CHAPTER5
Gabe
Oh my God.I kissed him. I really kissed him! Finally!
Gabe raced down the hall toward his cabin. As he passed Anton’s door, it opened, and Anton stepped out. Gabe skidded to a stop.
“Oh, Anton!” He was breathless with excitement. “I need to talk to you!” Gabe put his hand on Anton’s chest as if to push him back into his room.
“Sure, Gabe, come in.” Anton backpedaled into the cabin, and Gabe followed. Anton motioned to the chair at the small desk, and Gabe sat as Anton perched on the edge of his bed. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is great,” Gabe replied. “You remember Theo and I went out shopping today, right?”
“Yes, you were hoping to have lunch too.”
“That’s right. We walked around a bit and found ourselves at the Plaza de Armas. It’s a beautiful day, so we sat and people watched for a while. And then Theo admitted that he likes me, and I told him that I like him too.”
“Oh, Gabe, I’m so happy for you.” Gabe could hear the sincerity in Anton’s voice.
“Thanks. It all seemed surreal at the time. I couldn’t believe it when he said he had feelings for me. But then, when we got back to the ship …” Gabe’s voice hitched.
“What? You didn’t fuck it up, did you?”
“No, I, um, well, I kissed him!”
“Excellent! Um, itisexcellent, right?”
“Well, considering he kissed me back, I’d say yes, that’s very good.”
“Whoop! You deserve this so much.” An evil grin spread across Anton’s face, and he said, “So … does this mean you and Theo are boyfriends?”
“Well, we didn’t put a name on what we are just yet. But yeah, I think we’re boyfriends. I guess. I dunno.” He paused, shaking his head. “We probably need to talk more since this isn’t gonna be easy. Shipboard romances never are. Oh, and he said I was a bad matchmaker since I couldn’t see what was happening between the two of us.” Gabe laughed.
“He’s not wrong, Gabe.” Anton chuckled along with him. “But it’s all worked out so far. I think the two of you can make this work. And speaking of work, we need to get our butts in gear.”
* * *
They wereall running late by the time they got to Neptune’s Reef, but they still managed to get everything prepped before the first passengers arrived. Things started off a bit slow as guests were still returning to the ship, but by the time the LGBTQ meetup began at six o’clock, the place was hopping.
There was a short lull around eight, when many of the ship’s passengers were at dinner, and Gabe took the opportunity to ask Theo if he wanted to get a drink in the crew bar after their shift.
“Oh, yeah, that would be nice.” Theo’s reply brought a big smile to Gabe’s face, and he could tell that it remained there for the rest of the night.
When they were finally seated at a small table in the crew bar a few hours later, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
“It sure was busy tonight,” Theo said after sipping his vodka.
“Yeah, but it made the evening go by fast,” Gabe agreed. “I hope you don’t mind, but I told Anton a little about our conversation earlier today.”
“Not at all.” Theo grinned. “I might have mentioned something to Carlos too.”
“So you don’t mind if people know that there’s something going on between us?”
“Not at all. We like each other. I’m not ashamed.” Theo looked confused. “You don’t mind, right?”
“No, but we might need to be a little discreet for now. I know you’re not technically my boss, but you are the senior bartender, and I don’t know for sure how the managers will feel about it.”
“Shit, you’re right. I didn’t even think about that. Should we say something to Manuela?”
