For a while I leaned against the building and watched birds peck around in the parking lot, not thinking about much. Eventually I missed Z, though, and went back into the bar. I grinned at the sight that greeted me. Nicky was trying to show Kwan how to do some line dance, which was going spectacularly poorly. Tables had been cleared to make a space, and whatever Nicky was doing wasn’t just a drunk bar shimmy, either, but something with steps. Kwan kept shaking his head as he tried to follow Nicky’s feet, and Z was red-faced and laughing so hard, tears glinted in his eyes. A big lumberjack-sized man sat in a chair at a table nearby staring, but I was pretty sure it was at Kwan and not Nicky. He leaned to get a better look every time Nicky turned them so his back was facing the man.
Making my way around the madness, I sank into a seat next to Z, who was happily sipping a can of knock-off Dr Pepper. He leaned closer to me. “Nicky said you were outside with Wayne.” He gave me big, curious eyes.
“Yeah.”
He licked his lips. “Everyone’s ordering bad bar food. So… surprise! Dinner!”
I leaned over and brushed my lips to his, and he grinned as I sat back. “Bring on the heartburn.”
He laughed, and I thanked Brad when he shoved a beer my way. I wasn’t sure what had happened to the one I had earlier, but shrugging, I took it. We ate some awful cheese sticks and some really good fried pretzels. I was still licking the salt from my fingers when Zayden made our excuses to Nicky. I was happy to leave the barely contained chaos with my arm around Z.
“Movie?” he asked, leaning sweetly against my side as we approached the MINI Cooper.
“You still want to?” The question was a tease more than anything.
“Yes!” He poked me. “I love movies and you know it. This was fun, but I still want to go.” He grinned up at me. “I’ll drive. I want to go to the old theater.”
Groaning, I let him do what he wanted, even though that meant he spent five minutes adjusting every mirror and my seat, which I wouldn’t ever get back exactly the way they’d been before he began pushing buttons and messing with everything. “I didn’t have much to drink.”
He stuck his tongue out at me and I knew not to argue. Zayden wasn’t a bossy guy, but he had his sticking points, and this had always been one. “Safe is safe.”
“Yes, baby,” I murmured, and he bit at his bottom lip as I dropped the keys into his hand. The drive into New Gothenburg was nice. The “old theater,” as nearly everyone I’d ever met called it—rather than the Jewel Theater, its real name—was on the lakefront on the east side of town. At one point it had probably been in what constituted a rich neighborhood, but those days were long gone, even though the Jewel’s regal exterior remained. Above the front doors was a façade shaped like a gem and outlined in red neon lights.The Jewelwas written in white halogen bulbs on a curved sign along the top of the square brown-brick building. There were two turrets that stuck up on each front corner, which were accented by carved stone molding. The whole thing made me squint if I stared too long.
After we arrived, I made Z put up the top and double-check he’d locked the doors, and we held hands as we walked together across the parking lot. I held the gold-framed glass door open for him and let him go inside ahead of me.
Surprisingly I didn’t mind too much that we got a raised eyebrow out of an old couple while we stood in line waiting for tickets.
“What do you want to see?” I asked Z, checking out our options on the list next to the window.
“The new Slade Oakley movie,” he said with barely a thought.
“So, intense romance mixed with bad action?”
“Yes.” He grinned. “I read online that one of the good guys is gay, and we actually get to see a sex scene with his boyfriend.” He bounced on his toes.
I nodded, and that couple who’d stared too long turned around slightly to do it again at his words, but Z only flashed them a smile, and they spun back. Maybe their lack of continued rudeness had something to do with me glaring at them. Like hell they were going to rain on his parade. I lifted his hand and kissed his knuckles. “Sounds good.”
“Yeah? Usually you argue with me.”
“I’m interested,” I said and smiled at him.
The pink in his cheeks had my heart racing. Once we were past the ticket counter and on to the concession area lit by rows of multicolored lights around the overhead order signs, I sighed to myself, stuffing down my desire to get irritated. Zayden had never been able to choose his snacks in less than five minutes, and he hemmed and hawed and held up the line growing behind us. Watching him, I considered what Wayne had said about providing structure. I glanced over my shoulder at the people behind us, then stepped up to Zayden to whisper in his ear, “You have twenty seconds to pick or I’m picking for you.”
He gave me a look that was irritation mixed with gratitude. “Popcorn and the Sno-Caps. And Reese’s Pieces. Oh, and a cherry slushy, and—”
“That’s enough,” I said and grinned at him.
He didn’t exactly pout, because he was beyond that, but he looked at me like he was disappointed in me and everything I stood for as he shook his head. I dragged my wallet out before he could and paid for everything. He wouldn’t part with the candy, so I took the popcorn and drink and followed him to our theater. It wasn’t very busy for six o’clock on a Saturday, so we had our pick of red velvet-cushioned seats as we went in. Zayden climbed all the way to the top and slid between the seats to the middle, and I followed him, already knowing where he was headed. Between the two of us we managed to kill all the popcorn and most of our drink before the trailers began, and Z had already started in on his candy stash.
“Got these for you,” he said, rattling the box of Reese’s Pieces in my direction as the lights dimmed, and I laughed.
“No, I got these for me.”
“But I picked.” He dug his elbow in against my side, and my heart warmed. We’d done this same thing a hundred—maybe even a thousand—times, but today was different. He wiped his hand on his shirt then reached for the slushy in the armrest between us. When he was done slurping the overly sweet mess, I took the drink from him and put it in the cupholder of the armrest across from me on his left. He frowned at what I’d done.
“Why—”
“Wait.”
