Austin assumed it was manners more than nerves that kept Kitt right at the door. He needed to invite Kitt in.
“Make yourself at home. Would you like something to drink? Beer, wine, mixed drink?” Austin asked shutting the door behind Kitt. He resisted the overwhelming urge to lean in closer and take a deeper breath of Kitt’s scent, because from where he stood, Kitt smelled fabulous.
“Beer’s fine,” Kitt said, and now, Austin realized it was nerves rather than manners keeping Kitt back.
“You drink Bud Light, right? I had some delivered today.” Austin walked in the kitchen to the refrigerator. The living room led into the kitchen with a large granite bar separating the two rooms.
“Yeah, but whatever you have that’s cold is fine.”
“I was just heading outside to start the grill. I’m a little behind on the steaks, but the baked potatoes should be done and warming, and the salad’s ready. You do eat salad, right?” Austin asked handing Kitt the beer as he placed the steaks on the kitchen island.
“Sure. I guess,” Kitt said, his eyes constantly tracking Austin, but he didn’t move from his spot.
“Good, I’ve got an excellent spinach and feta deal in there. I think you’ll like it. Just a sec, I’ll be right back.” Austin stepped out and made quick work of starting the grill that sat on the porch close to the back door. It didn’t take long and he was back inside. Austin noticed Kitt had taken a seat on the bar stool that he’d stood behind just minutes ago. As Austin watched him, Kitt took a long, long, swig of the beer in his hand. Austin was suddenly struck by how good Kitt looked in his house. He was a cozy kind of guy, just like Austin’s house had turned out to be. Okay, well, Kitt was a cozy kind of guy when he wasn’t bowed up tight like right now.
“You look nice tonight,” Austin said.
“So do you.” The words came automatically before Kitt narrowed his eyes and looked down. His face reddened and he turned away.
“Thank you, I did a quick change. I’m glad you decided to come tonight. How do you like your steak?” Austin asked as he reached for the plate of steaks.
“Medium rare.” It wasn’t quite the one word answer Austin had come to expect from Kitt, but close.
“Me too.” Austin looked up at Kitt with a grin. “I thought we’d eat inside, but if you’d rather eat outside, I can move everything out.”
“No, it’s fine. Where’s Mike?” Kitt asked. He was up to five words now.
“I’m guessing in town, but I don’t know for sure. I think he’s got the hots for the young woman who brings the groceries. He may be heading somewhere else.”
“Laura?” Kitt asked, draining his beer. Austin wound his way back into the kitchen and reached in the refrigerator to get him another. He slid it across the bar before dumping the empty bottle in the trash.
“I guess. Short, Hispanic, pretty...he might have said something about a date, I’m not sure. Let me go put these on, I’ll be back.”
The night was full on now and Austin didn’t turn on the porch light. He didn’t want to draw bugs to the food. He worked from the light shining through the window to lay the steaks on the sizzling hot grill.
“I thought you and Mike were needin’ insemination information,” Kitt said from behind Austin startling him a bit. He stood a few feet away and held Austin’s beer out to him. He took it and took a drink as he weighed his answer. He extended a hand to the table on the patio for Kitt to take a seat. Nothing brilliant came to his mind so he decided on the truth.
“I must confess. I’d love to listen to you talk about artificial insemination, if you’re so inclined, but this was more of a get to know my neighbor kind of invitation.”
Kitt stayed quiet for several long moments, just staring at Austin under the weight of the moonlight climbing high in the night sky.
“Okay. So no Mike?”
“I didn’t ask him to come. I can call him up if it makes you more comfortable,” Austin offered taking a seat at the table.
“No, it’s fine.” Kitt took another long drink of his beer.
“You were a great help to us the last few days. You and I got off on the wrong foot, I just wanted to make sure we were good,” Austin said.
“I’m good.” And he was back to two word sentences.
“I can see you are.” That got Austin nothing but silence. “Good with everything.”
Kitt nodded. There was more silence and both men sat staring at the other. Finally, Austin rose to turn the steaks and shut the lid before coming back to the small table.
“Would you like another beer?”
“Sure.” Not that the one word didn’t answer his question, but Austin hoped for a little more.
Awkwardness surrounded them again, and much to Austin’s frustration, Kitt offered nothing for him to grab on to keep them talking, nor did he seem to want to instigate conversation himself. Austin schooled his features, keeping his face pleasant as he excused himself and went back inside. Silently, he berated himself. He’d completely failed to make Kitt comfortable, and he was rushing this dinner. He should have never started cooking so quickly. What was he thinking? Well, he knew exactly what he thought: if they got dinner done and out of the way, nothing would stop them from filling the rest of the night with hot sex.
Austin struggled within himself. He didn’t know how to recover, how to make Kitt feel more comfortable. He worked quickly placing the salad and baked potato condiments on the table. The steaks were close to being done, and he grabbed two more beers before going back outside.
Austin took it as a good sign Kitt hadn’t left. He handed one to Kitt before walking over to check the grill.
Austin forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down. They’d have dinner together. They’d sit and talk during dinner. He would bring the conversation to their sexuality and let Kitt know he was gay. Certainly, it would be all it took. Things weren’t as bad as they seemed, he just needed to get them inside over the intimacy of dinner. The steaks looked done, and he put them on a plate before looking up at Kitt who stared out into the night.