Between The Tides Of Pain & Rapture | MxM

Chapter 07

Logan's touches lingered on Nathan's skin like poison, from his chest to his neck, his arms - everywhere the younger man's angry fingers had touched, burned despite the hours having long passed since Logan had him pressed him down against the office couch with his strong arms and fiery eyes.

Nathan could not rid the feeling of it; did not want to rid the feeling of it. It caused guilt to eat at his insides, so instead of going back home after work like he normally did, he had set out to discover what Evanston had to offer, and that brought him to a bar - not the vulgar kind, but a welcoming one with dimly light lights, and soft music playing in the background, and faint laughter instead of loud bickering.

Alone he sat with droopy eyes. His shoulders slumped over by the bar counter with a newly opened beer bottle in front of him, and several more empty ones next to him. This was all Logan's fault, bastard. What the fuck was he trying to do anyways? - Force himself onto Nathan? No. Nathan squeezed his eyes shut at the thought of that and took another huge gulp at the bottle. Logan might be cruel - he might be a lot of things at the moment, but he would not go there, right?

Nathan sighed and messaged his temples, taking another swig at the bottle.

He thought about quitting, fuck Logan, and his stupid fucking threats. However, the threats felt real, almost too real for him to quit and stay in Evanston. If he quit, he needed to skip town and go somewhere far away where the memories of Logan, the new ones and the old ones, would die away. He could not do so though - it was an impossible thing to do because he already spent his last dollar on a year's lease in rent when he moved to Evanston, and although Ira worked from work as a caregiver to his chronically ill mother, the government funds for were so little that the money only covered the water and light bills.

At this point his whole decision-making skills were stupid.

Actually, he was not stupid.

It was not like he expected to see Logan in his fancy suit, those bulging veins, his deepened, arousingly dangerous voice, and his tattoo - oh, Nathan had managed to get a good look at the thing. It was a snake, a black cobra slithering up Logan's neck. Come to think of it, a snake was indeed fitting, considering Logan himself resembled one - so biting and cunning and cruel he turned out to be.

Nathan groaned before he emptied the bottle.

He might be a bit tipsy, but he wasn't certain.

"And you are?"

Nathan glanced up at the voice; a smoothing thing like melted honey, and saw a white man who couldn't be more than a year or two older than him, maybe thirty-two or thirty-three. His shoulders were wide, and he smiled slyly, like a weirdo, although he didn't look like one. He had lovely hair too; deep brown and wavy, and his eyes were a sparkling gray, beautiful, Nathan thought, so he smiled at the handsome stranger and answered with a slightly slurred voice, "Nathan. Nathan Das."

The man approached closer, seemingly more relaxed and said, "Matthew Davis. Can I join you?"

Nathan blinked and turned his head to the empty bar stool next to him. "Uh... Sure. Sure, be my guest," he gestured to the stool. " Have a seat."

Matthew sat himself down with an exaggerated exhale and smiled warmly at Nathan. "I haven't seen you around here," he said while his eyes - a lusty stare - skimmed over Nathan's nearly lax body. "New to town or just visiting?"

"I... I actually just moved here," Nathan answered, and then he gestured to the bartender before pointing to the empty bottle in front of him and signing a one with his finger, indicating that he needed another drink. It didn't take a couple of seconds before the bartender nodded, and shoved a bottle in his direction. "What about you?" he asked, taking another swig.