Page 78 of Doubting Hearts

He nodded in amusement. “Okay, off you go, then. Tammy has my bag with my kit. Would you ask her to bring it in when you leave?” He leaned forward and kissed me hard on the lips. “Make sure you scream loud for me, Toby. Like you usually do.” He gave me a wicked leer. “I want to hear you cheer me on when I’m performing. Just don’t do what you usually do and jack off. That might not be what the paying customers want to see.” He chuckled wickedly and disappeared behind the screen.

I wandered out of the theater, waving to Tammy. “His Lordship has decreed that you enter his divine space and provide him with his dress for the evening.”

She giggled and picked up his Reebok tote bag. “He told me under pain of death I wasn’t allowed to look in here. I’m dying to see what he’s wearing. The bag feels quite heavy.” She disappeared into the theater to give my prima donna his outfit.

Lucas grinned at me. “He wouldn’t tell you either, then?” he murmured. “I tried like hell to get him to spill the beans, but he point- blank refused. He hasn’t even told me about the music either.”

“No, the bastard’s being all secretive,” I said with a frown. “I hope he’s not going to go overboard, Lucas.”

Lucas chortled. “This is Rain, Toby. The man is a born exhibitionist.

We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Slowly, the customers arrived to see Rain’s act, and I was pleasantly surprised at the age and diversity of the people who wanted to see him dance and strip. The theater began to fill up, and I wasn’t surprised to see that most of the patrons were women. Rain had a definite allure for the females in the town, who were all highly disgusted that he was gay. That didn’t stop them appreciating his assets. I felt smug at the thought that they were all mine.

My jaw fell when two burly figures arrived to sit right at the front. Taxi Man nodded at me as he entered. “Afternoon, lad. Good to see you again.” He disappeared inside with another man, also built like a rugby forward and sporting similar tattoos, beside him.

Lucas gazed at me curiously. “You know Athol? He doesn’t normally operate from here unless he’s got some free time. Then he freelances for Verne.”

At least now I knew Taxi Man’s name, unlikely though it was. “Yeah, we’ve met. He invited me and Rain down to Celts for a couples’ session once.”

Now it was Lucas’s turn to suffer dropped-jaw syndrome. “Come again, the gay sauna place? You two hang out there with those two?”

“Oh yes,” I said airily. “We have a real ménage thing going on. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen those two without their towels on. Quite an impressive sight, I can tell you.” I left Lucas standing there wide-eyed in shock as I gave a satisfied chuckle, going in to watch the show. Tammy grabbed my arm as I entered, bundling me down to the front row of seats.

“I’ve been given strict instructions from the performer. You have to sit right here.” She pushed me down into the chair right in front and center of the stage, and I sat down. Barry sat to my left, with Athol on his left. I nodded at them carefully.

“Your boyfriend’s a right one, isn’t he,” Barry said conversationally. “I wish Athol would do something like this for me. It’d be a real turn-on.”

I swallowed at the thought of the man mountain at the far side of me gliding around the pole. My mind threatened to overwhelm itself.

“Yes, Rain’s a bit of a firework,” I mumbled between thoughts invading my brain of naked Athols cavorting around a pole. I blinked furiously to get rid of the images. “He likes showing off.”

“I’ve been looking forward to this, worth the two quid.” He settled back with a packet of Maltesers and crunched them noisily. I turned my attention to the stage as the lights dimmed and the spotlights focused on the pole in the center. I looked back to see Tammy and Lucas a row behind me, seated with Simon and Luis. Nearly everyone I knew was in the audience. Verne sat with his wife, Marcy, with Ginny in a row on my right. I saw Stacey from the hotel huddled with her girlfriend in the back. I saw the Hampton family with their sheep-stealing son Mark seated in the front on the right, and the mother smiled at me softly as I met her eyes. I smiled back.

There was a commotion as Dave barreled his way through the narrow space between the chairs and stepped onto the stage. He held up a meaty hand to try and simmer the excited crowd down. When there was quiet, he cleared his throat. “Welcome, everyone, to tonight’s performance. It’s good to see such a great turnout.”

Oh my God, he’s really hamming it up. I cringed. He was definitely enjoying himself.

His voice grew serious. “You all know why we’re here. Little Megan Hampton is recuperating from a serious heart operation in a few months. Her brother Mark has been trying to raise funds for the travel money to get his family a holiday so she can recuperate. He’s been quite the entrepreneur.” He grinned, and I saw a lot of teeth. No doubt he was reminding Mark of his sheep-stealing antics.

“So, some good-hearted souls in this town decided to try and help them by donating their time and efforts to this very worthy cause. You all know Toby Prentiss and Rain Engel.”

There was a catcall of cheers and whistles, and everyone looked at me. I wanted to sink through the floor. My face was burning crimson.

“You know that these two men are one of the town’s favorite couples, despite recent activity that indicated some of us didn’t hold with their relationship.” His expression formed into a dark scowl. “Well, I say live and let live. If these two young men love each other, then who is anyone else to tell them they can’t or make their lives miserable.”

By now I was huddled down in my chair, wishing the earth would implode and suck me in. Please don’t start a gay-rights speech, Dave, I pleaded silently. I couldn’t bear it. Not now.

Again there were cheers, clapping, and a series of loud catcalls. The noise was deafening. I nodded at various people smiling and nodding at me. Barry had the temerity to grab my hand and rub his thumb along it before letting it go. I felt very out of my comfort zone.

Luckily, Dave didn’t pursue the whole impromptu gay-pride theme. “I’m pleased to say we raised quite a lot of money through the ticket sales organized by young Toby here in front, and he even managed to get a few fairly large sponsorships thrown in. He needs a medal, that young man.” There was some spontaneous clapping as everyone acknowledged his words. “It looks like Sally, Richard, and their son Mark will be going on holiday in style with their daughter.” The crowd went crazy, and Dave grinned before waving his arms above his head to calm everyone down.

Barry once again mauled my hand. “Well done, mate,” he whispered as he winked. I smiled faintly. Dave carried on like the true showman he was.

“So, young Rain—” He had to stop as the cheers and whistles grew louder and the roof nearly came off. “So, young Rain has kindly consented to give you ladies and gents a floor show, using his special talents to entertain and astound you with his moves around the pole. If anyone feels like donating any more cash to the cause, please feel free to give it to young Tammy or Lucas at the back, and they’ll add it to the Hampton fund.” He grinned wickedly. “You are not allowed to tuck the money into the dancer’s clothing, sparse as it may be. We have to leave the lad some dignity.” There was series of jeers and disappointed shouts, which Dave waved away. I thought wryly he didn’t know Rain very well. My man would have no compunctions about having money slipped inside his jockstrap or whatever else he’d chosen to wear tonight.

“Now, without further ado, may I present Mr. Rain Engel!”