Friends with Benefits and Gay for You are probably among my favourites subgenre, and this little short story has both, so basically it starts with a good advantage in my “like” level. So nice are the premises, that I would have not minded to read also the preamble, how Gary and Stephen, one straight, the other gay, best friends and job colleagues, arrive to understand that they are in love with each other. We know that Stephen was in love with Gary since forever, but how Gary realized that the feeling was mutual? How a 40 years old man could reconcile in his mind that he was in love with his best friend?

Instead the story starts with a kiss, the first kiss between Gary and Stephen, and Gary is scared: scared of what he feels, of what this means for him and for all people around him. He is ready to come out to Stephen, but he is not ready to have an outing with the entire world around. And so he steps back, and Stephen, bless him, understand that they have to take this new adventure one small step per time.

Instead of giving up on Gary, Stephen decides to “woo” him; but he doesn’t play fair, and instead of letting Gary arrives to the target, slowly but surely, he starts to tease the man with glimpses of what he could have. And his play would have probably last a lot longer if not for an accident that put a sprint on Gary’s decision: he understands that there is nothing more important to him than Stephen and that is stupid to wait for something that he could immediately have.

In a short story it’s difficult to say more; Gary and Stephen’s relationship with the outside world is barely hinted but not developed. What will happen when they will come out also to their co-workers? Will they have problem? Or will they simply continue to play the role of best friends, like in an old ’50 comedy?

Stevie Woods is not new in writing very romantic short little story, and One Small Step is one of them.