by K. C. Wells
Don’t get me wrong. I liked Kristin a lot, but I had no illusions of this being a life-changing relationship. I was not ready to pick out china patterns, and I really hoped she wasn’t thinking along those lines either.
I was sprawled out on the sofa when Dave announced he could hear my phone. I begged him to bring it to me. It landed hard on my chest when he chucked it at me. I’d missed the call anyway. “Missed call from Kristin,” the screen read. Hmm. I figured I’d deal with her later. I wasn’t in the mood to chat in my current condition.
“Was that Kristin? Making sure you didn’t bring any hot guys home last night?” Curt wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “I meant for me, of course. But then I guess you’d just be helping out a friend, so she’d probably be cool with that, right?”
“I didn’t think you needed any help, Curtster. We were all sound asleep when you finally made your way home,” I reminded him.
“Yeah right. More like you were all passed out, asshole. I didn’t stay much longer than you anyway.”
He took a swig of beer from the bottle and then paused to give me an “I’m serious” look when he heard “mmm-hmm” in reply.
“Saw you dancing with a sexy boy, though.” Curt’s eyebrows were wiggling again. “That guy is seriously hot. I’ve seen him a few times around the Circle. He is fiiinnne. Did you get his name?”
“Well, I didn’t ask him out or anything but yeah, we exchanged names.”
“And?”
“What?”
“What’s his name, jackass? Geez!”
“I don’t remember. We just danced, as you well know. Or was I supposed to introduce you?” My voice had taken on a raspy quality indicative of too much fun the night before.
“Yes! Bad friend! I’ve explained my strategy to you dumb shits countless times. If I’m going to have straight so-called friends come to gay establishments with me, they should make themselves useful. I mean, you guys are all somewhat decent-looking, and if a hot guy like your new friend starts hitting on you, it is your duty as a good friend to set him straight, so to speak, and send him my way. Why do I need to remind you boys? I do the same for you when I’m out with you guys. Girls love gay boys.”
“Sorry. My bad. Don’t get your panties in a twist. We just danced. It’s not like I was ‘getting to know him’.” I threw air quotes around the last part just to annoy Curt.
“You danced for a while, though,” Curt mused.
“He’s right,” Dave agreed. He brought a fresh round of beers with him. I took one and closed my eyes. I was just starting to feel human again.
“Right about what exactly? We danced. It’s a dance club. End of story. Next time I’ll get numbers for you. ’Kay? Now shut up and watch the game.”
“Hmm. Okay, big guy. Whatever you say.” Curt seemed to be placating me, but I was just happy he agreed to move on.
I don’t know why I didn’t tell Curt the truth. Aaron. Of course I remembered his name. All I could think of was Aaron. It baffled me. It really had been the most casual of experiences, just as I’d told my friends. No big deal. So why, when I should be thinking about my classes tomorrow and even answering my cell when my girlfriend called, was I thinking about Aaron at all? I didn’t have any answers, and I wasn’t sure my head was clear yet anyway, so I decided to put off thinking of any sort for the rest of the day.
A WEEK later, I still found myself thinking about him. I was replaying the moment we first caught each other’s eye and everything went quiet in my mind. It seemed like a sign or something. And these constant thoughts made me wonder about him. Where was he from? Where did he work? Was he with anyone? My sudden obsession didn’t make sense. Maybe I really just needed to get laid. I hadn’t seen Kristin at all that week, although we talked a little. Maybe I was just horny, and thinking about the last hot person I’d been around was doing something to me. The fact that it was a man instead of a woman didn’t bother me nearly as much as I would have thought.
The following Saturday, I walked up to Kristin’s townhouse to pick her up for a date. I put more effort into my appearance than I normally would have. I gelled my wavy dark-blond hair, which probably could have used a cut, and wore a blue button-down shirt Kristin said matched my eyes. It had been a while and I was worried about my blue balls. Kristin and I didn’t have the type of relationship where we could just say what we wanted. We were polite to one another. It was old-fashioned, but she was pretty conservative, so I figured this was how she wanted it. We’d make a date a few days ahead of time, have a nice dinner and sometimes go to a movie, and then have sex, usually back at her place. The sex was nice. Not earth-shattering, but somewhat regular, so I didn’t mind. I didn’t spend the night often. Neither of us seemed interested in the overnight thing anyway. I guess that night I was hoping whatever happened between Kristin and me would keep me from thinking anymore about Aaron.
Kristin opened the door before I had a chance to knock. She was dressed in tight jeans with high-heeled black boots and a long orange sweater that complemented her honey-colored hair. She looked stylish and beautiful. And she looked happy to see me.
“Hey there, stranger.” She reached out to touch my hand, and I moved the rest of the way in to kiss her softly on her lips. She seemed to have a lot of gloss or something on, and I didn’t want to taste it on my own lips for the next hour.
“How are you? Hungry? I was thinking maybe we could try that new Italian place on M Street. I made a reservation, but if you feel like something else, that’s cool too.”
I was doing my best to accommodate my date. She never told me what she felt like eating. Ever. It was probably something she didn’t realize she did, but when it came to food, whether it was take home or out for a meal, Kristin always deferred to me. I’d come to realize that if I didn’t want to play the “I don’t care, what do you feel like?” game when we went out, I needed to take matters into my own hands. She never disagreed about the places I chose either. You would think that I loved this easygoing culinary attitude, but honestly I felt like I was walking on eggshells. I would actually have preferred she give an honest opinion, so I was not solely responsible for food choices. She had plenty of other opinions, but for whatever reason she was never willing to share her dining preferences with me. Weird.
“Sounds great. Let me grab my bag. I’m ready to go.”
She joined me on the sidewalk outside her place a few minutes later and reached out to hold my hand. My car key was in that hand, though, so we did a clumsy dance as the key pinched her skin and her giant bag (with God only knows what in it) fell from her other arm, and I finally clued in that I was the cause. We both gave an awkward laugh and tried again. This already felt difficult. Why couldn’t this be uncomplicated? As in “we haven’t seen each other all week, let’s do it first and then worry about the rest”? I sound like a caveman, I know, but I was beginning to get a sinking feeling that, even if the evening went the way I thought it would, I still wouldn’t be getting Aaron out of my head tonight.
The quick recap went as follows: dinner, back to Kristin’s place for a drink, and yes, sex. A nice night, sure, but I was on my way home before eleven and not at all ready for bed. I called Curt at the last minute before I turned onto our street to see where everyone was. Curt answered on the third ring.
“Yell-oo!” Curt sounded a little gone and was obviously in a very loud bar. A gay bar? Only one way to find out.
“Where are you? Is Dave out with you?”
“No, he had a date. How did yours go? Couldn’t have been that great if you’re calling me before midnight. I hope you at least got some.” He didn’t sound drunk anymore at all. Just annoying. And truthfully, part of me had been hoping to go save him and run into Aaron again while I was at it.
“Where are you? You need my mad straight-guy skills to help land you a little nookie?”
“You are such a kind and thoughtful friend, Matt. I’m at the Zodiac Bar. I don’t need your so-called straight-guy skills, but come
join us anyway.”
He hung up before I could ask whom he was with. Some of his gay friends are really cool and some are just not. Whatever. One drink I could handle, and it would keep me from going home to an empty apartment or having to listen to Dave and his date going at it if the apartment wasn’t empty after all. Yeah, the Zodiac was sounding better by the second.
The Zodiac Bar was a cool little gay-friendly pub in the city off of Logan. It was on a quieter street and on the small side, but it was pretty hip inside. Very sleek and trendy, with a huge fireplace lit with colored glass rocks and small ottomans used as moveable seats on one end, and a gorgeous glass bar with cool backlights just opposite. I checked my reflection before I walked in, and figured the khakis and button-down shirt would do. I wasn’t looking for a date, just a drink, I reminded myself.
I spotted Curt at a small corner table with two other guys who I think were named Randy and Dan. I nodded in his direction and then headed for the bar for my much-needed drink. Of course he was with Randy and Dan. They were cool but kind of camp. I needed a liquid equalizer. I ordered a vodka tonic from an extraordinarily good-looking bartender. I heard the patron next to me give a small laugh as my arm was gently jostled.
“Yeah, he’s hot, alright.”
“Uh, hey…,” I stammered. It was Aaron.
What were the odds that the one person I’d been thinking about for an entire week and figured I’d probably never see again was standing next to me? I felt suddenly warm all over and had a very real fear I wouldn’t be able to articulate an intelligent thought. I didn’t understand my attraction to this guy.
He looked from the bartender back to me, and recognition dawned across his face.
“We danced last week, right? We met. How funny.” He shifted his body so he fully faced me and gave me a good once over. “I forgot your name. I’m sorry. I’m Aaron.”
“Matt.”
“Oh yes. Matt. Matt, who looked like he lost a bet Matt. And here you are a week later in—” He did a dramatic side-to-side glance around the bar, his hands gesturing alongside. “—yep, a gay bar. Maybe you weren’t coerced after all, Matt?”
His face was so beautiful, and his eyes were twinkling to let me know he was teasing me. I once again found myself under his spell and belatedly aware that he was waiting for me to speak. Somehow I found my voice, although I had to clear my throat before the words would come.
“I’m here with a friend. Actually, the same friend I was with last week at the club too.”
He rolled his eyes but smiled again.
“I owe you a drink. What would you like?” I was scrambling, hoping to keep him talking to me. He considered me for a minute before answering.
“Alright. I’ll have a cosmo, please.”
The gorgeous bartender appeared, and just as I was about to place Aaron’s order, he leaned across the counter and grabbed Aaron lightly by his collar. Aaron met him midway and they kissed. Not a passionate lover-like kiss, but a more-than-friends kind of kiss.
“JoJo, honey, this nice guy is buying me a cosmo. Heavy on the good stuff, please.” Aaron batted his eyelashes at the tall, dark, handsome, and super-muscular bartender. They would look good together, I mused. JoJo, or Joe probably, set my drink in front of me with a wink.
“Sure thing, babe.” Joe gave Aaron a bit of a lecherous look before he stepped away to make the cocktail.
“Your boyfriend?” I couldn’t help asking.
Aaron giggled, his eyes still twinkling.
“No. I don’t have a boyfriend. JoJo is a flirt. Luckily his boyfriend knows that.”
I figured I probably shouldn’t ask any other Joe-the-bartender questions. I was confused enough as it was.
“I’m going to guess you have a girlfriend, though. Am I right?” Aaron’s eyes were now lit with challenge, as if to say, “Don’t lie, I’ll know the truth anyway.” I stalled for a minute, taking a drink of my vodka.
“Yeah, sort of. I mean, we aren’t serious, but yeah, I guess.” Poor Kristin. I was sure she’d love to hear the ringing endorsement I was giving us, especially since I’d just been in her bed a couple hours ago. What a dick. What was my problem?
“Nice. I’d love to hear her side. I bet she’s all in looove. Are you one of those curious guys? Want to know if you might, just maybe, could possibly like cock and probably should give it a try before you get hitched and move out to the suburbs to start a family? Maybe just get it out of your system?” He was deliberately taunting me now. And it was working.
“Down, boy,” Joe admonished Aaron as he set his drink down. “Leave the poor guy alone. He’s just buying a drink, not a house in the country.”
“Sorry. You’re right. I’m rude. What’s new? Oops, you don’t know me. I’ll try to be good, starting now. So… tell me, Matt, what’s your story? Are you a student, a young business type, a politician in training? Where are you from, how old are you, what is your last name, your favorite color, what do you like doing in your spare time, which suburb do you see yourself moving to when you finally do settle down with your girl, and how many kids will you have?”
Aaron finally stopped talking long enough to take a drink of his cosmo, and then he gave me an expectant look when I didn’t respond immediately to his barrage of questions.
“Okay. Let’s see. I’ll tell you my story if you tell me yours. Agreed?” When Aaron nodded in agreement, I went on. “Well, you packed a lot of questions in there. Let me know if I miss something.
“I’m finishing my law degree at Georgetown and am interning with Lawton, Hughes, Banks, and Kelleford. It looks like I will have a position with them when I graduate, too, which is beyond amazing to me. I’m from Pittsburgh originally, my family is all there and it’s home, but I like the energy here. I’m not moving back anytime soon or probably ever. I’m twenty-four. My last name is Sullivan. Favorite color? Hmm, I guess blue.” I paused when I heard Aaron snort and mumble “original.” I raised my eyebrows.
He gestured with his hands. “Go on, I’m on the edge of my seat. Don’t stop now.”
“Well, since you’re so interested, I will. Let’s see, where was I?”
“Hobbies and settling down with your new wife, I think,” Aaron suggested innocently.
“Well, I love sports. Especially football, baseball, and basketball. But my real passion is music. I play guitar. Actually, there’s a bar by the college where I play once in a while with a friend of mine just for fun. And as for the last question, smartass… I don’t see myself settling down in the suburbs anytime soon. I’m not marrying anyone anytime soon either. I’d love to have kids someday, yeah, but who knows how many? I imagine my partner will want some say in that number too. Your turn.”
“Very nice, Mr. Sullivan. I’d love to reciprocate, but it looks like your friend, or just someone who desperately wants your attention, is waving at you.”
Sure enough, Curt was on his feet, waving in my direction. I didn’t want to break this contact with Aaron, so I waved at Curt but made no motion to join him at the table. Of course he came to the bar instead. I introduced him to Aaron. He looked so funny with his curiosity plain as day on his face. I loved keeping him in suspense, but even if I was inclined to share, I wouldn’t know what to say. “Don’t mind me, Curt, I’m just trying to make some time with Aaron here” would probably do the job, but I wasn’t quite sure about what I was doing.
“Hey, we’re heading to Tango to meet up with one of Randy’s work buddies. You coming with?” Curt asked.
“You go on. I’ll meet you over there.” I didn’t think my response through, I just went with what I wanted. And I wanted to talk to Aaron.
Curt gave me a short nod with a funny look I couldn’t quite read but was sure I’d hear all about later. “Okay, then. Nice meeting you, Aaron.”
“You too,” Aaron replied politely. He waited until Curt was out of earshot and then turned back to me.
“I’m very curious about you, straight boy. Why are you here wit
h me? Or—” He paused with dramatic effect. “—are you curious and not so straight? Hmm.” He turned quickly and began to walk away. “Let’s go take their table. I’ll answer all your questions if you’re still interested in moi.” I found myself staring at his back with my mouth open. Rendered speechless again.
I followed him to Curt’s vacant table in time to overhear Aaron wheeling and dealing with another patron for first rights to sit. The bar was getting busier and this looked to be the last empty and somewhat private table.
“I’m so sorry, doll. Our friends were just leaving this table for us. Did you see them? They should have stayed till we got our drinks sorted, but they were in such a hurry!”
“I was here first” was the unimpressed reply from a bored-looking young hipster.
“Not really,” Aaron insisted stubbornly.
“It’s cool. We can go back to the bar.” I didn’t want to get in an argument with a stranger over a table he’d obviously gotten to first.
Aaron gave me a fierce scowl. Actually, it just made him look adorable, but I’m sure the message was for me to keep quiet and let him handle the situation.
“My boyfriend was just explaining to me that he thinks he’s bi and I’m trying to cope. I can’t cope at the bar. I need this table.” Aaron’s eyes filled and the guy looked alarmed.
“Whoa, don’t cry. You take it.” The stranger gave Aaron a sympathetic parting glance before turning to glare at me. “Asshole.”
“Hey!” I was offended. And boyfriend? I looked down at Aaron, who was now happily perched on a stool at the much sought-after table. He looked positively smug. And adorable. I sighed and took a seat.