Enjoy TonighT, Kid.
Your friend,
Al
I saw Ava looking at me out of the corner of my eye. I showed her the message, and she smiled.
After dinner I managed to convince Ava to dance with me for three full songs before she started wiping sweat off her brow and begging to sit down. I threw a tiny fit but obliged.
Morgan and Ava were talking about work, and James and his hockey friend were talking about hockey when Brad Waldorf approached. I looked up, surprised to see him, one, in such a sharp black tuxedo; two, talking to me in public when he hadn’t been drinking.
‘Hey, Tommy.’
‘What’s up, Brad?’
‘Whoa!’ James shouted from across the table. ‘Waldorf Salad, lookin’ like dirty-blond Henry Cavill.’
Brad looked confused for a second but smiled. ‘Thanks, James.’ He turned his attention back to me. ‘You want to dance?’
My face burned hot. I looked around the room, making sure all these people I was seeing weren’t just figments of my imagination. A glitch in the simulation tricking me into thinking I wasn’t alone. Brad held out a hand, chewing his lip.
I felt Ava nudge my back. ‘Uh, yeah. Sure.’ A fast song was playing, so it wasn’t like anyone would think anything.
But I took his hand, and he led me across the room. Almost on cue, the song switched from a fast one to a slow one. I stopped, but Brad kept walking to the dance floor. The dance floor that was clearing out slowly. Leaving only couples. Boy-girl couples. And Lara and Helen. Helen nodded in our direction, and Lara’s eyes went wide. ‘It’s happening!’ she whispered to Helen.
Brad was still holding my hand. He turned back to look at me. ‘You okay?’
‘Areyou?’
He grinned and gave my hand a light tug. I stepped onto the dance floor as we started slow dancing to a Kacey Musgraves song. He put my hand on his shoulder and put his own hand on the small of my back.
‘Is this okay?’ he asked.
‘Yeah,’ I said. But my heart was racing.Everyonewas looking at us now, but Brad didn’t seem to care. Shit, was he drunk? Would he regret this as soon as he sobered up? ‘Brad, areyouokay with this?’
His smile grew. ‘I am, yeah.’
My heart fluttered. ‘Is …’ I glanced around and laughed. ‘Is this you coming out right now?’
He nodded quickly, like a little kid who was proud of the picture he’d just drawn. My jaw dropped.
‘Brad! Congratulations! That’s awesome.’
‘Thanks. It feels … fucking exciting!’ His cheeks flushed a bit.
I laughed and let him lead me in the dance as he brought me up to speed on his time in therapy and coming to terms with his sexuality. He had told his parents a couple weeks back – they had apparently beenverysupportive and loving – which had been the part he was most worried about.
‘That’s what I actually wanted to talk to you about when I saw you at the pool hall. But you wanted to hook up. Also, at the hockey rink after you and Lara took our team picture.’
I immediately felt guilty. ‘About coming out?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Shit. I’m so sorry, Brad. God, I’m such an asshole. I just assumed …’
He arched an eyebrow and gave me a faux-smarmy grin. ‘And we all know what happens when we assume.’ Then he dropped the act. ‘It’s cool, though. I mean, you always seemed so confident after you came out. And I just wanted to figure out how you did it. But my therapist said everyone’s coming out is their own thing, so …’ He shrugged.
I chuckled. ‘Well, I wasn’t out to my mom until I cut my fingers off.’
