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Jack was standing next to a table that had a bright red gun, some clips, and a black gun.

I nodded when Jack asked, “Ready?”

Jack pointed to the red gun. “This is a laser training gun.” He picked it up and aimed it at the target positioned a few feet in front of the table. A red dot appeared on the X when he pulled the trigger. “We use it for practicing and training.”

“Training?” I asked. “I thought this wasn’t a lesson?” Lessons didn’t fit in my budget, and I didn’t want a pity one.

“It’s not. I’m going to show you a few things, so your first time shooting is more fun.” He grinned. “It’s easier for me to show you a few things in the classroom where we can hear each other.”

I couldn’t help but notice his lopsided grin. The left side rising a tad higher than the right.Stop thinking about his grin.

“Meg?”

Shit! I was staring, and didn’t hear him ask me a question. I needed to pay attention. “Sorry, trying to imagine shooting being fun, not scary.” I said to cover my embarrassment, hoping the heat I felt in my cheeks wasn’t showing.

“A little fear isn’t a bad thing when handling a gun,” Jack faced me. “It can be dangerous if not done properly.”

Jack started our non-lesson by going over the safety and range rules.

He showed me how to stand. “You need to be balanced and comfortable.”

“This feels weird.”

Jack snickered. “We rarely stand in a shooting stance, so it’ll take some getting used to.”

Next, he taught me how to hold the gun.

He had me pick up the red laser gun a few times to practice getting the proper grip. Not a lesson, my ass.Oh well, too late to back out now.I might as well learn something. Once he was confident I had it down, he taught me how to aim. It was a lot harder than I imagined it would be. It always seems so easy on TV–they just point and shoot.

“The only way for me to know if you’re aiming properly is for you to press the trigger so I can see the laser on the target.” Jack pointed at the target. “If you think you’re lined up, slowly press the trigger. The red dot will tell me where the bullet would hit.”

I aimed and slowly pressed the trigger.

“Good initial alignment, but the gun moved when you pressed the trigger.”

He told me the goal was to press the trigger in a smooth, controlled motion so the sights didn’t move. “Here, let me show you.” Jack stepped up close to my side. “Aim at the target, then put your finger on the trigger, but don’t press. Relax your hand. I’m going to put my finger over yours and press the trigger for you so you can see how it feels.”

Jack placed one hand behind my right shoulder and placed the other one over mine on the gun. His warm hand felt firm on mine. It was hard to ignore the tingling sensations in my hands as he helped me adjust my grip. I’d never felt anything like that before. I passed it off as a nervous reaction and forced myself to breathe while relaxing my hand. Luckily, Jack was in full teacher mode, and probably hadn’t noticed me blushing. Again.

“You okay?” He stepped back.

Of course, he noticed. I nodded, “Yeah.” I didn’t trust myself to say more.

My body’s reaction to him mortified me. I hadn’t expected, nor was I mentally prepared for it. So rather than think about it, I focused on the gun. I stiffened my spine and arms. Jack must have felt it, too.

“Relax, let me do the work.” He pressed the trigger and the laser hit exactly where I was aiming.

“Now you try.”

He made it seem so easy. I took a few more practice shots, trying my hardest not to let the laser move on the paper. I wasn’t very successful. Jack reminded me I was doing this for the first time and it would take practice to get the trigger press down.

After a few mostly successful shots, Jack taught me how to load the magazine, correcting me when I called it a clip, “It’s a magazine, not a clip,” using fake bullets he called dummy rounds. Then he showed me how to load the magazine into the gun. After I practiced a few times, he said I was ready to shoot on the range.

He told me a real lesson would have been much longer than twenty minutes. “There’s so much more I could teach you, if you're interested.”

I nodded, but didn’t say anything. I wasn’t ready to agree to another lesson.

Before going out on the range, Jack had me put on the eye and ear protection he was letting me borrow. It was weird not being able to hear anything. Jack put on a camo baseball cap with ARMY embroidered on the front, before putting on his own eye and ear protection.

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