“I don’t doubt that.” My gaze drifted to the sheets as I considered what it would mean if we really went down that path. “Still wondering if I can handle itall.”
Jace said, “Get your assup.”
I rolled onto my back. “What?”
“We’re goingout.”
“Goingout?”
“What is totally blowing your mind about what I’m saying? Am Imurmuring?”
I chuckled and sat up to face him, assessing that sneaky expression hewore.
“Come on,” he added. “News has spread around this town by now, if not from the press, then through talk, so if you want a sample to see if you can handle it, now’s thetime.”
“Where are wegoing?”
“Fever.”
“Therestaurant?”
“No, that’s FeverPitch. The club is justFever.”
“That’s right. That’s the place you told menotto go when you wanted to meet up with me that first day. Isn’t it a little confusing to have two places with Fever in the name likethat?”
“Eh, sometimes if you make a date for Fever Pitch, they wind up at Fever, which is kind of funny since Fever is our local gayclub.”
“Oh, really? So you want to take me out on the town, show off your new summer fling toeveryone?”
He beamed. “Yeah, I’d like that a lot. I’ve only been for a few friends’ birthday parties, but I’d be curious to check it out now that I’m messing around with a guy.” His expression wavered. “If you’re okay with that? I don’t want to push you, but I figure it’d be a good experiment. Gives you a chance to decide if you’re in this ornot.”
“It’s not a terribleidea.”
I’d locked myself in my room the moment everything had blown up. I’d been so worried about being recognized that I hadn’t faced that demon from my past yet, but Jace was right: if I couldn’t do that right then, I certainly couldn’t keep on messing around withJace.
I considered the repercussions, but the news was out. Whether I was in Fever Falls or West Hollywood, I was going to have to deal with it at somepoint.
“Let’s do it,” Isaid.
“Are you really sure about this, Dax? I don’t want you getting in over yourhead.”
“We’re both in over our heads right about now,” I admitted. “But better to be in over your head with someone than by yourself. Trustme.”
Jace moved forward quickly and pressed his lips against mine. We enjoyed the moment before showering up and getting dressed to headout.
Walking to the club, I could feel the discomfort in the back of my mind, shouting, “Don’t do it”…this part of me that wouldn’t have even considered this before Jace came into my life. But there was something almost empowering about going out, about taking back control after all theseyears.
Lil’ Donnie Gibson didn’t define who Iwas.
I was Dax fuckingMunro.
When we entered the club, a wide-open space with a couple of bars and boxes set up where bare-chested guys in jocks and thongs were dancing, I took it all in. The place was as packed as a gay club in WeHo or NYC might have been, but I figured it was because this was the only club option for the residents of FeverFalls.
“Damn, you got a lot of gay guys in this city,” I toldJace.
“We have more than our fairshare.”
I wasn’t sure if I was just making it up in my head, but we kept getting looks. I wondered how many of them were checking out Hottie Firefighter, how many of them knew about my Lil’ Donnie Gibson reveal, and how many were just checking us out the way they might have any othernight.
