It had all started on a work night out. Dinner and drinks in a pub first and then the majority went home around 10pm back to their families and other halves. There were four of us remaining: myself, Lydia, Jess and Amy. Lydia, as she always did, was talking up the merits of going to the local gay club and with the other two in agreement I shrugged my shoulders and began walking down the street with them. I had nowhere else to be tonight having recently split up with my girlfriend of 8 years and I'd kind of hoped that I might get a chance to flirt with Jess a bit as I'd always fancied her.
When we got inside it took all of twenty minutes of generic chatting with Jess to realise she really wasn't interested in me that way which took the pressure off. I decided I was just going to drink, dance and enjoy my night so headed to the bar. It was while I was standing at the bar James first came over.
"Good night?" he asked as he sidled in next to me. I turned to look at him. James must have been in his late 30s. He was around 6 foot tall, with a trim beard and deep brown eyes, and he had a manner and smile that instantly put you at ease.
"Yeah not bad thanks," I replied quickly before turning back to the barman who was giving me the shots I had ordered for the girls.
"Don't think I've seen you in here before," James said. His tone was relaxed but definitely flirty.
"Work night out," I nodded across to where the three girls were sat.
"Ahhh, you straight then?" James' tone changed ever so slightly.
"Usually," I replied jokingly and then instantly wondered why I had. I mean, I was straight and had definitely been for the last 8 years. I'd experimented with a guy in my early twenties but that was it and I had originally come here to try my luck with Jess. So why didn't I just say yes? I didn't really know. Maybe it was because I'd been flattered by the attention of James and felt bad when he sounded disappointed. Anyway, it was said now and James had raised an eyebrow.
"When are you unusual then?" he teased.
"Honestly," I started, deciding that honesty was probably the best policy here, "not for ten years or so. And it wasn't great from what I can remember."
"I see."
I could see James looking me up and down and I wondered what he was thinking. Was he trying to decide if I was worth the hassle? To be honest I probably wasn't and he was a cute guy who I was sure would be going home with someone at the end of the night if that was what he was after. I decided a subject change was in order.
"Who are you out with?" I asked.
"Want to know if I'm here with my boyfriend?" he fired back and I went red.
"No...I... was just..." I stuttered and he laughed.
"Relax, I'm just taking the piss. I'm here with a group but we always end up peeling off from each other as the night goes on. I'm James by the way."
"Steve," I replied and momentarily nearly offered my hand to shake his but thought better of it. I was really starting to fulfill every stereotype of a straight guy at a gay bar.
"Well nice to meet you Steve. Maybe I'll see you later if you come through to dance."
He took his drink and left and I went back to the girls with our shots. For the next hour or so I sat chatting with the girls, drinking and getting up to dance for the odd tune. I wasn't much of a dancer but as they started busting out some 90s classics I found myself up more and more alongside Lydia who would dance at anything. The next part of the night was a blur of dancing, drinking and I swear I saw Lydia getting of with a girl near the smoking area. Now it made sense why she wanted to come here. I turned with the intention of telling Jess and Amy but then realised in my slow, drunk way that they had left twenty minutes ago. With Lydia otherwise engaged it looked like the night had come to a natural end.
"I should probably go," I said to myself and started walking through the club and out. I had thought about saying goodbye to Lydia but I didn't want to interrupt her. I could get all the gossip on Monday anyway. It was while I was thinking about this I bumped into James again near the stairs to the exit. He smiled that easy smile at me.
"You off then?"
"Yeah, night has kind of come to its natural end," I told him. "What about you."
"I was thinking about it. Think I'm as drunk as I want to be and I'm not really in the mood to stay up late dancing."
"Fair enough. I'm thinking the same thing. Hope getting a taxi out here won't be too hard."
"I've got an Uber ordered," James said flashing me a look at his phone. "Where do you stay?"
"Just down by Penny Street, near the old school."
"I stay just up from the Rush if you want to jump in my cab. You'll be practically there," he offered. I thought about his offer for a moment. He was right. I would just be a ten minute walk from my house.
"Sure, but I'll give you some cash if you..."
"Don't even think about it. I'm going whether you're in the car or not so it makes no difference to me."
"Thanks," I said and he nodded towards the exit. I followed him out into the cool night air.
I needn't had worried as it wasn't particularly busy outside. A few people were milling about deciding whether to try and go home or go on and the queue for taxis was about 8 deep across the road. I turned from the queue to look at James and noticed he was staring at me quite intently with those brown eyes. I could tell he was weighing something up again.
"Are you o..." I began to say and was stopped as he leaned and kissed me. I was taken aback but only momentarily. He was a good kisser and my God I was actually really horny. I'd played it down as I didn't think I was getting a shot with Jess but I had come out with the intention of getting laid tonight. I kissed him back and opened my mouth allowing our tongues to start intertwining. This felt right but I had so many questions in my head. I broke it off and looked at him.
