A Hard Place

[Despite the name, this isn't a particularly erotic story, though more erotic parts will pop up in later chapters. It's more of a drama. First submission. Thank you for reading.]

It was a dark but relaxing night. I was driving to a friend's with the windows down, mindlessly feeling the cool breeze. The weather was at its peak, neither scorching hot nor freezing.

I must have gotten too consumed by the scenery, because it wasn't much later when I noticed that a car with flashing red and blue lights was tailing me.

I sighed, already knowing this was not going to end well, though I couldn't tell if that was because of either my personal biases or the strange feeling of unease that I'd had for that whole day.

I found a safe spot to pull over and did so, rolling my eyes and just wishing something else would come up so they could leave me alone, only before realising I was wishing for something terrible to happen to someone else. I rolled the window down and waited.

"Good evening sir."

I resisted rolling my eyes, I was already annoyed.

"Evening," I forced out, without looking at him.

"Have you had anything to drink tonight?" he asked. That's the moment I finally looked at him, with shock and confusion, but I tried my hardest to contain myself to a neutral expression.

He looked at me seriously, no hint of humour in his face. His rather big moustache was the only thing standing out from his face.

"No, I haven't. Why?"

I really wanted to know.

"You were swerving," he said, or lied. I may have been a bit distracted but I knew I definitely wasn't swerving.

I didn't know what to say. What could I say? My mouth was slightly open. I was trying my best to avoid making a scene.

"Sorry?" I said, or asked. I just wanted it to be over with.

"I'll ask you again, have you been drinking?"

I was losing my patience.

"No, seriously. What's this about?"

He didn't answer. I wondered if he knew me or if someone was playing a joke on me.

"License and registration?"

I reluctantly pulled them out and he silently read them.

"Please slowly step out of the car," he instructed me.

Eyes closed with annoyance, I stepped out of my car and followed him as he walked to behind my car. His blaring lights were hurting my eyes.

"Alright sir I'm gonna administer a field sobriety test."

I sighed heavily. My twenty-five years of life had not prepared me for this moment. I wanted to scream. I couldn't believe that was how I was going to go out.

He gave me a bunch of instructions about following his finger with my eyes and not my head. I asked him if it was necessary for me to get out of my car for that but he ignored the question.

I did as he instructed, afterwards giving him the most sarcastic look. I figured we both knew the game had gone on for too long at that point, but it seemed I was the only one.

He started giving me more instructions about taking heel-to-toe steps on the white line in front of us.

"Follow this line with your feet while you're saying the alphabet."

"While?" I accidentally said out loud. I wasn't stupid, but I wasn't in the mood for games either.

"I've watched a lot of cop shows but I've never seen that one before," I remarked.

He didn't respond but I could see a hint of humour in his eyes.

"Can't you just take my breath with that thingie that tells you straight up?" I whined.

"Don't have it," he replied smugly, arms crossed, almost smiling. That's when I knew he was just pulling my leg. Maybe not pulling my leg, but more like getting a high so he could pull his third leg later.

I didn't want to know what he would do if I refused. "It will only take a minute," is what I told myself. So I did as he asked, singing the alphabet song while occasionally glaring at him.

"... T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z, " I sang. I contemplated singing the rest of the song but stopped myself just in time.

"You happy now?" I asked. I could no longer hide my irritation.

"Yes very happy," he smiled as he handed me back my belongings and told me to have a good night. Of course after that incident I couldn't.

"You won't be laughing for long Mr," I hesitated as I looked at his name tag.

"Jackson," I read as I started my car.

"Name's Phil," he laughed. I waved a dismissive hand as I drove away. He made kissy sounds as I left. Obnoxious was the only word I could use describe him.

I tried to pretend that whole incident had not happened as I finished my journey to see my friend Scott. I really hoped the rest of my night would be less eventful.

* * *

The rest of that night turned out to be as uneventful as I had hoped, and a few more uneventful nights later I found myself out on an evening drive once again, this time to a bar. My close friend Scott had invited me to hang out with him and to try and mingle.

I wasn't ready to mingle but I couldn't refuse, not only because he was a close friend, but because he'd been a depressed mess for close to a year at that point and I couldn't not walk him through his first steps back into the real world.

"My little baby Scottie," I said as soon as I saw him in the crowded bar as I pinched his cheeks.

"Hey," he said as he gave me a peck on the lips and a big hug.

"Nice to see you outside for once," I said into his ear. It was. He hadn't been a burden to me but at some point we both knew he had to start moving forward.

"Thanks," he said. We caught up about life and a few things. We kept in touch regularly so we weren't that much out of the loop.

The dimly lit bar was a nice change of scenery for me too. Change was appreciated after being in an office all day every day.

One could only see a few things outside of their immediate surroundings, but that was more because of the crowd than the lighting.

"Come this side," he said as he led me by my hand through the crowd to the bar.

"Want you to meet someone," I barely heard him say as he pulled me roughly. I hoped he wasn't seeing someone new already. That wasn't what he needed in any capacity.

I followed him and we stopped as he tapped the shoulder of a somewhat burly man who was facing away from us. The man turned around with a smile. I locked eyes with him, and noticed how he tried his hardest to maintain his smile.

"Ryan, Ryan," Scott called me rather excitedly. "This is my friend David," he said enthusiastically. David, he said. I couldn't believe it.

"Really? You don't say," I said as I extended my hand for "David". He took my hand and we had a rather formal handshake. I moved in and kissed both his cheeks just to mess with him. It was almost funny how the shoe was already on the other foot. It would have been hard to tell otherwise, but that giant mustache was etched in my mind like a tattoo.

"Nice to meet you

David

," I said, making sure I pronounced his name just right.

"Nice to meet you too," he managed to get out, almost choking and avoiding eye contact.

I wanted to laugh, for "David" was the cop who had jerked me around only a few nights before. He looked somewhat different, messier, but it was definitely him, and by the looks of it, he knew I knew it was him.

He was wearing a red plaid button-down and blue jeans. The upper half of his shirt was open and his hairy chest was visible. I watched him almost shy away as I stared at him, almost like he was going to cover himself up. It was almost cute.

Scott must have noticed too, he lightly slapped my shoulder and told me to stop staring.

"How can I not stare?" I asked with a wide smile. "Not with

this

hunk of a man in front of me," I said with my hand on David's shoulder.

"David" looked flustered, his eyes were nearly wide open but he shook it off. Scott laughed. He was oblivious.

"What's his surname?" I suddenly asked, turning all my attention back to Scott. It was a random question, but I had a feeling I needed to know.

"Umm... Smith," Scott answer, seemingly confused. I raised a questioning brow at David. He was frozen. "Nice, nice."

I felt the awkwardness start to creep in, and I wasn't looking for that.

"Let's dance boys!" I suddenly exclaimed, grabbed a hand from each of them and taking them to the dance floor. They followed as I started dancing, though only one of them had a choice. Scott was only blissfully enthusiastic.

My day was suddenly better, only because my petty side had taken over for the night. I knew that I was eventually supposed to be serious about the situation, but that night, all I could do was smile and giggle. And dance the night away.