We headed to the bar to order drinks, and the bartender’s eyes opened wide as he exclaimed, “Hottie Firefighter and Lil’ Donnie Gibson!”—confirming my worry about just how many people had discovered the truth about mypast.
Jace checked my expression as though wondering if I was going to have a nervous breakdown over beingrecognized.
“You got us,” I joked, but I suddenly felt like I could actually breatheagain.
There it was. Someone recognized me as Lil’ Donnie Gibson, and my world didn’t come to an end. I wasn’t that confused kid all of a sudden. I was still me. And it was no longer a fear lingering over my head. It was here, it wasreal.
And it wasn’t thatbad.
We took a selfie with the guy before taking our drinks and heading alongside thewall.
“It’s a good night, apparently,” Jace said, glancing around the place. “Wonder if this is what it’s usually like. Like I said, only been here a few times before with friends, but figured since we were suddenly out publicly, this might befun.”
“Hey, excuse me,” an attractive twinky guy in a neon-pink thong said as he approached from the side. “You guys mind if I get aselfie?”
“Pleasure’s all ours,” I said, working to make sure Jace understood I was in this, at least for our little test that night. It was going to take some adjusting, but in some ways, it was like riding a bike. Not only had I ridden one myself, but I’d been teaching others since I was just starting out on myown.
When the guy got his pic, he headed off, and Jace said, “That’s something I’m still getting usedto.”
“You do get used to it, though, but it doesn’t become less inconvenient. Sometimes you just have to find ways of making it more difficult for them to ask for pictures orsignatures.”
“Oh, really? Any suggestions,pro?”
I laughed, thinking about the context, both in the bedroom and with his recently discovered notoriety. I took his hand and said, “Come on.” I guided him through the crowd, onto the dance floor. I noticed some more glances, but I ignored them as I turned to him and danced to thebeat.
“What are youdoing?”
“This is how you get away from it. They’re less likely to bother you while you’redancing.”
“Isn’t that clever?” Jace asked, his lips curling into a smile as he started bopping to the beat. He took to the music about as quickly as he took to messing around with a guy, and I used the opportunity to show him my ownmoves.
We gravitated toward one another, and I slid my hand around his waist, tugging him even closer. We danced together at the club as well as we did in the bedroom. Staring into one another’s eyes, his look as intense asever.
The rest of the club seemed to fade away, leaving just the two ofus.
“I know a fire when I see it, Dax Munro,” Jace said loud enough to compete with the blaring music, “and your eyes are lit up withone.”
“I could say the same aboutyours.”
“Never seen a fire before I didn’t want to putout.”
“Well, I’ve alreadyput out, and didn’t that just make the fire worse?” Iquipped.
Jace laughed, and I added, “I guess if we’re going to do this, might as well go down in flames.” I leaned forward and kissedhim.
Even though the music was loud, I could hear some of the people around us chatting, but I didn’t give a shit. I was having fun. There I was, at a gay club with Jace Kruse, standing in a crowd that likely knew about my past, and I wasn’t freaking out. I was still just me. And whatever happened, just like in the past, the spotlight only shone on particular individuals for their fifteen minutes before moving on to someoneelse.
I could do itagain.
It wouldn’t necessarily be my favorite thing in the world, but if it meant I got to explore more with Jace Kruse, I wasin.
As I pulled away from Jace and opened my eyes, a flash filled the room—someone’s iPhone camera, I figured. Jace glanced around, searching for theculprit.
“Hacksmore will be pissed when I tell him I’m not going to help out on the deal, but I’ll pitch it that he’s gonna get what he wants out of it just by us being out and about together. But I’d feel gross and unprofessional participating any other way. And I don’t want to turn this into any more of a show than it alreadyis.”
“I understandthat.”
“If there is some benefit to seeing each other, I don’t want it directly tied up in any sort of contract or bound by some agreement we don’t have any control over once we sign papers. I would rather let it be what it is. I think that’s the only way I’m going to maintain any semblance of sanity in allthis.”
