Drowned | Sasodei |

Chapter 1

Sasori swigged down the last bitter dregs of his domestic beer. He pushed his knee into the bar, leaned forward, rubbed his eyes, and scratched his chin. The night was still young, but he certainly wasn't. It was his birthday. The big thirty-five. So how did he plan to spend it? With a stranger. A stranger who had arranged to meet him at a sports bar that had recently opened in the city. A stranger who he'd found on an online dating site. The profile read "GWM, 19, tired of all the bullshit. Looking for stable guy, late 20s to late 30s, D/D Free, for fun and possible LTR."

Tired of all the bullshit. He'd responded to that line the most. Especially today. It pretty much summed up his feelings in a nutshell. But using a dating site at his age? Ridiculous. His best friend Asahi had said so. Multiple times.

He looked around the busy bar, loud with conversations surrounding the sporting events playing on eight different flat screens.

"What am I doing here?" Sasori asked his empty bottle. He tapped on the bar for another.

Deidara had asked Sasori for his picture, and Sasori had uploaded the only recent one he had-a shot of him at the hospital's Christmas party with a Santa cap on his head and a highball glass in his hand. He'd had a big drunken smile on his face.

Deidara had responded quickly and asked to meet. The immediate invitation startled Sasori enough he hadn't asked for a picture back. Instead, he'd agreed to the date without hesitation. Asahi had harangued his for being stupid, but asking for a picture after the fact would have made him feel like a douche. He just hoped that Deidara wouldn't take one look at him, leave, and Sasori would never know.

The noise level grew to an excited roar around one of the televisions. Some team must have scored. It was 7:55 pm according to his watch and Deidara! If that was even the guy's name-still hadn't shown. They'd made the date for 8:00 p.m., but in Sasori's world, he considered "early" on time and "on time" late. His mood darkened.

The bartender placed another bottle in front of him. "Troubles?"

"No" Sasori shook his head. He took the beer without making eye contact. He was tired, thirty-five years of tired. Moreover to make this kind of date on his birthday was an act of desperation. What kind of bonehead makes a blind date with a stranger on his birthday?

His phone beeped. He lifted it from his coat pocket and glanced down. Fifteen messages, the last one from Asahi. At one time, they'd been lovers. They'd almost moved in together Sasori knew, even then, it couldn't work. They'd split up two years ago, but they'd somehow managed to stay friends.

Normally, he would have answered Asahi but tonight he didn't feel like dealing with him. Asahi had moved on quickly, and he and his partner apparently completed each other. The thought made Sasori nauseated.

"Scotch," a young man said, filling the empty seat next to him, his short, spiky black hair hanging just past his ears. He wore a gray leather jacket that fit snug over his broad frame.

He glanced at Sasori before turning his attention back to the bartender.

The young man leaned over the bar, his ass a rounded perfection in tight jeans "What time do you get off work?"

Sasori's gaze snapped to the man's face but he wasn't talking to him as he stared hungrily at the bartender.

The bartender-a lanky fellow looks like his in early twenties, long blond hair tied in a half ponytail with a large bang almost covering his left eye, narrowed his eyes at the man and smiled. He pushed a rocks glass filled with amber liquid to him. "That will be $8.50"

"Damn, you're cold, Dee" The man fished a len out of his pocket and placed it on the bar "Can't blame a guy for trying though"

"Nope" The bartender, apparently named Dee, took the cash, made change, and placed the left over back-fifty into a tip jar. He glanced at Sasori and winked "Can't blame a guy at all."

His light blue eyes sparkled with mischief, his full sensual mouth softened his narrow face, making him startlingly attractive. Under the black apron and the black long sleeve shirt, Sasori could tell the man had a long, lean frame. Why hadn't he noticed before now?

Sasori's cell phone ringed. He groaned, pulling the phone from his pocket. Asahi again, his ex was not giving up.

Sasori swiped the ignore button. After he put the phone back in his pocket, he glanced up, startled to find the bartender staring at him. Under the gaze of those perceptive light blue eyes, he felt naked and exposed. Making the situation worse, he rambled to fill the void. "My friend," he explained. "He's worried about me"

When Dee didn't reply immediately. Sasori continued. "You see, it's my birthday today, and he thinks I should spend it with friends and family, but most of my friends and family are in relationships. I'm single and the idea of spending my birthday with a room full of happy couples makes my teeth hurt."

Dee puckered his lips into the sexiest pout. He rested forward on his elbows, In a soft low voice, he said, "I didn't know Happy birthday"

Sasori's cock responded instantly creating an uncomfortable bulge in his slacks.

"You're blushing" Dee said, still just inches from Sasori. "It's a good look on you"

Wow did the bartender pass on the young stud just to flirt with me? "Uh, thanks" Having Dee wrapped around his waist would also be a good look on him. He smiled at the image forming in his mind.

"Good thoughts?"

"Uh, yeah", God pull yourself together! His date, if he was going to show, would be arriving in...he looked at his watch 7:58 p.m. In two minutes, he was going to blow off this Deidara's character, and set his sights on a certain charming bartender.

As if reading his mind, Dee asked. "Are you alone tonight? Or waiting on someone?"

"I am.." did he really want this nice looking man to know he was waiting for a date? Chances were, at this point, Deidara wouldn't show and Sasori would look like a total loser. Or worse, he could lie and say he was alone for the night, then have Deidara show up and he would look like a lying ass. He sighed. Loser it was. "I'm meeting someone, maybe. It's a blind date. One of those online things"

Oh Lord, Dee might have thought he was a loser if his date didn't show, but now Sasori seemed determine to prove just how far past up the loser meter be ranked.

"I mean, I never do this, you know" He rabbed his hand through his hair. "It's just, I'm at that point in my life where I'm tired of fucking around not that I fuck around" He kept stealing glances at Dee.

The bartender wore a sweet smile on his face while he washed up a few glasses behind the bar and waited for Sasori to finish.

"I'm just tired of...well, just tired. I don't want to play games anymore, you know?'' He checked his watch again. 7:59 pm. Had someone frozen time? "I don't know if my date's going to show or not. We'd arranged for eight sharp, but he can't be terribly excited about meeting me, or he would have been here a little early, Right?"

"I don't know about that" Dee's grin widened. He took off his work apron, folded it on the side of the bar, and motioned to another young man who came over to take his place. "You're on until close, Hidan"

"Yep" He nodded. "Have a good night, Deidara" the guy said.

"I will." The bartender held out his hand to Sasori "Hi, I'm Deidara" He put his hand on Sasori's arm, slid back his coat sleeve and checked the watch. "Exactly on time" He grinned widely "And I'm excited to meet you, Sasori. You're even better looking in person. Do you want to get a booth or a table?"

Flustered. Sasori gulped and said, "Booth."