“Yeah, well, that’s what I thought at first, too. He would bring me something at least twice a day, sometimes more during the weekends. I love to eat and didn’t hesitate to shove it all in my mouth. I gained twenty pounds in a month because I didn’t want to be rude when he got me something, plus I liked it all.” He ran a hand across the red leather dash as if inspecting it for dust.
“I still don’t—”
“He hated the idea of me losing weight. He was a chubby chaser, and I hated that he wouldn’t want to be with me if I lost weight. My friends told me I was being stupid. In one week I lost my boyfriend, best friend, and two other guys we hung around with. They thought I should be grateful thatanyonewanted me because I don’t have a six-pack. My cousin Lacey was around for that drama, and she called them all... a lot of unpleasant names.”
“Good. I hope you also called them every name in the book.” Anger slammed through me. “That is something. And you told them all to go to hell?”
He tugged his suit jacket firmly closed and nodded. “I felt awful about myself.”
I had trouble saying anything to him. The entire conversation had dredged up unpleasant memories of my own, but I’d been the one to push things, and I was furious on his behalf. I was bad company for the twenty-minute drive to Escape Adventure and hoped to do better the rest of the time. I pulled into a space in the lot at the front of the wide brick building without windows. It was sort of creepy because the only break in the facade was the glass door to get inside.
Maurice gave me a small smile as I cut the engine, and I forced one back at him.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. How long ago was this?”
He glanced upward. “Five years. I’m over it.”
I reached for his hand, and he let me hold it. I gave him a squeeze. “It’s okay if you aren’t.”
“I haven’t told anyone that story since it happened,” he said, voice barely loud enough to be heard.
“Well, as always, I think you did the right thing.”
“You do?”
I nodded, and he didn’t smile, but he did squeeze my hand back.
Lacey stuck her head out of the door of the building and waved at us, and I laughed. We got out of the car to meet her. On the way, I gave Maurice a quick side hug, and he smiled up at me.
Lacey hissed, “Stay like that, with your arm around him. Just like that.” She danced around as if she was ready to fly apart with joy. She was wearing shorts that were silky and didn’t hide much, along with a black belly shirt that matched, and if she was trying to discourage Celestine, she could’ve picked something else. I let it go. Who was I to blow out her candle? She burned bright and shouldn’t have to change a thing. I was working myself up because I was still miffed at Celestine for hovering around Maurice all week, but I didn’t care.
I drew Maurice closer, and he patted my chest as if to tell me it was okay. It felt good to have him quietly approving of my touch. As we went inside I mentally reviewed our plan—we were going to stay in character as doting lovers until the end of the date or Celestine chickened out and said he had to go, and then Lacey would let him know he’d been had.Iplanned to let him know this was to teach him a lesson for making other people uncomfortable.
I had to let go of Maurice because we couldn’t fit through the door together, but I put my arm around him again as soon as we were in the plain lobby.Escape the Pirate’s Treasure Trovewas on a chalkboard in swirly gold letters behind the cash register, and except for a small space, the counter had been piled high with fake gold coins, jewels, and a treasure chest. I’d chosen this as the place for our date because it sounded fun and was right up my alley. Celestine was bent over a clipboard while leaning against a corner of the room, signing his life away, and then he glanced up and his eyes almost popped out of his head.
“Uh, Mr. Guidry, why... ? Why... ?”
“You said to bring a date.” Maurice smirked up at me, and my stomach flipped pleasantly. “Wick loves things like this.”
“It has been far too long since we spent an evening together having an adventure.” I rubbed my hand along Maurice’s bicep, and now that he’d mentioned lifting, I didn’t stop myself until I’d scouted out a firm muscle.
We moved to the counter and a boy, who couldn’t have been more than eighteen, handed us clipboards with a winning smile that flashed every tooth he owned. He had a mop of curly brown hair and big brown eyes that belonged on an anime character. His Escape Adventure T-shirt billowed around him like the sail on a ship as he quickly moved around, getting us checked in.
“You can’t take your phones inside.” He retrieved a box from under the counter and shook it at us, and I deposited mine, and Maurice reluctantly dumped his in, too.
The boy couldn’t stop looking at me and Maurice, and I wondered if it was because he hadn’t run across many gay couples, or if he was in that phase of his life where he was trying to think of ways to tell other people where his interests lay. I winked at him, and he flushed and grinned.
Maurice elbowed me and nodded at Celestine frantically whispering to Lacey while he shot wide-eyed glances at us. She seemed entirely unmoved and only nodded along.
“Can you tell me what I’m signing?” Maurice asked the attendant.
He pointed at the Escape Adventure sign that apparently Maurice hadn’t noticed yet. “You’ll be held hostage for an hour, but you can escape.” He danced a little jig that had Maurice shaking his head.
Maurice dropped his pen on the clipboard. “Oh no. I can’t do this.”
“Why? I thought it would be fun?” Disappointment smacked me and I rubbed his shoulder.
He groaned but picked his pen back up and slashed his signature across the bottom line on the last page.
