Did I really just say that? Do you like meat? What kind of idiot am I?

I’ve never had an issue talking to cute, shaggy-haired twinks before, but somehow, some way, Andrew’s got me tongue-tied.

I wouldn’t mind getting my tongue tied with his.

My brain has left the building. Lovely.

I feel like I should follow up with something a little more professional than asking a potential customer the stupidest question ever heard, but I’ve got nothing. It’s kinda hard to think when I’m looking at him.

“What kind of… meat… are we talking about?” The rasp of his voice sends goosebumps prickling on my skin, and I can’t help staring at his lips. They’re not particularly thick, but they’re definitely kissable. Thoughts of sinking my teeth into the pink flesh start to pop up, making me “pop up” in other places, so I force myself to look elsewhere—only to lock eyes with him. It’s impossible to miss how dilated his pupils are.

My mouth starts moving by itself. “Any kind of meat you want. You just have to ask.” Yeah, and if my brain doesn’t connect to my mouth anytime soon, I’m facing harassment charges and going out of business. God, I’m such a scrub.

But Andrew doesn’t seem deterred. “In that case, I’d like to see everything you’ve got.”

Everything I’ve got? I suddenly picture myself wearing a clean apron with nothing underneath, slowly unraveling the ties and stripping for him under dim lighting and soft music. Get a grip, Maik. That’s not what he means.

So I start talking. Anything to get my head out of the gutter and back in the game. And of course that means I’m going on and on about the expertly-carved animal flesh and the smoked and aged delicacies and the different kinds of animals and how they’re raised and hunted and how I make sure every source is all humane and stuff and…

“The farmers that raise these animals make these sausages here. These ones are the Italian pork sausage, chicken-and-apple, bratwurst, gelbwurst, salami, kielbasa.”

I take a couple more steps to the left until I’m standing behind the end of the meat display case. “And yeah. These are the sausages I make in-house.” He regards me silently, like he’s waiting for me to say more. My palms get damp with nerves—I’ve talked to my cousins about my culinary work before, but it’s my first time telling a customer about them. I do my best not to squirm self-consciously under Andrew’s attention. “It’s– It’s my own special recipe,” I confess, unable to meet his eye.

I didn’t think the cutie across the counter would care about my nerdy food stuff, but he only looks more intrigued. “Special recipe?”

My cheeks heat up real hot. He doesn’t actually want to hear me talk about sausage, does he?

He’s still watching me. Maybe he does want to know more. “Well, ah, I have some traditional pampanga longanisa here, but…” I take a deep breath, gathering my courage before I continue. “This one is what I call ‘knackutay’. It’s a fusion between knackwurst and batutay.” A shy smile creeps across my face. “A fusion of German and Filipino, kinda like me.”

He leans in, encouraging me to continue, so of course my mouth starts blabbering about meats again. “I make it with veal, beef, and a lot of garlic, so it’s a different kind of meaty flavor, you know?” A grin forms on my face as my confidence grows, ’cause dammit, my knackutay is delicious. “The sausage is pretty thick, so it could be a bit difficult to get it into your mouth, but once you do, it fills you up real nice. And it’s very, very juicy—it’ll explode if you’re not careful.”

Andrew licks his lips as he gazes at me with hunger. Maybe he wants to try some? There’s nobody else waiting for service, so I could probably grill one for him real quick.

“Would you, uh, like a sample? If you don’t mind waiting, I could—”

“Yes.” Andrew shudders on an exhale, dark eyes boring into me. I nod and slip into the back.

Once I’m in the kitchen, I feel like I can breathe again. I lean against the wall and stare at the fluorescent lights attached to the ceiling, trying to unscramble my thoughts.

It’s only then that I realize I don’t have any extra knackutay in storage. I have to go back out there, but Andrew’s presence is messing with my head.

So I take a deep breath.

And another.

And I pop into the front of the store to grab a sausage link before returning to the kitchen.