Chapter 5- Not what he seems.

Edited 05-06-2020.

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Chapter 5-

Why had I called him? Oh yeah, because I was a pathetic single...gay...dad and I needed a life.

Right. Just remember that. It was Friday night and it was our "date" night. When I had called Trent, I had stuttered my way through asking him if he still wanted a date while he silently chuckled at me. I had almost hung up on him, but since he was basically my only option for a date, I had sucked it up and gotten through it. I wasn't sure if I had high hopes for tonight, but I was willing to give it a chance, I guess. It was worth it to get Elise off my back for a while.

I pulled up to my house with Paige. Elise had agreed to watch her tonight since I had gotten the day off and spent it with my daughter. When I had called her earlier to tell her why I needed a babysitter she had almost destroyed my ear drum with her squeal. I had yanked the phone away from my ear and listened to her yell for a minute before pulling it back to finish our conversation, having her agreement to come to my house. That woman was going to be the death of me one day. Paige ran inside when I unlocked the door and I followed her to the living room where she had turned on cartoons.

Today had been a fun day, we had gone to a water park and she had loved it. I sat down on the couch. It was time to tell her about my date, I was always honest with Paige, no matter what.

Well, I had told her little white lies but who doesn't when it comes to their kids? But if it was serious, I was honest. And this was serious.

I started playing with her pig tail and she looked over at me.

"Hey munchkin?"

"Yeah daddy?"

"You know how we've talked about me dating before, going out with people?"

"Mhmm. You said all love is equal, and that sometimes men loved women, women loved women, and men loved men." She said as if reciting it from memory.

I was surprised she had remembered, but we had had this talk about 6 months ago and she was intelligent. So, I guess it wasn't that much of a surprise.

"That's right. Well, tonight I am going out for a little while tonight with a man, and it is a date. Do you think you'll be okay with Elise here tonight?"

"Yeah daddy. I see her every day. Does this mean you're getting married?"

I laughed "No sweetie, I'm just going out with him to get to know him."

"Oh okay." And she shrugged.

I smiled at her and let her continue watching her cartoons.

Most parents would not want to talk to their kids about his kind of stuff, but I know Tillie and I would have been different.

Tillie would have wanted Paige to be accepting of everyone, no matter what their lifestyle choice and she would have wanted us to be honest about why we weren't married or together. Although later she would have sugar coated how Paige was conceived even though I was gay, that much I am sure of. I got up and noticed I had an hour to get ready before Trent showed up, he had insisted on picking me up. I was scared he would pick me up on his motorcycle. Those things were death traps.

Seriously.

"Munchkin, I'm going to take a quick shower. Don't answer the phone or the door, okay?"

"Yes, daddy I know. And scream if there is a stranger."

I nodded and hurried to take a shower. I hated the idea of leaving her basically alone, even if I was in the house, but I didn't have much choice. But we had practiced what to do in case of danger repeatedly, so I could be sure she would be okay. I took my shower quickly and got out to wrap a towel around my waist before checking on Paige quickly. She was still watching cartoons, so I went back to my bathroom to brush my teeth and shave. After I did that, I styled my hair until I was happy with it and went to my closet. I looked for a minute before deciding on a green polo to compliment my eyes, yes guys do that. And dark jeans. I looked through my casual shoes and decided on black vans, which I still loved. I do not care how old you are, Vans are always cool. I couldn't wear them to work so I liked weekends, when I could. I put on my silver watch and looked in the mirror, looks good. I looked at the time, Elise should be here in 5 minutes. I walked out and did not see Paige on the couch, so I went to the kitchen and she was not so sneakily trying to get a cookie. She couldn't quite reach the cookie jar, but she was trying. I quietly snuck up behind her "BOO!"

She screamed and swung around with a terrified look before she realized it was me.

I gave her a look, trying not to laugh "Trying to get a cookie I see?"

"No, I wasn't." she said innocently.

"Mhmm. Should I ask Mr. Purple there?" I asked looking at her stuffed elephant clutched in her hand.

"Mr. Purple would never tell." She replied while turning her nose up. I lost the battle and started laughing while she giggled.

"No cookies before dinner, you know that. Elise is cooking your dinner and then you can have one. And she knows the rules so no funny business." I said with mock sternness.

She rolled her eyes and went back to her cartoons "Fiinnnnee daddy." Speaking of Elise, she should be here. I only had 15 minutes before Trent got here and I didn't want Paige to meet him yet, if at all. Talking about it was one thing but introducing her was on a whole other level. I looked at my watch every 60 seconds, but Elise was late, and she did not answer her phone. About 10 minutes later the doorbell rang. Shit, he was early. Dammit.

I opened the door and paused when I saw him. Man, he did look hot.

"Hi." He smiled.

"Hey" I replied nervously. I did not want to have to explain Paige yet.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Uhh yea... it's just..." and I paused when I heard little feet running.

"Daddy is Elise here?" Paige yelled before rounding the corner. When she saw Trent, she stopped with a confused look. "You're not Elise."

I looked back at him and he looked shocked for a second before hiding it and smiling at Paige. "No, I am definitely not Elise. I'm Trent. Nice to meet you." And he held out his hand while squatting down to her level. She looked at me and I nodded before she walked over and shook his hand with no shyness at all.

"I'm Paige."

Being shy was not Paige's thing. I looked at him apologetically and was about to talk when I heard a car door slam. I looked behind him and saw Elise running up the walkway.

"Shit. I am so sorry Erik. I mean shoot. Owen was throwing a fit and Grant was late." And she shot a look at Paige. Sorry, she mouthed again. Trent stood up and turned around and Elise finally noticed him.

"Oh hi." She said and smiled.

"Hi, you must be the popular Elise."

"That I am. You must be Trent."

"That I am." And he looked at me "Can you still go?"

I looked at him, a little stunned he still wanted to go after seeing Paige.

"Um, yea, sure." I turned to Paige "Okay munchkin. Be good for Elise, do not eat the cookies before dinner and brush your teeth. I'll come say goodnight when I get home, okay?"

"Okay daddy." And she reached up to give me a hug. I hugged her tightly for a second before letting go. Elise walked in and sat her bag down.

"Okay Elise, you know everything. Call me if anything happens."

"Yea, yea. Don't worry. Have fun." And she hugged me quickly. "He's hot." She whispered loudly.

I rolled my eyes and blushed when I heard Trent chuckle. She needed to work on her subtlety. Like, big time. I closed the front door and sighed before turning to Trent with a nervous smile. "I'm sorry about all that. Probably not the best first impression of my life."

He chuckled before leading me to his car "It's okay. Don't worry about it."

I finally looked at his car and was glad it wasn't the motorcycle, and jealous of the fact that it was a Ford Mustang.

"Is this a 1964?" I asked with a tiny bit of awe in my voice. Okay, maybe a lot.

"Yea, good eye." He said with surprise "It was my dad's and I restored it myself."

"It's beautiful." I said.

"Yea, it is. Want to get in?" he chuckled.

I shook my head and noticed he was holding the passenger door open for me "Yea, sorry." I blushed. A little girly for my taste, but I could get into the whole being a gentlemen thing. I got in and he ran around to his side and started the car after sitting down.

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"It's a surprise." He smiled.

I shook my head and let him drive. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and couldn't help but appreciate his outfit. The tight black v neck and light blue jeans showed off all his muscles, and the leather jacket added that edge. He was hot, Elise had that right.

"Like what you see?" he teased, and I realized I wasn't being so discreet.

"Maybe." I said boldly while trying to hold back a blush.

He was the only guy who made me feel like I could blush any second. I really needed to stop that. He laughed outright and took the next exit. I looked around and didn't think I'd been over to this part of the city before.

Hmm. Mysterious.

I gave him a 'Where are we?' look but he just smiled. I sighed; surprises were not my favorite thing in the world. He pulled to a stop and I looked around. It looked...interesting.

He looked at my face and laughed "Just wait, you'll love the food. I promise."

We both got out and I put my hands in my pocket. I was in no way a snob or anything, but this placed looked a bit...scary? Maybe terrifying?

"I'm not going to die right?" I half joked.

He laughed again "No, no deaths tonight. Scouts honor."

"I somehow doubt you were a scout." I laughed before following him inside.

The inside looked better than I thought it would. It seemed extremely comfortable, but it had an edge, just like Trent. Maybe that's why he liked it so much.

It had small wooden tables and a bar with hundreds of bottles of alcohol. It had a large flat screen next to the bar, and 3 pool tables. Everything looked new, except for the building itself. Now that I think about it, the sign had looked new outside too. Wait, the sign had said Hyatt Bar & Grill. Trent's last name is Hyatt. I looked over at him and he was smiling while I checked everything out "Is this place yours?" I asked with confusion.

"It's my family's, yea. My two brothers and I own it now. I thought you might have fun here."

"It looks great. What do you mean you own it now?"

He looked at the bar and pool tables "My dad owned it. He died about a year ago."

I nodded "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Yea, me too. He wasn't the best Pop out there, but he was okay." He looked at me again "Anyway, up to lose at some pool?"

I scoffed "You couldn't win, even if you tried."

"No you couldn't win if YOU tried."

We laughed and I followed him to the bar "Beer?" he asked. I nodded and he grabbed two before heading over to the only empty pool table.

"Hey Trent." A couple of guys yelled. Trent nodded with a smile before turning to me "I'll be nice and let you break."

"Oh well thank you." I said with a bit of sarcasm and took a sip of my beer.

He laughed and bowed to tell me to go. I walked around and lined up my cue, I focused and hit the white ball with a whack and watched it explode the triangle to smithereens. I made two solids in and stood back up.

"Solids." I said with a small smile.

He shrugged "Luck, that's all you got."

He bent down and took his turn, ending up with two stripes tucked away. We sipped beer and played for the next 2 hours. Eating hamburgers after the first games, which were amazing just like he said. He had a great cook. I never realized I was so competitive, and Trent was not willing to let me win. Said he had a rep to uphold, this was his bar after all. After he lost the first time, he decided that the best two out of three games would be the winner. I had laughed at him for 5 minutes before taking pity and agreeing. We were down to the final game, and I had two solids to hit before getting to the 8 ball. Trent only had one and he was sure he had this in the bag. I was not willing to give up so easily.

I walked around to his side and nudged him over "Winner walking through, please move aside."

He threw his head back and laughed while I smiled. I put all my focus on the two solids left and took a deep breath.

"Nice ass."

I turned around startled and looked at Trent who looked entirely too innocent "What did you say?"

He shrugged "I don't know what you're talking about." and he smiled.

I narrowed my eyes "Nice try, I'm still going to beat you." And I turned back around and proceeded to do just that. Trying to distract me, pshh.

He groaned with fake agony after I hit the 8 ball in and collapsed to his knees while I laughed hysterically with my arms up "Oh yea, who won? Who won? I am a beast! Winnnneerrr!" I yelled. Everyone around us cheered and booed Trent for letting them down. He looked down with his hand over his heart and I laughed more.

"Aww. Are you sad you lost?" I teased and I realized how much fun tonight was.

" Luck! It was only luck." He yelled teasingly after his dramatic pose.

I walked over and patted his shoulder "Whatever helps you sleep at night." I cooed and he laughed at me.

He shook his head "I can't believe you won. Good job though."

"Why thank you." And we laughed again.

He stood up and put everything away, walking back over to me "I guess I should get you home." And he smiled. I looked at my watch and noticed it was 11 already. Wow.

"Yea I guess so."

We walked out and he put his band on my back all the way to his car. I felt tingles and couldn't believe that just his touch could do that. He pulled out and I realized he hadn't once asked about Paige. Weird.

I looked over to him and wondered why. He caught me looking and smiled "What?"

"Nothing." I shrugged "I just was wondering why you didn't ask me about my daughter all night."

He shrugged and replied with "I figured you would tell me when you're ready, I am curious but I'm hoping you'll go on a second date with me and then we can talk about it."

I smiled and looked out the windshield "Sure. I guess I could do that."

He laughed and 10 minutes later we arrived at my house.

He got out and walked to my side to open my door. I rolled my eyes at him but stepped out.

"You don't have to open my door."

"Maybe not, but I want to." And we smiled at each other.

It was quiet for a minute while we looked into each other's eyes and I jolted "Well..uhh..I had a great time. I like your bar; the food really was great."

He looked at me and saw that I was being honest "I'm glad. I had fun too."

"Well, uh...goodnight then. And call me about that second date." I said and made to walk around him.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me to a stop.

I looked at him in surprised but before I could say anything, I felt his lips on mine.

What amazing lips they were. It only took me two seconds to respond before he grabbed my neck and we were both consumed.

I pulled back when I needed air and we were both panting. He looked into my eyes and I saw the lust.

He pulled all the way back and started walking around the hood "Sleep well Erik. I'll call you."

I stood there staring and smiled faintly when he chuckled.

I put my hand to my lips and watch him pull away.

Man, that guy could kiss.

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