Robert smiled. “He’s good at that, isn’t he?”
“The best, really.”
Charlie glowered at us. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You old fuddy-duddy,” Robert said cheerfully. “I can’t believe you expect us to believe that. Shall we, my gentleman?”
Charlie nodded. He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “You going to be at the show tonight?”
I shrugged. “Probably. Sandy added a couple of new songs. He wants us to see them. Also, he said something about a backwards crab walk, and I don’t know if I’m scared or need it more than anything else in my life.”
Charlie sighed. “That queen is going to be the death of me.”
I was surprised when Robert hugged me. He was stronger th
an I expected. “It was lovely to see you again,” he whispered in my ear. “Don’t be a stranger, all right? Especially now that I know we live so close together. I wish to keep you, if I might. You keep Jeremy on his toes. He needs someone like that, I think.”
I was speechless as he pulled away.
Charlie shook Jeremy’s hand and then held out his elbow for Robert. Robert slid his hand through Charlie’s arm, and off they went down the sidewalk. I stared after them until they disappeared around the corner.
“Ready?” Jeremy asked.
I smiled tightly.
I WAS shocked when Lady Gaga started pouring from the speakers of the slut machine. I turned slowly to stare at him, but he was staring resolutely forward.
“Do I even want to know?” I asked.
“I was recently told my musical tastes could use some work. So I asked a couple of the kids at Phoenix House what I should be listening to.”
“You bought a Lady Gaga CD.”
He frowned. “You should have seen the look on the girl’s face at Zia’s when I told her no, it wasn’t for my daughter.”
I gaped at him. “You went to an actual record store to buy a Lady Gaga CD.”
He frowned harder. “Where else was I going to buy it?”
“On Amazon like a normal person!”
“Zia’s is a local business that needs support! Amazon is a conglomerate hell-bent on taking over the world, and I won’t be assisting them in such a pursuit.”
“Oh my god,” I said faintly. “You went to an actual record store to buy a CD of Lady Gaga after asking teenagers what they liked to listen to. You went from Coldplay to Lady Gaga.” I reached out and squeezed his arm. “Are you okay? Do you feel ill? I know she’s not a white man named Chris, but still. Do you need medical attention?”
“Trouble,” he muttered. “Always trouble.”
I hid my smile as I looked out the window.
I DIDN’T know why I did it. I didn’t know what I was thinking. One moment I was getting out of the Jeep and the next I turned around and blurted, “Do you want to come to the drag show tonight? I can get you into the Queen’s Lair. Like, no one gets up there, but you can. Helena would be okay with it.”
He was quiet for a moment before shaking his head. “I can’t.”
Right. Of course not. It was stupid of me to even ask. “Okay,” I said quickly. “That’s fine. Just… the invite is there. You know. If you ever want to. I should—”
He looked like he was reaching out for me but curled his hand into a fist before dropping his hand back to his lap. “It’s not—” He let out a huff of air. “I have plans tonight already, and for the next couple of Saturdays. It’s this… thing. I’m doing.”
Probably a date. Of course it would be. He probably had a date with a Super Gay, and they were going to go out to dinner at a restaurant that charged thirteen bucks for a glass of water and then fuck face-to-face on top of six-thousand-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets before smoking cigars under the mounted heads of exotic animals they killed while on a safari. It was about then that I realized I didn’t know what Super Gays were like. I was okay with that.