Skylar dropped his hand from his face. “Rude.”
He actually did look kind of hurt. “I’m sorry, Sky. I know you have fun with him, and at least you understand the score. Meanwhile, all I have are miles of flirty messages and no idea what to do with myself.”
Sky tilted his head up, delicately patting away some tears.
“Shit, I am so sorry.”
He waved his beautifully manicured hand. “No. I’m upset because Idounderstand the score, and I still get hurt.” He letout a breath that made him seem a hundred years old. “I’m just really fucking tired of this song.”
My shoulders dropped as Huck came to a stop at the edge of one of our highest elevations. I looked out over the beautiful landscape, knowing exactly how ridiculous it was to be sad in the midst of all this beauty.
“Here,” I said, switching to the back camera. “Take a look at my view, Sky. Maybe it’ll help.”
I slowly swept the camera in a semicircle, giving Sky a panoramic view of the late afternoon Hill Country.
“You know, sometimes I wonder if I should get out of the city,” Skylar said.
I switched the phone back to selfie mode. “You? Out here?” I closed my eyes, trying to picture it. “You’d be like Glinda in the middle of a field of cow pies.”
Skylar chuckled. “I’m Glinda on the outside and Elphaba on the inside.”
He then, casual as you please, riffed a few of his favorite high-flying lines fromWicked. I only recognized the song because he always had that soundtrack on in the background whenever I visited his place. I once asked him if he ever thought of singing as a career, and he’d curled his lip. “I sing because I like it, Rowdy. If I made it a job, I’d hate it right away.”
I understood that at a deep level. I had only recently shared with him that I had taken up guitar, but I still hadn’t gathered the courage to ask if he’d sing with me. Maybe when he came out to look at my place.
“You still wanna go with me to that show next week?” I asked, knowing that I sounded needy as hell.
“Sure, hon. I love Spanish guitar. Plus, if you’ve never been, that little bar is cute and super queer friendly. Maybe you’ll find the love of your life there.”
“Riiiight. Because that’sexactlyhow things work out for me,” I snarked.
I forgot for a moment that we were on FaceTime and looked up to find Sky’s concerned face.
“Things should work out for you, Rowdy. Not only are you fucking gorgeous, you are sweet and real and so kind. It’s just too bad neither of us are each other’s type because anyone who falls in love with you will be the luckiest man in the whole world.”
His sincerity knocked the breath right out of my lungs. It was easy to dismiss some of Skylar’s more over-the-top proclamations, but when he got serious, I paid attention. One of the things we both learned in group was that our value was already fixed and not dependent on what others thought of us. And, weirdly enough, when you knew your own value, it gave you a better chance of finding the right person for you. Or something like that.
We both called bullshit after that particular session and split a bottle of bubbly Moscato, telling each other our secret woes. That night was when I confessed that I hadn’t yet gone all the way with anyone. And that I was in love with my soon-to-be neighbor.
I sort of regretted the honesty after the fact, but even though Sky would gently tease me, he was on my side. Right now, he was reminding me that I brought something to the world. I needed those reminders from time to time and found myself grateful that I had somehow developed a friendship with someone who was willing to do that.
I needed to step up my support game. “Thanks, Sky. I’m not the only one who would make some guy lucky. You are one of the most supportive people I know. Bonus, you give off light like a sparkler, and you deserve to find someone who loves your sparkle.”
He flushed, then sent me a smile. “We are such saps.”
I lifted a shoulder. “It’s not the worst thing to be in the world.”
“See you later, sweetie.”
“See you, Sky.”
6
KESS
Today wasthe day that Emery and I officially sold our third business together. I doubted we’d be able to go the rest of our lives without another business idea taking us down a different path, but this was the first time since high school we weren’t actively working toward the next money maker.
It was a bittersweet milestone I was sure we’d celebrate at some point, but today was a little too raw. Also, Stevie had some sort of 4-H presentation that Emery couldn’t miss.
