The Better Side of Me - Jerry Cole Page 0,57

turned down your request. Fucking sucks. But that’s all it is. A sucky situation.”

“It’s not.” Lance was still looking at his feet. “I worked so hard to... we worked so hard... I was sure that... I was so sure...” he stammered.

Kirk could have cried he was so upset for Lance. Instead, his kissed the back of his boyfriend’s hand. “You remember what I told you when we first met, about the Siege of Tyre?” Kirk waited for a response, and Lance nodded. “Even the greats lose from time to time. But that isn’t what makes them great. It’s how they come back from the loss that matters. That’s why we remember them.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to come back though... if I even can.”

Kirk kissed the back of Lance’s hand again. “Of course you can. With me, silly. So long as you have me, we’ll find a way together. I can’t believe you didn’t know that.” Kirk could feel a single tear falling down his cheek. He chose to leave it.

Lance sniffed. He looked up finally, his eyes glazed red from withheld tears. He then saw the single tear running down Kirk’s cheek and wiped at it. “What if they say no again? What then?”

“Then we try a third time. And a fourth.” Kirk sniffed. “Like I said, so long as I’m here, we will keep trying. And by the time this is all done, you’ll have your business. And you’ll laugh at how stupid this conversation was. I promise.”

“And how long are you going to be there for...?” Lance smirked just a bit. Kirk could feel the change in him.

Kirk smirked too. “Oh, another week maybe. I get bored quick – ow!” He yelped when Lance pinched him. “I was kidding.”

“You’re lucky that I have a lot of work to do – making it up to you, I mean. Otherwise, comments like that wouldn’t fly.” Lance took both Kirk’s hands in his now. They stood as if about to be wed, with the giant mosaic of Alexander the Great between them, watching the moment with a sly smile on his face.

“Do you, now?” Kirk beamed.

“Well... I don’t know if you noticed... but I was a bit of an asshole over the last two days.”

“No?” Kirk gasped playfully.

“Shocking I know. But, if you’re willing... let me make it up to you?” He then pulled Kirk into a kiss, their first in two whole days.

Kirk’s knees actually buckled as his boyfriend’s lips touched his own. It felt like their first kiss all over again. It felt just like when they were in this exact spot weeks ago about to make love for the first time... heck, it felt about as close to love as Kirk had ever known. And just like that, those past two days melted from memory; as if they never had been.

Somehow, Kirk pulled himself free. “Can it wait until we get home, though? I left the meter running on the taxi. It’ll probably end up costing us more than the entire trip.”

“Sure thing, stud,” Lance laughed. “Let’s get you home.”

And that’s just what they did. Kirk was able to breathe a sigh of relief as the two walked hand in hand from the museum. It had been a risky play, but one that Kirk had to be willing to try. One thing Kirk had started to learn from dating Lance was the importance of doing, rather than hoping. Fortune favored the bold, and this was yet another example of that.

Plus, Kirk was so happy in life right now that he would have been willing to walk over hot coals just to make Lance happy too. Lucky then that it didn’t come to that.

Chapter Eighteen

“Ah yes. Good. This is good.” Alexander Ivanov studied the vase with a level of intensity that suggested he actually knew what he was doing; one eye squinted, mouth bent in a serious frown, hands as steady as a rock. “And I suppose it was the shape that you liked? And the drawings.”

“Don’t forget the color,” Lance joked... only to turn it into a cough when he sensed Alexander tense. “But yeah,” he then hurried. “I figured you might be interested.”

“Depends on the price.” The vase sat on the table between Alexander and Lance. The large Russian blinked himself from it, leaned back and smiled a slimy, confident smirk right at Lance. “But something tells me that I already know the answer to this, yes?”

“Nothing has changed from last time,” Lance confirmed with