THE TAVERNE IN THE TOWNE: BRIAN

(…I have described The Taverne in the Towne before, and some of its essential characteristics. The most essential of these characteristics is the slogan engraved over the backbar, ‘What is said in The Taverne stays in The Taverne’ This story is True – but, in True Taverne Tradition, the names have been changed to protect the Guilty…)

I walked into The Taverne in the Towne hoping that my favorite barstool (4th from the left by the cable TV) would be vacant, wanting nothing more than a few quiet drinks and a win by the home-town major-league baseball team (yes, I know, the NBA finals are on, but for me, football season and basketball season are just something to do to stave off the boredom between the World Series and Opening Day.)

I was in luck – in luck twice, as it turned out, but I didn’t know it at that moment. I thought that I was in luck because my barstool was indeed vacant, so I grabbed it quick before anyone else could claim it. Unfortunately for me, the NBA crowd was in full control, so any hope of seeing the baseball game was in vain. My second bit of luck this night was that, as I sat down on my own home barstool, I realized that the hunched figure next to me was Brian – and that he was there without Zoe, his girlfriend.

Of all the various habitués of The Taverne in the Towne, Brian is one of the sexiest – not a big man, about 5’10” or so, but nice broad shoulders tapering down to a narrow waist, and not hugely muscled, but lean-and-trim. He is a law school student, and so only comes to The Taverne occasionally, as his work and study schedules permit, but he is always a delight to my eyes. His main assets beyond his lean, mid-20’s body, are his long, dark wavy hair, with the killer eyelashes framing the soft, deep-set, heavy-lidded dark eyes, which flare with intensity when he is engaged, but are mostly found in quiet repose, as he is himself mostly found. Brian is not an overtly forceful, dominant, aggressive person, but he is one of those quietly assertive guys with whom you do not ever want to mess, and whom you want on your side in any fight, whether physical or intellectual.

As I pull up to my barstool this night, I give him a pat on the back – I always touch Brian whenever I can, because this straight guy is so desirable I never miss a chance for physical contact – just the touch of his firm shoulder through a thin t-shirt, or the sight of his hairy thighs and calves below his cut-off jeans, will fuel my fantasies for days – and nights. Tonight, however, Brian barely raises his head from his beer glass, and mutters a barely audible response to my usual “Hey, guy.”

Sensing trouble, I ask, “What’s up? Zoe let you off the leash for once?”

Brian almost never appears without Zoe hanging off of him, and what this sexy stud sees in that impossible bitch I will never know – suffice to say that he must want