The Better Side of Me - Jerry Cole Page 0,10

slightly further apart.

“It’s amazing what can happen when you actually do the exercise properly,” Lance joked.

“Right... yeah...” Kirk managed, barely. Lance had his hands on Kirk’s waist as he guided him through the squat and it was all Kirk could do to not collapse on the spot.

“Don’t tell Carlo I said anything though,” Lance then hurried. “He’s a good dude. Just a little lazy sometimes. You know what I mean?”

“I won’t.” Kirk cursed under his breath. So far, he hadn’t managed to string more than two to three words together in a row. He was looking for ways to do it too! But every time he went to speak, he turned into a Neanderthal. He may as well have started grunting.

“You’ve been coming here for a week now, right? What do you think? Seeing any improvements?” The exercise was done with, so Lance let go of Kirk and took a step back as if to admire his work.

“Oh... yeah... heaps...” Kirk lied.

“Seriously?” Lance raised an eyebrow and put his hands on his hips.

Kirk hesitated. He frowned. He wondered if Lance would take the truth personally. For a moment, he even considered lying just to save any possible confrontation. But then he said, “No. It’s pretty shit to be honest.” It was out before he could stop himself.

Lance threw his head back and roared with laughter. “There it is.”

“There’s what?”

“The truth, dude. I could tell you were frustrated – cat out of the bag. I was watching you in the locker room for a couple of minutes earlier before I spoke. I know a disappointed face when I see it.”

Kirk’s face flushed bright red. “You were...?” His eyes darted around the room as if looking for an escape.

“Of course. And I could tell right away you weren’t happy.”

“Well... it’s not that I’m not happy....”

“Enough of that,” Lance demanded. “What’s wrong. Tell me now or forever be furious with yourself that you didn’t.” Lance crossed his thick arms, raised an eyebrow at Kirk and stared him down.

God he was handsome. And commanding. And perfect! Did he know what he was doing right now? Or was it just natural? Surely, he was aware? Kirk could feel his knees tremble, and his lip quiver under the man’s hardened stare. But there was also something safe about it, non-threatening. Kirk could sense actual empathy in him, as if he really did give a damn.

“I just wish this shit happened faster,” Kirk sighed. “Like steroids... but natural.”

“It feels good, don’t it,” Lance clapped his hands together.

“Sorry,” Kirk frowned. “I didn’t mean to... I don’t know. Shit on your whole profession?”

“Trust me, you’re not. And this is all part of the process. It’s important to get this stuff out, so we can break it down, look at it together and I can tell you why it’s taking so long... what’s it been a whole week, right?” Lance winked.

Kirk blushed. “Right... a week. But it feels like two.”

Lance roared his laughter again. “All right, let me explain... what do you do for a living, Kirk?”

“Oh.” Kirk blinked his surprise. This conversation right now was more than anything he’d had with Carlo. “I’m a professor of Ancient History at Morgan University.”

“All right, cool.” Lance thought for a moment and then lit up. “So, you study like ancient battles and things like that, right?”

“Right...” Kirk agreed with caution. Where was this going?

“Give me an example, right here and now of a battle that happened with no planning, with no preparation, and was over with right away – and won, too. Does that even exist?”

Kirk tried to stop himself from smiling but couldn’t. “No, not that I can think of.”

Lance rubbed his hands together. “In fact, I bet you could list a dozen battles that are the complete opposite, right? Ones that took weeks and weeks of planning and prep— and hard work, most importantly. And even then, ones that took hours and hours and hours to actually fight out.”

“I can,” Kirk agreed.

“Example.”

“Huh?”

“Give me an example.” Lance was being dead serious.

“Oh... all right... let me...” Kirk thought for a moment. Was this guy being serious? He actually wanted to hear about some ancient battle, just to prove a point? Or did he actually care? “I guess the Siege of Tyre is a good example.”

Lance sat himself down on the nearest bench and looked up at Kirk with interest. “Tell me about it – the quick version, as your session is almost up.” He patted the spot on the bench beside him