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“You’re going to have no problem fitting in with these guys, none at all. Just relax.”
“I won’t have anything in common with them! Here, come here, you can’t tie your tie right at all, let me at it.” Geri knew he was flinging his hands a little dramatically. Sergio was watching from the edge of his bed, looking calm and amused, which Geri knew was riling him up even more.
“Help me, then, babe.”
“You’re laughing at me, Sese. Look, I don’t have a whole lot of guys I hang out with all the time. You’ve met Shaki, you’ve met Leo. But these are your work friends, they’re all cops. I don’t fit in with all that stuff.”
“You always say that, over and over, about how you won’t fit in, that you don’t fit in even with me. Stop it. You’ll be fine, you’re just a regular guy like them, you watch sports and you like your beers and you’re perfectly normal, even if you’re a bit of an egghead.”
“Thanks a lot.” Geri pushed Sergio a little to back up on the bed, then straddled him loosely to tie the tie back on properly. It was one of those stupid precinct dinners where everyone brought their spouses and ate too much steak, but Sergio had been so excited asking Geri to come. He’d said he’d not brought anyone to a precinct gathering in ages and ages, but now he finally had a boyfriend and didn’t have to be the lone wolf at the table. Sergio had promised that everybody knew and nobody cared that he was gay so that wasn’t an issue, but Geri had decided to remain cautious nonetheless.
“They’re going to think you’re interesting to talk to because you’re a doctor. You’re going to take some ribbing, though. That’s just what they do. They’re going to roast you about me.”
“Almost a doctor.”
“It’s close enough, babe.”
“Okay, now you’re presentable.” Geri pulled Sergio in by his tie, now that it was done, and gave him a kiss. It was curious, having a steady boyfriend now. Geri didn’t think he’d actually had one that he was with long-term, and he’d never imagined it’d be someone like Sergio that might be the one to pin him down. They weren’t about to do something stupid and move in together, or anything like that, and they both had pretty steady jobs that kept them busy and not always in each other’s faces, but Geri was certain this was indeed the longest he’d ever spent in a lover’s company. He didn’t know about Sergio. They didn’t talk too much about it.
“Are you my mother? Okay, let’s go. Don’t be nervous. Be your fucking self, believe me, you have a big enough personality to make everyone fall for you.”
~
“Okay, pay attention, Marcelo, Dani, Nando, Isco, Nacho, are you keeping up? We’re doing wives after this, pay attention.”
Geri nodded. He was trying to listen and pay attention. Sergio had become a bundle of energy at the restaurant, even louder than he usually was and talking quickly with force. Almost hyperactive. It was funny. Geri had started to calm down as they reached the restaurant, and honestly, they did seem like a bunch of normal guys. Almost everybody had a nickname, and Geri swore half these men looked the same, but they still seemed friendly. Sergio seemed to be getting nervous, though, his voice becoming frantic and too cheerful on purpose. Maybe he’d picked up on Geri’s energy, or something.
“Isco, yeah?” Geri shook the hand of the man closest to him as he worked his way around the table.
“Nope. Nacho. A couple of us get that a lot. You’ve managed to finally pin Sergio back down eh? Took him awhile.”
“Me and Sese are keeping it relaxed right now, but yeah, you know.” Geri shrugged and smirked. “I pinned him down. You make it sound like it’s hard with him.”
“Oh my god, where’s Marco? He’s going to die if he here’s that nickname. HEY, SESE!”
Geri immediately felt a little embarrassed. Sergio said they would rib them both, but he’d been the one stupid enough to blab his little petname. He guessed that Sergio had just gained a new permanent work nickname of his own too.
“What, you piece of shit?” Sergio barked back.
“Your guy’s pretty cool.”
“Don’t be fooled, he roots for Barça.”
There was a lot of noise from the men at the table and a lot of women rolling their eyes. Geri decided to hold his tongue. If the whole precinct didn’t like Barça, he wouldn’t push it. They were all wrong as shit, but he’d be the bigger person. Something he wasn’t very good at. Geri allowed himself a moment to applaud himself internally at his mental growth. He turned back to Nacho, anyway, his question gone unanswered.
“Is Sergio usually not good at keeping relationships?”
“Oh, nah, he’s just been really awful since his breakup ages back, you know?”
Geri didn’t. He nodded politely, then turned back to Sergio, who was still socializing across the table with his boss and his wife.
“Yeah, I forget, how long were they…?” Geri tried to turn back to Nacho and speak normally.
“Something like a year and a half, I don’t know. Relationships on the force never work out.”
Fuck. Geri looked around the room at all the men, then back to Sergio. Was it one of them? Was it one of the female cops in their precinct? That didn’t make sense. Sergio had said before that he wasn’t bi. It had to be one of the men, unless he’d had dalliances with women before. All the people that Sergio had listed were growing into a blurry image of Isco in his mind.
“Sergio? I wouldn’t hate to go up to the bar for a second and grab me a drink, you know I’m not a pitcher of beer sorta guy.”
“Yeah, okay.” Sergio got up from his spot parked next to his commanding officer and wandered off to meet Geri by the edge of the bar.
“I’m not dicking around with small talk on this matter. You have an ex on the force? Is he still on the squad?”
Sergio raised his eyebrows before leaning back against the edge of the bar. “Yikes.”
“So I’m not wrong.”
“Oh, don’t get mad, Gerard. Yeah, he’s here. I already introduced you to him.”
Geri turned back at the dizzying array of Iscos sitting at the table. All dark hair and beards and lovely eyes. Geri reckoned he’d have tried to date any of them himself. Any one of them could have been Sergio’s boyfriend.
Sergio pointed. “Right there. Nando. Well, Fernando.”
Geri zeroed in on where Sergio was pointing. Fuck. There he was. A tall, strong looking guy. Thick neck, sandy hair, crisp haircut like Sergio’s. The difference was, he had no beard and instead, the most prominent feature on his face was freckles, all over the place. He was smiling, showing off big dimples, and Geri had to admit: the guy was handsome as all shit. The freckles gave him a sweet, friendly look, but somehow, he looked like the type that would throw you down and fuck you hard. Geri immediately felt grouchy.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Sergio shrugged. “I don’t know. I was probably going to tell you later. We broke up ages ago. Don’t make it an issue, can you please not make it an issue?”
“Your friend said you hadn’t been yourself or had boyfriends since him. Is that why you’ve been anxious since we got here? Because you were bringing me to meet your ex?”
“Okay, yeah, well, maybe I didn’t take it so well. It’s fine now. You want to go say hi to him or something? Gerard, stop getting angry and listen to me.”
Geri barely heard Sergio in the background. He was already marching towards Fernando, although he didn’t know what he’d say. Fernando looked up, smiling warmly, which honestly only pissed him off further.
“Hey, Fernando, right?”
“Yeah, you’re Guapo’s new fellow right?” Fernando leaned back in his chair.
“Yeah, Gerard.” Geri pulled out a chair, ignoring whose seat it might actually be, and turned it to face Fernando as he sat. Guapo. He could go fuck himself. Maybe it was all in fun, but he wasn’t allowed to use pet names. Fernando was looking puzzled, and took a sip of his beer.
“So you used to date Sergio. Why did you break up with him?”
Fernando cocked his head and looked thrown off. Sergio was now behind them both, looking like he was going to bust an eye vein.
“Fuck, I don’t know man, I’m not going to get into that kinda analysis in front of everyone. Not much of a hello, anyway. Hey, Sergio, call him off me, I feel like he’s going to chew my head off.” Fernando laughed. He had tattoos on his arms too. Not as many as Sergio, but enough. Did they get any together? And he was acting like a dick already.
“Geri, stop acting like a dick and relax.”
“…Me?” Geri knew he sounded just as dramatic as it felt in his head, but was Sergio really being like this? Sergio really had the gall to tell him he didn’t have a long-term ex on the force and yet, he wasn’t the bad guy here?
“Yeah, let’s go sit down, you know, where our seats are. We can talk about this later.”
Geri forced himself to stand up and shove the chair back in. Sergio wasn’t looking at him as they took their seats, but he didn’t want to look at him back. Geri picked up a menu and buried his face in it.
“Could you just deal with it for the night, Geri?” Sergio hissed from behind his own menu.
“You should have told me. Why didn’t you tell me?” Geri hissed back. He hadn’t even glanced at anything actually on the menu. It was all blurring together. It was a terrible anger, a jealousy that he’d never actually felt before.
“Yeah, you said that already.”
Geri ignored Sergio and reached for his cup of water, realizing he never actually got a drink over at the bar. They argued a lot, but that was all it was, just arguing over dumb stuff, like how much salsa to put on chicken, or who would win games. They’d fuss and bitch at each other but it was all harmless. It was how they worked. But this was different. This, Geri became painfully aware, was a fight. Right in a restaurant. Perfect.
“Geri…”
Geri kept ignoring Sergio. Fernando was across the way, further down the table. His face looked smug. He wasn’t doing anything, or even looking their way, but he looked smug anyway. Laughing away with another cop like he wasn’t a problem.
“Let’s go get your gin and tonic, we forgot about it.” Sergio had a hand on Geri’s neck, massaging the tense muscles lightly in the middle. Like he could sense Geri’s annoyance that he was drinking water.
“I don’t really need it.”
“Let me correct myself. I’m not having a visible fight at a table full of my coworkers. Can we go to the bar?”
That was a nice thing about the both of them. Geri know neither of them liked to mince their words. He appreciated the honesty, even if there’d been a glaring gap of honesty tonight. He got up and followed Sergio back to the bar, taking a seat this time.
“Nando and Guapo? Sergio, what the fuck? Does he still have feelings for you? What the fuck happened? Why did you never want to tell me about your exes?”
“We’re friends now, Geri. But that’s genuinely it. The breakup was bad, okay? It was really fucking bad. See that woman he’s with? He knocked her up while we were still together.”
Shit. Geri stayed quiet and kept listening.
“We work together. There’s no point in dwelling on it too long.”
“You wanted me to come really bad, even though we haven’t been official for that long. I feel, like, kind of betrayed, Sergio. Like I’m already wondering if you asked me to go because you wanted to stick it to him that you’re happy now after being unhappy for so long, or something. And I just can’t fucking figure out why you wouldn’t tell me at all.”
“Why, Geri? Because I know you as well as I know myself already. You’re a hothead, like me. You would have turned your back on the whole thing the instant you heard there was potential competition there. And you know what? I was just excited, Gerard. I am happy now. You’re damn right I wanted to show you off. Not have you hide behind a menu all night sulking when you could be telling people your stories, charming everyone. I…I knew we would fight about this, but I was hoping my stupid friends would keep their mouths shut about it so I could tell you myself and we could have the argument at home.” Sergio leaned back on his bar stool a bit.
“I feel like a bit of a dink now. I don’t mean to get like, possessive or anything”
“Don’t. I’d fly off the handle too. You wanna tell me anything about Shakira?”
Sergio was teasing. Geri grinned a bit and shoved Sergio’s head to the side.
“Do you like that nickname, that Fernando has for you?”
“It’s fine, but you call me Sese and I’d want nothing else.”
“And all those charming freckles?”
“We’re playing this game?” Sergio leaned in and gave Geri a kiss. “Yeah, I liked them. But please, compared to you? You run rings around him, and anyway, nobody has eyes like yours.”
“Okay, okay, we’re better.” Geri got up and took Sergio’s hand to lead him back to the table.
“Did we miss the server coming around to ask everyone’s orders?” Sergio settled back in and took Geri’s free hand to hold underneath the table.
“Nope, not yet.” Geri recognized the man to be Marcelo. He was getting better at this.
“Great. Gerard, tell everyone the story about how you had that mom come in for an appointment and insist her kid didn’t have epilepsy.”
“Hey, hey, ohhhhhhh Sese!” One of the Iscos waved his hand at the two of them before Geri could start his story. “Didn’t the two of you go over for drinks? Where are they?”