I groaned in frustration. “He’s straight. He doesn’t want to dance with me or any other guy, for that matter.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” he said. He turned me so I was facing where Zach was standing. Our little group had grown to include people I didn’t know, and they were gathering around Zach like hawks circling their prey. Zach was talking and laughing with them, his body moving to the beat of the music as he watched the drag show. Oh, hell no. If he was going to dance with any guy, it was going to be me. I’d seen him first.
I made my way over to him. As soon as he saw me, a smile lit up his face. “Hey, Miguel! This is so much fun. Thank you for bringing me here.”
I moved closer to him. “I’m glad you’re having a good time.” I looked out onto the area in front of the stage where a lot of people were standing, cheering on the queens, and dancing. “Let’s dance.”
Zach’s eyes went wide. “I’m not a good dancer.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to be a good dancer to have fun. Besides, you’re a musician. You should have rhythm for days.”
He stared at me for a long moment, then shrugged his shoulders and said, “Okay.” He started walking out to the dance floor.
I stared at him as he walked away. “Okay? Just like that?”
Zach turned to face me. “Why not? You brought me here to have fun and experience something new. I’m not going to experience anything standing in a corner.”
“Well, all right then,” I murmured, following him onto the dance floor.
It turned out Zach was a fine dancer. Very fine. Super fine. Watching him move his body gave me all sorts of ideas that didn’t go well with tight skinny jeans. My friends soon joined us, and we all had a good time laughing and teasing each other. We took turns dancing with each other. Zach danced with whoever came up to him, but he kept a polite distance between himself and his partner. One twink tried to get handsy with Zach, but he gently took hold of the other man’s hands and shook his head. He was such a gentle giant.
I’d moved closer to Zach when I felt someone come up behind me and put his hands on my waist. I usually didn’t mind if guys wanted to dance with me as long as they respected my boundaries. This guy was making me regret my choice. He moved his hands down to my hips and started grinding his groin into my ass. I shook my head and tried to pull away from him, but he pulled me back and slid his hand forward to try to cup my junk. “Let go!” I shouted, but he just tightened his grip.
I grabbed hold of one of his hands and utilized the pressure point I’d been taught in my self-defense class. He shouted in pain and let go. I turned around to tell him off, but he grabbed my arm and started yelling at me. “You little shit!”
Before I could use another self-defense move that would have shoved his balls up around his ears, I felt a solid presence at my back. The eyes of the man in front of me traveled upward and his face paled. He quickly let go and disappeared into the crowd.
I turned around and smirked up at Zach. “You keep rescuing me. I’m starting to feel like a princess.”
Zach’s cheeks pinked and he ducked his head. “Nah. You had it. I was just backup.”
This man was too adorable for words. “Thank you for having my back.”
“Any time,” he said. “Do you want to go sit down?”
I shook my head. “No. I want to keep dancing and enjoying the show.”
Zach stayed close to me after that, though he didn’t loom. He was just a quiet presence nearby. My friends came and went. Other people danced around us and waved dollar bills at the drag queens. Zach took it all in stride with a smile and shining blue eyes.
Finally, the queens announced they were taking a break. We all went back to our tables and ordered more drinks. I noticed Zach had switched to Coke after only a couple of beers. I hoped it wasn’t because he thought he had to keep an eye on me. I sat next to him and asked, “Did you want another beer?”
He shook his head. “Nah, I’m good. I don’t like getting messed up in the head.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
The bunch of us were chatting and laughing when Darlene the Jersey Shore Queen showed up at our cluster of tables. She wore a deep red gown that glittered with sequins and each of her long red nails had one tiny gem glued to them. Her dark-brown hair was piled high on her head, adorned by a sparkly tiara. Her makeup, as always, was flawless. “Darlings, so glad you came to my show.”
I jumped out of my chair and bowed deeply. “Your majesty.” Darlene rolled her eyes. I motioned for Zach to stand. “Darlene, this is Zach.”
Darlene’s eyes traveled up Zach’s body. “Oh, honey, you are just delicious.”
Zach’s cheeks turned a deep pink. “Thank you.”
“And adorable,” Darlene cooed.
Zach smiled shyly, and I sighed inwardly. I hoped she wasn’t scaring Zach from ever coming back. “Stop scaring the straight boy,” I said, trying to make it sound like a joke.
Zach put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed lightly. “It’s fine, Miguel. I’m having a great time. No worries.”
