. Keeping that part of myself hidden was hard. The sneaking around—not letting people see me go into his place… sneaking him out of mine—made me feel like we were having an affair.”

“I can understand that,” Nathan replied with a grimace. “It would be hard to be proud of a relationship that had to be kept secret.”

Bryce nodded his agreement. “I can’t imagine having to pretend to be something I’m not.”

“I don’t think I was doing that....”

“Not you, sweetie. I meant Alek.”

“Oh?” Liam was a little surprised to actually hear sympathy in Bryce’s voice.

“I’ve been doing some thinking since you and Alek started talking again. It had to be hard for him to hide such a big part of himself away from the people he loves. Sure, being gay isn’t all that he is, but it is important.”

“You don’t still think he was a coward for not coming out sooner?”

Bryce huffed an irritated sounding breath. “I still think he should have come out much sooner, especially with you being stuck in that stupid closet with him, but I understand now why it was such a hard decision... the man did lose his parents.”

“My grandmother won’t speak to me anymore,” Nathan interjected, “but my parents were great and the rest of the family seems okay with it. The ones who aren’t are no great loss anyways. I can’t imagine how it would feel to have my parents turn their backs on me. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure they would take it well, but was fairly confident they would eventually get over it.”

“Alek’s parents still won’t talk to him?” Bryce asked.

“No… well, his dad apparently stops in every once in a while to see if Alek’s changed his mind, but his mom hasn’t spoken to him since he came out. His sisters are great though. They’ve known for years.”

“That should help,” Nathan said. “At least he has some support.”

“I think it’s the only thing that got him through the fallout with this dad. I was thinking of inviting them over sometime—dinner or something. I think Alek would like that.”

“Maybe you could have a dinner party? Invite a few friends, as well as the sisters?” Bryce suggested.

“That’s a great idea. Alek’s birthday is in a couple of weeks. We could do it then.” Liam could feel himself getting excited at the thought. Although Alek didn’t talk about it much, Liam knew the estrangement from his parents bothered him, and maybe having his sisters there to celebrate his birthday with him would alleviate some of the sting. “Would you two be able to come?”

“Are you sure you want me to be there?” Nathan asked, his brow furrowing. “Won’t that be awkward since he thought we were dating?”

“It’ll be fine. He knows we’ve only ever been good friends. If this works out, Alek will be a big part of my life, and I’d love for my friends to get to know him better.”

“Okay, if you think it’s a good idea, I’d like to be there.”

“Bry?”

“And miss a chance to grill the birthday boy?”

“Bryce….”

“Oh, relax. I’ll be nice to the guy during his party, but the two of us will be having a chat.”

“You sound just like Marty,” Liam said with a laugh. “He said almost the exact same thing last night.”

“That’s because we both love you,” Bryce said with a teasing smirk. “Even if you make it so hard sometimes.”

Liam stuck out his tongue and laughed when his friend quipped about his lack of maturity. Nathan sat back, appearing amused by the teasing.

“So, big guy,” Bryce turned his attention on the paramedic. “How’s your love life?”

“When did this become about me?” Nathan responded, looking suddenly uncomfortable and squirming in his chair. “I thought we were talking about Liam.”

“We were, but he’s sickeningly happy, so now we’re on to you.”

“What about you?”

“You don’t want to talk about me,” Bryce assured him, his humour fading slightly before he smiled widely again. “So, no steamy paramedic sex in the back of one of the busses?”

Nathan let out a startled laugh. “No… I think I’m the only gay man on the crew.”

“Well maybe I’ll come by and we can give them something to really think about,” Bryce quipped with a wink.

Liam chuckled when Nathan looked sideways at the smaller man with clear admiration before clearing his throat and standing. “I should get going,” he said as he waved vaguely at the door “I didn’t get a lot of sleep, and I have some stuff to get done before I go back to work.” The man was clearly nervous, and after a few more pleasantries, and a quick stop to pay his bill, he practically ran out the door.

Bryce stared out the large front window for a few moments before turning to Liam with a bemused look on his face. “Well that went well.”

A big thank you goes out to my editor/beta and friend, Gary, for all of his endless help and support.        Thank you to all of you who read and support this story.