“I’ve booked the Murano in Tacoma,” Clare said, sliding into the conversation. “It’s gorgeous. Very modern art inspired.”
“You’re on the prom committee?” Jared asked. He smirked at her.
“Psh. Bitch, I am the prom committee.”
Adam laughed and threw his arm around Jared’s shoulders. “You wanna go?”
Jared shrugged. “Sure.”
Adam turned to Ryder. “We’re going,” he said simply.
“Aw!” Ryder squealed and clapped her hands together like a little girl. “You two are so adorable.”
On their way out of school that afternoon, Jared hugged his books to his chest and frowned. He’d spent the last classes of the day bitching in his head about Ryder and how she acted around them.
“What crawled up your ass and died?” Adam asked as he took the keys and got into the driver’s seat of the Audi. Jared didn’t even blink, just got in the passenger side and tuned in the radio.
“Ryder.”
“Bitch pisses me off.”
“Thank god,” Jared said with a sigh. He pulled his feet up onto the seat and let his head fall back.
“That’s just how she is, though. She barely paid me any attention until I came out, then I was her gay best friend. Mia’s the same—those girls always want me to go shopping with them or go out on girls’ nights, or go dancing… I suppose they mean well, but it grates sometimes.”
“Am I really your prom date?” Jared asked, teasing now.
“Fuck you.”
“Later. Are you going to pick me up? Will there be a corsage?”
“Well,” Adam said, signaling to take the road that led to his house, “Clare let slip a while back which hotel it was going to be held at. And prom’s the same weekend every year. So I called and booked their presidential suite just to really annoy her.”
Jared laughed. “That’s awesome.”
“Mhmm. And I bought your ticket already.”
“You really are taking me to prom.” He said it not teasing this time, actually, strangely… touched.
Adam shrugged. “If you like.”
Leaning over the divide in the car, Jared pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.”
“Hey,” Adam said softly. “It was the least I could do.”
Chapter 21
Black jeans. Gray shirt unbuttoned at least halfway. Black boots.
He wanted to look good for Adam, for his boyfriend to look at him and think, fuck, that guy’s with me. At the same time, he wasn’t going out with the intention of hooking up, so there was a line to walk.
Adam’s low whistle when he opened the door and looked Jared up and down made him smile. Mission accomplished.
“Hey,” Jared said, grinning.
“You look hot,” Adam told him emphatically.
“So do you.”
It wasn’t an empty compliment. Adam was wearing dark blue jeans that hugged his ass deliciously, and a soft jersey long-sleeved tee that showed off the definition in his arms. They would look good together, Jared decided.
“So, Seattle?” Jared asked as Adam patted his pockets, checking everything, then pulled the door closed behind himself.
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
They held hands on the drive down to the city for their long overdue date out dancing, finding enough to talk about to fill the entire journey, despite seemingly spending all their spare time together. Jared was settling into this relationship like it was an old, comfortable sweater. Everything fit perfectly and felt right. Even the man next to him, despite all the odds.
When they approached the city, Adam sat up a little straighter and squinted at the dark streets, giving directions rather than letting Jared set up a GPS.
“We should go to Stars first,” he said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “It’s a good place to start the night.”
“Sure.”
“And you should be able to find a space to park close to there.”
Stars turned out to be more of a bar than a club, and security at the door barely gave their fake IDs a second glance before waving them in. Rather than booths, the place was littered with small, low tables that had even lower stools set around them, and the ceiling was lit up by fairy lights. To make it look like stars, Jared assumed.
“Beer?” Adam asked when they had wound their way through the groups of people to the bar. “Or something else?”
“Could I get a Jack and Coke?”
Adam nodded once and turned to the bar to wait his turn. Jared rested his hand on Adam’s lower back and looked out over the busy room.
It was definitely a predominantly gay crowd, although there was a group of girls he assumed were college age in one corner. It seemed far more relaxed than previous gay bars he’d been in, where the music was deafeningly loud and the atmosphere electric. Here, things were much more laid back, with a small platform in one corner he assumed was for live music.
“Here,” Adam said, passing him a short glass.
“Thanks.”
Because he could, Jared leaned in and attached his lips to his boyfriend’s. It was a soft, slow, dry rub of lips against lips, and for some reason, doing it here sent a thrill down Jared’s spine.
“I think you’re a secret exhibitionist,” Adam murmured, his eyes full of mischief and laughter.
“Maybe.”
A table vacated and Adam slid into the space before anyone else could snag it. The bar was fairly dark, and the table was lit with a small candle in a mason jar. Adam stuck his finger in the pool of melted wax, letting it dry before peeling the second skin off.
“Sorry,” he said, blushing in the dim light when Jared caught him staring. “I used to do this all the time when I was a kid. Weird old habit.”
“I was just thinking how sexy you look.”
Adam huffed an amused laugh. “Thanks. I think.”
A few minutes later, the lights above the small platform flashed on and a youngish guy with a guitar took up residence on a short stool.
“I didn’t know there was live music tonight,” Adam said, reaching across the table to take Jared’s hand. “Awesome.”
Jared had to agree.
