Thanks for the encouraging reviews. Even though we haven't gotten to the adult parts (dirty) yet, I am still keeping this rating high so no innocent person gets hooked into the story and I end up responsible for teaching the facts of life to folks I've never met.
This chapter is a little longer. Yes for those who asked, I did actually compile trivia questions and used a couple in this chapter. Man, research! What was I thinking writing this?
Anyway, enjoy, please review. I like reading them!
A Friendly Wager
Lorelai was surprised at how packed K.C.'s was. Miss Patty had certainly gotten the word out. Most of the town regulars were there having a good time. She spied Miss Patty, Babette and Morey sitting at a table. She joined them.
"Nice turnout," Lorelai observed as she sat down.
"Yeah, it's nice to get out and socialize, dear," Miss Patty agreed. "We don't do it often enough."
Lorelai refrained from commenting. She knew she was sitting with the two main town gossips. Almost all information came from these two and she was pretty sure that all they did was socialize.
"So Lorelai, doll, ya gonna take the test?" Babette asked.
"Of course!" she said brightly. "I may not beat out you two but I think I'll score pretty high. I'm hoping to beat out Kirk at least."
"Oh, I don't know, Sugah," Babette disagreed. "Kirk knows a lot about this town. Don't let his looks deceive you."
"Hmmmm," Lorelai reconsidered. "Okay, maybe not Kirk, then." She glanced around and spotted Luke walking in and heading to the bar. "Luke!" Lorelai told them. "I bet I can beat out Luke!"
"He said he wouldn't participate," Miss Patty said as she watched Luke order a beer then she looked sideways at Lorelai. She was sure Lorelai's comments the other day had somehow managed to get him to the bar. "Maybe you can convince him before Taylor arrives with the tests."
"Hey, I'll give it a shot," Lorelai replied.
Lorelai got up and joined Luke at the bar. She signaled to the bartender and he brought her a beer.
"Hey," she greeted Luke "I'm surprised to see you here."
"Why is that?" Luke countered. "I told you I go out and have fun. I just decided to come watch the current train wreck that Taylor has planned."
Lorelai cocked her head to one side. "Uh-huh. Ha! I knew you'd show up here tonight! I talked you into it!"
"You did not talk me into it," Luke argued. "You tried bullying me to come then practically declared that if I didn't I would be the town hermit and forever ostracized. Like I care." He sipped his beer.
"And yet, here you are. Hmmm, maybe you do listen to me." she returned good-naturedly.
Luke did not reply. He had to admit that he did listen to her and take her advice but he didn't want to reveal that to her. She had too much control over him as it was.
"So, you gonna take the test?" she asked.
"No." Luke gestured to the bartender to set him up with a shot.
"C'mon, Luke," Lorelai urged him. As the bartender poured the tequila shot, she indicated that she wanted one too. The bartender put the salt shaker and a bowl of lemon wedges nearby.
"I don't do town events," he declared. He licked his wrist, shook some salt onto it, licked the salt then downed the shot. As he reached for a piece of lemon, he saw Lorelai toss back her shot in the same manner. She motioned to the bartender to set them up again and tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Loosen up a little," Lorelai wheedled. The bartender brought them both another round of beer and shots. "It might be fun!"
"Taylor Doose come up with something fun?" Luke snorted. "Your idea of fun is pretty strange. Here." He raised his shot and she did the same. "Cheers." They downed the shots together.
"Fine," she conceded after a moment, "but maybe you could just unbend for once. Suck it up, do your civic duty for once." Her tone was slightly irritated. The tequila was making her bold.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Luke asked. The bartender approached again, but he waved him away. He needed to pace himself. "What are you after here?"
"I want you to play so I can beat you," Lorelai confessed.
"No way," Luke snorted again. "I am not doing it."
"Aww, be man, grow a pair," Lorelai said a little tipsy. "I bet I can kick your ass."
Luke actually laughed at her. The alcohol was giving him a reckless buzz. "You wish."
"Care to make it interesting?" Lorelai challenged him.
"What a side bet between you and me?" Luke asked. "You wanna bet money on it?"
"Oh ye of stale, limiting opportunities," Lorelai teasingly mocked him. "Think bigger, bolder. Go crazy!" Lorelai saw him pondering her words and got excited. "The possibilities are limitless! Ooh when you lost you would have to do all the fix-it jobs around my house for a month! Or attend town meetings for a year!"
Her enthusiasm was infectious. Luke was having a hard time keeping up with her chattering. The tequila and the beer had definitely caused him to lower his guard. He found her smiles and hair flips captivating. He knew it would only be a matter of time before he caved; he found his resolve weakening as he stared into her mischievous eyes. Suddenly her last statement sunk into his brain.
"Wait a minute," Luke protested. "If we do this, there should be a time limit." He was not going to attend town meetings for a year. He eyed Lorelai suspiciously. "You'd keep changing your mind about what you wanted anyway. You wouldn't stand firm on the terms."
"I most certainly would!" Lorelai huffed in indignation. She met his knowing gaze and said sheepishly, "Okay, maybe not. We could write our wagers and put them in sealed envelopes! Let's do that now!"
Luke looked at her confused. "Where in the heck are you gonna get envelopes in a bar?"
Lorelai rummaged in her purse and whipped out envelopes. Luke shook his head in disbelief. The junk she carried in her purse. She got two sheets of paper from the bartender and passed one to Luke.
"Where is the pen you take your orders with? Use that," Lorelai prompted.
"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't carry that pen with me," Luke groused at her. Lorelai fished out another pen from her purse and handed it to him. She watched Luke pause, pen poised over the paper, trying to come up with a suitable wager.
"Ask for the moon and the stars bucko. Doesn't matter cuz you are going down," Lorelai predicted. "Down, downtown, lowdown, so down…" she trailed off running out of words.
"You so cannot pull off the trash talk," Luke told her.
"I can so!" Lorelai declared.
"Whatever," Luke shook his head then remembered what they had been talking about. "Time limit. I am not doing some crazy stunt for months on end just for your amusement."
"One month," Lorelai decided. "Deal?"
"Deal," Luke agreed. Lorelai held out her hand. Luke stared at it then looked at her before grabbing her hand and giving it one firm shake.
"Let's drink on it! One more," Lorelai coaxed him. She leaned over and nudged him.
"Fine," Luke agreed even though he was already feeling pretty good with what he already had in the short time he had been there.
The bartender set them up again. As they downed their shots and finished off their beer, Taylor walked in with a large envelope.
"Ooh, it's almost time!" Lorelai exclaimed loudly. The tequila was giving her a warm glow. "We need to write down our wagers!" She chewed the end of her pen for a moment and looked over at Luke. "For the next thirty days, Lucas Danes…" she said aloud as she was writing. She gave him an evil grin and finished writing in silence.
Luke watched her as she was writing. She had cupped her hand around the paper so he couldn't see what she wrote. She quickly folded the paper and stuffed it in the envelope and sealed it then wrote her name on it. She gave him a dazzling smile, one that made him unconsciously tighten his grip on his beer.
"C'mon," she urged him. "Write something, anything! This is your big chance!" she told him then got cocky, "Doesn't matter cuz you're not gonna win!" She gave him another brilliant smile that made his head spin.
Luke, mesmerized by her killer smile, didn't think; he just wrote down the first thing that popped into his head. As he began writing, Lorelai craned her neck like she was peeking. He copied her method of hiding what he was writing. He quickly finished and stuffed his wager in his envelope without thinking about it. He sealed the envelope and wrote his name on it.
"What do we do with them?" he asked slowly. Yep, with the tequila and the beer he was feeling pretty good. He gave Lorelai a lazy smile.
"I'll keep 'em!" Lorelai declared. She grinned back at him. She was having fun and was glad he was there. She grabbed Luke's envelope and put them both back in her purse as Taylor walked up to them.
"Hello, Lorelai," he nodded at her then gave another nod. "Luke. Lorelai, do you want to take the test now?" He had noticed that both Luke and Lorelai seemed a little drunk. "You may want to have your wits about you. This test isn't easy."
"We'll be fine," Lorelai proclaimed. "Give us the tests."
"Luke, you're taking the test?" Taylor eyebrows rose in surprise. "Well—"
"Shut up Taylor and give me the test before I change my mind," Luke growled at him. He growled at Taylor as a matter of principle.
Taylor handed them both a test. "Good luck," he said and walked away.
"No peeking," Lorelai waggled a finger at him.
Luke just gave her a look. He motioned to the bartender to set them up for another round while they both started on the test.
"Wow," Lorelai commented, sipping her beer, "some of these questions are really easy and some of them…Name the first family that founded Stars Hollow? Is Taylor kidding?"
"There are some easy ones," Luke glanced over the test.
"What business occupied the spot before Luke's Diner?" Lorelai asked. "Well, duh."
"Remind me to yell at Taylor for putting my business in this stupid test," Luke said tossing back another shot.
"Name the manufacturer and product that Stars Hollow is noted for?" Lorelai boggled at the difficulty of the question.
After about fifteen minutes they both finished their tests. As they did so, Taylor glided up and quickly snatched them away. "No comparing answers," Taylor warned. "We'll be announcing the results at the next town meeting," he told them.
"Oh, joy," Luke deadpanned. Lorelai giggled.
"One more drink!" Lorelai declared. She leaned up against Luke. "C'mon, one more."
As the bartender set them up yet again, Luke said, "Last one." He was feeling a little fuzzy and was enjoying the fact that Lorelai was leaning up against him a little too much.
"Spoilsport," Lorelai pouted.
Once they downed their last shots and finished off their beers, Luke vaguely remembered that he was opening the diner in the morning.
"I have to go," Luke said and stood up. He hung onto the bar to keep himself steady.
Lorelai's lower lip made an appearance as she wordlessly pouted at him again. She got to her feet as well and immediately pitched backward. Luke threw out his arm and pulled her against him, steadying her.
"I think we've both had enough," he said looking down at her.
For a moment they stared into each other's eyes, each quietly wondering what the other was thinking. It had the effect of a splash of cold water, but Luke didn't let her go.
"You didn't drive did you?" Luke asked.
"No, I walked here. And I think I can crawl back," Lorelai bobbed her head as if agreeing with her own words.
"I'll walk you home," Luke offered. Lorelai looked at him strangely. "Just to make sure you make it."
"Who's gonna make sure you make it back to the diner?" Lorelai wondered.
"Don't worry, I know how to crawl too," Luke assured her.
They looked at each other and started laughing and headed towards the door.
"Look at that," Miss Patty nudged Babette. They watched Luke and Lorelai stagger out of the bar, leaning against each other. "Do you think…?"
"Nah, they're too drunk," Babette said regretfully. "But it's nice to dream."
As they walked outside the cool evening air caused them to sober up a bit.
"We can do this," Lorelai giggled but the distance to her house seemed very far.
"Or die trying," Luke laughed.
A car glided smoothly to the curb in front of where they were standing. After a moment, Kirk got out.
"Need a ride?" Kirk asked.
"Kirk?" Lorelai blinked at him in confusion. "What are you doing?"
"I sometimes offer my services as town designated driver," Kirk explained in a no-nonsense voice. "I noticed both you and Luke appear to be a trifle unsteady on your feet probably from imbibing too much alcohol."
"We have not!" Lorelai said indignantly swaying and coming up against Luke once again. "We're fine! We just finished taking the trivia test!" Lorelai announced, as if taking the test proved they were sober.
"Oh," Kirk shook his head, "not the best venue for taking the test. You should have taken it at Weston's like I did earlier in the week. There is no way you could beat me." Kirk prided himself on winning the dance contest every year and this was no different.
"I'm not going to beat you, Kirk," Lorelai admitted, "But I'm going to beat Luke! We bet on it and everything!"
"Really? What did you bet?" Kirk asked, intrigued.
"You'll find out after I win," Lorelai answered smugly.
"Kirk, we don't care about beating you, we don't care about the bet, we care about getting home," Luke piped up. In the short time they had been standing there, he decided he couldn't walk Lorelai home and make it home himself. "Are you going to take us?"
"Get in," Kirk said as he got back behind the wheel.
Luke stumbled over to the rear passenger door and opened it. He waited for Lorelai to get in and slide over before getting in himself.
"Such a gentleman," Lorelai laughed.
"Don't get used to it," Luke returned, half laughing himself.
They both relaxed into the seat as Kirk drove away. In a few minutes, they were pulling up to Lorelai's house.
"Gilmore residence," Kirk announced. He picked up a clipboard and began writing on a sheet, like a cab driver logging his time.
Luke blinked in surprise at how fast they had arrived at Lorelai's house. He looked over at her, she had her eyes closed. Not sure if he could walk around the car and open her door and sure that Kirk wasn't going to do it, he leaned across her and opened it himself. As he moved back he noticed her eyes had opened and she was staring at him. He froze, their faces just inches apart.
"You're home," he said in a quiet voice.
Lorelai didn't speak. She had gotten lost in his eyes, his beautiful blue eyes.
"Meter's running," Kirk hadn't looked up. Luke moved back.
"Thanks, Luke for…well thanks," Lorelai smiled at him. "See you tomorrow." She got out of the car and shut the door. Luke watched her carefully walk up her steps and let herself into the house.
"So Luke, care to make another wager on the test?" Kirk asked.
Luke did not reply. He slumped back into the seat and closed his eyes.
tbc
