Wait a second, have you read ‘There’s The Tea‘?
It was raining, how fucking dramatic. Sitting in the back corner of the diner, Donte ordered himself and Pat two black coffees.
Staring out the window, Donte thought about the first time he and Pat had been on this street together.
Donte and Pat made their way down main street, both men heavily intoxicated. They’d just left the after party for the premiere of Donte and Myles’ breakout film; ‘The Sighting’, a post apocalyptic horror film. This was Myles and Donte’s first film in theaters, and it bombed. Hell, even members of the cast didn’t even come.
While Myles and Maria headed home so Myles could drown his sorrows in cheap bourbon, Donte and Pat decided to wander the snowy city.
“Hey, this is only the beginning. All the greats have made shit films at one time or another.” Pat said as he held open the door of the liquor store.
Donte stepped out onto the snowy sidewalk and arched an eyebrow up at the other man.
“So you thought it was shit?” He asked.
It took a second, but Pat finally realized what he’d just said.
“Fuck, flops, I meant to say flops!” He said, shaking his head.
“Nigga! That’s the same thing!” Donte yelled, throwing his hands in the air.
Pat squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, almost as if he were trying to rid his mind of an unpleasant image.
“You know what I mean. Being alone with you makes me twist up my words!” Pat huffed, peeling the foil of the bourbon.
The second the words left his mouth, Pat’s eyes went wide.
“I mean not in THAT way. Kinda like you make me nervous- FUCK! I mean like it’s important to me how you see me. You know because you’re Myles’s boy and what not.” Pat said.
Donte wasn’t oblivious to the way Pat fumbled with the bottle.
Chuckling to himself, Donte decided to let Pat slide a little, it was clear that the other man was flustered.
Saying nothing, the pair walked on, headed in the direction of Pat’s apartment.
“There’s this cute little track in the park across from my apartment if you wanna just walk around and talk some more.” Said Pat.
From the look on Pat’s face, it was clear that he wasn’t ready to say goodbye, and neither was Donte.
The whole walk over to Pat’s place, to Donte, it kinda felt like Pat was flirting a bit. Donte wasn’t closeted about his sexuality, but he didn’t go around screaming it either. For one, his mother wasn’t a big fan of the LGBT community, she was fine with Myles, because well, he’d ‘given her son a job’, even though Port Prince equally belonged to both Myles and Donte. But as for Donte? Her baby boy? Gauldine would not tolerate such a thing from him. So Donte pushed it out of his mind. Donte threw all his energy into working on films, and making Port Prince into the best media company it could be. And then Pat came along.
At first Donte just thought that he really admired Pat, for Donte, sexual attraction and admiration sometimes got mixed up; it’d happened one time with Myles.
But the more Donte got to know Pat, the more Donte wanted to be around the other man.
Pat was shy, and a very private person, so Donte moved slowly.
“This is how all the horror films start. With white people wanting to do some white people shit.” Donte said.
Pat laughed and knocked his shoulder with the other man’s.
“The park’s well lit. If anythings in there I’ll protect you.” Pat said, pulling Donte closer.
Pat grinned, and Donte couldn’t help but grinned back as he tucked his bottom lip between his teeth.
“Come on nigga.” Donte said, turning away from the other man and pulling him along.
“Hey! You can’t call me that!” said Pat as he allowed Donte to pull him along.
“Nah, YOU can’t call ME that. I’ll call you whatever the fuck I feel like calling you.” Donte said.
Pat couldn’t help but laugh; He hadn’t had this much fun while hanging out with someone in a while.
The pair continued walking through the park until the sun began to peek through the trees.
“Alright, I gotta go before a nigga turn into a popsicle.” Donte said.
Pat slipped his hand into the pocket of Donte’s hoodie and used them to pull the other man closer.
“I bet you’d be a tasty popsicle.” Pat grinned.
Donte laughed.
“What flavor would I be?” He asked.
Pat licked his lips, his eyes twinkling like the stars above them.
“Grape.” He replied.
Donte gave an unamused look and sucked his teeth.
“Why I gotta be grape though?” He asked, throwing his hands in the air.
Pat threw his head back and let out a laugh that filled the space around them.
“Because…” Pausing, Pat pulled Donte closer, their lips colliding.
Pat tasted like bourbon and popcorn. The men kissed and kissed until Pat’s phone began to buzz in his pocket.
Breaking the kiss, Pat pulled the device from his pocket and looked down at it.
“Oh shit. I, I gotta go.” He said, looking back at Donte with a panicked expression.
Donte didn’t even get a chance to reply before Pat untangled himself from the other man and ran off.
It was only a few days later, when Donte and Myles ran into Pat and his wife at the Korean market, that day Donte’d finally learned why Pat had been in such a hurry.
When Donte had seen the panicked look on Pat’s face, as he stood next to his wife, Donte had felt like he’d been cut open and doused in lime and salt.
The bell above the door of the diner dinged, pulling Donte back into reality. As Donte turned to the door, Pat made his way over and slid into the booth across from the other man.
Without a single word, Pat held up an envelope and handed it to Donte.
If you had to guess, what’s in the envelope? Did you enjoy reading this? I know I enjoyed writing it. If you did enjoy this, please hit that star, and maybe tell a friend about the city series. If you can, you can support RBN by buying a cup of coffee. A single ‘cup’ is just 4$ and does wonders for helping spread the word of quality queer stories, and helping the site out. But if you can’t, then sharing helps out just as much. Thank you-C
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