A More Perfect Union by J. Scott Coatsworth

Author:J. Scott Coatsworth [Murphy, B.G. Thomas, J. Scott Coatsworth, Jamie Fessenden, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-63477-332-4
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2016-06-26T04:00:00+00:00

WALLACE HAD a good time at the chat, and he drank far more coffee than a man who had an hour’s drive home ahead of him should. He kept moving around the room, dodging whenever Jay drew near, pretending he hadn’t seen him approach. It was kind of childish, and he wasn’t sure why he was doing it. He needed time to sort things out.

I was hoping you’d show up.

That was kind of creepy, wasn’t it? Of course, Wallace had been hoping to bump into Jay here too. But he hadn’t come right out and said it like some kind of… weird fairy-tale character—a tawny-colored cat with green eyes asking, “Where have you been? You’re late!”

On the other hand, it was definitely cool that, while Wallace had been hoping he’d run into Jay, Jay had apparently been hoping he’d run into Wallace. What were the odds of that happening? Wouldn’t it be pretty dumb to walk away at this point?

Wallace made up his mind, finally, and the next time Jay zigged, he refrained from zagging. They collided in the kitchenette.

“Hey,” Jay said breathlessly, as if he’d been running to catch him, “we haven’t had a chance to talk yet.”

“No, I guess not.”

“Are you getting another cup of coffee?”

Wallace looked down at his half-full plastic cup and grimaced. “That’s okay. I think I’ve had enough.”

“I really appreciate you bringing the coffee urn. I don’t know what I was thinking, showing up without a coffeemaker. Julie told me people would bring things….”

“Well, I guess they did.” The table had been full of cookies and… well, mostly cookies—a lot of cookies—until about a half hour ago.

Jay glanced at the table, but clearly he wasn’t all that interested in food. He asked, “So… are you still into all that Viking stuff?”

Wallace debated whether he should be offended by the term Viking. The correct term was Norse, and even though Viking was technically correct in some instances, it seemed as if Jay might be mocking him. But maybe it was just because he didn’t know much about it.

“You might say that,” Wallace replied. “I’ve been trying to put together a study group for Old Norse, but there haven’t been many takers. Or any, really.”

“Really?” Jay said, his green eyes lighting up with excitement. “That would be so cool!”

Wallace blinked at him. “Are you… are you saying you’d be interested?”

“I was pretty good with German in college. Didn’t you say it was kind of like that?”

“Well, not so much like the language. But a lot of the vocabulary sounds familiar if you know German—or English, for that matter. If you know both, then it’s even better.”

“Can I join your group?”

Wallace realized his hand was shaking, so he set his cup down on the table. He wasn’t sure why he was so unsteady. Maybe it was shock. “Um… sure.”

“When do you want to get together?”

He thought about it, embarrassed by the realization he had nothing whatsoever planned for the immediate future. “Next weekend?”

They haggled over it a minute, settling on one o’clock next Saturday afternoon.

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