It was Saturday, and Ashkii still hadn't found the courage to head to the bar, or text or call Giovanni. He wasn't sure what he could say that could explain the situation to the bartender. The whole ordeal was deeply embarrassing, and he couldn't think about it without his face growing warm and his body shivering from shame. It mildly reminded him of when he'd had a crush on his friend's older sister in high school, and he had spent the rest of their friendship being deeply apologetic for that fact.

     It wasn't his fault that he seemed to develop feelings in the most inappropriate context. Giovanni—and the obsession he had with the man blowing him off, being a case in point.

     He tried to keep his mind off things through hyper-focusing on school and work. He was at the gym he worked out today, doing the mindless drill of fake smiling and selling memberships to people who would probably only walk through those doors three times in the coming year. It was in this process that someone caught his eyes.

     Nate.

     Or at least that's what he remembered his name to be. Giovanni had brought him up very briefly when talking about how he had 'scored' the tall blonde man with a great beard that he'd been flirting with. Ashkii had been a tumbleweed of jealousy when he had been told that, of course, and it seemed retroactive jealously was a good mental primmer to remember things.

     The man looked just as obnoxious as he has at the bar when he had walked up and interrupted Ashkii's conversation with Giovanni. Well, maybe—honestly, not really. Ashkii tended to exaggerate situations when he was upset, and this wasn't much different. Ashkii's exaggerative brain aside, one thing he did get correct was that it was in fact Nate and that the man had his hair tied back in a bun just like that night. He was in casual gym clothes and was carrying around a gym bag. He looked a bit lost, looking around before he seemed to have spotted the front desk and walked up to it.

     Ashkii forced himself to smile, as was protocol, but he couldn't get a word out before Nate's blue eyes went wide and words started spilling from his mouth.

     "Oh, I didn't expect to see you here!" The man said with a grin when he recognized who Ashkii was. Ashkii didn't say anything to him, just went on with the greeting he had been thought to recite.

     "Welcome to everyday fitness. How can I help you today?"

     "Giovanni hadn't mentioned you worked here, but he did recommend this place. How have you been?"

     Ashkii felt a little annoyed at the mention of Giovanni's name. He wondered if the man was staying over at his place, and from his brief memory, he did know Nate worked out of town. "How—can I help you today?" Ashkii forced himself to get out, forcing the frown that was trying to form on his face to settle down. He was going to do his job, and Nate would be out of his hair in no time.

     "Hey, you're not going to answer my question?" The man asked, raising a brow at Ashkii as his smile diminished. "Come on, you can't tell me you're still mad about me talking to Giovanni? I know you're young but not five."

     Ashkii's lip twitched. "I'm not mad about anything. Why would I be?" he asked, breaking out of character.

"Well, you seemed a little annoyed when Giovanni gave me his number, that's for sure," the older man said, giving the younger man a little smile. "You could have disintegrated me with that stare don't you think?"

     Ashkii blinked, looking down at the counter. He didn't think he had been staring that bad, had he? Maybe he had and everyone had noticed what had played out from a mile. Did Giovanni notice? His face warmed up in embarrassment as he thought of the possibility. Had the man known what had been going on in his head then?

     He looked up at Nate again, staring into the man's blue eyes as he wondered how much the man knew. Did he know what had happened with him and Giovanni at his place? Because that would be unbearably embarrassing... Maybe they talked about it and laughed about it over a chat in bed. The thought made Giovanni both upset and slightly insulted.

     "You do this a lot."

     "What?" Ash asked, watching as the older man folded his hands over his shoulders.

     "Stare and glare. I'm not sure what's going on in your head..." the blond trailed. "But I'm pretty sure it involves executing me." He laughed, but Ashkii wasn't sure what was funny about the situation.

     "I still have an active guest pass, just sign me in," the blond said, after a while of awkward silence. Ashkii blinked, nodding his head before asking for the man's last name. He signed him in and watched as the older man left the lobby and headed towards the weight rooms.

     Ashkii had been doing so well not thinking too hard about the situation for the past week, but well, seeing Nate made him angry, and it reminded him about the source of his anger—his jealousy. He wondered if Giovanni had written him off. The man had texted him. It hadn't been anything serious. He had just asked if Ashkii was okay and if he was fine with coming over to watch the weekend pool contest. Ashkii had contemplated replying and had started to but had stopped when a wave of anxiety had overwhelmed.

     So, yes, he had left the bartender on read.

     It wasn't on purpose, but he wasn't sure how he would explain all that without sounding silly.

     Ashkii spent the rest of his shift biting his bottom lip and contemplating replying to Giovanni. It was Saturday, but not too late to head over and watch the weekly pool contest. He'd have missed half of it if he went over on Sunday, but he didn't care. It wasn't like he cared too much about the game. He barely understood the rules. The part he liked was watching Giovanni laugh and trying to explain what was going on with a slurry string of words that barely made any sense between his chuckling and laughter. The man was usually a bit tipsy then, not having much actual work to do on those nights and sneaking a drink for himself here and there.

     The younger man swallowed, feeling his heartbeat pick up as he thought of Giovanni. This crush—this one of curiosity was starting to get a bit intense. He wondered about the older man's lips, wondering what they would taste like. Probably sweet alcohol, and the mint sweets he liked to sneak for himself occasionally.

     Ashkii blinked, looking at the desk he was standing by as he tried to level his breathing. He wanted to see Giovanni again, but it conflicted him. His feelings just seemed to be getting worse with time, and he wasn't sure if he couldn't keep up the image of just wanting to be friends.

     Especially after last time. His face warmed up, remembering the incident. Giovanni had teased him mercilessly, and the situation had made the man extremely self-conscious for the time being. He didn't look at porn after that, but he couldn't stop his own mind from conjuring up fantasies when he was alone in bed, especially when every little thing made his mind stray to Giovanni. He couldn't help it—he couldn't even watch a movie with a kiss without wondering how touching lips with the older man would feel.

     He was in deep.

     Too deep.

     There was no way in the world he could live down, only being the man's friend.

     Ashkii looked up when he heard approaching footsteps. It was Nate, with his hair slicked back and his gum bag hanging off his shoulder.

     "Can I help you?" Ashkii asked as the man stopped at the desk.

     The blond shrugged. "No, but I can help you," he said. "You look like shit."

     Ashkii frowned, not knowing where the man was going with this.

     "Sorry...?"

     "You look like shit," Nate said again, cocking his head to the side like it was a one-and-done statement. "Are you just going to be a little ball of vindictive jealousy and self-pity?" Nate asked, making Ashkii look away.

     "I get it. You don't like me because I'm fucking Giovanni."

     Ashkii felt his face warm up at that. It was correct, but he didn't have to say it like that. It was crude.

     "But instead of stewing in silence, you know you can just Giovanni."

     Ashkii started freaking out. Giovanni would say no. Was Nate trying to set him up? He had to be. "Ask him out? No—"

     "No," Nate said, frowning, as he cut the younger man off. "Fuck no, that's not what I meant," he sighed, chucking a bit. "You don't have to try to date everyone you're attracted to," the man added as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

     "Be an adult about it," Nate said. "Say. I find you attractive and I was wondering if you'd like to spend time together sometime. It's that simple. You'll get laid before you know it."

     Ashkii's lips parted a bit before he closed them again. "I should tell Giovanni I want to sleep with him?"

     Nate nodded.

     "But—" Ashkii started but paused, noticing that he couldn't just tell Nate about the porn situation. Giovanni knew how Ashkii felt about him—what he wanted to do with him, and he'd made fun of him for it. He didn't see Ashkii that way. At least Ashkii didn't think so. The thought was straight-up hilarious to the older man. Remembering that made him feel bad and a bit insecure. "I don't think Giovanni sees me that way," Ashkii opted to say instead. "I think he seems to see me as a younger friend."

     Nate rolled his eyes. "Just ask." Sure, Giovanni had said Ashkii wasn't his type, but from what Nate knew, the man seemed a little off and kept mentioning Ashkii this past week. The younger man might not meet his preference to a T, but he did seem to be fond of him.

     "Also, if you do end up getting in his pants, you have to tone that jealousy thing down. He will sleep with multiple people, and you won't be very special, okay?"

     Ashkii nodded. "I get that," he said. He wasn't confident in any way that he would get that far, so he didn't have to think about how he would feel about Giovanni entertaining other people.

     Nate nodded. "Alright, hopefully, the next time I see you, you won't be a miserable fuck."

     Ashkii actually laughed a little at that. He watched Nate leave the gym before picking up his phone and mustering up the courage to text Giovanni.

To: Giovanni.

Hey. I'm sorry for hot responding earlier. Things were a bit awkward, and I wasn't sure what to do. I'm sure I'm missed a bit of the contest, but I can head over this Sunday. Is that okay?

8:43 PM.

     From: Giovanni.

     It's okay. I can catch you up when you're here on Sunday. :)

     8:44 PM.

     Ashkii's heart fluttered at the almost immediate response.

     Tomorrow would be eventful.