An Officer and His Gentleman by Ryan Field Page A

father. And they live on the other side of the lake. His name is Mike."
He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "He's cute. I like him."
"Would you do him?" Sarah asked. She was always curious about Chance's taste in men, almost as if she were competing with him.
Chance leaned over and stared at Mike for a moment. He had good, strong muscular legs. His hands were large and his fingers were very thick. Chance sat back and said, "I like his hands. With hands like that, he probably has a big, thick dick. Yeah, I'd do him." He wasn't telling a lie. If he'd been in a better mood and hadn't been thinking about Brody, he probably would have flirted with Mike. In the back seat of a car, he probably would have sucked him off too.
Sarah screamed and threw her head back, pretending to be shocked. She loved to talk dirty with Chance, and she loved guys with big dicks. "I can't believe you just said that."
Chance knew she loved it. He spread his hands apart, about a foot wide, and said, "I'm telling you, there's a big fat dick down there. I would be on my knees in a second if I were alone with him. I'd make that boy's toes curl."
Sarah's new friend returned, and while they talked, Chance sipped his martini and listened to the music. He made sure he didn't make direct eye contact with anyone. He only wanted to sit there, swing his legs from the bar stool, and become numb. Then Sarah leaned back and poked him in the ribs, and the martini almost went all over his lap. "Omigod. Did you see who is over there?" she asked. She spoke quickly and her hands were moving as if she were waving to someone she hadn't seen in a long time.
He nodded no and shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't be obvious," she said, "but slowly turn around and look at who is standing against the window near the pool table, sipping a beer." She grabbed his knee hard. "He looks just like a bad little boy who is being punished."
Chance slowly turned and looked toward the window. He stopped breathing for a second and sat back. It was Brody, standing there all alone, sipping a beer, watching two women play pool. The moment Chance looked at him, he looked up too, and their eyes met. Then Brody quickly pressed his lips together and lowered his head. His fist clenched against his hip and it looked like he was ready to kick the pool table.
Chance took a deep breath and reached into his pocket for his car keys. "Ah, well, I'm getting the hell out of here . I didn't think we'd run into him tonight."
Sarah grabbed his knee harder, and leaned forward so she could press her lips closer to his ear. "Don't you dare move. We're not leaving until this guy offers to drive me home tonight. I'm going to get into his pants if it's the last thing I do. As a matter of fact..."
As Chance leaned forward and Sarah continued to ramble on about how much she needed a man, he didn't see Brody walk around the bar and right up to the back of his chair. Sarah saw him first. She looked up, blinked a few times and said, "Hey, how are you?"
Chance felt a push from behind, and his bar stool jerked forward a little. When he turned to find Brody, his stomach jumped a few times. "Ah, well ... hey," he said. Then he turned a little to the right so his back would not be in Brody's face.
"So are you going to ignore me all night or what?" Brody asked.
Sarah's eyes grew wide before she turned around slowly and resumed her conversation with Mike.
"I wasn't ignoring you," Chance said. This was all so high school; he really did want to leave. "I didn't even see you until Sarah did." He crossed his arms and rested them against his chest, his fists clenched beneath his armpits. That had been an awfully presumptuous thing for Brody to say, and he wasn't going to let him get away with it.
"Well, I've been standing there since you walked in. I thought for sure you'd at least wave or something," he said. His voice had become soft and calm, almost hurt. "I found the package on my front steps last week. Thanks for returning my sweats.