Snapshots

Cow Pie Bingo-3

It wasn’t as bad as he’d imagined. The women were cheerful and playful, joking with him. A few had flirted outrageously, and he knew he could have scored dates if he’d wanted. Nearly an hour later, the lines had mostly dissipated, but an occasional customer still wandered by.

He glanced at his watch. Only five more minutes, thank goodness. When he looked up, the man from the dunking tank stood in front of his booth, grinning.

Evan’s heart skipped a beat, and his face warmed. For his first half hour in the kissing booth, he’d kept an eye on the man, but had lost track of him after the dunking tank had changed hands.

Apparently, he’d not been imagining things when he’d sensed a flirtation between them earlier. Why else would the man be standing here?

Evan laughed to cover his nervousness. “Did you get dried off?”

“Yes, no thanks to you.” The man chuckled and held out his hand. “Gary Browning.”

Evan shook Gary’s hand. “Evan Wilson. I’m pleased to meet you.”

Then Gary slapped six tickets on the ledge of Evan’s window. “I figure that’s good for either three of those little pecks you’ve been handing out, or one decent kiss. Your choice.”

Evan’s mouth dropped open in shock. But to his surprise, he had no trouble deciding which option to take. He’d caught himself thinking about what it’d be like to kiss another man too many times. His knees almost buckled, but his tongue darted out to lick his lips. It was about time he did something about his fantasy, damn it.

Evan kept his eyes on Gary’s baby blues as he picked up the tickets and carefully placed them in the collection bag. Then he found himself staring at Gary’s mouth before swallowing and peering up at the intense expression growing in Gary’s eyes.

For the first time that afternoon, instead of leaning down from his height of six-foot-one to kiss one of the ladies, he stretched upward a couple inches and placed his lips on Gary’s—and held them there.

Evan moved his lips, and Gary responded. The man’s clean masculine scent was so different from what Evan had been used to. His heart thumped as they shared a soft kiss and a few nibbles before Evan backed away, never breaking eye contact.

Gary grinned. “Promising.”

Evan smiled back. “Was that six tickets worth?”

“It’ll do. Listen, I’m heading over to the coffee shop at Ninth and Elmwood. If you’re interested in expanding on that, you could meet me there.”

Evan took a deep breath and nodded. What was he agreeing to? Perhaps he should ask Gary to define “expanding on that,” but it was too late. Gary quirked up one side of his mouth in a manner that made Evan’s heart rate quicken and throat tighten, choking off any reply, then turned and walked off.

Evan peered at Andy and Adam, staring at him, chortling, and grinning like a couple of loons. Heat rose again to his face, but he decided then and there that he’d never hide in a closet. Nor would he ever turn back. That one little kiss with a man had aroused more feelings in him than the most earnest attempts at making out with a woman had ever done.

* * * *

The coffee shop was crowded, but Evan spotted Gary sitting alone at a small table, browsing through a newspaper. He’d changed into fresh clothes. Evan walked to the counter and ordered a hot chocolate, then carried it to Gary’s table.

“Hello, Gary,” Evan ventured as he approached.

Gary folded his newspaper and smiled. “Please, sit down. I wasn’t sure if you were going to come or not. You looked a little nervous there at the end. I’m glad you did, though.”

“I admit, I was a little nervous. Still am, I guess. I haven’t done this before.”

“Done what? Picked up a man in the park?”

Evan smiled ruefully. “Well, actually, picked up a man at all.”

“Oh, I see.” The smile disappeared from Gary’s face.

“I’m sorry.” Evan’s foot bounced, and he cleared his throat. “Is that going to be a problem? The fact that I haven’t been with a man before?”

Gary squirmed, staring into his coffee, then looked up at Evan. “I’m not really interested in being someone’s fun little experimental fling.”

“Oh, that’s not what I’m about. I…well…I guess I’m just a little late to figure things out about myself. But I do know, now—that I’m gay, that is. I just haven’t had the opportunity to act on it yet.”

“Ah. Well, that’s different.” Gary’s grin returned, although the way he gnawed his lip seemed to indicate a degree of tension in his good humor. “I should probably add that I’m not really looking for a meaningless hookup, either. There’s no guarantee, of course, at this stage, but unless you’re ultimately looking for more than that yourself, then there’s not much point in continuing this.” Gary shrugged. “I’m just getting too old for that shit.”

Gary’s nervousness helped put Evan’s mind at ease. “As much as I want to get this…uh…step over with, I’m also glad you’re not hoping to be a ‘one-night stand’. That’s not really me, either.” Evan c****d his head and pushed on before he could talk himself out of it. “So what do you think? You still interested in ‘expanding’ on that kiss?”

Gary sat back, crossed his arms, and gazed directly into Evan’s eyes. A few moments felt much longer before he spoke. “Yeah, I am.”

Evan blew out the breath he’d been holding. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. So…dinner?”

Evan opened his mouth to reply, then closed it as he followed Gary’s gaze. Evan stilled the fingers of his right hand that had been drumming the table.

“Feeling a bit tense?” Gary asked. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yes.” That word fit both questions.

Gary nodded thoughtfully. “I guess that’s to be expected.”

“I don’t think that’ll change until after…you know.” Evan cleared his throat. “Maybe…”

Maybe what? Hell if Evan knew.

“Maybe we should move straight to…‘you know’.” Gary grinned roguishly. “That way, when we get to that dinner, you’ll be able to concentrate on the conversation instead of worrying about ‘you know’.”

Evan laughed. He liked Gary’s sense of humor. “There’s a lot of truth to that statement. Honestly, it probably would be best.”

“Sounds like a plan. Where do you want to do this?”

“Your place? I don’t have any supplies at mine.” Once again, Evan’s face warmed. He hadn’t meant to imply they would do anything that would necessarily require supplies. Too late to take it back, though.

Gary laughed. “Well, chez Gary is well stocked. I’m on Graham.” He stood. “Follow me.”