"Do you take sugar?" Steve grinned as he pushed the dispenser across the diner's scratched plastic table towards his companion while he took his seat again.
Danny gave him a mock glare in return, but picked up the sugar and dumped a load into the latte Steve had placed in front of him.
"Too soon?" the brunette chuckled.
"You think you're funny," the stripper waggled a finger at him, though the smile told Steve his new friend wasn't angry.
"I'm a funny guy," he shrugged and took a sip from his tea, burning his tongue a little and making a pained expression.
Danny laughed at him. "Yeah, you pull a great face when your drink bites back, I'll give you that..."
Steve relaxed back into his seat and regarded the man opposite him for a moment. He was so glad Danny had agreed to come out and meet him, even suggesting a diner on the edge of Jersey so Steve didn't have to travel too far out of New York. Even more glad of it this morning, as it was tipping it down with rain outside, and he'd had to run from the cab to the diner to avoid getting soaked.
He was feeling overall more confident today; knowing that the other man was interested enough to come out and meet him made him feel a little more secure in their mutual attraction.
Last night had been a ridiculous display of idiocy by his friends from start to finish, but if there was one thing they'd done right it was to 'accidently' hire a male stripper for Steve's birthday. Because even this morning, without the fuzz of alcohol and the dark lighting of the apartment, Danny still looked gorgeous. Even more so, in fact.
His pale blue eyes sparkled with mischief and humour, blonde hair swept back in a carefully controlled wave, and seeing him in his street clothes was a treat because he was wearing a Ramones t-shirt that stretched across his wide shoulders and he looked like he'd been poured into those jeans.
"I feel like I need to apologise again for last night," Steve stared down at his mug, waiting for the liquid to cool before attempting to drink it again, "It can't have been pleasant for you."
Danny shook his head. "I told you, don't worry about it. I see that sort of stuff every other week, and I still get paid regardless, so it's something I can live with. Plus, you were a lot less handsy than some of the female customers I get," he gave Steve a cheeky grin that twisted his stomach in funny ways.
"Yeah, but the guys said some really stupid stuff. I hated hearing it, and just because you hear it regularly it doesn't make it okay." He was so annoyed at his friends, and the blonde's words from the previous evening came back to him. If they don't bring something positive to your life, then maybe you don't need them. He was right.
"That's true. But last night wasn't all bad," Danny purred, and the devilish grin was replaced by something a little softer. Steve had to look away from those expressive eyes, feeling almost exposed under the other man's gaze.
"No, it wasn't..."
Danny sipped from his drink again and watched the brunette carefully. He was blushing again, just a tiny tinge of pink on his cheekbones, and it was beautiful. He got the impression that Steve wasn't completely innocent on the subject of sex and flirting, so the fact that he seemed to have this reaction around the stripper was fascinating... and kind of sweet, really.
Danny's natural state of being was cheeky and brash, and he wasn't known for being subtle when it came to going for what he wanted – he saw no point in beating around the bush with sex and dating – so he hoped Steve wasn't getting the wrong impression of him. He didn't sleep around, he certainly didn't sleep with the clients who hired him for stripping, and he was just as picky as the next guy as to whom he took home, but his gregarious personality sometimes made him look like a tease or a bit promiscuous.
So today, he wanted to take things slowly.
"So where are you from?" he asked, "You're not a New Yorker."
"Hawaii," Steve cocked his eyebrow, "And how do you know I'm not a local?"
The stripper made a gesture with his hand that encompassed the entirety of the man sitting opposite him. "You're too... placid to be from around here. Must be an island thing. Plus the accent gets into you pretty quick. You can't be here for more than a couple months before you're talking like a city boy."
Steve hurled his best attempt at stereotypical New York at Danny, bringing his hands out in a broad gesture. "Aey, forget aboud it!"
It was horrendous and he knew it, but the look of consternation on the blonde's face was worth his own embarrassment.
"Do me a favour and never, ever, under any circumstances, do that again..." Danny was trying to look disgusted, but it didn't work because this goof was adorable.
"Sorry, I must be too placid..." Steve parroted in return. He liked the Jersey man's vocabulary, and the way he used it with ease and without hesitation. Cute, smart, and unashamed to be exactly who he was; an appealing combination.
"Hawaii?" Danny wrinkled his nose, ignoring the mockery, "How do you live there? Too hot, too much sand..."
He received an incredulous look in return. "You don't like the beach?"
The blonde shook his head. "I don't like the beach. I like cities. Grit and concrete and bustle, that's me." He waved a hand toward the window and the rain, which was finally beginning to let up.
"That's not normal," Steve chuckled.
"In your opinion," Danny jabbed a finger at his companion.
Before Steve could reply, someone shuffled up to the side of their booth.
"Daniel sweetie, are you working on Monday?"
The brunette looked up to see a lady, maybe in her sixties or seventies, approach and put her hand on Danny's shoulder and squeeze.
"Hey Mrs Masters, yeah I'll be in. I'll see you there," the blonde smiled at her kindly, and then gave a flirtatious wink, "And don't you be getting up to mischief with that dodgy hip, you little minx!"
The elderly woman giggled and patted his shoulder. "Oh, you young men! Can't leave me alone!" she called over her shoulder as she hobbled away with her cane.
Steve stared at his companion is disbelief. "She… she works with you?" he stammered.
Hey, it was unlikely, but god only knew what kinks some people had...
Danny laughed. "No, she's a customer," he said simply.
The brunette felt a little ill at the thought. He leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner. "You mean… you dance for her?"
The stripper's eyes widened for a moment, and then he leaned back in his seat and cackled raucously.
"Oh dear god, no! I do have a day job, ya know!" He grinned and leaned back in, placing his palms flat on the table, "I work at the bank during the week. Mrs Masters comes at the beginning of every week to pay in her pension check and she likes to come to my counter and flirt with me…"
Steve visibly relaxed, shoulders sagging in relief, which Danny found very entertaining.
"Stripping alone wouldn't support me in this town, babe. It's a nice little side earner, but my boring Monday to Friday gets the bills paid."
"Thank god," the taller man whispered.
"Yeah, but now I'm not gonna be able to look her in the eyes come Monday morning, so thanks for that," the Jersey man chuckled, "God, you're such a mook…"
Seeing Steve's smile made Danny's heart beat a little faster. It was so genuine and unguarded, and it made him want to use their time together to the fullest.
"How about I show you around Jersey, huh? I know all the good hideouts the tourists never see..."
"Tourists? You mean people come here on vacation?" Steve's hazel eyes sparkled, "Like, on purpose?"
Danny narrowed his eyes. "Or you could just go hang with your buddies until you fly back to hula land. I don't care." He folded his arms over his chest, but let humour soften the edge of his snark.
The taller man smirked. "No... I think I'd prefer your company..."
"So what do you do in Hawaii, then?" Danny bumped his shoulder to Steve's as they walked down Bloomfield Avenue towards the park, swerving around puddles on the sidewalk.
On their journey, the Jersey native had pointed out multiple points of interest, insisting to Steve that Jersey was indeed an interesting, varied and exciting place to visit, and the brunette had resisted the urge to point out the obvious running theme - that over half of Danny's so-called 'attractions' were places to get food, mostly Italian.
"I own a beach-side bar and grill in Waikiki, work there most nights," he shrugged, "You get to meet lots of people, it's nice."
"You own a bar? That's awesome," Danny threw him an excited smile, "And at only twenty-five, you're young to have your own business."
"I had help from family and friends to get it up and running. Luckily Hawaii has a pretty constant tourist trade coming in, and drinking at the beach is always popular." Steve never really liked to boast about his place. It was pretty average as bars went, and didn't earn him huge amounts of money, but it made him happy. "I thought about going into the same line of work as my dad at one point, but he put me off police work at an early age after mom died, so I decided to become an entrepreneur."
"Well I minored in business, so if you ever need any advice you can always call," Danny laughed, "That's why I work at the bank, getting to know the inner workings of the finance world a little better while I decide what I wanna do. I thought about the NJPD at one point too."
The brunette snickered. "God, can you imagine us as cops?"
"We'd probably end up blowing up half of Jersey somehow," Danny laughed, turning to walk backwards as they entered the park so he could meet Steve's eyes.
"Oh no, I'd never be a cop here. We would be in Hawaii, chasing perps, kicking butt and taking names," the taller man insisted, envisioning their Jump Street style operation on the beaches of Waikiki and Honolulu.
But Danny waved his arms in a negative gesture. "No, nuh uh," he shook his head, "I'm never going to Hawaii, thank you very much."
"I think I could make you change your mind," Steve winked.
"I have a police uniform at home, ya know," the shorter man grinned slyly, shifting the focus away from his dislike for sun and surf, "For the weekend job."
Steve made a sound of mock interest so as not to let on that he was actually already picturing his companion in the outfit in his head. Jesus...
They stopped at a food stand and Danny talked his friend into trying one of the hot dogs along with him. It was delicious, and Steve had to concede that maybe the blonde knew what he was talking about when it came to local eateries.
Danny was really enjoying showing the taller man around, chatting and taking their time to get to know one another. Wandering around the park allowed him to get in regular checks of Steve's body as well, which didn't hurt. He was wearing loose-fitting jeans which advertised the slim shape of his hips and waist, and his dark blue t-shirt was tight enough that Danny could see the muscles working in his back when he walked and gestured, and when he turned around he could make out the outline of the abs he'd run his fingers up the previous evening.
God, he wanted to do that again, but he was going to take let this go slow and see where it could lead, because they had some sort of connection he wanted to explore and didn't want to risk losing out to lust.
Steve pointed to a snack food store across the way as they went to stand near a bench at the corner of the park. "The pretzels around here are great, I'll give you that. We have these donut things called malasadas, but the pretzels in Hawaii just aren't as good as on the mainland... I'll have to buy a few tomorrow before the flight and take them home."
The blonde paused, taking in that information. "Tomorrow?"
The taller man nodded and gave him a rueful smile. "Yeah, I fly back in the afternoon."
Danny looked disappointed, and that had an interesting affect on Steve's chest. It made him simultaneously both happy that the blonde liked him enough to feel negatively about the fact he was leaving so soon, and sad that his leaving might cause the man upset.
And Danny was disappointed, because damn it he'd wanted to spend more time with this guy, connect more, and now there was a tighter time limit than he'd realised.
"Wow, okay, well I knew you'd be leaving soon but I didn't think... tomorrow, really?"
Steve just nodded in reply, and watched the stripper's thoughtful expression turn into one of playful suspicion.
"You're not just saying that to get into my pants, are you? It's not some line like 'I'm dying tomorrow, let's have sex' just so you can hurry things along, right?" He crossed his arms over his wide chest and leaned against the bench behind him.
Steve chuckled and shook his head. "No, it's not a line..." he said, before registering the implications of the rest of the other man's sentence.
That's where he thought this was going? He was as attracted to Steve as Steve was to Danny?
He considered the blonde for a moment. "Why? Would it work if it was?"
Danny wasn't going to give in that easily, wasn't going to admit that all it made him want to do was jump the guy and arrange it so he couldn't leave. Not yet. They hadn't been given a chance to really know one another.
But he had his pride, so he gave him a look of consideration before pressing his lips together in a line and shaking his head. "Nope, not working."
Steve's eyes sparkled and narrowed a little, and Danny's stomach flipped at the slightly predatory gleam that flashed through them. The brunette liked a challenge, evidently, and his confidence was growing by the minute.
The taller man stalked the few steps that separated them, slowly. He stopped inches from Danny and stared down at him, eyes searching his face.
"How about now?"
It was because of his announcement, this schedule he'd now applied to them, that this was coming to a head. Because they'd been subtly and not-so-subtly flirting all day, heated eyes and little comments and cheeky smiles, and now he had to act on it. Because it felt like it was kind of now or never.
Danny unfolded his arms and leaned his hands against the back of the bench, trying to look unaffected, but he had to swallow hard before replying. It was all a front – a kind of foreplay – and they each knew it by now. They were both on the same page, could feel the magnetic charge from one another as they orbited closer throughout the day, and now that their intentions were even clearer it was getting more intense.
"Nope." He let the word pop in the small void between them, gaze now locked with Steve's.
The brunette leaned in further, until they were breathing one another's air. "How about now?"
Before Danny could answer, soft lips were pressed against his and his eyes drifted closed. The kiss was almost tentative at first, becoming more insistent as Steve stepped right into his personal space, inserted one leg between the stripper's to rest their bodies together, and his hands went to Danny's biceps to squeeze firmly.
The Jersey man huffed out a small sigh and let his grip move from the bench to Steve's hips, fingers nudging under the hem of his shirt to slide hesitantly over bare skin. The brunette moaned quietly and pressed their stomachs and hips together tighter, essentially trapping Danny against the seat while they tilted their heads so their mouths could slot into place perfectly when they opened to one another.
Energy flowed over Steve's skin, raising goosebumps and lighting a fire in his stomach. Kissing Danny felt like sticking a fork in a power socket – he could feel the electricity all throughout his body, nerve endings tingling and making his hairs stand on end.
Danny, meanwhile, was trying not to melt from the heat being produced in his own chest. The cool breeze in the air was nothing compared to the temperature he felt like he was radiating, like metal shimmering under the sun's rays. Steve's solid muscle against his own body only added to the arousal, making him burn brighter, hotter.
Their tongues slid over one another's in a slow duel, investigating and testing and teasing, and he dug his fingertips into the flesh of the brunette's hips a little harder. He wanted to catalogue every inch of Steve's body, sooner rather than later.
Steve eventually pulled back, one eyebrow quirked in query over heavy-lidded eyes, and Danny vaguely remembered there had been a question asked before that kiss.
He cleared his throat. "Uh... Yeah, okay. Maybe, just maybe," he waved a stern finger at the taller man, "it might be working..."
Steve allowed himself to re-learn how to breathe, and observed Danny's mouth scrunch up into a little frown, brow creasing as he looked like he was considering something important.
"What are you thinking?" he finally managed to ask.
"I am thinking... I'm thinking what the hell am I doing showing you Branch Brook Park when I should be showing you my apartment..." Danny grinned, and then he was taking Steve's hand and practically dragging him to the taxi rank.
It was a short journey to the building Danny lived in, which was good because neither of them could stand keeping their hands to themselves in the cab.
They barely made it into the elevator before Steve was kissing the stripper again, harder than before, and then Danny was gripping his hair and pulling him back so he could attack the taller man's neck and throat with open-mouthed kisses.
Steve moaned and leaned back into the metal wall, allowing the blonde to do as he wished, running his hands up Danny's back and rucking his shirt up out of the way so he could knead the muscles there.
The ding of the elevator hitting the right floor made them back away, but only long enough for Danny to lead them to his door and fling it open. The second they were inside, they were all over each other once more.
Each time they were forced to stop touching it seemed like the pull of one another was so much more powerful, to the point where physical reconnection was like a high-speed collision now.
Desperation took over, and strong hands grasped and massaged and pulled and tugged until their t-shirts, shoes and socks littered the floor of Danny's living room and they had made it to the end of his bed while barely breaking the hot kiss.
Steve managed to get Danny's flies undone and hook his fingers into the waistband of his jeans and underwear to take them both down at once. The Jersey man was doing the same thing, and as his clothing pooled at his ankles he stepped out of it and sat on the edge of his mattress.
He tugged Steve's jeans down to half way on his thighs and gripped the denim to pull him around and forward, and then he was taking the head of the brunette's cock into his wet mouth.
"Oh, holy fuck!" Steve cried out and his hands flew to Danny's head, tangling fingers into the blonde strands as he was taken back into the slick, smouldering heat.
He managed to continue to remove Steve's jeans, even while sucking experimentally on the tip of his cock and swirling his tongue around the end, and then he began to run his hands all over the muscled thighs and tight ass cheeks within his reach.
"Oh god damn, Danny..." the brunette sighed and scratched lightly at his scalp, sending little tickles of pleasure down his spine.
Danny took him in deep and moaned, making Steve gasp and curse again.
The Jersey man's mouth felt so good around his dick, his talented tongue and lips travelling over the skin and massaging, teasing, caressing, with each movement drawing a moan from his mouth. Steve revelled in the sensations for a minute or so, enjoying the way Danny's fingers gripped his ass to pull him in close.
"Shit, how are you so good at this?" he panted out, voice raw from breathing hard. He could feel the building orgasm in his belly, the tight sensation in his abdomen, and he used his grasp on Danny's hair to gently pull him back and away.
The blonde looked up at him as he released his cock with a lascivious pop and grinned, and Steve just had to take those swollen lips with his own.
He finally kicked out of his jeans which had settled around his ankles, and bent to kiss the stripper, backing him further onto the bed until his head was on the pillows and Steve was straddling his thighs. He ended up on all fours over Danny, pushing his head into the goose down as they wrestled with their tongues and bit at one another's lips playfully.
Danny writhed under the taller man as Steve began to kiss down his jaw and throat, crawling back down his body to trace a white hot trail over his chest with his tongue. He pinched the blonde's nipples and mouthed over his abs, before licking a wet line up the underside of his cock where it lay against his stomach.
"Mmm god..." Danny hissed and bucked his hips up, and Steve chuckled as he traced the same line, drawing a similar breathy reaction from his chest.
A large hand curled around Danny's girth, and squeezed lightly while Steve kissed the head of his dick and used his tongue to make him squirm. He swore when the brunette sucked him in deeper, losing himself in the feeling of velvet lips and smooth, wet heat.
Steve held Danny's hips to the bed while he pleasured him, bobbing his head and varying the pressure, loving the way the stripper fisted the sheets and the noises he made under him.
Danny wanted this blow job to go on forever, but it felt so good he knew it wouldn't last much longer if he let it continue, so he slipped one hand into his companion's hair and tugged.
"Babe, oh fuck Steve, you gotta stop... c'mere..."
He kissed his way back up the Jersey man's body until their mouths connected again for a sweet, slow exchange, and then suddenly he was being flipped sideways and onto his back with Danny smiling mischievously down on him.
The blonde reached for his bedside drawer and fetched a bottle of lube, sitting back on his haunches so he could squeeze some onto his palm and smooth it down the length of Steve's cock. He watched the man below him intently as he did so, committing to memory the way in which his dark lashes flickered and his lips parted when he gasped. He was seriously beautiful.
He then dripped lube onto his own dick and tossed the bottle to one side, leaning back down to plant his hand next to Steve's head on the bed and settle his knees to bracket the other man's.
He rolled his pelvis down and forward, gliding their cocks together and moving his hand between their bodies to bring them together and stroke down their lengths.
Steve snuck both of his hands in between them, batting Danny's out of the way so the blonde could steady himself on the bed with both arms and control his thrusts better as he built a rhythm. Steve's hands were slightly larger, and he used both of them to wrap around their dicks and pump slowly in the opposite direction to Danny's drives.
They both groaned and sighed, and Danny tucked his face against Steve's neck while they moved against each other. He made his thrusts long and drawn out, the other man matching his pace and occasionally bucking up off the bed to add to their pleasure.
Heavy breathing and moaned curses filled the room as they allowed themselves to get lost in one another, absorb each other's energy and become fuelled by the other's licentious sounds even as they could barely control their own exclamations.
Danny began to speed up, the sensation of their cocks gliding alongside each other and through Steve's firm grip was delicious on so many levels, and as his pace increased the brunette responded in kind and increased his firm grip and rhythm.
"Fuck, Danny... I'm gonna come..." Steve's throat was rough from sex, he sounded almost a little desperate, and he didn't care. Because this was glorious, amazing, intense, and he could tell the Jersey man was close as well.
Danny wanted nothing more than to be the cause of Steve's pleasure, to have him come undone beneath him, and he pulled back a little to nibble along his neck and up to his earlobe.
"God yes... I need you to come, Steve..."
The low, purring voice in his ear sent Steve over the edge he'd been balanced on, and he cried out and tensed his hands around them as he spilled onto his stomach and pressed his head into the pillows.
"Fuck, fuck!"
Seeing his release was enough to bring Danny to orgasm, and he rocked his hips to fuck through Steve's flexing grip a couple more times before his climax hit and he was adding to the mess on his friend's body.
He clenched his teeth and keened out a low whine as the endorphins flooded his blood stream, and he rolled to the side when he finally let himself relax so he didn't crush Steve.
They lay panting next to each other, regaining their strength and letting the post-orgasmic bliss flow over them as they gazed up at the ceiling.
"Holy fuck..." Steve mumbled, and they both broke into giggles.
"Yeah, I second that," Danny grinned and shifted onto his side, "You know, I think I should make it clear... I don't normally sleep with a guy after knowing him less than a day, that's not how I usually operate." He needed Steve to know he wasn't that kind of guy.
Soft hazel eyes gazed back up at him. "Well I'm glad I was the exception," Steve smiled affectionately.
"You want a shower, babe?" Danny ran a finger through the sticky mess on the brunette's stomach.
Steve hummed happily. "Mmm yes, definitely. And then, no offence to New Jersey and all, but I vote the only sights I need to see are right here in your apartment."
Danny's smile was like bright sunshine. "Jersey's got nothing on what I'm gonna show you..."
They spent the afternoon on Danny's couch in their boxers, ordering in pizza and watching a football game with beers from the stripper's fridge, their legs tangled together between them.
Steve received a lecture on his choice of pizza topping, but he refused to give in on the ham and pineapple combination, and Danny's disgusted expression as he called the order in to his local pizzeria was hilarious. He ordered a simple plain pizza for himself, and the filthy noises he made while eating it made Steve temporarily discard his own food and leap on the blonde, bringing more of those sounds from his lips for a completely different reason.
He then forced Danny to have at least one slice of the Hawaiian, and although the shorter man complained and berated it the whole time, he still ate the whole piece.
They talked and ate and drank, and indulged in one another as much as humanly possible with the knowledge that this was it for them. When eleven o'clock came around and Steve admitted he had to head back to New York, and Tyler's apartment, the mood grew sombre.
It was bittersweet, because their time together had been glorious, and though neither of them wanted to part at least they were ending things on a high note.
"Should I... I mean... Should I text you? Or..." Steve stood on the sidewalk by the door to Danny's apartment block while they waited for his cab.
The blonde shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and gazed at him longingly, eyes sad. "I don't know, Steve... I mean, I'm never coming to Hawaii. No offence, but I can't see myself in a pineapple-infested hell hole like that," he smirked, but sobered quickly, "Do you think... Do you think you'd ever come back to New York or Jersey?"
Steve sighed. "This isn't me," he waved a hand at the city surrounding them, "And I don't think I'll be seeing Tyler again, honestly. He'll be mad I sidelined him today, even more so when he finds out why..."
"You gonna tell him where you've been?" Danny looked genuinely surprised.
The brunette nodded. "Yeah. You know, you were right. If they're not bringing something good to my life then why keep working at it? I need to be more open about who I am, and if they don't like it then they can go do their own thing..."
Danny nodded. "Good. I uh, I hope... I just want you to be happy..."
It was hard to say that, and easy at the same time, because he'd known this guy for twenty-four hours and he already knew he wouldn't ever forget him. Steve was under his skin, tattooed on his memory.
But he knew that long distance never worked. He knew this was it.
Steve gazed at him for a long minute, and his smile was warm but muted. "So this is it then..."
"I really enjoyed... Everything. But texts, calls, whatever... anything else is just gonna be confusing..." He hated himself for saying it, but he knew it was for the best. This was a holiday romance for Steve, a brief fun fling before he landed back in Hawaii and real life began again.
The taller man nodded. "I know. And... today was amazing, Danny."
They looked up as the cab drew up to the kerb side, and Steve reached out to squeeze Danny's hand before walking to the car. Then as soon as he had turned away, he was turning back, taking hold of the Jersey native's face and crushing their lips together.
The final kiss was fierce and heartfelt and heavenly, and they gripped on to one another tightly until Danny pulled back and they rested their foreheads together, eyes closed.
"Aloha, Danny," Steve whispered.
Danny smiled as their eyes met again. "Be good to yourself, Steve."
All too soon the brunette was in his cab and heading back toward New York, with Hawaii in his thoughts.
Danny was right, things would get way too complicated if they stayed in touch. He pulled out his phone, went into the contact he had only created last night, and his thumb hovered over the screen for a long time before he finally deleted the stripper's number.
Tomorrow he was heading home to Hawaii. Danny would forget him, and he would get back to managing his bar. Everything would be as it was meant to be.
"Here's your deposit receipt," Danny handed Mrs Masters the slip of paper and threw her a wink, 'Anything else I can help you with, babe?"
The older woman laughed and took her receipt. "Not today, sweetie. Oh, and I meant to ask, who was that lovely young man you were with at the café? I never meant to interrupt your date..."
He adored this woman. She had never been judgmental of his sexuality, despite her age and the generation she was part of being generally known as homophobic. She believed in 'love is love', and was always open with him.
Danny dropped his gaze. "Oh that... that was Steve. It's okay though, don't worry."
Mrs Masters gave him a considering look. "Oh, have I touched a nerve? Did it not go well?"
He looked back up at the woman and suddenly wanted nothing more than to spill his guts about everything, because she always listened so intently. "Actually... the exact opposite. It was one of the best days of my life, if I'm honest. But he's gone now, and long distance just doesn't work so," he flexed his hands out like he was trying to magic away the lingering doubt in the pit of his stomach, "It's for the best."
His customer leaned in and lowered her voice. "I'm sorry to hear that honey... but I'll be honest with you, because you're a sweet boy. Long distance doesn't always work, but then again nothing works if you don't at least give it a go, hm?"
Danny shook his head. "I guess. But it's too late now."
He'd deleted Steve's number, removing the temptation before it could own him.
"Is it?" Mrs Masters grinned at him, "See you next Monday, Daniel."
"Bye." He stared after her as she left, hearing her question repeating in his mind.
Damn it.
Steve sat on the veranda to his bar, double doors wide open and the music filtering out into the warm air.
It had been three weeks since New York, and a lot had changed with his friendship group. He'd told his buddies that he was bi, and about Danny, and some of them had reacted in a negative way. He was glad to see the back of them, if he were truthful. The ones who hadn't minded were still good friends however, and it felt amazing to be honest about who he was. One had even tried to set him up with their cousin.
He'd taken on two new members of staff, Kono and Chin, and was considering buying up a larger bar further down the beach and expanding a bit more.
He still hadn't got a certain stripper out of his mind though, and any time he heard a Def Leppard song he felt a sharp tug at his heart. But that would fade in time.
Kono appeared at his shoulder.
"Hey boss? I know it's your break but someone's ordering a latte and I don't know how to work the coffee machine yet..." she smiled, "Sorry."
"No problem, I'll come do it." He hopped up and headed inside to find the customer sitting at the bar.
Sharp blue eyes gazed back at him across the counter, filled with hope, and his breath caught in his chest.
"Danny?"
It was the last face he'd expected to see in his bar, or even on this island, and he wasn't sure if his heart had stopped or was simply beating too fast for him to feel it.
The smile he received was tentative. "Hey, babe."
"I thought you said you'd never come to Hawaii..."
Danny shifted in his seat and shrugged. "I dunno, guess I realised there might be something appealing about the place," he grinned, "Plus I looked it up and it turns out 'aloha' doesn't really mean goodbye..."
Steve felt his cheeks heat up, because that was the reason he'd used that as his last words to Danny. He couldn't have coped with something as final as goodbye. But then, the blonde hadn't said it either.
He smiled and turned to flick the switches on the coffee machine and make the order. "So how did you find me?"
Danny chuckled. "I asked the guy at the hotel reception to send me to the best beach front bar and grill in Waikiki. And when I got there, I asked them where Steve McGarrett's place was." He gave him a cheeky wink which made the brunette laugh.
"Watch it, I'll bar you," he threatened.
The two men stared at one another for a long moment, just soaking in the fact that Danny was here, in Hawaii, in front of Steve. And it felt like the beginning of something.
The brunette slid the cup of coffee across the bar to Danny, and picked up the sugar dispenser.
"I just have one very important question for you," Steve leaned on the counter and met the Jersey man's eyes to hold them intently.
"What's that, babe?" Danny leaned forward as well, until their faces were inches apart.
Steve grinned.
"One lump or two?"