Chapter Twelve #2
A few seconds later Eric was looking at a dark and slightly blurry photo of a man sitting at a table, turned so he was in profile. It was hard to tell, but he did look like he might be handsome. Tidy, brown hair, nice clothes, and, yes, he appeared to be reasonably close to Eric’s age.
Eric: Shouldn’t you be working?
Kyle: I’m on my break!
Oh. Eric couldn’t help but be touched that Kyle was spending his break talking to him. And spending his evening trying to find Eric a date.
Eric: He does look nice.
Kyle: I wish you were in town. You could slide into that empty chair and ask him his name.
The back of Eric’s neck heated just thinking about that.
Eric: And then what would I say?
Kyle: Normal stuff?
Eric had no idea what normal stuff was when it came to flirting.
Kyle: Let’s practice. I’ll be him. You be you.
Eric: That’s not necessary.
Kyle: So you don’t need the practice?
Eric grimaced. He definitely needed the practice. He sighed and wrote, Fine. So I sit down and say, “Hi. I’m Eric.”
Kyle: Solid start. Ok. I’m shaking your hand and saying “I’m Neil. Nice to meet you, Eric.”
Eric: Neil? Really?
Kyle: Yes. Why are you making fun of my name, dickbag?
Eric laughed, then wrote, Sorry, Neil. It’s a lovely name.
Kyle: I’m named after my grandfather.
Wow. Kyle was going deep on this character.
Eric: Oh. That’s...neat.
Kyle: He was the first man to walk on the moon.
Eric threw his head back on the pillow and barked out a loud laugh. He was relieved that Kyle wasn’t taking this little exercise too seriously.
Eric: Wow. That’s amazing.
Kyle: ANYWAY. What do you do, Eric? You look familiar for some reason.
Eric: I play hockey for the New York Admirals.
Kyle: Holy shit! Do you know Scott Hunter?
Eric: I’m afraid so.
Kyle: He’s really hot.
Eric: Yes. He’s wonderful. And engaged.
If this was supposed to be helping Eric learn how to flirt, it wasn’t working. He decided to take control.
Eric: Are you here alone?
Kyle: Not anymore. He punctuated it with a winky face emoji.
Eric had no idea what to say next. It was hard to flirt with an imaginary person. Maybe if he called the imaginary person Kyle in his head...
Eric: You have beautiful eyes. Hey, there was nothing wrong with stealing lines from that Alex guy. Besides, Kyle did have beautiful eyes.
Kyle: I’ll bet you say that to all the boys.
Eric: I really don’t.
Kyle: I like your eyes too. And the way you’re looking at me right now.
Eric wasn’t actually looking at anyone right now, but he still felt the urge to avert his gaze. He wrote, I’ve been looking at you all night.
Kyle: I’ve been looking at you too. I was hoping you might notice me.
Eric: Oh yeah? Why’s that?
Kyle: Because I think you might be a good kisser. I want to test that theory.
Eric absently brushed a thumb over his lips as he considered his reply.
Eric: I can help you with that.
In this imagined scenario, there would be a table between himself and, um, Neil. Not conducive to kissing. He was trying to figure out a smooth way to suggest leaving the table when Kyle wrote, I only live a couple of blocks away.
Oh. Okay. Well, this is where things would get awkward. It was where things were getting awkward, right now.
Eric: I’m not really into hookups.
Kyle’s reply seemed to take forever.
Kyle: That’s cool. Is there anything you might be into with me?
Eric: Can I buy you another drink? Maybe we could talk for a bit?
Kyle: I’d love that.
Eric grinned at his phone, wondering if “Neil” would actually be this easygoing. He also wondered if Kyle was playing a part, or just playing himself. Is that how he would truly react if a man suggested they have another drink instead of rushing off to have sex?
Except now Eric wasn’t sure what to write. Was he supposed to go to the bar and buy “Neil” a drink, or just keep talking? This was weird.
Eric: So then what happens?
Kyle: Are you asking me, or Neil?
Eric: You.
Kyle: You buy Neil a drink, and then you lose track of time talking to each other. It goes really well. You definitely want to see him again.
Eric: OK. So should I ask him to have dinner with me sometime?
Kyle: You can try.
Eric snorted, and wrote, I’d love to see you again. Would you like to have dinner sometime?
Kyle: Definitely. Let me give you my number.
Well, that wasn’t so hard. Eric found himself staring at those last two lines, and how much it looked like he had just successfully asked Kyle on a date.
Kyle: You still there?
Eric: Yes. Sorry. Wasn’t sure what to say.
Kyle: You must be awesome at sexting.
Eric laughed and wrote, I have never even tried.
Kyle: Well, if you ever want to practice...
Practice. There was that offer again.
Eric: I came out to Scott.
Kyle: Yay! How’d it go?
Eric: Great. He was very supportive, of course.
Kyle: Of course.
Eric steeled himself. It was time to bring up the thing he’d been obsessing over for days.
Eric: I’ve been thinking about your offer.
Kyle: Oh?
Eric: I’m back in town on Wednesday night. I have Thursday off.
He held his breath as he waited for a response.
Kyle: Oh yeah?
Eric: Come over for dinner?
Kyle: Dinner or “dinner”?
Eric’s stomach fluttered. He wanted to be bold and confirm the latter, but he still wasn’t sure he was ready.
Eric: Let’s start with dinner.
Kyle: And if we’re still hungry after...
Eric bit his lip and wrote, I’ll text you when I’m back in town. Goodnight.
Kyle sent a kissy face emoji. Eric didn’t send anything back because emojis always felt silly to him.
So Eric had a possible date with Kyle. Or rather, a possible scheduled platonic sex session. Ugh, that was a depressing way of thinking about it.
He was maybe going to have sex with Kyle.
Possibly anal sex, which was both thrilling and scary to think about.
It was something he had never done with Holly—giving or receiving—but he’d done a bit of experimenting with his own fingers.
Enough to know that he wanted more. Eric wished Scott were the type of friend he could talk about sex with, because he’d like someone to relieve his anxiety about having sex with a man.
Eric wondered if Scott’s shyness about sex carried to the bedroom, or if he was secretly a sex god.
Okay. That right there was proof that Eric needed this scheduled platonic sex session. He should definitely not be thinking about his best friend, and captain’s, sexual personality.
He let his thoughts drift back to Kyle, which wasn’t difficult. His imagination supplied a vision of Kyle gazing down at him, his eyes hooded and his pink lips shiny and slack with desire as Eric took his cock into his mouth. Eric had never done that, but god, he wanted to.
He jerked himself off quickly, as usual, and felt a lot more ready for sleep after he finished. He cleaned up in the bathroom, and when he returned to the bed he saw his phone had a new message.
Kyle: His name is Sebastian. I wasn’t even close.