***
In retrospect, I think there was very little we could have done to prepare for that night. Cole drove down from Northern Florida and picked me up on time from the Tampa airport. We both looked good—button up shirts, nice slacks, jackets but no ties. We were aiming for tasteful without being intimidating—we were on the same page. In the car, he listened as I went on and on about my little, well I guess it is now actually a pretty large, situation, shall we say, and I reminded him to stay calm no matter what transpired at dinner.
When we got to the restaurant, Sam and his partners were already waiting for us in the parking lot. By the way, his partners, Derek and Wyn, were breathtaking. Extremely breathtaking for guys their age, but they were also super polite and well-mannered. There was one little thing about them though that caught us by surprise.
“Does Sam know?” I asked Cole in a whisper, as I pretended to straighten his collar.
“I don’t think so,” he whispered back.