KISS: Road Trip

Ch 56: Oh Well Hey (Paul)

"Hey I'm bored so I'm gonna go to the bar, have fun with your paperwork," I teased, nudging Gene. He didn't even look up from the tests he was grading. "Yeah go have fun. I'm just going to stay here until I get this finished because I can't concentrate at home with Nick around. I'll see you later tonight!"

Grinning, I called a cab to the bar, sitting by myself and ordering a drink, hoping this would be fun and wouldn't be a mistake.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't Paul motherfucking Stanley." I jumped, turning to find a blond man with stunning blue eyes sitting next to me at the bar. A smile spread across my face in spite of myself and I shook my head. "Eric Singer! Damn, it's been a minute."

He laughed, eyes sparkling as he took a sip of his drink. "That it has, that it has. How've you been though? It's been so long since I've talked to you!" I shrugged, finishing off my beer. "Eh, you know. Got a career in the XFL lined up starting February, so that'll be fun. Next month, basically. Other than that, not a whole lot." Eric gave me a smile. "Nice! Not surprised, you were like the best on our team. XFL, that's cool!"

I nodded, trying to get my heart to stop fluttering. "Yeah, how about you though? Done anything cool?" He shrugged, tucking his hair behind his ears. It was still ridiculously long, practically halfway to his waist. "Oh, you know. Did college. Don't even know what I'm doing right now, just working like retail while I try and find a job I actually want to do. Play in a band though, that's fun! Figured out I was bi my junior year of uni, just basic stuff like that."

I choked on my beer, coughing for a second before staring at him in shock. "Shit sorry that just took me by surprise. That's cool though, I came out as bi senior year of high school." Now it was his turn to stare at me before smiling. "Well damn, that's a coincidence! And also a surprise to be honest, I had no idea! Let me buy you a drink though while we catch up!"

It was shockingly nice to talk to him, and I really enjoyed the evening. Cheeks a bit flushed from the fact we might've both had too many drinks, Eric stumbled to his feet. "Hey look it was really nice to talk to you! I wanna keep talking but alsho I can feel myself getting hella drunk so I'll call you tomorrow or shomething so I can actually remember the conversation. If that works for you, of course!"

I grinned, rising to my feet myself and paying our tabs. "Hell yeah that works, man! It was really fun talking to you, I'd love to keep it going!" Eric gave me a hug, eyes shining. "Looking forward to it," he said with a wink, walking toward the door with a parting wave. I watched him go, heart skipping, kind of shocked about how I was feeling.

I still felt all warm and fuzzy inside as I took a cab home, sitting next to Gene at my kitchen table as he finally finished whatever he had been working on. He gave me a smile, raising an eyebrow. "You have a fun night? You look happy, that's nice to see." I nodded, sending a text to Eric thanking him for the drink, still smiling. "Yeah. I think...I think I might be in love with Eric."

There was a long silence as Gene gave me a bewildered look. "Uh...well one, he's straight and dating Carrie, and two, if he was gay we all know he'd date Bruce over anyone else." I burst into laughter, shaking my head. "No! No that's my bad, no I didn't mean him! I meant Eric Singer! I ran into him and we talked and it was...it was honestly really nice."

He kept staring at me before slowly shaking his head. "Look just uh...just be careful and take care of yourself, alright? Like I mean is he even like...like gay? Like don't waste away trying to get him if he's never gonna like you back the same way, you know?"

"No, no, I know! He told me he came out as bi in college, I told him I came out as bi in high school. It honestly was really nice to talk to, we really hit it off. I don't know if we ever will date you know but like...he asked about calling me tomorrow and stuff so I dunno. You know?"