AN: Don't own 'em, just love 'em.
Okay, I apologize for the texting in the last chapter. I was just trying to write a scenario where the boys had a little frustration connecting, and it jumped back to bite me. Even though I don't personally text, I do see coworkers of all ages engaged in the practice. That said, I should have given my readers translations of the messages.
Hope the format of this chapter doesn't throw anyone off track. I wanted to highlight the most important parts of the evening, while still keeping a large portion of the chapter more vague. I didn't want to write down every second in detail. Keep an eye on the italics, as I switch from past to present tense a few times. Does this make sense? LOL
Hope a whole chapter on the first date makes up for any bad 'texty' feelings! Enjoy! ;o)
*standing here nervously crossing my fingers*
As he lay in bed Saturday morning, Greg replayed the previous evening in his head. He smiled remembering what a really great time he'd had on Friday night. Nick had started the evening by taking him to a small family-owned Italian restaurant where he had enjoyed the cheese-laden lasagna and tiramisu immensely. And as a huge bonus to the meal, the coffee there was fabulous.
It had been evident that Nick was a regular, because the owner had come out and chatted with them about their food and then had congratulated the coach on last week's football game, asking what the team's chances were for the following day. Greg had loved sitting back and watching the dark-haired man go on and on about his team and their chance for a state run, his eyes sparkling the entire verbal exchange.
Nick had been entertaining and there had been no lulls in the conversation. Greg learned about Nick's family back in Texas and the single child envied the other man his childhood full of brothers and sisters. He listened to the Texan describe the ranch where he grew up, and based on his words Greg could almost envision it in his head.
Although Greg had encouraged Nick to talk about himself as much as possible, the phys ed teacher had been as equally inquisitive into Greg's pre-Nevada days. He had asked about the Californian's parents and grandparents that had been mentioned in the school article, and had asked for information about his college days, calling them Greg's 'Demon Tequila Years'.
The conversation had flowed easily and when dessert dishes and coffee cups were cleared away, Nick had stood and held out his hand. "How about we move on to the second part of the evening?"
Greg hadn't needed to be asked twice. He didn't want the evening to be over and would have gladly participated in any activity Nick had planned, if only to prolong the date with the handsome Texan. He had taken Nick's hand and allowed himself to be led back out to the truck.
Twenty minutes later, Greg had been surprised when Nick had pulled into a brightly lit parking lot. He'd turned to look at Nick and grinned, "Sammy's Fun Zone, huh?"
Nick grinned back, "Yeah, are you up for a little friendly competition, G?"
"Always. What type of competition is available here at Sammy's?" he asked opening his car door and exiting the followed suit and walked around the truck to Greg's side. "Well, there's miniature golf, go karts and some crazy-loud games in the arcade. Does any of that appeal to you, or would you rather go somewhere else?"
Greg started to laugh. "I've already had great coffee and a fantastic meal, and now I get to play video games and race go karts. This might be my perfect date. I just have one question."
"What is it, Greg?"
"Is this golf course nine or eighteen holes?" the young man asked biting his lower lip.
"Eighteen, why?" the dark-haired man queried.
"Then this is officially the perfect date, Nick." At Nick's look of puzzlement, Greg grinned. "I get to watch you bend over and pick up that golf ball at least eighteen times. Gotta be the best date ever, Nick."
As Greg went to make coffee, he had to smile remembering Nick's face at his comment the night before. It had held a look of pure lust and need. The chemistry teacher had merely taken the other man's hand and led him toward the entrance, chattering nonsense about the last time he had played miniature golf.
Nick had paid for two deluxe packages, each of which had included eighteen holes of golf, three kart rides and a packet of tokens for the arcade. By mutual agreement they had decided to play golf first and Greg had snagged a purple ball along with his putter, teasing Nick that it was a well-known fact that golfers who used a brightly colored ball were much more likely to win. The other man had merely smiled and said, "We'll see about that, Greg."
It was only after a few holes that Greg had realized there was no way he was going to beat Nick's score. It wasn't that Nick was such a good miniature golfer, but more of the fact that Greg couldn't keep his mind on the game. Every time Nick had bent down to place his ball on the tee, he'd managed to reset it at least three times, until he had it just where he wanted.
It had been pure torture for Greg and he realized that Nick knew exactly what he was doing to the new teacher. Several times Greg had caught Nick secretly smiling at the young man after finding his gaze glued to the Texan's ass. Finally Greg had given up even trying to win and had just settled back to enjoy the view.
After golfing, the two men had wandered over to the go kart track and had watched a few races trying to decide which karts they wanted to drive. Once they had their choices made they had gotten into line and, as they waited for their turns, they had talked.
"You surprised me Wednesday when you suggested to Grissom that he give those tickets to Wendy and Hodges. Last weekend I thought that you and Wendy were going to hook up," Greg said casually, trying to keep the question out of his voice.
Nick looked closely at the other man. "Naw, that was Catherine's doing. I was never interested in her that way. In fact, prior to that evening I thought you were interested in her."
Greg gave the dark-haired man a stunned look. "No way. Why did you think that?"
"You sat beside her at the first day meetings and you smiled at her." As he said the words Nick realized that he had based his assumptions on very little evidence.
"I sat next to Grissom that day too, and I'm sure I probably even smiled at him. Why didn't you think I might be interested in him?"
Nick laughed out loud. "You better not appear interested in Gris, or Sara will take you out for good. She's laid claim to that man, and for her sake I just wish he'd realize how good she would be for him."
"Yeah. I like Sara." Greg smiled at his date. "If I rolled that way, I'd give Gris a run for his money."
Nick reached out to trace a finger along Greg's jaw line. "Then I guess I'm mighty glad you decided to roll this way, instead of that way."
They had started to lean towards each other, but before anything could happen the attendant at the gate had announced it was their turn to ride. They had drawn apart and moved to find their karts of choice, each looking to out race the other.
Moving from the kitchen counter, Greg finished his first cup of coffee of the day and went to take a shower. He remembered how last night he had won two of the three races, but Nick had complained that he had only lost the last race because he had been caught behind another driver who had trouble finding the gas pedal. The wild-haired winner had just laughed and danced around Nick humming the Rocky theme, much to Nick's chagrin.
"I'm thirsty, Nicky. Can we stop at the concession stand?" He tugged on Nick's arm teasingly.
Nick shook his head and shrugged, "Sorry, G. That doesn't come with the 'Sammy's deluxe package', I guess not."
"Pu-leeze. I really want one of those icy cola things, Nick." He stepped closer to Nick and batted his eyelashes and stuck out his lip in a huge pout. "Please, Nicky."
Nick smiled and wrapped an arm around the younger man's back. "So if I get you one of those icy drinks, Greg, what do I get in return?" He looked down at those pouty lips so close to his own and then back up at Greg's eyes.
"Whadya want, Nicky? A kiss?"
"Oh, yeah," he breathed, looking back down at Greg's lips.
Greg leaned forward and softly captured Nick's lips with his own. The older man tightened his arm and pulled Greg closer opening his mouth and urging the young man to deepen the kiss.
"Get a room."
Nick and Greg heard the not-so-quiet comment and pulled apart, chuckling. "Okay, I guess I'll spring for that icy drink, Greg."
"Damn right you will, and it's going to be a large, cowboy."
Greg stepped out of the shower and smiled into the mirror as he knotted a towel at his waist. The first kiss of the evening had been good, really good, but it didn't compare to the one Nick had given him at his front door at the end of their date. Greg continued reminiscing.
After their kiss Nick had been a man of his word and bought Greg the icy cola drink. Greg had thanked him and offered to share the sweet beverage. They had wandered into the arcade area and had played a couple of games, before Nick had looked at him and said, "You're wiped, Greg. Time to take you home."
Greg had tried to defer, but Nick had been adamant. He had gathered all their remaining tokens and had passed them to a young couple who were clearly on their first date also. They had walked out to the truck and Nick had made sure Greg was inside and buckled, before walking around to get in on the driver's side.
"Do you remember me buckling you in last week, G?" The phys ed teacher asked quietly.
Greg swallowed. "Yeah. I didn't at first, but when I was showering and smelled your shampoo, I remembered the scent of your hair as you reached in to buckle the seat belt, and … I remembered … I was so afraid to come out of the bathroom. I…"
Nick reached over and grasped his hand. "I thought it was wonderful, G." He chuckled. "That was when I realized you weren't interested in Wendy, and I started to hope that you might be interested in me."
Greg rubbed his thumb along the back of Nick's hand. "By the time I met Wendy it was too late. I'd already met you."
They drove along for a few minutes in silence, before Nick spoke again. "Warrick, and now Catherine, are the only ones at school that know I'm gay, Greg. I'm not ashamed of being gay, but I do spend a lot of time in the boys locker room and I don't want small-minded people to think that I'm acting inappropriately just because of my sexual orientation."
Greg sat quietly, but kept the steady pressure of his thumb on Nick's hand, hoping that the Texan could feel his support through that little patch of skin.
After a few moments Nick continued, "Would you be okay with us seeing where this is headed before going public, Greg? I don't want you to think that I'm ashamed of you, or myself, I'd just like to be more sure of our relationship before …."
Greg interrupted him, "I understand, Nick, really. How about we give it a month, and if everything's going well, we tell our friends. I don't feel the need to tell everyone at work. I don't know most of them anyway. But if this becomes important to us, I'd like to at least tell our friends."
Nick stopped at an intersection and turned to smile at his date. "That sounds good, Greg, but I think that at least one person is going to figure it out before the end of the month."
Greg smiled and nodded. "That Warrick is really observant, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he figured out I was interested in you back at Catherine's cookout. Called me out on it when I was on clean up duty."
"He seems like a good guy. He certainly balances out Catherine."
Nick nodded. "Yeah, they are good together." He paused, "Last Saturday I finally told Catherine that I was gay and that I was interested in someone. I wanted her to know that I was done with all her fix-ups. She'll probably pick up on us before too long."
Greg shrugged his shoulders. "Nick, I don't have trouble going public whenever it happens. But if you want to keep it quiet, talk to Warrick and Catherine now. It's evident they care about you, and if you ask them to keep it secret for a while, I'm sure they won't let it slip."
Nick nodded his head and said, "I'll talk to Warrick this weekend and see what he thinks about Catherine."
They continued the rest of the drive in silence, listening to a cd Nick had put in at the beginning of the evening.
When they arrived at Greg's apartment complex, the two men exited the truck and walked up the sidewalk together holding hands. Nick waited while Greg unlocked his door and then turned the young man around and Greg found himself caught between Nick and the hallway wall.
Nick raised a hand and cupped the back of Greg's neck. "I'm not coming in tonight. It's too soon for both of us, but…" he leaned in and whispered against Greg's lips, "I've gotta have this." He grazed Greg's lips with his tongue and groaned when those lips opened under his.
Greg placed his hands on Nick's hips, and linking his thumbs in the belt loops under his palms, pulled the muscular man closer to his own body. Nick rested his body on Greg's, but kept his weight off the slighter body beneath him.
They continued the kiss for a bit longer, until Nick raised his lips from Greg's and rested his forehead on that of the younger man. "Oh hell. If I don't go now, I'm not going to be able to leave."
Greg made a mewling sound and strained forward to run his tongue across Nick's lips one last time. "Fucking perfect first date, Nicky."
Greg took a sip from his third cup of now-cool coffee and walked to his closet, trying to decide what to wear to the football game later. He stood there remembering, and not really seeing what was in front of him, when his cell phone rang. He rushed to the bedside table and flipped open the phone. "Hi Nick….."
AN: Sammy's Fun Zone only exists in my imagination (as far as I know). I'm not aware if a place like it exists in Vegas, but I've seen places similar to it in almost every tourist town I've ever visited.
.