The Better Side of Me - Jerry Cole Page 0,23

Lance didn’t even try and move his hand away. “But you’re smart. And you’re capable. And like I said... I just feel as if you helping me could – and I’ll give you free training sessions in return. That was what I was going to say. You help me and I’ll help you.” He tried a wink but shut both his eyes by mistake. The man really was a little drunk.

Kirk was in a bind. On the one hand, he really did want to help Lance. And the chance to spend more time with him was just a bonus... like one of the better bonuses of all time. But he also wasn’t sure he’d be able to help. This wasn’t even close to his expertise, and the last thing he wanted to do was harm Lance in any way.

“How about this,” Kirk started slowly. “Leave it with me? We’ve both been drinking, so anything said might... influence my answer.” He bit into his lip. “But I do want to help – really! So how about tomorrow, I let you know. When you and I are both sober and I’ve had time to think.”

In response, Lance reached for his half-empty glass of wine, held it in the air, said ‘cheers to that,’ and then threw the rest of the wine back in one gulp. “And with that done, I say we get out of here.”

“Right.” Kirk nodded his agreement. The night had been a good one, so best to leave it on a high note. “Home it is.”

“Home?” Lance blinked his surprise. “Kirk, the night is young. I was going to suggest going out for another drink... if you’re interested? And I promise that I won’t use it to try and push my offer on you.” He held his hand to his heart as if taking an oath. “Just a drink.”

Kirk thought for a moment... but only to make it appear as if he was actually weighing the pros and cons. “Just the one?”

“One and a half,” Lance responded.

“All right,” Kirk chuckled and got to his feet. “One and a half – but don’t let me catch you trying to turn it into two.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” Lance winked and pushed himself to his feet; albeit, not as smoothly as he might have thought.

What a night this was turning out to be. Dinner had been stupendous. He had just been offered a chance to spend all the time in the world with Lance. And, to top it off, they were going out for a drink together! For an actual drink!

For a moment, Kirk considered the serious possibility that Lance actually was gay. All the signs were there. But then he took another good long look at Lance and realized a harsh truth: Even if Lance were gay, it wouldn’t make a darn bit of difference. The man was out of his league. Friends was the best that Kirk could hope for. To be fair though, that was fine by him.

Chapter Eight

Lance was drunk. Unintentionally drunk. What had started as a means to calm his nerves, had quickly gotten out of control. One glass of wine was what he told himself he would have. Just a small glass too, enough to put him in a good place. Lance had never been a big drinker, so that would be more than enough. But then Kirk walked into the restaurant and Lance felt himself thirsting for another.

There was something about Kirk that intrigued Lance to no end. Sure, he was a little small and wiry for Lance’s usual tastes. And yes, he was undoubtedly a huge geek, without even the slightest hint of coolness about him. But somehow it all worked. Lance was so used to hooking up with macho dude’s that could barely string a sentence together that it was just nice to be around someone with a little intellect, with a brain, that could conjure interesting conversation out of thin air. What a treat.

And so, Lance finished his first glass of wine and moved onto the next, and then the next. With each glass too, he felt a pull toward Kirk that he hadn’t been expecting. He liked the look of him in those glasses. He liked the way he blushed whenever he got nervous. He liked how he fiddled with his hands when he was trying to make a point, and how he kept on missing his mouth with the glass of wine whenever he went to take a sip. It was