The hockey player smiled widely when he saw Gabriel and crossed the Biergarten to get to him.
Gabriel stood. He hadn’t thought about how they would greet each other, but he was saved the indignity of an awkward handshake by Drew opening his arms for a casual hug. Gabriel was an inch or two taller than Drew, who was easily six feet, but Drew was the larger man. Drew’s cologne was subtle but attractive, and there were notes of a more natural, masculine smell beneath it. It was deeply erotic, and Gabriel tried to ignore the effect it had on him.
“I’m glad we’re doing this,” Drew said. “I don’t know anyone here in Orion, and I need to make friends.” He instantly added, “I’m not saying this is just to get to know you as a friend—it’s…Oh, fuck. Am I already messing this up?”
Gabriel could tell that Drew was nervous, and it was, in a way, endearing.
“Don’t be nervous,” he said. “You’re not messing anything up. Let’s get a drink, and then we can talk. How does that sound?”
“Good,” Drew said.
Gabriel slid him the drinks menu. “What looks good? You can save the table, and I’ll order for us.”
“That’s fine. But I’m paying.”
Drew picked a local lager. While he waited at the table, Gabriel went up to the bar and ordered the lager for Drew and a hard cider for himself. Aubrey was rinsing glasses behind the bar as another bartender took his order. She slid over to him.
“That’syour date?” she said sotto voce. For a moment, Gabriel felt a nervous thrill. Did she recognize Drew as an NHL player? It seemed unlikely. Aubrey wasn’t much of a hockey fan, from what he knew. “He’s hot asfuck,” Aubrey continued.
Gabriel was relieved. Evidently, Aubrey didn’t know Drew’s identity. That was good. Gabriel didn’t want to be responsible for sharing Drew’s secret.
“I know,” Gabriel said smugly. The other bartender brought him two pint glasses, and Gabriel opened a tab. “I’ll be back up in a bit to order food.”
“You’ve got a whole meal waiting for you at your table,” Aubrey said slyly.
“Gross.”
She chortled as he walked away.
“Thanks,” Drew said when Gabriel returned to the table. “Remember, I’m paying.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Gabriel said. He sat across from Drew, who shifted nervously in his seat. “I’m nervous, too,” he admitted, and Drew seemed to relax. “And I’ll just be up-front about it. I think you’re very attractive and interesting, and I’d like to get to know you more if you’re here for the summer.”
“I’m planning on being here for the full summer,” Drew said. “I’m renting a house on Beachside Drive, and have no plans to go anywhere else. I wanted to get away from Boston for a few months.”
“This is a good place to do that. We’re very far from Boston. Why’d you pick this place?”
“It was my manager’s idea. She knew about Orion’s Belt because she helps manage my foundation, which donated to the camp. She thought it would be a good place to visit, and thought that maybe I could generate some good PR by showing up at the camp. But, I don’t think I want it to be public knowledge that I’m here.”
“Why’s that?” Gabriel figured he knew—whowouldwant their moves so publicly tracked like that?
“Privacy,” Drew said with a simple shrug. “I came here to get away from fame and from being recognized. I’d like to keep it that way,” he added, and Gabriel nodded, understanding.
“I haven’t told anyone who you are,” Gabriel said. He nodded in the direction of Aubrey, who was watching them and trying to make it look like she wasn’t. “Even her. That’s Aubrey, my best friend. She just knows that I’m on a date, but not who you are.”
“She seems kind,” Drew said, after glancing Aubrey’s way.
“Oh, she’s a menace,” Gabriel said, but he smiled affectionately. He really did love Aubrey. He turned back to Drew. “I do have some questions. Do you mind if I ask them?”
“Go for it. I’ll try to be an open book.”
“This is a date,” Gabriel began, and then didn’t know where to go from there.
Drew picked up on his hesitation. “Are you trying to figure out a polite way to ask if I’m gay?” he said.
“I am. Is that bad?”
“No. Yes, I’m gay. But I’m not publicly out. Well, I’m not out at all,” Drew said. He was fidgeting in his seat, turning his pint glass in a ring of condensation on the table. “No one knows, not my friends or my managers, just the guys that I’ve been with secretly, and they don’t know my identity.”
