The One-Shots

Every one of Greg\'s friendships was different. Of course they were different- different people were different and brought out different aspects of his personality. But . . . There was different and there was different, you know? Like- Sam was the guy Greg hung with at the sports bar with. Sam- who always had enough scratch to pay half the drink tab and sometimes more. Sam- who knew all kinds of obscure stats about every sport imaginable, but never played any. And Keisha- who was his best work friend, his ally against his dunderhead of a boss and his smokescreen against whichever temp or new hire had a crush on him this month. Then there was Rodrigo- who lived across the hall from Greg. Rodrigo was the guy he could talk music with because he played classical oboe but also went to dance raves. There wasn\'t much he wasn\'t into or at least understood a little bit about musically. They were all different. But, there was different and there was different. Vin was different different.


Vin was the guy he couldn\'t think straight around- yes terrible pun, but it was true. If Greg got within 50 feet of Vin, he got stupid and horny. Stupid and horny- it bears repeating since it\'s such a powerful combination. Stupid and horny made Greg say things like, \"Nice pants,\" and \"I like cheese,\" and \"Wanna catch a flick sometime?\"


That last one was why Greg was having his current panic attack- because Vin had said, \"Sure, how about this weekend?\" and then suggested some foreign film that Greg had never heard of that was playing downtown. As much as Greg would like to have Vin, he wasn\'t sure what he\'d do with him if he got him. He almost hoped that they would make the movie thing a habit and then Vin would become \"Vin- the guy Greg watched films with subtitles with.\" Then again, that would kind of suck since he\'d rather have Vin be \"Vin- the guy Greg had dirty, dirty, gay sex with.\"


So here it was, Friday- frigging date night, for crying out loud and Greg was waiting for Vin to pick him up. Vin was picking him up, like it was the homecoming dance or something. Greg idly wondered if there might be a corsage involved before this whole thing was over. Then his stupid bell rang- his stupid half bell. Real doorbells went ding-dong, but his half-assed different doorbell had to go \"dong\" period. Like it was telling the world what he kept in his nightstand for when he was too damn lonely to sleep. \"Dong.\" He almost expected it would ring, \"Astro-glide\" one of these days- maybe when his parents came to town for a visit. \"Dong.\" Shit, he\'d better answer it.


Greg opened the door and- man, Vin was beautiful- not beautiful like you could slap a dress and a blond wig on him and have him sing, \"Happy Birthday, Mr. President,\" but more chiseled and gnarled and interestingly beautiful. He\'d lived a life, you could tell, and Greg just wanted to hear it all, learn all Vin\'s stories, know where that small scar on his cheek came from, see the rest of the adornments life had placed on Vin\'s skin. And yes, his thoughts had yet again strayed into the stupidly mushy zone which made him feel really, really gay. Okay, yes, he was gay, but not that gay! He didn\'t make it his life, just his sex life. Speaking of, Greg suddenly realized that Vin was standing in front of him and he hadn\'t even said hey yet.


\"Hey, Vin.\"


\"Hey yourself,\" Vin answered.


Then they stood there too long before both speaking at once:


\"The show\'s in half an hour, we should get go . . .
\"You wanna come in and have a drink?\"


\"Sure, we have time for one quick beer.\"
\"Oh, you\'re right, we should go.\"


That wasn\'t awkward. It made Greg think about how odd it was to be living in what felt like a made-for-TV gay romance.


\"So,\" Vin nodded, \"Movie now, drinks afterwards?\"


\"Sounds good,\" Greg replied and grabbed his coat.


The car ride hadn\'t been too bad. They\'d played the radio and Greg could offer a few tidbits of music trivia gleaned from Rodrigo to keep the conversation going. Vin didn\'t say much, but he\'d never been that much of a talker as far as Greg could tell. It\'s not like they knew each other long. It had only been two months since they\'d met by chance at the corner deli. Orders switched- stupid way to meet the guy of his dreams, but he\'d have to take it.


The theater was half-empty and the movie sucked, not that Greg was gonna say that out loud, since Vin had picked it, but it did.


As they left the theater, Vin said, \"Well, that was interesting,\" in a way that was open to interpretation, like he was hedging his bets, ready to agree with Greg\'s opinion.


And Greg asked, \"You liked it, too?\" just to yank his chain.


\"Honestly? No, it sucked, but what do I know? I hate subtitles,\" Vin admitted as he found his keys and opened the passenger side door for Greg.


Greg paused halfway inside the car, \"Wait, then why did you suggest it?\"


\"Seemed like the kind of movie a gay guy might like,\" was his nonchalant answer. Then Vin walked around the car and got in the driver\'s seat.


Greg sat, closed the door, buckled up, shook his cloudy brain out and asked, \"You choose it for me?\"


\"Yes.\"


\"So, is this a date?\" Greg asked, because he just had to know.


\"It was, but I think I botched it, so it doesn\'t have to be. Friends is good,\" Vin told him in a rare show of self-doubt.


\"It- it\'s not botched.\"


\"Oh, good. So, you still want to get a beer?\" Vin asked, more confidant again.


\"Yeah. Yes, I have some frilly gay beer in my fridge at home if you want,\" Greg teased, making Vin smile.


\"Sounds good.\"


\"No it doesn\'t. You just want to go back to my place.\" Greg accused.


\"Yes,\" Vin confessed.


\"Good.\"


\"Yeah, I think it will be.\"