I Said Yes

From one surprise to another...

the David Cavanaugh small operation Restaurant of the Year award goes to………………“Bello Ristorante! And to accept the award are General Manager Matt Lawrence and Executive Chef Rob Shafer.” (Diane)

Well…needless to say…I heard Diane’s announcement and all I could do was just sit there for a minute. Rob had to grab the back of my suit coat to get me to move. As I followed Rob through the aisles people were standing up and applauding and it felt like we were walking in one of those slow-motion replays. We got up to the podium and Diane hugged Rob and then gave me a big, long hug. Michael and Rob did the Bro-Hug thing and then I got a Michael hug…with a little bit more squeeze and sugar…we acknowledged and waved to the group that was still applauding and then we made our way back to the table where there were hugs and handshakes all around. I was blown away and, never in any world, did I expect that we would get this type of recognition…especially from this prestigious group of people. That being said, Chef Rob was pretty damn proud of himself and his culinary team and said so…many, many times. Corey and I had a good laugh when Chef took the actual plaque and paraded it around showing people he knew. I was content just to sit back down and soak in the thought…remembering all the hard work, over the course of the previous year and how things inside the restaurant had changed for the better. I still had a lingering thought that Diane probably had a lot to do with us being selected…I was glad for her influence and support, but I had hoped we really deserved it. I realized there really wasn’t anything I could do or should do about that question, so I decided to just soak it up and enjoy.

Michael came back to the table and asked if I wanted to go wander the room with him…say hello to some people…grab a quick drink from the banquet bar and then get outta there. We did, of course, have one more day of the show and then would have to pack up all the supplies and the end of the next evening. We had decided that, rather than get a cocktail there, we would head over to the Admiral and have a couple of drinks. It was closer to the house, we could walk home, and we hadn’t seen Steve in a while. It was a Saturday so surely, he would be there. Michael also suggested we invite the guys, but I sort of suspected they would choose to stay downtown. We said our goodbyes at the table and put out the general invite to join us at the Admiral…no one jumped at the chance, as I knew would be the case, so we left the invite open.

We grabbed an Uber and took it over to the junction in West Seattle and walked the short distance to the Admiral. It was about 10 pm on a Saturday night and the place seemed surprising slow but I wasn’t going to complain. There were empty stools at the bar and not a whole lot of noise, so I was content with a, somewhat, quieter evening with Michael, who, by the way, seemed to be in a great mood. We were greeted by Steve who came over bearing cocktails, two shots of Jameson and his classic Irish/Gaelic brogue...

“Well…do me eyes deceive me…you decided to honor me with your presence” (Steve)

“It is an honor for you Mr. Steve…do you know that there is royalty sitting at your bar…you should bow or courtesy or something like that…isn’t that what you “Micks” do when you have royalty in the house?” (Michael)

“Should I now…well what news have ye pray tell?” (Steve)

“This gentleman, over here to my right, was honored tonight for running the best restaurant in all of Washington…not just Seattle…but the whole state!”

“Well…fer fucks sake…how did you manage to pull that off SIR” (Steve)

“You two can stop right now…it’s not that big a deal” (Me)

“That’s not what it looked like when you got the award…I do believe you almost cried” (Michael)

“Oh Fuck off” (Me)

“Ohhh…you blokes were at the big Wine show tonight…It must have been a great Craic tonight” (Steve)

“Craic? What the hell is Craic?” (Me)

“Good times…good fun ya fool…don’t ye know anything…have I taught you nothing in all the years?” (Steve)

“Obviously not…he is kind of slow on the uptake” (Michael)

“And you knew what that meant ya putz?” (Me)

“Of course, I know…I come from a good Scottish family” (Michael)

“There is no good thing fool” (Steve)

“Now that’s funny” (Me)

We both laughed hard at that one and Steve could hardly keep a straight face when he said it. Steve poured himself a shot and re-filled ours and we all raised our glasses…

“That the roof above us never fall in and may we friends gathered below never fall out. Sláinte’!”

I was sure that Steve was full of hundreds of Irish toasts and blessings but I particularly appreciated that one…Being in the hospitality industry taught me a few things but one of them was that you tend to build long time friendships with the people you work with and those in the business…when you work in it…not that it is unique…but it has its own culture…whether you wash dishes or you run a joint…there is a camaraderie that doesn’t just disappear over days and time and location and…with people like Murray at Zig Zag, Corrine at Elliott’s and Steve at the Admiral…I could not have found a better friend base or companions in arms.

Michael and I had a couple of drinks, laughed a lot with Steve…enjoyed some of the juke box music and just relaxed. It had been a busy couple of days and, I thought, both of us were looking forward to the show being over. Sunday would be another busy day but, in terms of the show, shorter than the other days though pack-up would be a pain but we should be all done before dark. The gang had already predetermined we would get together for a nice dinner and drinks once everyone was packed up…everyone was staying Sunday night and headed back to where “they belonged” Monday morning.

I finished my cocktail (Michael had already pounded his most recent beer) and Steve brought over two more shots “for the road”. We downed them…invited him to join us for dinner the following evening and went outside to have a smoke and wait for the Uber ride. Michael had ordered the car and when we got in, I noticed we weren’t going the normal way…but I thought that the guys GPS was just taking him a different route. Before I knew it we had arrived down at Alki Beach…the spot close to where the water taxi would come and go from. We got out of the car on the sidewalk between Beach drive and the actual beach…I didn’t question and nothing was said as the car pulled away…Michael obviously knew what he was doing…I thought he wanted to pop in to the little bar right there on the beach but he surprised me by grabbing my hand and guiding us down the beach towards the water. Because of its proximity to the north, Seattle had an unusually late sunset and often it stayed sort of light out until midnight or so… Deep pink colors moved upward to dissolve into a soft blue gray. The water, virtually still and wave less, shimmered between a golden orange and a gentle green. We were just standing there, along the water's edge when Michael took my face in his hands, looked into my eyes, and kissed me. A deep, passionate kiss that, as usual, got me going. We pulled apart and he took my hand again and lead me further down the beach along the water. I wasn’t sure where we were going or what his plan was, so I just went with it. We walked quite a ways down the beach getting further and further away from the dock and the businesses across the street. We got to a point where the beach ends for a while and is butted up against a wave break…large rocks designed to protect the road from the high tides that came every evening.

Michael let go of my hand and took his jacket off…and then he kicked his shoes off. I knew this routine all too well from our trips to the hot springs and I believed Mr. Man was gonna take a dip. I kind of chuckled as I didn’t think he realized that the waters of the bay were generally a little chilly at night…not at all like his beloved hot springs… but I would let him find that out himself if that is what he was going to do. He continued to remove his clothes…socks…sensuously unbuttoning each button on his shirt and slipping it off. He undid his belt and unfastened his pants…slowly and seductively sliding the zipper down until the pants fell around his ankles and he stepped out of them. I looked around, up and down the street and sidewalk and the area was deserted. When I turned back around… there he stood in his black, CK boxer briefs. God, I thought to myself, this man is just gorgeous…hot…sexy…and while I did like to see him naked…the view of him in his underwear always got me revved up and going.

He turned away from me and he waded into the water up to his thighs. Then, without warning he dove in…actually plunged in headfirst. After a few seconds he rose up covered and wet and glistening in the evening light. He looked towards me and flashed his grin. I swear it, once again, was like a model shoot…or even porn…the way he stood up in the water…brushed his wet hair out of his face. Was he just teasing me with his sexiness? The next thing I knew…he dove again and this time when he emerged he faced me and, with his hand, he pushed down the front of his boxers and palmed his flesh upward, just enough for me to see, in a sexy and teasing way….This was an invitation… I was sure of it. Without realizing, I had slipped my jacket off and kicked my shoes. I seemed to be much more in a hurry than he had been…almost ripping my shirt off…dropping my pants and getting my socks off. I began to wander to the water where it covered my feet and, yes, it was chilly. The night air was warm but the water…well…it was what it was and would likely produce a fair amount of shrinkage.

I dove in and swam several yards before surfacing to see his where he was. I came up from under the water and the dive had loosened my underwear... It slipped below my tan line and revealed my fur trail below my belly. I made no move to pull them up and, as I wiped the water from my eyes, I saw where was… directly ahead of me. Just then, he thrust his arms ahead of him, pointed his hands, jumped and dove again. The arch of his back highlighted that round ass of his. The boxers came into view and highlighted his thighs, tight together, merging down to the point of his heels in a graceful arc.

For a minute he disappeared. Then, like a dolphin, his hands, shoulders, and waist shot upward from the water. His underwear had slipped and the white of his hips and his butt were glistening in plain view. Without looking back, he dove again and came up out of the water with a big splash. The boxers were down further, basically around his knees and that butt was screaming out to my dick, which by the way, had hardened so fast that its head was all but jumping out of my underwear. Then, he turned. His dark hair across his face… The shoulders, wide and sturdy, as he seductively walked towards me. He was facing me, and as he got close, I realized his underwear was only being held on by his hard cock.

As he got right in front of me, he plunged his head under the water, reached his hands around my boxers and pulled them down. Suddenly, his mouth was fully around my throbbing cock. I looked down and, what I saw, floating out from between my legs, was his dark hair floating like sea grass while his tongue and lips consumed me. I was so turned on that the cum was at the tip of my dick and ready to fly when he pulled away. I clenched my stomach and held in my load. Still in the water, he flung himself out on his back and as he did so, ripped off his boxer briefs and tossed them. Floating before me was the fullness of his naked body, a god of a man in my eyes…solid like shining marble, yet soft and wet and pink in the dusky light… and rising up from the water, tall and straight, his cock, as thick and full as I had seen.

“Your turn”he whispered…

I fell to my knees. The water was up to my chin as he floated, legs spread before me. My hands reached out and grabbed his ankles. Then slowly, I pulled him toward me, moving my touch up to his calves, then his massive thighs and finally the round of his ass cheeks. For a moment I only looked at the hard dick in front of me, rising from the water as he lay floating on his back. Then bending forward, I licked the head and then the shaft…the saltwater hinting at the taste to come. I sucked and licked and gorged myself on him as I pushed it deeper into my mouth as my hands grabbed at his ass pulling him upward. Then, without warning, he slipped from my hold and moved to his knees. We were now both face to face, on our knees with the water about chest high.

'I want you in me'

And with that, he floated up, raised his legs around my waist, and positioned his ass above my cock. His chest, wet and warm, clung against mine. His arms, full and round held me. His hands seized the back of my neck….and with a great push I felt the heat of his ass wrap itself around my throbbing dick. The water moved around us, and his skin slid against me. Up and down he thrust his ass…again and again. His dick was hard against my stomach... his mouth pressed against mine…Saltwater mixing with the taste of his tongue. The smell of his wet hair filled my nose…his dick seemed to grow harder, seemed to rise higher against me…the head rushed across my nipples. Another thrust to the bottom of my shaft….and I felt the weight against my tight balls. He grabbed me, around the back hard…and, almost in a violent rush that took my breath away, I exploded inside him. Within a second, he pulled me so tight that his cock seemed to penetrate my stomach…his head lunged backward and with a moan that came from deep inside him, he shot against me. The white cum thickening in the water and rising in several spurts against my chest…. After what seemed like several minutes…we crumbled into the water. Slowly we crawled to the sand where we collapsed into each other’s arms. The tide rising and water surrounding our feet...

“I love you!”