“That why you never gone out with any of ’em?”Si asked.
Adam shrugged.“Be a bit awkward anyway, with Dad being their boss.”
Si nodded.“So are we going clubbing or what?”
Him and Adam got the Tube into central London, getting off at Leicester Square.Si had been here before—his mum and dad had brung him down to see a show one birthday.Dad had driven up to Bristol and they’d got the train from there.Flippin’ long journey, it’d been.They’d had to stay the night, after, in the poshest hotel Si’d ever been in.Mum must have got some kind of deal.Si didn’t remember much about the show they’d seen, but he remembered this place.Heaving with people, it’d been, and it was now and all.Si stood for a mo, disorientated, as groups of young men and women strode past in all directions.
Adam seemed to know where he was going, though.He grabbed Si’s arm, pulling him in the direction of the square.Neon lights were blinding, making the darkness even more impenetrable.“Scratch?”Si turned at the sound of his old school nickname to see Adam pointing.“It’s this way.”
“Right.”Si tried to make himself as small as possible so as not to terminally elbow anyone as they squeezed through the crowds milling around.“And it’s Si while we’re in London, right?I don’t wanna spend half my life explaining my nickname.”
“Si.Yeah.Sorry.”Adam sent him a grin that was almost too broad for his face.
Best not to focus too hard on that smile, or he’d be getting confused again.And there was plenty else to get distracted by.People dressed different in London.Sharper.Not so colourful.Same boatloads of tourists, mind, some in big groups and some in families.There was a tiny Japanese kid in white socks and Hello Kitty backpack out past her bedtime, waiting patiently while her parents argued over directions—
Si startled as Adam yanked on his arm.
“Jesus, mate, watch where you’re going!You nearly ran into those girls.”
Si blinked at a group of brightly dressed women in platform shoes, and blushed when they laughed.
“You can run into me anytime, darling!”the one in the gold heels yelled back at him as they tottered on their way.
Adam nudged him.“Sounds like you could have been well in there.”
“Bollocks.They was only teasing.”Si knew what he looked like, and it was like what you’d get if you tried to build a skeleton out of coat hangers—all his limbs too long, and his frame too large.
“Nah, seriously,” Adam went on, the London accent he’d picked up in the last couple of years coming out strong.“They was well into you.Working for Dad’s been good for you.Made you fill out a bit.”He gave Si a quick look up and down as he hustled him into a side street.
Huh.Did Adam maybe fancyhima bit too?
“Would you be into it if they were?”
“What, them girls?”Si shrugged.“Dunno.Don’t know ’em, do I?”
“You don’t have to know someone to know if you fancy them.”Adam hesitated.“Or have you decided it’s just blokes for you, like me?”
Si was still trying to work out how to answer that when they turned a corner and walked under a giant red-and-black gateway covered in oriental symbols.Sweet and spicy aromas filled the air.“Hang about, this is Chinatown, innit?You sure this is the way?”
“It’saway, all right?Don’t carry a map in my head, do I?”
“You got a phone.”
“More fun this way.You get to see all the sights.”Adam led the way down Gerrard Street, and turned right.They passed under a string of red paper lanterns—’cept they couldn’t be paper, could they?What if it rained?—and crossed a busy road.The farther they got, the fewer Chinese restaurants and shops there were.Plenty of other restaurants, though—how did they all survive?—and bars too.The streets were darker here.
And there seemed to be a lot more young blokes walking around in twos.Some of them were holding hands.Si’s heart beat a little faster as he tried not to stare.“We there, then?”
“Nearly.”Adam took another right turn and led him down Old Compton Street.“Ta-da!”
Si took a deep breath as he gazed at the big, silver letters spelling out G-A-Y.“Right, then.”
This...this could be the start of something.
Course, once he’d been in the club for half an hour, Si wasn’t so sure about it.Adam had bought him some mystery drink he said Si would love and then buggered off to dance with a bloke he’d met here before.It left Si propping up the end of the bar on his own.Adam probably thought he’d be enjoying the scenery, with all them topless blokes around, but to be honest, it was all a bit much.
Si took a gulp of his drink and made a face.Some sickly sweet alcopop shite.“No, Adam, I bloody well willnotlove this,” he muttered under his breath.
“Mm, could take it off your hands if you want,” a smooth voice purred in his ear.
