Shawn smirked and focused on Lucas’ buttons again. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.”
“Play for me first and I might think about it.”
Lucas smiled. “No, you won’t but I’ll play for you anyway. What do you want to hear?”
“I don’t know. Something relaxing.”
“You know you’re probably my best friend, right?”
Shawn chuckled. “Probably.”
“Okay, you are my best friend.”
“And you’re mine too, Todd. And we’ll always be friends forever, won’t we?” Shawn said in a high-pitched voice that made him sound like a child.
Lucas laughed. “I should have never told you thatFox and the Houndwas my favorite movie.”
“It’s a cartoon, Lucas. And it’s sappy.”
“Well, excuse me for not liking the guns and violence that you like.”
“The guys are hot in those movies. It’s the only reason I watch them. All those muscles, and usually they don’t have a shirt on. I love a nice, chiseled chest. And I like ’um, big.”
“Yes, Shawn. I know that. I’ve seen the guys you’ve left the bar with.”
Shawn stepped away from him and turned, taking the few steps to Lucas’ guitar. He picked it up by the neck and handed it to Lucas.
Lucas took it. “I have something I’ve been working on. Maybe you can tell me what you think.”
Lucas pulled out the chair in the corner and sat down. Shawn sat on the edge of the bed. Lucas took a moment to tune his instrument before playing.
The music soothed them both.
Chapter Two
Lucas regretted agreeing to come out. The music was too loud and there were so many people. Anxiety welled up in his chest, cutting off his air. The headache started again. The pain blossomed at the top of his head and spread down, like it had when he’d felt Shawn’s emotions.
Would the light come again? That was the burning question. If it did, would the government put him in some laboratory like a rat? It was next level weird for sure. Science might get him answers he desperately needed but it wouldn’t do much else.
Shit. It wouldn’t be good if that ball of light went zinging around the room like a stray bullet.
His headache was getting worse.
What made the whole situation even more craptastic was the fact that he felt all these emotions at the bottom of his stomach, and he didn’t think they were his own. He had thought he had to touch a person to feel what they were feeling, but apparently not. Although it had been hard to separate his own emotions from others around himwhen he’d first walked in an hour ago, he had figured it out after a few minutes. It was weird experiencing what other people were feeling. So much emotion, it had been as if his mind was a plugged-up sink drain, filling up and getting ready to overflow.
Lucas stood against the wall in the corner and willed himself to calm down. Not long ago, he used to be able to come here and have a good time. Then the headaches had started, and now it seemed like all hell was breaking loose inside of his body. It was as if World War Two was taking place in his brain and he was losing a war against himself. He couldn’t help but think maybe everything in his body was building up for something big.
Stupid fucking magical curse, or whatever the fuck it really was. Some sort of real-life Merlin shit was what it felt like.
He breathed in through his nose and let it out through his mouth. He willed his heart to stop its heavy pounding. He watched as people danced instead, attempting to stay calm by doing something normal.
One man slid up and down another, back to front. His eyes closed and his mouth hung open as the other worked his way under his shirt, playing with his nipples, or so it looked like from Lucas’ vantage point.
Lucas figured they were a couple. All that love reflecting off them toward the other person was like this pink stream of color extending out as if it were a bundle of strings connecting them. That color had calmed him when he had first seen it. As they danced and things began to heat between them, the pink hue turned to red. They’d be fucking on the dance floor if they didn’t leave soon.
It wasn’t that kind of club.
