Learned my lesson last time I spent all night at the Firebrand.Not trying to be sloppy on my birthday.
“I can’t believe all this,” I told Bryn, trying to orient myself.“Where did you find a card reader?”
“Okay, first of all, half of my friends do oracle pulls daily, so put some respect on my witchy name,” they replied.“C’mon; try her out.She’s good.”
I kept meaning to, but then I’d see someone new, want to show off Taran, or get pulled into a conversation, or hear a song that I had to dance to.Taran even humored me on the dance floor a few times—to upbeat club tracksanda slow dance or two.He was the perfect boyfriend, there when I wanted to show him off, able to entertain himself when I was being a social butterfly and thanking everyone for coming out.
I couldn’t have been happier.
Chapter 14: TARAN
IknewDiegowaspopular around town; everywhere we went, we ran into someone he knew, someone he’d worked with, someone he’d been on stage with, someone he’d hooked up with.I hadn’t realizedhowpopular until I saw that his friends filled The Firebrand to overflowing on the night of his birthday, bringing gifts, treats, toys, games, prizes, and all kinds of wild shit I’d never seen at a birthday party before.It was like a goddamn Diego Fest, and it was beautiful.
There was a quiet corner behind the games and supernatural offerings where I retreated when I wanted to just enjoy people watching—and there were some incredible characters around, as always when Diego was involved.Sometimes someone would find me in my corner and ask me a million questions about where and how I met Diego and how long we’d been dating and did I see him in that play in West End last year and had we been to the bath house lately.(Fun fact: this is how I found out Pittsburgh even had a bath house.Dee got out his phone to show me the app, which let him know how many guys were there and if there was anything special going on that night.Fucking genius, honestly.)
Hearing people talk about him onstage struck a chord with me, redoubling my resolve to get him back into the career he loved.Meeting his friends from various theater groups and improv classes was fascinating, like getting a peek behind the curtain; they mostly seemed surprised but impressed that I actually knew the bare minimum about theater, even if it was only as a consumer, not a creator.Only one or two of them were intolerable shits, which according to Diego was really good odds.
About halfway through the night, Toni brought me a beer in my little corner.“Here.”
“Thanks.”I finished the one I’d been nursing for the past hour and accepted.“Peace offering?”
“Something like that.Thanks for not making it harder than it already was.I think he would’ve uninvited me if I hadn’t reversed course and apologized.”A muscle in her jaw flexed.
“You’re right.He was just scared.It’d be crazy not to be scared,” I admitted quietly.
She looked at me sideways, as if looking for any hint of irony.“That’s what I said.”
“I think I like being scared,” I said, watching Diego flirt with the multi-pierced bartender.“I like the rush of just… jumping in head first.”
“Yeah, but when other people are involved…”
I nodded.“Yeah.Gotta think things through a little more.”
“It makes sense, though.Like, have you ever been rejected?”
“From what?”I asked, turning to face her.
“Anything?”She shrugged.“You’re just one of those people that…”
“Has everything handed to him,” I finished.“True.”
She raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised.
“What, did you want to start a fight?”I chuckled.
“No!”She laughed too, suddenly and loudly.“No, I didn’t mean it like that.But yeah, you are one of those people.”
“I lost a big fat football scholarship.Some would call that pretty life-changing rejection,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, but that’s just football.”Then she opened her mouth again, as if she had more to say.But closed it.
“Now,” I said pointedly, “I agree with that.At the time, it felt like the sky was falling.”Not for long, admittedly, but damn.Talk about your life changing course without any goddamn permission from you.“Also, my fiancée cheated on me.That was a definite big rejection.”
“I hate to say it, but seems like it was good for you,” she mused.
“I think a lot of bad shit generally is, once you’re out the other side.Not to be philosophical at a party, but even death can teach you some shit.”
“Yeah, true.”She sighed.“Your dad leave you with any pearls of wisdom for growing up before he went?”
