The Better Side of Me - Jerry Cole Page 0,13

the easy part. Figuring out all of this junk is what takes time and effort.”

“And that’s what you do, is it? Help people with diets.” Kirk flipped to the next page, one that had a series of terrible drawings of the smoothie bar that Lance had done himself. Lance had been really proud at the time, but now he felt like an eight-year-old could have done better.

“No— here.” Lance snatched the folder away and snapped it closed. “I...” His face was heating up, and he could feel his breathing intensify. “... I had this dumb – never mind.” A nervous chuckle, eyes looking everywhere.

“Tell me.” Kirk reached gently for the folder, as if going to open it. But then he snatched his hand back and held it to his chest like it had bitten him. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I shouldn’t have – fuck. Sorry.”

What the heck was Lance so nervous for? He looked Kirk up and down, seeing that it was he who was feeling embarrassed. Indeed, since he’d first seen Kirk in the locker over an hour ago, the man had hidden in his shell as if hoping to not be seen. There was no reason at all for Lance to feel nervous, or shy, or timid about his idea. Fuck, if anything Kirk was the perfect person to show.

“It’s fine,” Lance eased. “Here.” He held the folder out in front of the two and flipped it back open. “I actually had an idea recently to open a protein-smoothie bar that sort of... like I would figure people’s macronutrients out – fuck. I mean, like their carbs and proteins and... ah...”

“Fats?” Kirk prompted with a chuckle.

“Yeah, those.” He was getting nervous again. He didn’t know Kirk well, but the guy had to be smart. He was a professor for God’s sake. He probably thought Lance was a jock-moron. “Anyway, I would figure them out for clients and then when they were here, I’d make them a smoothie – with their macronutrients – the carbs, proteins and—”

“And fats,” Kirk finished with a smile. “Yeah, I remember. That’s an awesome idea though! Shit. And you’d figure it out for them? For like first timers... like me?”

“Exactly!” Lance beamed. “I’d probably do it with new sign-ups, so that they would hit the ground running. And there’s so much room for expansion and growth,” Lance finished proudly. No longer nervous, he had never felt more confident in his idea.

“I can’t wait to see it in action. I’ll be your first customer, how’s that?”

“Yeah,” Lance bit his lip. “That might be a – I'm kind of stuck on the numbers right now. How much it will cost, return on investment.... that kind of stuff.”

“Right” Kirk slapped Lance on the arm. It looked like it took every ounce of his courage to do so. “Yeah, that shit... it sucks to do. But it’s a necessary evil. Right.”

“Yeah right,” Lance scoffed. “I bet you could figure it all out in like a minute.”

“Me?” Kirk pretended to act mad. “Just cause I wear glasses, doesn’t make me a nerd. That’s stereotyping, buddy.”

Lance blushed. Actually blushed! “That’s not what I—”

“I’m kidding.” Kirk rested his hand on Lance’s knee as a means to calm him down. Then, as if realizing what he was doing, he quickly removed it and shoved it under his own leg. “What I mean is, all that stuff is easy enough to figure out if you know how.”

“And you know how?”

“I do,” Kirk nodded proudly, confidently. Where was this man twenty minutes ago in the gym? “Do you... if you want. I can... I can help you out?”

“Seriously?” Lance blinked back his surprise. “You’d do that?”

“Of course!” Kirk said excitedly. Then, as if realizing he had gone a little too far, backpedaled. “I mean... yeah. I can look over it with you and give you some suggestions. Enough to get you through a meeting anyway.” He pushed his lips together to stop a smile and looked away.

“Yeah...” Lance, in a moment of weakness, gave Kirk’s exposed knee a squeeze. “That would be great, actually.”

And so, it was.

For the next hour, Lance and Kirk sat together in the locker room, going over all the information that Lance had managed to pull together and figuring out a way to churn out some sort of budget. As well as that, they came up with some basic projections and even a timeline! It was a very basic version, of course, but at least it was a starting point.

And Kirk