Everyone's Man – 7

Marc was about to shoot his lover. He and Bill had gone out to dinner at a nice restaurant. Not a club, just a local, family-oriented place that Marc had figured would be safe enough that there was no way Bill could get jealous.

 

And he'd made the right choice, or so it seemed, until close to the end of the evening. They were on their dessert, trading off tastes in a relaxed, teasing manner that reminded Marc of the good times they'd had when they'd first met and were feeling out the possibilities. He was sucking chocolate sauce off Bill's fingers in a way that promised equal attention to another part of his body when they got home, when he heard someone chuckle. They both turned to see who was there. Marc grinned when he recognized one of the other interns from the hospital. "This is not what it looks like."

 

"Bet me. Hell, if I was him," he laughed as he looked at Bill and then back at Marc, "I'd be dragging you out of here to have my way with you."

 

Marc winced when he saw the look of fury in Bill's eyes. Trying to make the best of what had rapidly become a bad situation, he laughed as well. "That's the whole idea. He was about to do that when you showed up. Right, Bill?"

 

"Right," his lover responded through clenched teeth. "In fact, we're leaving right now." Bill stood, pausing just long enough to take some cash from his wallet, and tossed it down on the table before stalking straight out the front doors and into the parking lot.

 

Marc's friend looked at him in shock. "Damn, I'm sorry if I said something I shouldn't have. I was only kidding."

 

"Don't worry about it. I'll get him calmed down and things will be fine. He's just a bit…touchy."

 

"I'll say," the friend muttered as he watched Marc join Bill outside.

 

"What the hell was that all about?" Marc asked angrily, even though he knew he should be trying to do as he'd said and calm Bill down.

 

"Is he another one of your fuck buddies?" Bill growled in reply as he stormed towards the car.

 

Marc hurried to catch up with him. "The only 'fuck buddy' I have is you, and frankly I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth it."

 

Bill immediately grabbed him, pulling him into his arms. "I'm sorry! God, please don't leave me. I love you so much. I don't think I could go on without you."

 

Marc wanted to pull away. There it was again, the not so subtle threat of what would happen if he walked away from their relationship. He knew Tabby was right: it was emotional blackmail, but he wasn't ready yet to test what would happen should he actually leave. So when he heard Bill let out a small sob he wrapped his arms around him.

 

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered. "Let's get home and I'll show you how much you mean to me." He just prayed that when they got there, he'd actually be able to do that.