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there wasn’t a lot that ray wanted out of life. he never purposefully sought out any particular thing, just let the world and all of its opportunities come to him. which is why is comes as a shock to him when brad asks if he wants to start a coffee shop with him. ray didn’t know a lot about much, but thanks to his best friend, he knew more about coffee than anything else. it was a rough start, but within a year, they’re thriving and ray feels like he’s on top of the world. then the bookstore next door reopens and ray feels like he’s drowning. they’re far busier than they’ve ever been and it’s been a long time since ray’s been under so much pressure. a few months later, he’s on break after their morning rush and he finally has time to admire the bookstore. it’s relatively small, cozy, and ray can see the piles and piles of books stacked through the smoke billowing from his mouth and into his eyes. he stubs it out and shrugs as he heads inside. ray’s been a talker all his life, his mom always told him he was born talking, so it’s only natural that he end up in an argument with some hipster who insisted that the way he made cold brew was the best way. the argument gets heated and just before ray is about to punch the pompous ass in his face, they’re interrupted by a tall man with soft, but firm voice. with the man’s hand on his chest, saying something to the hipster to get him to go away, ray looks up and is speechless and entranced. and every day after that, he finds a way to make it back into the shop, sometimes he causes another fight, much to the man’s dismay, and sometimes he’ll just read quietly in an aisle, but most times, he prefers to just stare at the man between the piles of books. brad says he’s being really fucking creepy, but ray just tells him he’s doing proper recon. when brad rolls his eyes, ray thinks it might be time to actually talk to the guy. and once he does, for the first time in ray’s life, he finally finds something someone worth seeking out. someone worth fighting for. he’ll be damned if he lets it go.
ray wasn’t nervous, he was…antsy. yeah, that’s the perfect word.
the two cups of coffee in his hands were cooling in the autumn breeze as he stood outside the same shop he’d been going to every day for the past month.
a month.
“fuck,” he exclaims in disbelief over how long he’s waited to do this.
a woman walking with her young daughter scowls at him and he scowls back and laughs when he see the young girl laughing too.
brad pops out of the front of their coffee shop, “ray, you have five goddamn seconds to get in there before i do.”
the same woman scowls at him and brad flicks her off without even looking in her directions.
ray smiled, “bradley, don’t tempt me with a threesome, you know i won’t be able to resist.”
brad threw his hands up in defeat and went back into the shop.
ray took a deep breath and headed into the bookstore.
timothy bryan had the patience of a saint, honestly. but the guy that kept coming in, everyday, and staring and fighting and generally being odd was testing the very limits of his patience.
just as he was about to close for lunch, said man walked through the door looking more jittery and out of place than he ever had before.
tim had had a long morning full of college kids looking for materials for their midterms and he wanted to relax for an hour.
he didn’t have time for this guy today.
“i’m just about to close and seeing as how i’m the only one in here with you, i don’t think you can argue with them about gardening, pickles, or rifles.”
tim tried to put on a kind smile, but he could tell it looked forced.
the man just quietly place a coffee in front of tim and the bookstore owner looked at the cup as if it were a complicated puzzle he was supposed to figure out.
he looked up from the cup and saw the man who’d been annoying him for a month rock back and forth on his feet.
“thank you?”
the man smiled wide and warm and tim’s stomach did an odd little dance at the sight.
“you’re welcome, man. this is a nice place you have.”
tim could tell the man was nervous, more so than usual and he was determined to figure out why that was, even if it took the hour he set aside for lunch.
ray was mentally punching himself in the face.
a nice place you have? what the fuck kind of line if that?
the man responded with a soft, but cautious, smile.
“thank you, i certainly like it. and you seem to as well. you’ve been in here every day for the past month.”
ray’s smug turned smug, “been noticing me, huh?”
the man sputtered through the sip of coffee he’d taken, but tried to quickly recover.
“i tend to notice customers who cause fights in my store.”
ray shrugged, “it’s not my fault mr. geraldine can’t tell the difference between coriander and parsley.”
the owner burst into laughter and ray smiled brightly knowing he was the cause of it.
then he realized he didn’t even know the name of the man who’d been stuck in his head for an entire month.
he put his hand forward gently, “i’m ray.”
tim’s laughter calmed down and he heard the man, ray, introduce himself.
“i’m tim, tim bryan. it’s nice to put a name to the face.”
ray smiled, still holding onto the rough, warm hand of the man in front of him, “with a face this gorgeous, it needs a name.”
ray batted his eyelashes dramatically and was rewarded with another laugh.
neither noticed their hands were still locked.
ray was about to throw caution to the fucking wind when brad burst into the shop.
“ray. rush. now. trombley is about to kill mrs. rutherford.”
brad ran back to the store and ray shifted in place quickly, ready to bolt but wanting to stay.
tim just watched in amusement and confusion.
“look i know we don’t know each other, but like you’ve been stuck in my head and would you wan-”
“RAY!” he heard brad shout through their open door.
“fuck! look if you wanna go out, meet me at the coffee shop next door at six. if not, it’s okay.”
ran was out the door before tim could respond.
and tim spent the rest of his break staring at the door, completely dumbfounded by what just happened.
“trombley, look you gotta remember that you can’t just throw things at customers that piss you off.”
“that lady was asking for it, ray.”
“mrs. rutherford is like 76 tromb, the only thing she’s asking for is a senior citizen discount.”
trombley smiled and ray was happy, knowing their little psycho was finally calmed down.
he looked at the clock and noticed it was nearly five thirty.
brad came into the front and looked at ray.
ray didn’t need to hear brad’s apology, he could see it in his eyes.
“it’s all cool bradley. i asked him and if he shows, he shows. if not, they fuck it, plenty more of ray ray to go around.”
brad smiled and moved to pull the chairs up for the night.
“i think ray ray is a nickname for a festering venereal disease in southern africa.”
ray laughed, “now bradley, that was almost affectionate.”
the three men laughed as they cleaned up the shop, and ray kept looking at the clock every thirty seconds in anticipation.
tim wasn’t sure what to do. he wanted to go out with ray, really wanted to go out with him, something about the way the man talked and held himself drew tim in like a moth to a flame.
he was pacing back and forth, watching his time run out, and was still wondering why he was holding himself back.
it’s just…it’s been a long time since he’d been on a date. ever since he got back from the drc, he just hasn’t had the time. the congo had been as gruelling as any time spent with doctors without borders, but it was worth as it always was.
the bookstore was his way of relaxing. he’d always loved books and he had more than enough money saved from his practice, that he was able to open his own shop. it was small and cozy and perfect. his apartment was just above the shop and he had everything he needed, whether he was here or halfway across the world.
it’s been three months since he got back and six months since his last date.
one would think that if he could face what he does with doctors without border, a date would be a piece of cake.
but that person does not know how awkward tim bryan is on first dates.
ray watched as the clock struck six and bit his nails. he looked to the door and…
nothing.
his shoulders slumped and brad looked at him with the closed-off worried eyes that he gets when he knows ray will be quiet for a few days.
brad always hates when he’s quiet, even more so than when he isn’t.
“ray, le-”
everyone stopped when the bell above the door rang.
tim stopped halfway inside the shop, still as a statue as three men stared at him.
he cleared his throat and let the door close behind him.
he looked to the two blondes who were eyeing him with intense matching glares and then his eyes landed on ray’s which were shining bright with mirth.
“you’re thirty seconds late, tim. i don’t know if we can recover the night.”
tim laughed, “mr. geraldine wanted a book on herbs. he’s trying to steal your blue ribbon.”
ray laughed and hopped over the counter, much to trombley’s dismay because he’d just finished cleaning it.
tim just watched in amazement at how much he was already liking ray.
ray pushed tim out the door as soon as he saw brad stand up.
“don’t forget to lock up fellas.”
as far as first dates go, tim was surprised to find how easy it was to be with ray. their conversation flowed naturally, with no awkward segues or silences. ray was charming, brash, funny, and smart and tim didn’t ever want the date to end.
so, he figured, the other shoe had to drop eventually.
and that shoe came in the form of craig schwetje, an incompetent colleague from doctors without borders.
“tim?”
tim cringed at the familiar voice. of all the places…
“tim! i knew that was you!”
craig, without being offered, pulled up a chair to their table and tim didn’t miss the click in ray’s jaw at the intrusion before looking to tim in question.
if he weren’t so distracted by the walking disaster that was craig, tim would’ve pulled ray into a kiss he’d wanted to give ray since they sat down.
he and ray were staring at one another, and tim could see ray was thinking the exact same thing. and it took everything in tim, to break the contact.
craig had been talking the entire time, “…can’t believe you got out of practice, still. you were the best we had.”
tim nodded, taking a large drink of his whiskey.
“i had my fair share of that, craig. you know that. d-w-b is plenty for me.”
“i heard you open some cafe or some shit like that?”
“it’s a bookstore, but yes.”
“that’s fucking wild.”
craig laughed and turned as if he just noticed ray who gave him a tight smile before flipping him off behind his head.
tim nearly spit out his whiskey and smiled as ray laughed.
“who’s this?”
“this is my da-”
ray interrupted, “darling boyfriend, ray. and you are?”
“i’m craig, i know tim from doctors without borders, i’m sure he’s mentioned me.”
ray shook his head and frowned, “i can’t say that he has, but we’re trying to have a nice dinner, if you wouldn’t mind.”
craig looked uncomfortable and looked between ray and tim.
tim was in shock at ray’s false admission, but couldn’t help wanting it to be true.
he looked to craig and shrugged, “it’s our anniversary, but i’ll see you at the next meeting, right?”
craig nodded and stumbled his way towards the door.
tim sighed and polished off his drink.
ray laughed, “you’re a fucking doctor?”
tim, unable to hide it, smiled, warm and wide. god he wanted to kiss ray.
and for the first time, in a long time, tim opened up and told ray everything. he told him how much he hated private practice and the fact that people without insurance or a way to pay came to him in dire need of help. and how he eventually couldn’t sleep at night knowing that he’d let those people down. so he sold his practice for a considerable amount of money and open the bookstore. then he discovered that he qualified to work with doctors without borders and he felt everything fall into place.
ray just smiles at him the whole time, never looking at him like others had. the look that always asked, “why did you give up all that money and success at your fingertips to sell books and work for free?”
but he never say that in ray. all he saw was admiration and understanding. like ray had seen just how horrible the world could be, but still knew that good parts existed if you wanted to find them.
it was intoxicating and before he knew it, tim was leaning across the table and kissing ray firmly, but with a sensual slowness that he hoped let ray know how much his compassion was appreciated.
from the moment their lips touched, ray was done for. tim’s lips against his was everything. it was sensuous, soft, and seductive.
ray had never experienced anything like it before and he never wanted to experience anything like it again unless it was from tim.
they pulled apart and both men sat back in astonishment.
they’d both felt something more than a kiss. it was a connection they’d just formed and all either wanted to do was reconnect their lips.
ray smiled and clicked his tongue, “i knew i was right.”
tim raised his eyebrows, silently asking ray to explain.
ray laughed, “i told brad you’d be a great kisser.”
tim laughed and signalled the waiter for the check.
ray moved his chair towards tim and kissed him shamelessly and without abandon.
once they were outside the restaurant, tim pulled ray into his arms, “ask me to go back to my place.”
“can we go ba-”
“yes.” tim grabs ray’s hand and doesn’t let go until he’s unlocking the door to his apartment.