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Right on cue, David's cell phone rang. The caller ID announced it was Megan's cell, so Dave answered. His heart sank. Megan would only call if his dinner were about to be ruined. He sighed into the phone to let her know his annoyance. "How late are you going to be?"

"Oh, baby, please don't be like that." Megan's voice was as sweet as her nature, despite the way she looked. No one could say she wasn't a sexy package with lots of tit and ass to make sure the whole world knew she was female. Some might have said her short spiky hair and snapping green eyes were a bit too rough trade for them, but her attitude was why Dave loved her. She was no buttons and bows sweetheart but a woman who chose to be with him. "It's going to be at least two more hours before I can get there. Don't start dinner until I call, okay?"

Dave counted to ten silently. He'd known better than to start dinner before she actually walked in the door. This wasn't the first time she'd been late. It was his fault. "It's already done. I was ready to plate."

"Damn! Damn! Damn!" Megan's cursing was muttered, even though she was likely at the break table in the back of the restaurant where no customer could hear her. "Look, I'm really sorry! I should have called as soon as I knew, but they gave me a ten-top --" That was waitress-speak for a table of ten diners, Dave knew. "-- and this was the first chance I've had. Put it on the warmer. Janelle just called in again, and the new girl just up and quit. Billy's in a real bind. I'll be there as soon as I can. I promise." She hung up.

It took him a few minutes to salvage what he could of the sauce and throw everything he could into the warmer. By the time he was done, Dave had a raging headache. He rummaged in her bathroom for an analgesic and decided to lie down on her bed until the pain went away. Almost as soon as his head hit her pillows, he was asleep.

The sound of voices half-roused him at one point, but his body, too worn out from his own shift in the restaurant, refused to do more than allow him the opportunity to turn over, taking Megan's comforter with him. Then it was lights out again.

When next he awakened, the clock on the bedside table read ten minutes before midnight. Frustration and anger rose in David, but he didn't know what to do about it. For the moment, they were both stuck in dead-end, poverty-level jobs. He'd been offered a position in The Sphinx Hotel's famous Amarna restaurant after graduation, but he'd still be the lowest chef on the roster for at least another couple of years. There was nothing to be done until they could afford the tax penalties of pairing off. He might as well go home and beat off in the shower.

The vid screen blared a little loudly, playing some Jazz Era hits from the cable company's selection of music channels. Dave wondered if Jared and Michael had come back early. They often curled up on the couch together to read while listening to music and then fell asleep there. No matter what, they'd get a notice from the property manager's office for noise violation if they left the music up that high. Dave tiptoed toward the screen's control panel. He'd just turn down the sound a notch or two on his way out, and then leave. Quietly, so as not to disturb them if they were asleep, Dave crept softly over the carpeted dining area, then froze in his tracks.

On the floor, Michael and Jared were busily pleasuring one another in a mutual sixty-nine. Naked, with the lights of the fractals on the screen reflecting off their bodies, both men were even more beautiful than he'd thought possible.

At first, Dave didn't know what to do. The front door was across the living room, and he'd have to step over them to make it to the door. He could of course return to Megan's room and simply wait there, but he didn't do that, either. His boots seemed rooted to the floor, his eyes glued to the tableau in front of him.

Dave stood fighting his morals and the wish to give the men he'd begun to call friends the privacy they deserved. Instead, he wanted to watch. He licked his lips. Maybe more...