Vin sat on the barstool, turning the bottle of Beck's around again, as if he wanted to read the label. Again. He checked his watch. He checked the clock on the wall behind the bar. He avoided looking at the blonde bartender. She'd already made a couple of passes at him, despite his protests. Despite the fact that he'd told her he was waiting for someone.
Shit. Why the hell did I listen to Buck? Why did I let myself get set up for this one? Yeah, I owed him. He loaned me the Trans Am for the week. And, yeah, I owe him a few more, too. Hell, I couldn't help it if the Jeep got sideswiped and needed a new axle because it went over the curb. And the fire hydrant. Shit.
So he figured he could get out of a few of them favors by going out with his girlfriend Barbie's cousin, Margie. And, yeah, his girlfriend really was named Barbie. Looked like her, too.
One date. That's it. One date.
Just so she'd be occupied while he and Barbie went out on their own. He said she was nice. And pretty, too. And Vin trusted Buck when it came to women. Really. He wouldn't set a friend up with someone that was mean or anything.
And hell, Buck knows that looks don't matter all that much to me. Just as long as someone's personable.
For all Buck had said about her, Vin didn't know why she needed to be fixed up with anyone. But a favor is a favor, and just before Buck asked him, Vin'd found out that the Jeep was going to be in the shop for the weekend, too. Something about the mechanic being out sick.
So there he was, waiting at the bar. Waiting for Margie to show up. He wasn't nervous. It was only going to be one date. Actually, he was starting to get pissed off.
I'm on my second bottle of beer, here and she ain't showed up yet. She's goin' on bein' a half-hour late. That's just plain rude. Gee, maybe Buck showed her a picture of me. Nah.
He ordered another beer and decided to play some darts. The bartender said she'd send any lost looking women his way, if they showed up. Something told him that she was going to be showing up at the dartboard sooner or later.
Ain't it amazin' how your score goes down after you've had a couple of beers?
He hadn't planned on drinking that much. He'd planned on being on a nice date with someone, having dinner or something.
Didn't plan on bein' here playin' with myself. Now that didn't sound right...
He was just about to call that blonde bartender to have one of the waitresses bring him another beer when he felt the hand on his, take the dart out of it.
"I don't think you want to throw that dart at the woman who's been bringing your beers, Vin," the man said.
Vin looked up at Chris and then looked at where he'd been aiming. Sure enough, he was ready to plant his next dart somewhere near the bar.
"Well, shit, Chris, I only want some better service!" he said with a grin. "What are you doin' here, anyways?" he asked, surprised.
This wasn't their regular hangout, Inez's Saloon. The last place Vin'd meet up with a blind date was somewhere his friends would be, watching his every move, harassing his date, telling her embarrassing stories about him.
"Heard you had a blind date," Chris said, like that should be enough.
"So, what, are you here to steal her from me or something? Or save her from me?" Vin asked, beer driven sarcasm in his voice. At least he'd hoped it sounded sarcastic.
"Well, I figured I'd save you from her, if need be," Chris replied. "You know, you could have given me a high sign or something if she turned out to be a real loser and I could have come over and told you I needed you at work or something."
"Well, as you can see," Vin said, waving his arms about him with a flourish, "She never showed. So I guess that means that I'm the loser, here."
"The night's still young," Chris responded quietly, before taking a sip from his own beer.
"What was that?" Vin asked.
"I said, I'll buy the next one," he replied, motioning to one of the waitresses.
Chris spied an open table and guided Vin over to it, pushing him down into a seat. When the waitress brought them their beer, Chris ordered a couple of sandwiches, as well.
"So who told you I had a date?" Vin asked, still wondering why Chris was there with him.
"You did," Chris replied. "And Buck said he'd been trying to get ahold of you, but your cell phone must be off."
"Let me guess, Margie called him and told him 'Something suddenly came up,' or somethin' like that?" Vin asked, really starting to get depressed, now.
"Something like that," Chris answered, putting a comforting hand to Vin's shoulder.
"Didn't want to be here, anyhow," Vin grumbled. "Only doin' Buck a favor so I could borrow his car again this weekend."
"You know, Vin," Chris began, stopping briefly to thank the waitress for bringing their sandwiches, "I firmly believe that anyone in their right mind would be stupid to cancel a date with you."
Vin just shrugged at the comment, uneasy at receiving the compliment.
"So. What do you say we forget about that inconsiderate and totally stupid woman and have us a good time?" he continued.
"Well, I think you'd probably beat me at darts, considerin' I can't find the damn dartboard anymore," Vin replied. "An' I already got a head start on ya in the drinkin' department. What's that leave?"
"Well, just down the block is the bowling alley, wanna bowl a few games?"
"Yeah, hittin' someone with a sixteen pound bowlin' ball is a hell of a lot less deadlier than a dart, huh, cowboy?" Vin agreed with a smile.
"You know, Chris," Vin began, leaning back against the headrest of the truck. "I don't think I would have ever taken a date bowlin'. Least not at that bowlin' alley!" he laughed, glancing sideways at Chris. "I mean, did you hear the mouths on some of those guys! Jeez! Then again, I'd never had this much fun on any of my dates!"
"So you had more fun with me than with some of your dates, huh, Vin?" Chris asked, jokingly.
Vin started to laugh but then the truth of the statement hit him. He looked closely at his friend, then. Thought about their evening together. Remembered the parts that were what he considered his favorites. He realized then, that it wasn't the act of bowling or drinking or eating or whatever else they'd done. It was the fact that he'd done all those things with Chris.
That Chris was the one that had given him the message about the blind date. That Chris was the one that stayed. That Chris was the one that had made him see the bright side of things tonight.
Then he started thinking about other good times in his life. And he realized that the best times in his life had all occurred after he'd met Chris. That every time he'd needed anything, he'd look to Chris. Every time he'd shared anything, he'd shared it with Chris.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think there was steam coming out of those ears, Vin," Chris grinned. "Whatcha thinking on?"
Vin looked closely at his best friend then. Searched the green eyes for what he now remembered feeling throughout the night.
What the hell.
Turning sideways on the truck's bench seat, facing Chris, he asked, "Was this our first date?"
Chris smiled and replied, "If you want it to be."
"And if I wanted it to be, then what would you say?" Vin asked, smiling in return.
"I think I'd ask you how far you usually go on a first date."
"I guess you'll just have to take me home and find out, now, Cowboy," he replied with an even bigger smile.
Chris wasted no time putting the truck in gear.
Vin returned to the living room with a bottle of soda in his hand.
"You sure you don't want nothin' to drink?" he asked, before sitting down on the couch.
"Nah, I'm fine, thanks," Chris responded.
The two men fell into an awkward silence then, not sure how to go about taking the next step, despite the forward remarks in the truck.
"Vin," Chris began, "We don't have to... you know... what I asked in the truck..."
"I know, Chris," Vin replied. "Just never dated my best friend, let alone my boss, before. Not sure where to start, you know?"
"How about with a kiss?" Chris asked, tentatively, hopefully, inching slightly closer toward Vin.
Vin looked at him a moment before nodding his head and meeting Chris in the middle of the couch. They leaned slowly toward each other, laughing as they tried to decide who would lean which way, before Chris finally reached up and took a gentle hold of Vin's chin.
The first kiss was soft, chaste, curious. The second one had a little more to it, as lips opened up and tongues met. The third left the men panting as the rest of their bodies responded to the kiss.
"That's first base. Ready to steal second?" Vin asked, breathless.
"Do I really need to steal it, or can I just advance the runners?"
Vin replied by pushing Chris down onto the couch. He began to unbutton his shirt and watched as Chris did the same.
"C'mere," Chris called, reaching his hands up, willing Vin to lie down on top of him. He gasped as Vin began kissing him again, this time on the neck. "Just remember this ain't turtleneck weather," he got out, pushing Vin's head downward, preventing the marks he felt were coming from being somewhere visible.
"You ain't no fun," Vin replied, making a mark just below Chris's collarbone and smiling at the gasp Chris made.
"I don't feel like listening to Buck harass me all morning Monday," he answered, reaching down to bring Vin's mouth back up to his.
After a few minutes of kissing, hands roaming where they may, the two men stopped and looked at each other, gauging where they'd been. Where they stood. Where they were headed.
"I guess that's second base, huh?" Vin asked.
Chris just smiled and shook his head. "I think we listened to that Meatloaf song once too many times at the bowling alley tonight, Vin."
"And goin' for third..." Vin murmured as he leaned forward and started planting kisses on Chris's chest and abdomen.
Chris's body arched up as his arms went around Vin and pulled him close. His hands felt their way down the smooth back and shoved under the waistband of the faded blue jeans Vin wore. Vin pushed his hips down, groaning as his erection pushed against Chris's, the denim and cotton between them only adding to the delicious friction.
"Oh, yeah, Vin," Chris whispered, grabbing onto Vin's ass, squeezing the cheeks, pulling them apart and pushing them down, grinding their groins together.
Vin reached a hand down, squeezing it between their hips and rubbed Chris hard, down along the zipper of his pants. He moaned as he felt the large shaft, smooth and solid beneath the cloth. Longing for more, his fingers deftly unfastened both of their pants, letting both erections out to meet each other skin to skin.
Chris, hands still on Vin's ass, quickly pushed the loosened jeans down below Vin's hips. "Don't want to get caught in any zippers, now," he said before lifting his hips so Vin could do the same for him.
"No, we wouldn't want that," Vin agreed rubbing his erection against Chris's as he sucked on Chris's lower lip.
The two men writhed against each other on the couch, catching themselves a few times before they finally rolled off it and onto the floor. Chris sat up on top of Vin and shoved the coffee table away, to give him more room to remove their boots and pants.
"That's more like it," Vin whispered, admiring the naked view before him.
Chris smiled ferally before bending down to lick at the shiny drop leaking from Vin's hard shaft.
"Yeah, Chris, take a taste."
"I'm gonna do more than take a taste, Vin," Chris replied before taking Vin's entire length into his mouth.
"OH, GOD! That feels sooo good!" Vin cried. "Been so long," he murmured, running his fingers through Chris's hair.
It didn't take too much for Chris to bring Vin over the edge. Between his mouth and tongue licking and sucking Vin's cock and his hands fondling his balls, Vin was helpless to do anything but come. Both men groaned aloud as the hot juice coated Vin's abdomen.
"Time to make a play for the plate," Chris said with a grin, scooping up Vin's seed and rubbing it onto his erection and into Vin.
"Slide on in, Cowboy," Vin rasped, spreading his legs in anticipation.
And slide on in, Chris did. Slowly and carefully. Painfully so. It took more control than Chris thought he'd had to not just thrust into Vin with all his might. His need to take and plunder the beautiful man below him almost, almost, made him lose that control. But soon, before he knew it, he was buried to the balls inside Vin.
"Come on, Cowboy," Vin urged, pushing up against Chris, "let's make this a grand slam."
Chris lost any thread of control he thought he had then, and did as he was bid. He pulled out an inch or two and then slammed his body back into Vin, hard. And again. And again. Somewhere in the back of his brain, he thought that he'd have to check Vin's back for rug burns when they were through, but the loud cries of ecstasy coming from his new lover banished those and any other thoughts from his head until all he knew was his body's demand for satisfaction.
With a triumphant cry, Chris came, slamming his body into Vin's one last time. He barely heard Vin's scream of release below him, but he felt the hot droplets of it hit his chest and chin before collapsing on top of him.
It was several minutes filled with heavy breathing that went by before either man had the energy to speak.
"I think this is probably the best first date I've ever been on, Chris."
"Me too."
"How about for our second date, we go to a real baseball game?"
THE END
And thanks again to Suzy - I was ready to hold the runners at second. She made me make them go all the way!