Goddamn him. Goddamn him for being nice. Goddamn him for being hot. Goddamn all of this. Sal could feel themself warming up to him and they’d already been plenty fucking warm. They reached for the old fashioned, tensing to hide their shaking hands. The bar wasn’t busy, but the few patrons Sal could see made them nervous. They kept looking over, and while it was probably just because Curtis was hot as breakfast, it was hard not to feel it was because of them. They were starting to wish they’d just worn the stupid dress and stilettos and gone full bimbo for this thing, after all.
“Thanks for meeting me,” Curtis said, picking up Sal’s beer. “I’m glad you finally said you’d come out.”
They drank way too much old fashioned, considering it wasn’t theirs. “That’s ‘kay.”
“Finish that if you want. I’m happy to have…” Curtis took a swig from the stout, and the look of absolute horror on his face made Sal burst out laughing.
“No backsies!”
He shook his head. “Christ, that’s strong. I finish this, I’m gonna get fucked up for the first time in ages.”
“Not a big drinker?”
“I don’t love the feeling, y’know? When you’re all out of control?”
It was a sweet answer. More vulnerable than Sal was expecting when the excuse of ‘I’m a professional sports guy’ was on the table. “I get it, but Ilovethat feeling.”
“Ah, well, you’re a rebel, aren’t you, babe?”
Goddamn you, Sal thought as a delight buzzed through them.Time to change the subject.“When was the last time you got wasted?”
“Last year’s end of season do.” He made a face similar to the stout-drinking one. “It was a rough night.”
Sal sensed an embarrassing story waiting in the wings. “What happened?”
“Ahh… it’s not a first-date convo.”
“Tell me,” Sal demanded. No matter how bad it was, they’d rather hear it than sit across from Curtis thinking drooly thoughts about how sexy he was. Some gross-out story might even help him seem more human…
“It just got real sloppy.”
“Like, you did man-hugging and stuff?”
He let out a sigh. “Like—Patrick Normal—had a race climbing these pine trees, and all the other boys were standing at the bottom saying they’d catch us if we fell. Only, I did fall, and I took out two other blokes.”
Sal, who knew Psycho through Beth and their whole group of mates, giggled at the thought of the usually serious Patrick participating in a tree-climbing race. “That’s just charming. As long as no one was seriously hurt?”
“Nah, but all three of us scraped ourselves to shit. And Normal couldn’t find a way down, so we were all chucking pinecones at him?—”
“Naturally.”
“—until the cops rolled up.”
Sal’s mouth fell open.
“Yeah,” Curtis said grimly. “The neighbours dogged us in. Half the boys booked it. The other half were yelling at Normal to hide, and there I was, wasted, trying to talk to the cops. Saying all this shit about how Normal’s an arborist and he’s meant to be up there.”
“Oh my God!”
“It was real dumb. I could hardly fucking talk. Psycho does this voice all the time now,‘essuse me, offisarssss, but me mate’sss suposss to be doin thaaaaaa…’”
Sal laughed so hard everyone turned to stare, but they found they didn’t mind. It was nice to laugh. “How’d you get away with that?”
“Didn’t. Almost got Psycho banged up for the night. But someone was smart enough to call the coach, and he talked to the cops until Psycho found his way down.”
“So, youdidget away with it?”
“If you don’t count the fine and the weeks shovelling shit around the club, and me getting home and pissing all over my bedroom floor.”
