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he began.
    They talked through dinner, first trading stories about
Nolan, then about themselves. She was a good talker, intelligent and witty, and
she was a good listener. They talked through dessert and coffee. Eventually,
the conversation turned back to Nolan. “How did his parents take it when they
found out he was gay?”
    “They didn’t,” Lucy answered simply.
    “They don’t know?” John was surprised. His partner had
always been completely open about his sexual orientation. But then, he was
hundreds of miles from his home town.
    “His father died the summer before Nolan started college,
before he came out. He told his mother, but she just doesn’t believe it. She’s
not upset or angry, she just refuses to believe it’s anything but a stage.”
    “Even after he lived with Kevin all those years?”
    Lucy snarled. “That asshole. I never liked him.”
    “Nolan did.”
    “I know. And I smiled and was pleasant every time I saw him.
But I always knew he was an asshole. And by the way, thank you for taking care
of Nolan when they split. He told me you really went all out to be there for
him.”
    John blushed. “I tried, but I don’t think I was really much
help.”
    “You were there. That’s the best help there is for a broken
heart.”
    Krulak stared at the candle in the center of the table. In a
weird way, his heart had broken too, for his friend’s grief. He wished he could
have done more. He wished there were bandages for broken hearts. Nolan was such
a good man, a giving man, and to have Kevin cheat on him like that…
    He felt the heat rising in his cheeks again, this time in
anger. He shook his head. Lucy would not understand. John barely understood
himself.
    He changed the subject again. “So his mom thinks he’s going
to wake up one morning and decide he really likes girls?”
    Lucy nodded, graciously allowing him to steer the conversation
away from the painful topics. “She thinks he’ll end up with me. Of course, she
also thinks I’m still a virgin.”
    With a little jolt, John realized that he’d been so involved
in having an actual conversation with the woman that he’d forgotten to flirt
with her. But her last statement seemed like an open invitation. “You mean
you’re not?” he teased with wide-eyed shock.
    She bit her lower lip and shook her head solemnly. “But
sometimes I pretend to be.”
    John grinned. She was flirting with him. He liked it. He
doubted it would go anywhere—in his mind, she still had PROPERTY OF NOLAN
stamped on her forehead—but it was pleasant anyhow. The evening had turned out
so much better than he’d expected, and he didn’t want it to be over.
    Lucy folded her napkin beside her plate. “I know you worked
all day, I should let you get home.”
    “I don’t want to go home,” he answered quickly. “Let’s go
dancing.”
    * * * * *
    The club was called Old School and it was just up the
street. The crowd on a weeknight was small. John and Lucy settled at a table
next to the dance floor, ordered a round of Scotch and hit the floor. They
generally played oldies and classics, but the first song was something new,
tencho rap with a skull-shattering bass line.
    “This sucks,” Lucy pronounced. “Be right back.”
    She crossed the floor and climbed the iron spiral staircase
to the DJ’s nest. She had, John reflected as he watched her, exceptional legs.
Swimmer’s legs, probably, trim and strong without being bulky. For one moment
he imagined those legs wrapped around his waist, holding him deep inside while
he…
    He felt a stirring in his groin and made himself stop
thinking in that direction. He drifted back to their table and took a long pull
on his drink. Nolan’s oldest friend, he told himself firmly. Don’t forget it.
    When he looked back, Lucy was leaning against the control
board, chatting with the DJ. She was smiling. He was nodding and gazing openly
at her breasts. They reached some agreement. The DJ reached for a new disc, and
Lucy came