"it's just a shot away"

year: 2007
song: gimme shelter
artist: rolling stones

it's our fifth date, perhaps sixth. still at the point when the smiles are shy and the pauses in conversation infrequent, yet heavy. he was waiting for me outside of the restaurant, perfectly gallant in the black suit i'd come to realize was his wardrobe, opening the door of the cab as i stepped out. he curls into the curve of my neck every chance he gets. there is no pretense or shrewd deceit. it is his complete honesty that disarms me. now, he's dragged me to a hellhole in chinatown, where the regulars pat him on the back and pump his pale hand with a hearty shake. he knows that indulging my guiltiest pleasure by ploying me with karaoke will build an embarrassed intimacy more quickly than any hasty coupling. he urges me to sing from a god awful list of 80s anthems, but all i can do is cower at the bar next to a smilling, toothless man who keeps buying my dark escort drinks. my lover-to-be grabs the microphone with complete confidence. he peers towards the back of the bar, never taking his eyes from me for a single second. though his words are cautious, his entire being is bold when he comes back, a sly smirk on his face, and kisses me with a voracity that leaves me more curious than weak.