Il libro di Jaylos

Gorgeous Stranger

The bar was crowded, too crowded for Carlos' liking.

Five minutes into this night and he could barely remember why he'd agreed to come along at all.

His friends were already attempting to flirt their way into getting hot girls numbers (ah, that's right, those idiots were the reasons he'd agreed to come along), with almost no success.

"Don't worry, Carlos," Ben told him, patting his arm as he headed to order another drink from one of the female bartenders. "We'll hit a gay bar next weekend for you."

"Ha." The freckled boy laughed some, shaking his head. "Being single isn't all bad, you know."

"Maybe for you." Ben shook his head, sighing dramatically. "I, for one, am tired of eating cold pizza in the kitchen by myself."

Carlos watched him swagger off toward what looked like a bachelorette party and shook his head. He hadn't been lying - there were great things about being single - but the more the freckled boy thought about it, even he had to admit the idea of a boyfriend was desirable. Someone to laugh with and hold hands with and who wouldn't ditch you for girls at the bar? Sounded nice.

"Hey handsome." A voice interrupted his thoughts. "You look lonely."

A brunette girl with very blue (although rather unfocused) eyes was leaning across the bar towards him. She'd obviously had way too much to drink, and Carlos wondered why the bartenders were still dishing them out to her.

"Not lonely." He smiled politely, moving his stool away slightly to escape the boozy breath. "Just deep in thought."

"At a bar?" Her laugh was too loud and too high. "On a Saturday night? Come on, let loose. Toss the water, get a real drink."

"No, thank you." Carlos' mind searched for a way out, for a story. The girl was so wasted, at this point she'd believe anything. "I'm the designated driver, and actually, I have - a boyfriend. He's just - in the bathroom."

Abruptly, the girl stopped laughing. "A boyfriend? You don't look gay."

"Okay." Maybe she'd take the hint anyway and scram.

"Well... it looks like he's ditched you," she observed, still not making any effort to leave (or breathe in another direction). "You've been sitting here for awhile. Alone. I saw you."

"Really, I'm fine -"

"I'll just sit here until he gets back, okay?" Blue-eyed girl was still leaning in a little too close for comfort, and he was definitely not going to be making out with some random girl at the counter.

After several more minutes of pregnant pauses and pure anxiety, Carlos' leg had reached maximum nervous bouncing capacity. He had no boyfriend, no one was coming out of the bathroom, and he was pretty sure this girl would get tired of waiting any second now and just hold him down and kiss the shit out of him.

"You don't really have a boyfriend, do you?" Her eyes were suddenly filled with tears. "You just wanted to get rid of me. Am I that ugly? And stupid and -"

"No, no." Shit. He could deal with giggly wasted (barely) but emotional? Get him out of there. "Alright, you called my bluff -"

"Bluff?" an unfamiliar voice laughed. "What bluff, babe?"

Whipping around in his seat, Carlos came face to face with a -

Gorgeous stranger, he thought. Oh, hell.
"Is this chick bothering you, sweetheart?" the gorgeous stranger grinned, his voice low and seductive.

"I'm - I'm not following -"

"Is this your boyfriend?" Drunk girl stopped sniffling and flushed red.

A way out.
"Uh - yes!" Carlos half expected Gorgeous Stranger to deny it, but he just smiled and winked. "Yes. This is my boyfriend."

"Sorry I was gone for so long," Gorgeous Stranger smiled, sliding into the seat next to him. "The -"

"Bathroom!" Carlos burst out. "The bathroom line was long, wasn't it?"

"Yeah it was," he absorbed smoothly, and the freckled boy was impressed at how easily he'd inserted himself into this made-up story. "A nightmare, really. Want a drink?"

"I'm the designated driver." Carlos held up his glass of tap water. "Remember uh - baby?" He realized he didn't know Gorgeous Stranger's name.

"Oh that's right," the stranger winked. "Responsible as always."

"I'm just... gonna go find Audrey..." The drunk girl stood up, her face still red. "See you around or... something."

Carlos turned to his fake-boyfriend, to thank him, to ask why the hell he'd done that, but was taken aback at the expression on his face.

"So, babe, wanna go dance?" Gorgeous Stranger was smirking, even without anyone else around.

"Uh - sure?" Were they still keeping up this charade? Why?

Gorgeous Stranger led him to the dance floor, the lights glinting off his well-muscled arms and shiny hair; Carlos couldn't help but wonder if he was flexing. Well, if he could show off, Carlos could too. In a sudden burst of confidence, Carlos decided to dance. And not the sort of half-drunk bouncing everyone else was doing, real dancing, enough to grab the attention of the crowd around him. Even in his focused (if a bit reckless) state, he could hear a distinct wolf whistle that could only belong to one person.

Last call was at two a.m., and as the music finally dwindled and the drinks slowly stopped pouring, Carlos' friends were texting him about leaving.

Out front. Let's go.
"My friends..." Carlos sighed, looking up at his fake-boyfriend. Was this guy here alone? Did he have a ride home? "I gotta go..."

"Well, this night has been a blast, babe." The stranger pulled the hair out of his face into a messy bun, which still somehow looked incredible. What if he never saw him again?

"Hey... why'd you say you were my boyfriend?"

The gorgeous stranger looked thoughtful, his flirtatious manner dropping for a moment. "'Cause I know who you are. You live in my part of town, the bad part. I know who your mother is, and - this is gonna sound weird, but I've always admired how - you keep getting back up even when it's hopeless."

Carlos was at a loss for words. He'd expected something about just having fun or impulse issues or drinking or honestly anything other than what he'd just heard. "Oh... um... wow... how - how'd you know that I was even into guys?"

"Your friend, the brunette one," Gorgeous Stanger scratched his neck. "I overheard him talking to you about the gay bar thing."

"Oh."

"Hey... do... you want my number?" Carlos really didn't know where that courage to ask that had come from, maybe just the insanity of this whole situation, but it was completely worth it because his fake-boyfriend's face lit up brighter than all the city lights right outside the door.

"Yeah, that'd be - really - wow -" Gorgeous Stranger took a moment to compose himself. "That would be really cool. You know, in case something happens. Rough side of town is unpredictable, you know that. Nice to have an ally."

Phones were exchanged, numbers were inputted, and they started to leave the bar.

"See you around, I guess?" The passing cars lifted the shadows across the not-so-strange stranger's face next to him for just a moment.

"Yeah. Text me." Carlos watched him turn and start to walk away into the darkness. "Wait! I... I didn't catch your name. I'm Carlos."

The figure stopped, turning slowly, rolling the name on his tongue. "Carlos. Strong name. I like it. I'm Jay."

Jay.

His name was Jay.

"Hey, Carlos!" Ben suddenly appeared on his left, dragging him back to the group. "Who was that guy? We saw you dancing with him."

"Oh, nobody." Carlos grinned to himself, a faint blush rising in his cheeks. "Just my boyfriend."