Seaside Entries - 8. We can arm wrestle for it

If you asked me, Kingsize was the perfect place to take Leo out. It was small and intimate, on the other side of town, and the food was amazing. I didn’t go there often because it wasn’t exactly close to my place, but whenever I did, I would stuff myself full. Leo didn’t seem too thrilled, however. I could see the hesitant look on his face as he inspected the menu.

“I’m telling you, everything’s great. You can’t go wrong with whatever you get.”

“Alright, if you say so.” He didn’t seem convinced, but ended up ordering the same thing I did.

I suspected what the issue was, so I snatched the menu from his hands, forcing him to look at me.

“OK, I’m not saying this place has better food than Sandy Spoon, but I wasn’t going to take you to your dad’s restaurant on our first date.”

“Why not?” he asked as his lips slowly curled into a smile. “What are you planning to do that you don’t want my dad to see?”

“It’s not that, you perv.” I laughed. “I just thought we needed a change of scenery. What kind of a date would that be if I took you to your place of work?”

“OK, good point,” he agreed.

“As for what I don’t want your dad to see… Well, that’s going to have to wait until later.” I tried giving him my best smoldering look, but ended up cracking up. It felt weird trying to be sexy in front of Leo. Not that I didn’t find him sexy, because I absolutely did. I guess I was just too self-conscious with him. Had I always been that way? I couldn’t remember ever feeling like this with any of my exes.

“Damn, I didn’t think you’d be such a tease. Can’t you give me a little preview or something? How long am I going to have to wait?” Leo reached out across the table and placed his hand on top of mine. Instinctively, I pulled away, looking around to see if anyone was watching. Leo’s smile vanished.

“What if someone sees us?” I whispered. “Someone we know?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, no one’s paying attention to us.”

“But what if they do?”

“So what?” Leo shrugged. “Didn’t we say we were going to give this a go? We can’t hide all the time.”

“Then you’re OK with people knowing? Did you… tell your family?”

“Well, no,” he admitted. “Not yet anyway. But I wouldn’t mind them knowing. I’m thinking of telling them. They like you already, you know that.”

“Yeah, as your friend.”

“Well… They’re going to have to get used to it.”

“I see…” I nodded, not knowing what else to say. Telling my parents hadn’t even crossed my mind. They’d stay here for a couple of weeks, and then I probably wouldn’t see them again until January. Was there even a point in telling them? “I didn’t mean that we should hide. It’s just… it’s still a little weird for me.”

“Same here, to be honest. It’s kinda weird because it’s you, but that’s what makes it good,” Leo said. When I reached out to grab his hand, he didn’t pull away.

“So, um, are you… only into guys?” I asked something that’s been brewing in the back of my mind ever since the kiss.

“I’d say I’m bi,” he replied. It sounded so easy when he said it. “I’m into guys and girls.”

“When did you know?”

“I’m not sure. A while. Couple of years at least,” Leo said, idly brushing his thumb across my hand. “Have you figured out how you feel?”

“I’m trying to.” It felt like I knew yet didn’t know at the same time. “I mean, I still like girls. Well, I don’t like any right now. Just you.”

“Good to know.” Leo’s face light up. “And same here.”

“I don’t know, I think… I think it’ll take some getting used to.” I shrugged. If I had to put a label on myself, it could wait. I wasn’t quite ready for it yet. Did it even matter?

“Yeah, I get it, but we’ll get there.”

“Yeah. Maybe we should’ve had the first date at my place, to get used to things first.”

“At your place, huh? Netflix and chill?” Leo said with a grin as he squeezed my hand, rubbing it with his thumb.

“Good to know where your mind’s at,” I replied as I looked into his eyes, amused. I began to realize discovering his naughty side would be something I would thoroughly enjoy.

“Like you weren’t thinking the same thing.”

“No point in pretending. You already know I was.”

“Care to share some of those thoughts?” Leo whispered as he leaned in towards me. Suddenly I hated having the table between us. “I’d love to know what you were thinking about.”

“I’d rather show you,” I decided to tease him back. “Some things are just too big to be described. They need to be seen.”

“Dude, like I haven’t seen you a million times at the beach and in the shower.”

“Then you know I’m not exaggerating.”

“OK, I’ll give you that one,” Leo said, fixing me with a knowing look. “I’m a top, though, so don’t get too comfortable.”

I froze for a moment.

“What do you mean? I’m a top too.” I shook my head at him. Was I not speaking English? Why would I be talking about my size if I wasn’t planning to top? “Why would you assume I’d be the bottom?”

“Why would you assume I’d be the bottom?” Leo repeated my question, only with emphasis on different words. “You never even asked.”

“Neither did you.”

“Well, it’s not like we had much of a chance to talk about it. When was I going to ask? After our first kiss?”

Annoyingly, he was right. But so was I.

“Well… I guess we can do a lot of other stuff together. There’s plenty of other ways to have fun,” I said. The playful look on Leo’s face mirrored how I felt.

“Or maybe… we can arm wrestle for it?” he suggested.

“Hah, right!” My eyes glanced over at Leo’s arms in that sexy t-shirt he was wearing. I knew he was surprisingly strong for someone so slim, so I wasn’t quite ready to place my bets on me winning. “Maybe we can flip a coin or something.”

“Why? Do you have one of those double-headed coins?”

“Yeah, right. Good idea, though,” I joked, which earned me a smack on the arm. “Hey, just kidding! As if I was going to cheat.”

“So, arm wrestling then?” Leo asked again, placing his right hand in position on the table. Just then, the waiter came with our food. Talk about perfect timing.

“You know what?” I happily accepted my plate, then grabbed my fork and knife. “Let’s say this is a problem for another day. Let the future us deal with it.”

~~

It was late in the afternoon, one of those days that looked like a postcard picture. The sun was low, painting the sky and the sea below it shades of pink and red. People were crowding the boardwalk, families and couples taking walks along the beach and inspecting the colorful food and souvenir stands. Only a postcard wouldn’t be able to capture the noise, the constant chatter of people, as well as the smells of street food all mixing into one weird, mutant aroma.

“You sure you don’t want anything?” Fabian asked as he and Leo returned from a nearby food stand, each carrying two corn dogs in their hands.

“Nah, I’m not hungry.” I shook my head, feeling like I was full from the aroma alone.

“You can have one of mine if you change your mind,” Leo offered as the two of them sat on the bench next to me.

“Thanks, I’m good,” I nodded, sending him a grateful smile.

“Hey, guess what I heard today,” Fabian stopped chewing for a second to make an announcement. “They have a new area in that escape room place we went to.”

“Oh, really?” Leo perked up.

“Yeah, it’s like noir detective movie themed. Looks really good in the pics I saw.”

“We should go some day,” I suggested as I turned to Leo. It sounded like a fun date idea in my mind. I know Leo had been commenting on their Instagram page to make a pirate-themed room, but this sounded fun too.

“Yeah, we totally should,” Fabian agreed. “When are you guys free? I could call today and schedule.”

“Uh…” Leo gave me a quick glance. By the awkward smile on his face, I could only assume he had the same idea as I did. But how was I supposed to say no to Fabian? I was counting on Leo to play the bad cop.

“Tomorrow’s fine by me.”

So much for that. What else was I supposed to do but agree?

“Yeah, tomorrow’s OK with me too.”

“Nice, I’ll shoot them a text now,” Fabian somehow managed to pull out his phone and send a message all with one hand, while holding his food in the other.

“Should be fun,” Leo added, shrugging at me as if to say ‘It’s not my fault.’ I couldn’t really disagree, so I just accepted it. This was one of those battles I couldn’t win, if it could be called a battle in the first place.

We met in front of the escape room place early afternoon the next day. Leo showed up last, looking amazing in a pair of shorts and a floral shirt. I almost went in for a kiss when he approached me, completely forgetting Fabian was standing right there.

“Oh, hey… you ready?” I awkwardly greeted him, somehow turning what was supposed to be a hug into a pat on the arm.

“Yeah! You guys?”

“I’ve never failed one of these, and I’m not about to start now,” Fabian said confidently before opening the door. “Let’s go.”

Once we handed over our phones, we were shown into an area made up to look like a detective agency from one of those noir movies. The room was dominated by a large wooden desk placed under a window with the blinds drawn. There was a typewriter on the desk, along with a lamp and a bunch of documents and folders. Underneath was a waste bin overflowing with crumpled up papers. To the side was a cabinet filled with binders, next to it a corkboard with photos connected with red string. There were three framed paintings on the other walls, as well as a calendar with certain dates circled. Two doors led to other rooms, but they were both locked… for now.

“This looks so cool,” Fabian spun around as he walked into the room, taking it all in with a big grin on his face. “It’s like we’re in the ‘50s.”

“I know, I love it already! Ok, where do we start?” Leo asked.

I shrugged, hoping for a puzzle that involved good visual memory. I was hopeless at anything involving numbers.

“I’ll start from here,” Fabian sat at the table and began inspecting the papers. “There’s got to be something important here.”

As Leo moved to the filing cabinet, I went to the other side of the room to inspect the paintings. Rule number one of movie detective agencies is that there’s always a safe behind a painting.

“Bingo!” I happily announced as I moved a framed portrait of a very serious-looking woman, revealing a small black safe behind it. “We need a four-digit code for this.”

“Hold on, maybe this is it,” Leo said, moving his finger across the calendar on the wall.

Fabian soon stopped rummaging through the documents and hurried across the room, clutching a folded paper in his hand.

“Do you have something?” I asked.

“Not sure, maybe. I think it’s the combination for this lock,” he started rotating the numbers on the lock, but nothing seemed to be happening.

The safe code turned out to be harder to crack than we expected. Leo kept trying to figure out the calendar, and I went to the corkboard to see if I could connect it with anything else. The pictures on the board had the same colors as the symbols on the calendar, so I figured they were somehow related.

“Aha, got it!” Fabian shouted. I heard a click and turned around just to see him open the lock leading to one of the other rooms.

“Damn, who knew Fabian would be the first to figure something out,” I said before turning to my inspection.

“I did,” he shot back as he walked through the door. “I’m going to see what’s in here.”

I quickly realized I was now alone with Leo. I couldn’t resist casting a sideways glance at him—he looked so cute all focused on his task. He must’ve sensed me watching him because he turned to me, flashing me a cheeky smile. I sidled up to him.

“I wanted to take you here alone, but…”

“Yeah, I know. Doesn’t matter, we’re having fun anyway,” he said. “But also… we’re kinda alone now.”

We both looked at the door on the opposite wall at the same time.

“He could come back at any time,” I had to lower my voice. I was already getting excited. Leo approached me, trailing fingers along my forearm. He knew exactly what he was doing to me.

“So?” he asked, right before he leaned in and gave me a peck on the lips. “We have time for a quick kiss.”

“Dude, I’m serious,” I leaned back. I had to keep a cool head if he wasn't going to.

“So am I.”

Another peck on the lips.

“He’s gonna walk in any second.” I pressed my hands against his chest, but he didn’t move away.

“You’re being too paranoid.” He rolled his eyes at me and started to lean in again. My brain screamed at me to stop him—we couldn’t risk it.

“Guys, I think I…”

As soon as I heard Fabian’s voice, I acted on instinct, shoving Leo away. I must have pushed him a little too hard, as a painting on the wall rattled and fell as he bumped into it. I winced as he shot me a glare just as Fabian showed up at the door.

“What’s happening here?” He looked at us standing far apart. “Are you guys fighting again?”

“No.” I couldn’t stop the frown that came on. Leo stayed silent as he picked the painting off the floor. “What were you going to say? Did you find anything good?”

“Yeah, but I need help. Can’t do it alone.”

“OK, I’ll help you.” I went after Fabian. Staying with Leo seemed like a worse decision. Not like I could’ve said anything to him at that moment.

Solving the puzzle and getting out before the timer went off did little to improve my mood. And judging by the look on Leo’s face as we were walking out into the street, he seemed to be in the same boat. I stopped him from leaving once Fabian had crossed the road to buy a soda. I had to talk to him.

“What?” he asked tersely, not even bothering to face me.

“Sorry about… back there. I panicked.”

“Yeah, I could tell.”

“I told you to stop it, though! We could’ve gotten caught.”

“Well, sorry for wanting to kiss you,” he said, finally looking at me. He seemed as irritated as I was. “I won’t do that again whenever there’s anyone around!”

I let out a sigh. I know he thought I was being paranoid, but I was just trying to protect our privacy.

“Are you angry?”

“No,” he replied, but even hearing that one syllable was enough to know the truth.

“Are you sure?”

“I said I wasn’t, so drop it, OK?”

I nodded, resigned.

“I have to go now. I told Fabian I’d give him a ride home. See ya later,” he gave me a small wave before turning away and leaving. This time, I didn’t try to stop him.