Work Text:
They were sitting at lunch, just Kim and Greg, when Kim made a sound that he could only qualify as a peep before she ducked down low, her face flushing red.
“What was that? What are you doing?” he asked.
“It’s him,” she hissed.
“Him? Him who ?”
“The guy, from the bar,” she said, “with the eyes.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s certainly helpful. I’m glad you specified the one with eyes, Kimberly. ”
She let out her bratty little huff and reached over the table to take his hand, and when he tried to pull away, she frowned at him a betrayed expression that she’d been using on him since they were kids.
“Hold my hand so he gets jealous,” she hissed.
“What? That’s insanity, I’m not -”
“Hey,” a voice said, and Greg looked up from his sister’s face to see two men at the side of the table. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
The man speaking was the shorter of the two, and he leaned into the edge of the table with his body turned towards Kim. He remembered Kim telling him about a man she’d met after work at a bar – Adam, he thinks, or something like it – that had made her laugh, and blush, and who she’d kissed in the shadow of the back door to Molly’s, and who hadn’t called her, and who she hadn’t called either. She had waxed a little poetic about his eyes, and his beard, and the little spattering of freckles across his cheeks visible between them.
Greg’s attention wasn’t on Kim’s Molly’s hookup, but the man at his side instead. He was tall, with broad shoulders, strong arms, and perfect bone structure, including a firm jaw and Greg wanted to worship at his feet just for the chance to look at him a little longer. Which was an incredibly gay thing to think, even for him, the resident homosexual slut of the Platt household.
“Hi, Adam,” Kim said, and her voice almost sounded normal. Greg tried to slide his hand out from her grasp but she dug her nails into his palm to keep him from doing so. “How are you?”
His eyes dropped down to their hands held together, and Greg really didn’t want to get in the middle of whatever this was.
“I’m good,” he replied, and his eyes flicked to Greg. “I’m sorry, who’s this?”
“Oh, this is Greg,” she started, and he raised an eyebrow at her before she smiled awkwardly and let his hand go to pat it awkwardly. “He’s my brother.”
“Not that I don’t love whatever this is,” Greg said, and he started to stand even while Kim’s eyes were pleading him to stay, “I’m going to get myself a drink.”
“No, you’re not,” she said, and he blew her a kiss. “Gregory!”
“Kimberly,” he shot back, echoing her tone of voice.
“You have to go back to work, so maybe,” she started and he paused, setting his hands on his hips. “One drink.”
“Yes, Mom,” he replied and started back towards the bar. The wordless friend followed and Greg glanced over his shoulder at him. “And who are you?”
“Jay,” he replied.
Jay .
Greg could work with that.
“Alright, Jay, what’s going on with your buddy over there?”
“Who, Adam?”
“Yeah, that’s the one,” Greg said and leaned his hip against the bar while he waited for the bartender to head their way. “How come he didn’t call her back?”
“Why didn’t she call him?” Jay replied, and Greg snorted. The bartender was a pretty young blonde with big blue eyes who leaned into the bar towards him the way a lot of women did.
“Hi, can I get a Sam Adams, and whatever my new friend here, wants?” Greg said, turning to look at Jay who looked a little shocked.
“Uh, a Guiness, please,” Jay answered.
“Sounds good,” she said and she winked at Greg who kept his attention focused towards Jay. There was something about him that drew the eye and Greg wanted to desperately to figure out what that was. It couldn’t just be that he was pretty, because Greg had seen a lot of pretty men in his life, and while this man was easily the prettiest, there was something else he wasn’t seeing right away that made Greg want to look at him longer.
“She’s your sister?” Jay asked.
“Yeah, adopted, but yeah. Yes. She’s my sister.”
Jay hummed as the bartender came back with their two bottles, and Greg set down money for their drinks along with a hefty tip. She grinned at him as she slipped the tip into her bra. He didn’t follow her hand with his eyes, which he suspected she wanted.
“Can I get you anything else?” she asked.
“We’ll be alright, thank you,” he said, and watched as she walked away clearly a little disappointed.
“You could have gotten her number, you know. She was practically drooling to give it to you,” Jay mentioned and Greg shrugged.
“Yeah, but I don’t want her number. I’d rather have yours,” Greg said, swinging around on his leaned hip to face Jay directly. He took a drink from his beer, perfectly cold and just right.
“You - oh.” Jay looked at him a bit surprised, and Greg really hated how everyone just assumed he was straight because he didn’t look a certain way. “And what would you do if I gave you my number?”
“What normal people do when they have a gorgeous strangers number,” Greg replied, leaning into Jay’s space for a minute and then backing away when he realized he was so close.
“Gorgeous stranger, huh,” Jay said, and lifted an eyebrow at him. “So, you don’t remember me?”
Greg didn’t freeze but inside turned frantically to sort out if he’d ever seen Jay before, and he was sure that he’d remember a face like that, unless he’d been high. Even then, he couldn’t have gotten high enough to forget him. The only time he’d been that high certainly didn’t end with a man who looked like that in his bed.
“Uhh,” Greg started, and tried to think of some kind of explanation. “Well, actually -”
“Nah, I’m just fucking with you,” Jay said with a grin, and Greg let out a groan as he dropped his head. “We’ve never met, but I’m glad we have now.”
“Dick move, man,” Greg said, shaking his head but still smiling. He couldn’t help it.
“Yeah, but I can make it up to you.”
“How’s that, then?”
“Give me your number, and we can find that out together.”