Maybe subconsciously Gunn did expect the kiss, but that's something for therapists and those weird ass couches. He hits the punch bag; thankful that Angel's out doing whatever a brooding vampire does.
It isn't that he's not attracted; he's just not that way. He doesn't like disco or spending hours on his hair. Hell, he doesn't even have hair. And maybe he should've paid more attention when Cordelia asked if they'd started sleeping together. Or watched for signals. Signals: attraction is all about signals.
Gunn hasn't had a date in a long time. None of them have, except Wesley with Virginia. Maybe that was why he hadn't seen it. Wesley's lips were soft. Gunn's knuckles start to burn. He hasn't had sex in an even longer time.
No, he isn't going there. He isn't going to think about sex, especially sex with Wesley. That is wrong. So many wrongs Gunn doesn't want to count.
Wesley is his best friend, and Wesley is a dude. Most importantly, Wesley is a dude and Gunn is straight. Sure, he loves Wesley in a manly way. In a playing Playstation until 3 a.m., slap your ass with a wet towel kind of way. Okay, maybe the last part is gayer than a lot of sports players and fans would admit, including Gunn.
But Wesley.
Gunn's fist makes contact with the bag. His head pounds and he frowns. Wesley had thought that Gunn was gay, or at least flexible. Did Gunn give off gay vibes? Sure, Cordelia had forced him to watch Wil & Grace and he'd laughed, but it is a comedy.
He's losing it. No one would've ever thought that he liked dudes before he started hanging around a "good" vampire. And how is he supposed to fight evil demons, knowing that Wesley's probably checking out his ass? Gunn tries to block out the memory of pulling a piece of prickly spine from Wesley's thigh.
Gunn doesn't like guys that way. The end.
The chain clanks as the bag jumps wildly. Gunn ignores the footsteps he hears from the stairwell. But, from the corner of his eye, he sees Wesley standing at the bottom.
"For what it's worth, I overstepped my boundaries," Wesley says. "I shouldn't have assumed-"
"Wes, it's okay." Gunn shakes his head. It's not okay, and his brow furrows as that sounded smoother in his head. "I'm not. I don't like you that way. I don't like guys. That way. What I'm trying to say-"
Wesley's frown penetrates the dimness of the basement. Gunn knows Wesley's done this before, heard this before. "Like I said, I shouldn't have assumed that you would be interested in me and I should've asked before-"
"It's not you." Gunn can't stand when Wesley puts himself down. This is what makes rejecting Wesley hard. "It's just too much."
"That's alright. I understand."
And Gunn listens as Wesley pads back up the stairs.