Free Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 2.1 - On Deck by Kate Sherwood Page B

interior is simple, and maybe a bit shoddy, but it smells fantastic. Evan smiles at the man who comes to greet them. "Carlos! It's good to see you." Evan doesn't usually hug waiters, as far as Dan's seen, but apparently this place is an exception, because he opens up his arms and Carlos is happy to move into them.
    "Evan, good to see you again. It's been too long." Then the waiter is looking over at Dan, and his attitude shifts a little. He's still friendly, but it feels a bit more professional now, almost chilly. Dan realizes that the man had been expecting to see Jeff.
    Evan seems to realize it too. "Ah, yeah, this is Dan— he's a friend of Jeff's and mine. Jeff's in Seattle, helping his mom move, but he's going to be really pissed when he hears we came here without him." Dan feels a bit awkward. They've never really discussed how to explain their relationship to new people, and for the most part, Dan has been happy to avoid the issue, happy to stay home and avoid strangers. But Evan had brought him here, where he and Jeff are obviously known… Dan isn't sure if it was deliberate or if Evan had just forgotten.
    Evan's explanation seems to be enough for Carlos, at any rate, and he has a warmer smile for Dan as he guides them into the main room. It's not big, only nine or ten small tables, but they're packed, even though it's still early for dinner. Carlos guides them to the only table that's still open. "Here, you can sit here in the corner and hide your disreputable clothing… only for you, Evan, would we make such an exception."
And that's great. Evan just laughs it off, but Dan looks around and

On Deck | Kate Sherwood
    sees that everyone else is dressed up, looking like this is an occasion, a special night out. Dan feels bad, for being scruffy and under-dressed and cheapening their celebrations, and then he feels bad about feeling bad, because screw them, maybe they shouldn't be judging people by their clothes anyway, and….
    Evan nudges his knee. "It's cool, Dan, he was just kidding. It's not usually that dressy here… everyone's eating early and then going to the opera afterward, so they're dressed up for that, not for this. I've been in here in jeans lots of times."
    Dan nods, but he's not really convinced. Just because Evan's gotten away with it doesn't mean that it's acceptable… it just means that he's Evan. Dan puts a smile on his face, though. "Yeah, okay." They're inside now, and it would make a bigger scene if they left. And besides, Evan shouldn't be doing all the adapting. Dan needs to try to be flexible too. Or at least, he thinks he does. Maybe.
Evan's watching him closely. "Want to just go get a burger?"
    And, God, YES, that's what Dan wants to do. But he shakes his head. "No, this is fine. It's…." He looks around, tries to find something more concretely positive to say. The room is simple, with plain, dark walls, subdued lighting, tables covered in white linen… nothing too exceptional. He remembers his first impression. "Something smells incredible."
    Evan nods enthusiastically. "They just do a prix fixe menu, so I don't know exactly what's on for tonight, but it's always incredible. And I warned them that we need to be out of here by a certain time, and they said that as long as we were here at the same time as the opera crowd, it'd be okay."
    Dan's a little confused. He has no idea what a pre-feeks menu is, but that's not the only problem. "Wait. You said we were coming in from sailing to avoid the weather."
Evan looks surprised, and then shrugs. "Yeah, we could have stayed

On Deck | Kate Sherwood
    out later, and eaten somewhere else. But the weather did look dodgy, and, you know, it's nice to eat here…" He gives Dan another look. "But, seriously, man, if you're not going to enjoy it, we can bail."
    Dan takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself down. "No, it's good. I mean, it's interesting. I never would have known this place existed."
    Carlos is back with a bottle of wine. He shows the