14 Like Sugar | Chapter Fourteen

When Jared had asked Darnell to have dinner with him and his friend, Darnell had no idea what to expect. He didn't know how to dress, or what to take with him. He only noticed that he had jumped on the opportunity to spend time with Jared so quickly, that his mind hadn't had time to process the offer and ask important questions like what the dress code was and if he was expected to pay for his own portion of the food. He wished he hadn't been too embarrassed to ask, and maybe if he did, he wouldn't be sitting across from the clean-cut person Jared's friend brought with him in his semi-casual clothes. He felt a little out of place. Almost everyone in the restaurant was in a suit or evening gown while he was wearing a dress shirt and plain trousers.

Darnell's eyes kept flickering to the man with dark wavy hair, and dark — almost pitch black — eyes. He also noticed how clear the man's skin was, and how his lips looked plumped and red. Darnell didn't think that was real. His impossibly perfect nose didn't look real either. He was obviously older than Darnell, but not close in age to Jared or his friend in any way. After sneaking glances in the man's direction for a while, the man caught him looking. Darnell had given the man a nervous smile, but he had gotten nothing more than a curt nod and the faintest of a smile from him in return.

"Sorry, I had to sort out the reservation," Jared's friend said, coming up to the table after he had left a while ago to talk to some of the staff. The man looked over at Darnell as he slipped into his seat beside the man he had brought with him. He smiled at Darnell, confusing the younger man a bit. "Hello! I'm Austin, don't you remember me?" The man asked with an amused chuckle before adjusting the collar of his dress shirt. It took a while for Darnell to pinpoint who he was, but when he did, he grinned, nodding as his face flushed from nervousness. He had never seen Austin throughout the time he served as a middleman between Jared and him, so he couldn't blame himself for not remembering a person he had never seen.

Darnell looked over at the man Austin brought with him with new interest. At first, Darnell had tagged him as just a date, but his gut feeling told him that they were in the exact same position when it came to the men they were seated beside. It made Darnell jumpy to befriend the man.

"This is Yves," Austin said, smiling at his partner before patting the shoulder of the man's dress suit. It seemed like a simple gesture, but there was a level of affection in the action.

"I'm Darnell," Darnell said, too hesitant to introduce himself. Yves' eyes widened a bit, but he looked flattered.

"Yves, that's Jared, the colleague I keep talking about," Austin said, making Yves wave at Jared. The man had a smile on his face like he knew something, and Jared wasn't sure how to feel about that.

Austin started going on about something like he usually did, laughing loudly as he spoke to Jared and occasionally resting his hand on Yves' shoulder. The two older men were sucked into their own world, talking as the two younger ones stole glances at each other. For Darnell, it was done because of keen interest and a sense of admiration, and while of Yves' part, he couldn't stop looking at Darnell or returning smiles. There was something sweet and naive about Darnell's demeanor, and it became obvious to Yves that Darnell was, in fact, unaware of Jared's feelings.

Austin had told him everything about his poor friend who was lovesick and too scared to say anything. Yves wondered why he would even need to say anything. It was written all over Jared's face, body language, and tone. There was a softness in his voice when he spoke to Darnell, and the way the man's face turned a light shade of pink anytime Darnell did as much as bump hands with him was a big give away.

Yves watched Darnell as he ate, wondering if the younger man had an idea that the person sitting beside him was head over heels in love with him. He rose a brow, noticing that Darnell was having a hard time working with the fork and knife, so he reached forward, tapping the man's arm and getting Darnell to look at him.

He smiled, striking the correct pose with his fork and knife over his own chicken. Darnell smiled, mouthing a 'thank you' before copying him.

He's like a child. Yves smiled, trying to contain his chuckle. That was a fact, wasn't it? He was just nineteen, and that probably had a hand in why he was so clueless. He was good-looking, bubbly, and probably couldn't tell that Jared had a thing for him because a lot of people probably had the same set of reactions around him. He might have dated here and there, but there was no way he had developed anything serious that could cue him to how Jared felt about him.

Oh, God. Yves groaned in his head when he felt Austin's beefy hand take a hold of his. He rolled his hands, hoping that Austin would leave him alone with time. He had only agreed to come for dinner because Austin had assured him that he was bringing his friend over. He hadn't been willing to go somewhere that was too fancy. Knowing Austin, he could do something that he thought was romantic in public, but in reality, was just a pain and an embarrassment.

It wasn't that Yves didn't like Austin. He did — he liked him very much, but they seemed to lack any sort of connection outside the bedroom and very niche conversation topics. Austin was old. It might not show in the way he talked or even carried himself, but there was just something old-fashioned about his thought process, and Yves hated it. He also put Yves on a pedestal that made him uncomfortable. He treated Yves like a status symbol; a doll and it made Yves uncomfortable. Yves put up a good act, though, pretending to care about Austin's rambling and offhand comments. He pretended not to mind the way Yves spoke about him, and he pretended not to care about the man's smoking habit. His acting might have been too good because Yves wasn't expecting a love confession, or the clumsy marriage proposal Austin had executed after he walked out of the bathroom one evening. Yves shook his head. It didn't matter. In a few more months he would be back in France and his perseverance would be worth it.

Austin squeezed Yves' hand, making the man's eyes flicker to him. Yves wondered if there was some miracle that would make him feel the same way about Austin. Maybe if he was less loud, stopped smoking, and less of the type to treat the younger man as a status symbol — Yves closed his eyes, not wanting to think of that now. He had to get back home. That was his goal and he wanted to stay focused on that.

Austin said something about taking a smoke, and Jared offered to follow him to keep an eye on him. Once Austin opened a pack of cigarettes, he would finish it, and maybe go through another, and then another... Yves wondered why he wasn't dead from lung cancer at this point in his life.

When the two older men were out of sight Yves turned his attention to Darnell who was looking at him with wide eyes. Yves smiled. Yves thought Darnell was adorable. He reached out to hold the younger man's hand, playing with the man's smaller hand.

"How are you?" Yves asked, talking for the first time since they started eating. His voice was thick with his accent, but he spoke with such confidence that people might assume he was sounding that way intentionally. Darnell could feel his face warm up. There just seemed to be something attractive about the way Yves presented himself — from the way he spoke to his mannerisms, and the way he ate — everything about him just oozed confidence and attractiveness. Darnell hadn't felt that way about someone since he met Nathalie. Darnell wished he had some of that confidence.

"F-fine," Darnell stuttered, looking down at their joined hands. Yves' hands were a lot fairer than his, and he noticed the man's nails were well kept. He must have had a manicure recently.

Darnell bit down in his bottom lip, looking at Yves before he found the confidence to talk back. "You?"

"I'm doing great," Yves responded, nodding with his eyes closed. Darnell noticed two other things about him — his thick brows that were shaped with a microblade, as well as his thick eyelashes. It was obvious that Austin spent a lot of money on him.

"Hmm," Yves hummed to himself, playing with Darnel's fingers. "We'll be good friends," he said before giving the younger man a small smile. Yves' eyes darted around the restaurant, making sure that Jared and Austin were still outside.

"You must know the man you're with is in love with you, right?" Yves said in a hushed tone, leaning in a bit so that Darnell could hear him over the voice of cutlery hitting plates and people talking.

Darnell blinked, muttering something as he pulled his hand away from Yves'. Yves observed him, raising a brow in confusion at the younger man's flustered state. It can't be. He thought, his eyes going wide when he noticed how Darnell's eyes avoided his gaze ad fixated on his plate of food.

"You like him too?" Yves asked, not really believing what was coming out of his mouth. Darnell didn't give him an answer. He just shrugged, finally looking up to meet Yves' eyes. "He's so... I'm not sure. He doesn't look like the type of person I expected you to want to date," Yves said, trying to be kind with his words. He wasn't sure how to tell someone that the person they were in love with wasn't exactly attractive.

"So," Yves started. "Are you dating then?" Yves asked, frowning in confusion. He thought Austin said that they were under a contract. Or maybe things just took a turn within the short time they have been seeing each other?

Yves confusion only grew when Darnell shook his head. "What? Why?" Yves asked, folding his hands over the wooden table. "You like him, he likes you. What's the problem?" Austin's partner asked, watching as Darnell let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm still not sure—" he paused, staring at the Yves. "I'm not sure if he likes me like that. Sure, sexually, but..." Darnell trailed, not knowing how to arrange his thoughts into sentences.

Oh, so no confession yet. Yves thought to himself, nodding before he started speaking again. "But you could guess from the way he looks at you—"

"He's just very shy," Darnell said, cutting him off. He looked at Yves, letting his brown eyes stare into the man's darker ones. "I don't want to read too much into his body language."

Yves sighed, rolling his eyes. Now he understood what Austin meant by the relationship being wonky and slow moving. It might be the first time Yves agreed with Austin on messing with other people's lives. Austin had poked Jared with a stick a few times, and Yves felt that he might as well do the same by giving Darnell some pointers.

"Well, if you think he doesn't like you why don't you try and make him like you?" Yves asked, holding his head up with his hands. "Seduce him."

"I—" Darnell started, but paused, seeming like he was thinking it over. "Will it work?" he asked, and Yves shrugged.

"Depends on how you go about it. I could help," Yves said, and Darnell stared at him. The younger man's eyes moved to stare at the table as he licked his bottom lip.

"Okay," Darnel said, making Yves smile. It was going to be difficult to get the two together, but Yves concluded that he was going to have a lot of fun pulling strings.