𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 ꨄ︎ 𝐉. 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐀

𖧷 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𖧷

At least a couple nights a month there was a karaoke night dedicated to Billy Joel.

Jake didn't know the story behind why Billy Joel's Greatest Hits were the soundtrack of the mafia, but he went with it. Who didn't like a bit of Billy Joel?

After a long, tiresome day of teaching old men how to use the internet, Jake was elated to hear he was going to be able to watch a bunch of drunk people chant Piano Man at the top of their lungs all while getting drunk himself. He never participated, because somehow the ritual seemed sacred to the family. Jake knew he didn't belong, and didn't want to cross a line. It was fun either way.

He hadn't seen Sal in a whole day. He hadn't talked to him in two. Jake wondered why he cared more specifically about Sal than the others, for there was plenty of people he didn't talk to continuously. Yet at every opportunity he tried to spot the man out of the corner of his eye. Sal wasn't even extra suspicious or anything. In fact he was the most normal, non-suspicious guy Jake had met so far undercover. He just wanted to see him.

Yesterday he'd caught a glance of Sal shirtless, mid-workout. He froze and stared. Sal had the nicest arms Jake had ever seen, next to Terry's. He found himself mesmerized watching the muscles move and occasional beads of sweat drip onto the floor. He'd licked his lip and just mustered the courage to go say hi and pretend he knew stuff about exercise when an old man called Alberto came over to him, kissed both his cheeks and asked Jake to show him how to delete his search history. Regretfully Jake walked off, and helped wipe the disturbing things from Alberto's computer.

He was itching to see Sal again. He told himself he just needed to have a normal conversation about something normal with somebody normal. Except whether Jake liked it or not, Sal wasn't normal. He was still a part of this family, a criminal. Who knew the things he could've done that Jake didn't know about.

But like the good King he was, Sal showed at the karaoke bar that night. Jake was only mildly disappointed that he was wearing a shirt this time. It was a tight one, though, black with the symbol of a brand that Jake couldn't remember the name of etched on the left breast. Very casual. Jake had gone in the other direction, clothing-wise, putting on a lavish blue suit that made him look cool as hell- with no tie though, of course. He left a couple buttons open instead. He had posed for himself in the mirror for about five minutes, wishing he still had his badge and gun to top off the look.

Instead he put a ton of gel in his hair and set off, ready to get wasted.

Sal smiled when he noticed Jake was looking at him. Jake smiled nervously back, suddenly overthrown with butterflies at Sal's sexy smile. (Seriously, how did that boy do everything perfectly so effortlessly?)

Sal sat on the stool on Jake's right and rested his elbows on the bar behind them, long legs covered with dark jeans reaching out towards the ground. "Hey, Jakey. Nice suit. You look good."

"Thanks." Jake's cheeks tainted pink. It was beyond his control. Although somehow, Sal looked way better than he did, streched out and flexing like that. Jake swallowed, pushing away the thought of straddling him. He was barely half way done with his first drink- why was he thinking like this? He drank the rest of his glass in one go, eyes glued to the floor.

Sal raised his eyebrow. "Long day?" He asked.

"You could say that." Jake replied, waving down the bartender and asking for another. As he went to put more coins on the bar, Sal covered his hand with his own. "Put it on my tab." Sal smiled at the man making the drinks. He nodded and Jake slowly put his money back in his pocket.

"You didn't have to do that." Jake gave Sal a slightly confused look, but he wasn't one to turn down a free drink- especially one from an attractive man.