“Uh, hi,” he said when Joel introduced us. “First name’s Augustus, but everyone calls me Walker.”
If homophobia had a sound and a particular accent, it’d be this guy’s slow, honeyed drawl. But I knew Joel wouldn’t allow for that, so I decided to try to be a little more open-minded.
Also, he definitely looked familiar.
“Have we met before?”
He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down. “Uh, don’t think so. Wasn’t really part of their friend group in high school,” he said, gesturing to Mr. Paige’s boys. “But you and I were in the same graduation ceremony in San Marcos.”
“Really? How’d I miss you on campus?”
He scraped the floor with his steel-toed boots. “Oh. My parents needed me for the business,” he said, pointing to the logo on his T-shirt. Walker Tire Services. “So, I, uh, mostly took online courses.”
Huh. “Damn, that’s impressive. What was your major?”
“Oh, the online classes weren’t too bad.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I kind of got a double major in math and education.”
“That’s right,” Mr. Paige said, throwing his arm around Walker’s shoulders. “Walker here is going to be a high school geometry teacher.”
The man blushed to the roots of his hair. “Yep. Always did like the numbers.”
Welp. Talk about not judging a book by its cover.
“Nice meeting you, Walker,” I said sincerely, ashamed of myself. He shouldn’t have needed a double major for me to not look down on him. “And congratulations.”
“Aw, thanks,” he said, then wandered off toward the rooftop bar.
Walker said he wasn’t a Lost Boy, but Mr. Paige seemed to be following his progress the same way he did with the others. Walker also blushed when Ozzie—who was nattily dressed in white linen pants and a pale blue button-up—handed him a beer.
Interesting.
In addition to kicking off the Save The Meeting House Committee, Mr. Paige held court all evening, recalling funny stories and handing out advice on life and love like he was still in the classroom.Ren sat next to him, ribbing him when he colored outside the lines with a story, smiling up at him whenever he told a joke, clearly proud of what his husband had accomplished.
“Not to get toowhatever,” Joel said, nosing my ear, “but that spark you see between those two even after all their years together? I want that.”
I bit my lip, watching them for a moment before turning my face up to Joel’s. He obliged with a kiss, and I whispered back, “I like it when you get allwhatever. And, uh, me too.”
Joel’s eyes held so much warmth and affection, and I didn’t think I’d ever felt this accepted and appreciated. And—maybe—loved.
After a pint, Sawyer loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves. He remarked about the changes he’d seen in Seguin and the surrounding areas. “It’s good to see the small rainbow flags on some of the businesses here. Hopefully the current batch of queer kids’ll feel better about this place than we did.” He thoughtfully took another sip of beer. “When the original Lost Boys graduated high school ten years ago, so many of us got out as quickly as we could. It would have meant a lot to feel that staying was a viable option.”
I tilted my head at him, wondering if I’d judged him too quickly as well. I mean, the suit-and-tie situation was probably honest enough, but I wondered if he missed small-town life.
Mr. Paige valiantly hung around for a couple of hours, but when Ren suggested that we part ways for the evening and reconvene the Save The Meeting House Committee at a later time, we all agreed.
After they left, we made our way down to the main bar. I was amazed at the rhythm Joel, Ozzie, and their new bartender got into as they served the growing crowd. Sometime after midnight, I went to the back and curled up on the tiny couch in Joel’s office.
Joel woke me up after closing, and I poured him into his truck and drove us out to his house, where I stayed whenever I was in town.
Fuck. Working in Austin had been hard enough. I didn’t know if I’d survive being three hours away.
“Allie says we’re like a couple of lesbians, already half moved in with one another,” I joked, putting his truck in Park.
“Oh no. She figured out my plan.” Joel grinned, tired but happy.
“You’re funny when you’re exhausted.”
“I’m not as exhausted anymore,” he said, linking arms with me as we walked up the front porch steps.
