“I… actually didn’t go to Cal Poly,” Marin admitted.Blake and Celeste looked at him in alarm.It was his business to tell people about the pygmalion/merman situation, but involving someone else this late in the game…
Ryan looked surprised.“No?”
“No, I dropped out after the first semester,” Marin lied.“I moved home and went to get an AA in art and art history at a local university.I’m actually from Ottowa.I recently came back here in an exchange program to get my BA.”
Blake stared at him, stunned.Good save, Marin!
Celeste deflated in relief on their side of the couch, taking a few gulps of White Claw.
“Oh nice,” Ryan said.“That’s a cool field to be in.”
“Did you study around here?”Marin asked, taking the focus off of himself.
“Ehh.”Ryan shrugged.“I went to trade school for mechanics right out of high school.I started working at a local shop right after that—that’s where we met.”He gestured towards Blake.
Blake explained: “It was a summer job between my bachelor’s and master’s.I was actually working both there and at Water Zone that first summer to try and make rent.Unfortunately I had to quit once I started school again because the hours weren’t working out.”
He took a pull off of his drink.“Got a great roommate out of it, though.”
“What do you do for a living, Celeste?”Marin asked.Celeste inflated with pride.
“Oh a bit of this and that,” they said.“I recently got my master’s in mythology.I’m working on a book about the afterlife and death mythologies, in fact.But meanwhile I work at my mom’s new age shop part time doing tarot readings—and dabble in cryptozoology on the side.”
“Ugh, you’re still on about that shit?”Ryan rolled his eyes.“Please don’t tell me you’re still convinced Tahoe Tessie is real.”
“Okay.”Celeste huffed.“I happen to have first-hand experience,Ryan.”
“You stepped on a rotten log in Emerald Bay!”
“I’m justsaying, looking at it from astrictly folkloric lens—”
As Celeste launched into their defense of Tahoe Tessie, Marin inched closer to Blake, taking a sip from his own drink and laying his head down on Blake’s shoulder.Without thinking, Blake reached over and set a hand on Marin’s thigh.
“Shit,” he cursed into his drink, removing his hand.“Sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize,” Marin told him, taking his hand and lacing their fingers together.He smiled up at Blake through his bangs.“You’re fine.”
Blake ducked his head, grinning into his White Claw.
15
Blake stepped out of the Black SUV into the streets of Sacramento’s Lavender Heights, stretching his arms up above his head.Underneath the weight of his dark jacket and tee, the cool night air brushing against his navel felt like a much-needed relief.Marin, Ryan, and Celeste hopped out behind him, the latter glancing around at the myriad of bars and clubs.On a Tuesday night, Lavender Heights was fairly relaxed, primarily populated by college students dancing in the clubs and couples in their mid-thirties relaxing at the bars.
“Okay, looks like the line at Pleasure Island is pretty long, but their security guards are jackasses so we don’t want to go there anyway,” Celeste observed.“Orange Blossom is fiiiiinnne, Iguess,but it’s more for socializing than for dancing.
“It’s not a gay bar, but we could start at Weeki Wachee,” they surmised.“It has great blended drinks, but it’s a little kitschy in my opinion.All I know is that Idefinitelywanna end up at Star Lounge.”
“Sounds like a plan.”Ryan pecked Celeste’s cheek.“Did you want to head over?”
Weeki Wachee was a neat mix of a bar and an entertainment venue with an excitable atmosphere.It had a Polynesian theme and boasted the town’s best blended drinks, but most impressive of all was the humongous acrylic tank above the bar.For the moment, it was empty, populated with tropical fish, some rocks, and an old sunken chest.
Unhesitating, Celeste headed to the bar to order a round of Blue Hawaiian shots before returning to their friends, who had procured a standing table that faced the front of the tank.
“What time do the mermaids show up?”Ryan asked.Marin perked up in reply.
“They go on and off for twenty-minute shifts,” a guy standing at the table next to them slurred.“She’ll be back on any minute now, I think.”
Blake thanked him before Celeste shoved a shot glass into his hand.He saluted Celeste with it before bringing it to his mouth.“Thanks.”
