Work Text:
“he hasn’t stopped looking at you,” Jayla whispered, walking past you.
you quirked your eyebrows looking around the bar until you found the man staring at you. he sat there with his arms resting on the bar his bottom lip tucked between his teeth and his eyes stuck to you like a shadow. he gave you a small smile before looking off. his entire aura reeked of bad decisions, but fuck if he wasn't one of the finest white boys you ever seen.
you walked over with your drink mixer in hand hoping you wouldn't act upon what could be a bad decision.
“hi.” you greeted regaining his attention.
he ran his large hand in the loose strands of his hair, "hey."
those hands would look great around-yep, nope. most definitely finna make some bad decisions.
“what’s your poison?”
“um, just a pint.” he shrugged
“ok.” you went to the beer glasses and filled one with BlueMoon.
handing it over you just received a nod of approval. you weren't good at the flirting thing so it took you a few seconds to think of your next move and you decided to use one that worked on you from numerous bartenders.
“my first time seeing you here,” you said leaning on the counter
“you keep tabs on all your customers?” he sipped from his pint.
“we get the same 25 customers out of the week so when i see a new face i get curious.”
he leaned forward and looked you in the eyes. from the look in his eyes you knew this was gonna be the most pleasurable yet terrible decision you'd ever make.
“i’m Ari.” he licked the foam from his top lip.
Jesus
“Y/N.”
“hope i filled your curiosity,” he smirked
i have something else you can fill.
you grinned before you were called to assist other patrons. the rest of your shift you fill and refill glasses and turn down the multiple offers trying to coax you into sitting down and having a drink with them.
two and a half hours later Ari was still sitting in the same seat babysitting the same pint of beer, which had to be warm by now. you went back over to him and grabbed his glass, poured out the old beer, and refilled it.
"you gotta staring problem?" you asked, handing his pint back.
"no, just admiring the view."
completely smitten you just stared like he had been all night. he held eye contact with a teasing gleam.
shit! you felt yourself getting a bit too riled up and it was time for you to get it together before you do something in your workplace that'd get you fired.
“you paying for the drinks or opening a tab?” you asked writing up a receipt.
“you do tabs here?” he looked you over eyes landing on your nearly exposed chest.
you often wore shirts that flattered breasts, which tends to generate more tips.
“yeah.” you drew his eyes back up to yours.
he shook his head with a teasing tst and 'warned' you about your bad business practices. he took his lower lip between his teeth again.
“nah, if you don't pay by the end of the week we’ll take you behind the building and beat you with a sock filled with soap bars” you joked in hopes of taking the sexual tension, you felt, down a bit.
Ari chuckled at that, handing over some cash "i'll pay for the drink now, and maybe we can talk about opening a tab later".
feeling a flutter in your stomach at the thought of seeing him again you took the twenty and tried giving him his change but was met with a simple keep it. as you walked away, you couldn't help but steal another glance at him.
the next evening Ari was right back in the same chair wearing the same fucking smug look.
"Ari." you greeted him as he sat down.
"Y/N." he returned the salutation.
"what's up? what're you doing here?"
"well, it's a bar," he said blatantly.
"i know, i just-" you shook your head "never mind, what can i get you?"
"a pint of Heineken."
you went over and filled a Heineken glass with the beer. handing it over to him you received a thank you in response.
"yeah."
he gave you an one over.
you rolled your eyes going off and doing some tidying up around the place.
-
-
for the next three months, Ari would continue to visit you while at work, in the same chair with the same stupid smirk and sly comments. it was a constant cat-and-mouse game between you— one of you would be flirtatious and the other would act completely oblivious. you'd be lying if you said you weren't excited each time he walked into the bar. you just wish he’d respond to the advancements that you’d been making.
he'd stay after closing just to 'make sure nothing goes down' while you were there alone. you thought that was just an excuse to be alone with you and that's possibly led to something else. but no. the most you got was a very light conversation and some brief flirting here and there. so you just gave up hope on the possibility of pursuing anything sexual and just decided to keep this strictly friendly--which seemed difficult. not because you can't be friends with people you find attractive, but because he hardly divulges anything about himself. but you had a plan you hoped to change that.
the bar was now empty; you locked up shop and went back behind the bar. you pull out eight shot glasses and a bottle of Bacardi, ready to play a game.
"do you have anywhere to be tonight?" you pour up the shots
"no."
"well, let's play a game." you split them evenly between you two.
he grabbed a shot "what's the game?"
"21 questions, one person asks a question, and if the other doesn't wanna answer they take a shot."
he took all four shots letting out a sharp breath.
"or we could just drink." you threw back the shots.
the game went from what was supposed to be 21 questions to trying to drink each other under the table. he was winning by far, but your competitive nature wouldn't allow you to give up.
an hour and one bottle of Bacardi later you were both sloppy drunk and in the empty apartment above the bar having some of the best sex you’ve had in a long time.
it was borderline unfair how good sex with him was. if things didn't work out, or if this was a one-time thing, where else were you supposed to find some shit like this.
tears were building up in your eyes as nirvana began flooding your body.
he reached out and wiped them from your face "you're so fucking pretty when you cry."
"oh fuck me!" you rolled your eyes at how unfair this was.
"yes, ma'am." he pulled all the way out and slammed back into you.
fuck!
-
-
over the next two months, you and Ari had built a sexual and platonic relationship. the sexual aspect of it was one of the greatest experiences in your life, but he was standoffish when it came down to being platonic. you barely knew anything about him—only that he was a mechanic who just moved to Albuquerque.
you were the complete opposite of Ari. you were an open book and welcomed anyone willing to get to know you so it was a slightly unbalanced relationship.
despite that, you two had grown closer and formed a routine. you'd take turns on who'd bring who lunch to work and you'd end the night by him coming to the bar ordering a beer and waiting for your shift to end and go to his place, where you spent almost every night together.
you were at the bar making a Gin and Tonic for David when Ari walked in.
"hey." he leaned over the bar and greeted you with a kiss.
"hi. i'll get you your beer when i'm dong with David and Mr. B" you said grabbing a knife and lime while he took a seat at the end of the bar.
you make small conversation with Dave while you cut up the lime and garnished his drink. sliding the drink over to him you went on to make Mr.B's Old Fashion.
while you were making the drink there was a loud commotion behind you. you looked over to see Ari and Kev fighting, more like Ari beating the shit out of Kev.
“woah, what the fuck is going on?” you rushed over to them.
but you were ignored and the physicality continued.
"Dave! Shawn!" you called out to the closes two men.
"i just got my drink," Dave complained.
"i'll give both of y'all two rounds on the house just help!"
they went over and pulled the two apart and stood between them.
"you fucking pussy!" Kev yelled.
"say it to my face bitch!" Ari tried charging him.
”Ari, go upstairs while i get things together down here.” you tugged on his arm, just wanting the whole situation to be over with.
“no, fuck him! he-” he began to rant
“ARI!” you snapped shutting him up “please” you demanded with a calmer tone.
he tucked his tail between his legs and went up to the apartment.
"Kev, get the fuck out!" you pointed at the door going back behind the bar.
"i get assaulted and i'm the one reprimanded?"
"yes!" you pulled out the baseball bat from under the counter and pointed at him "now leave before i beat yo ass."
he sucked his teeth leaving but not without tossing out a bitch in your direction.
you went back to making Mr. B's Old Fashioned and tried calming yourself down. you didn't wanna go up to Ari pissed and raising hell when you didn't know the full context, but you couldn't calm down. it was bad enough that he had a physical altercation with an ex, but the fact that it was where you worked just made it ten times worse.
you knew it wasn't fair to be mad at him about Kevin, but whatever happened could've most likely been taken care of outside of the bar.
you served Mr. B his drink and put Jayla in charge before heading up to Ari.
”what was that?” you walked in to see him sitting on the couch.
you went over and sat next to him tailor style.
“nothing” he leaned back letting his head fall back against the back of the couch.
“bullshit! i had to leave Jayla in charge because you decided to physically assault some random nigga from my past, where i work--might i add!”
"i didn't know you dated him."
"then what was that about?" you asked.
he sighed leaning further into the couch, shaking his head. you rolled your eyes at his stubbornness, deciding to leave him there. you had work to do and if he didn't wanna talk you weren't gonna make him.
the rest of your shift you were visibly annoyed and less chatty than normal. there was nothing that happened or that was said that should've led to that
when the end of your shift came Ari finally decided to descend down, sitting at the bar while you cleaned the tables. the silence was palpable and you could cut the tension with a knife. his back was turned to you and didn't even acknowledge your presence.
finally, after what felt like hours, you couldn't take the silence anymore. "look, Ari, could you just tell me what the fuck happened." Ari shifted in his seat, his expression unreadable.
“Ari!”
Ari finally looked up at you with a hesitant expression. “he said some shit about you. just some disrespectful stuff, that i could never repeat and i lost it.”
you let out a deep breath, feeling guilty for having been angry with him when all he was doing was standing up for you. but it was still pointless and unnecessary.
“i get it, but you don’t have to defend my honor.” you rolled your eyes
you weren’t some defenseless little maiden who needed a knight to come and save her.
“if someone disrespects my girlfriend i’m gonna have to do something.”
you shot him a confused look.
his girlfriend? since when? yeah you liked him and enjoyed the time you spent together and yes he was amazing in bed, but you were under the impression that this was strictly a friends-with-benefits situation.
“y-your girlfriend? since when?”
“i mean for the past two months we’ve spent every lunch together, every night together, and we fuck damn near every night.”
“and that qualifies me as your girlfriend?”
“yeah.” he looked over at you and saw the shock written on your face “well i was at least hoping so.”
ugh, this nigga need to work on his communication.
"i mean, yeah i guess. if that's how you feel." you threw back expecting him to pick up what was wrong with the way he present this to you and the way he 'asked' you.
"cool we got that sorted out." he nodded to himself.
you just rolled your eyes, not even surprised anymore, and shifted the conversation back to the topic at hand.
"yeah, but you still can't just fight people for talking shit." you sat next to him.
"like hell, i can't."
"we are grown-ass people, that's how you get assault charges."
"yeah, i know." he grumbled standing up "you ready to go?"
ugh!
-
-
since you guys started officially dating your routine changed just a smidge. while you close the bar and Ari sat around you would talk to him about whatever was pissing you off that night.
tonight you were talking Ari's ear off about how the delivery people fucked up your orders and tried playing in your face about their fuck up.
"and i asked can i see the receipt and he hands it over, and the paper literally says eleven kegs. then he tells me oh we'll just have to have the other ten sent out later this week. and i’m like no i need them today. and he goes well who finishes eleven kegs in one day and i can just 'wait it out'." you turned to him waiting for him to express just a bit of outrage for the audacity of the delivery man.
"mmm" he shook his head
"right! and i tell him- i said sir i refuse to let your screw-up affect my schedule so i will need those other ten kegs today! and he had the nerve to call me crazy. i'm crazy because you can't fucking do your job!"
he just shook his head again and let out a sigh. then it hit you
"oh my gosh, baby. i've been ranting about myself this whole time, i didn't even ask you how your day was."
"eh" he shrugged
"eh?" you asked
he nodded
"what does 'eh' mean?" you asked confused
he tossed out another eh as if that explained anything.
during the short time you two were official you grew more comfortable around him and was able to be more open--than you already were-- but he was still as reserved. you always try and pry as much information out about him as possible. it took two days to find out his favorite color and a whole week to find out where he was born. it didn't surprise you that he didn't wanna talk about it and that you'd have to twist his arm for some information.
"what happened for it just to be eh?"
"nothing."
you looked at him trying to comprehend what he was saying. he spent ten hours a day at an auto mechanic shop with five other people and all kinds of people coming in and out, but nothing happened.
"nothing? during ten hours nothing happened?"
he nodded.
"com'n just tell me a bit about your day even if it's boring as hell." you practically begged.
"why?" he stared at you like you were crazy.
"...because you're my boyfriend."
"yeah, but i really don't do the whole spill my guts thing."
"you don't have to spill your guts, just tell me something that happened."
"alright, let me think," he said, pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts. "i got to work and fixed this beat-up Malibu that some girl brought in last Friday."
you nodded, hoping he would continue with more details about his day. but unsurprising, he ended the conversation there. "that's it? that's what you did for ten hours?" you asked a hint of disbelief in your voice.
"yeah, well eleven" he corrected, "i had a bit of a setback because of an argument with Jessie."
you took the opportunity to explore this further, knowing that it was the most he was likely to reveal. "what happened?"
"she took my socket wrench without my permission and lied about it," he said, his annoyance evident. you knew that there was more to the story, and so you prodded him for further details. "and what did you do?"
"i asked her for it back, and she said it was hers," he as if it was that simple.
"and?" you prompted
"i told her i knew it wasn't hers because she lost hers yesterday."
"and what did she say?" you asked, sensing that this was leading somewhere.
"she kept denying it."
"and then what?"
"i took it from her and told her not to touch my stuff without asking."
"i know that's right!" you exclaimed, deciding to give your unsolicited opinion. "if she needs a socket wrench, she can just buy her own."
"yeah," he agreed, not sure where all this hype was coming from but he liked it.
"you should probably put your initials on the handle of your tool," you suggested.
"you're probably right," he said, as if a sense of realization had washed over him "because my tools always end up in someone else's hands or toolbox, and that delays my work."
"and why should you have to delay your work because of someone else's irresponsibility!" you said pointedly.
"exactly!" he grew more animated the more he felt seen.
then suddenly calmed himself down looking straight ahead with his eyebrows furrowed.
you tried to hide your triumphant smile, knowing that you were chipping away at that wall.
"i know what you're trying to do and i don't appreciate it." he abruptly said.
"wh-" he cut you off
"you're trying to turn me into one of those people who just rambles on and on, but that's not me."
"i'm not. i just want you to be comfortable communicating with me and talking about shit that bothers you. i really like you and i really care about you and i don't want you to think you can't talk to me about whatever's going on in your life because i promise you you can."
you gazed at him, looking at his face, trying to read his expression. you know that he was struggling to open up to you, but he didn't want to admit it. you just didn't know what was holding him back. was it some past experience that made it difficult for him to trust people or was it just his personality?
you decided to take a different approach. "Ari, i know that you don't like talking about yourself and i don't want to pry or make you uncomfortable, but i want you to know that you can talk to me about anything. i just wanna be close with you."
he looked at you, his eyes softening. "i know," he said, his voice low. "but it's hard for me. sometimes, i feel like i don't have anything interesting to say, or i don't want to burden you with my problems."
"shut up," you said, taking his hand in yours. "i care about you, and i want to be there for you. you don't have to be Mr. Talkative, but just know that i'm here to listen."
he smiled a small, hesitant smile. "thanks," he said, squeezing your hand.
you returned the smile. you knew that it wasn't going to be easy getting him to open up to you, but you were gonna try to be patient and take it one step at a time.
-
-
two years later and the hard wall Ari had up was dust on the ground. he was no longer stoic and to himself. he was now more open and willing to give information. it took some time but once you found the chink in the armor there was no looking back.
when you two first started dating you were the only one who'd complain about your day at work and highly vocal on things that were pissing you off and he'd set back listening just adding hmms and mhmms here and there. you'd have to damn near pry details of his work day out of him.
now he'd come and rant to you just wanting to get his frustrations off his chest and occasionally wanting your opinion or the situation. which is where you were now, sitting on the couch in your living room while Ari paced and told you about some bullshit ass customer who helicoptered him while he work on his motor.
"and he had the nerve, the audacity to tell me i was doing it wrong." he ranted
"and what'd you say?"
"i said, you came here to get your motor fixed if you feel like you know what you're doing then why bring it here? and he goes well why do what you can pay someone else to do?"
"what?!"
"right? and i'm like yeah, no i'm here to do my job not to be disrespected, so you're either gonna let me do my job or your can take your car somewhere else."
"as you should!"
"and he goes well i guess i'll just go and sit down. duh! you are the only one shadowing the mechanic everybody else is sitting down somewhere." he sighed before flopping down next to you. "but anyway how was your day?"
you smile, proud of the progress Ari has made in opening up to you. it feels good to be the one he comes and rant and rave to about everything.
"um, everything at work was good" you leaned into him.
"you sure?" he wrapped an arm around.
"yeah." you smiled up at him.