Page 1 of Say You Will

March 15, 2018

Dare

“You’ll help, right?”

“Of course we will, Dare. He’s our friend. Forty-one is huge. Sadly, he’s turned the corner into middle age. Hopefully, the sex is still good.” Jake smirked then patted my hand. “Not to worry. We’ll hold the party here at the bar, do a buffet, get a rocking DJ. Whatever you want.”

“I want it to be a surprise.” I looked around at Ace’s friends—my friends—blatantly ignoring Jake’s comment about Ace’s age. I could have given Ace’s bestie a zinger, considering the two men were the same sage but nerves froze my tongue.

Meanwhile, three sets of eyes blinked at me.

“Never work,” Finn said.

“Don’t bother,” Terry added.

“He’s like a hound, no scent left unsmelled,” Jake said with a grin.

“Well, shit.” I propped my left cheek on a closed fist. With my elbow on the bar counter, I drummed the fingers of my right hand. “What if I tell him the party is for someone else, then he’ll be surprised it’s for him?”

“Merits,” Finn noted, “but he’s terrible at keeping secrets. Spilled the beans on both mine and Jake’s proposals.”

“Ouch.”

“Couldn’t keep his mouth shut for two days about his promotion,” Terry added. “And he’s a master gossip. Don’t you know this by now?”

“I do.” Knowing how to gossip with the senior citizens was essential to the job of a drug store manager. You casually interacted with the public over their transactions of shampoo and tissues, talking about the weather, the grandkids, the next holiday celebration. The same held true for me as a pharmacist. People talked, made conversation, told me more than I honestly wanted to know most of the time, but I mainly worked in Atlantic City, relying on Ace for the local news.

In our small corner of the world, everyone loved Aaron Lark, Ace to his friends, boyfriend to me. He gave his customers a welcoming place to shop. Always earned the highest marks for service in the district. He also had the lowest amount of theft of any store because he showed respect to every individual, customer, and employee; they reciprocated in kind. I often wished I could work in his store full-time, but the higher-ups chafed at the fraternization, though we were both essentially managers.

“Our anniversary is coming up,” Jake offered, slipping an arm around Terry’s waist and cuddling him close. “We could say it’s a party to celebrate. Or it is June twenty-first… A party for the first official day of summer?”

“I’d rather not mix your anniversary in with his birthday, but I like the solstice idea. Drinks with summery names?”

“Sea breeze.”

“Sex on the beach.”

“Blue Lagoon.”

“Loved that movie. Christopher Atkins made me realize I was gay.”

Terry smacked Jake on the arm. “You weren’t even born when that movie came out.”

Jake turned and pawed the air in Terry’s direction. “Remember in college? They were showing classic movies, and we went to see it. All those blond curls, and then I had you next to me with your soft curls… That was the day I knew I couldn’t be your friend anymore.”

“Aw, babe.” Terry launched himself at his husband.

My friends bantered between themselves, but I barely heard a word they said. Their offhand comments about proposals and anniversaries had struck a chord. The question was…did I want to listen?

The sides of Papa Lark’s mouth twitched.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Momma Lark asked, her eyes narrowed, her smile bemused. “Ronnie—”

I grinned; couldn’t help it. I did it every single time I heard Ace’s mom call him Ronnie. His parent’s nickname for him just cracked me up.

“—and parties are tricky things. Don’t you know this by now?”

“I do.” Case in point was Ben’s birthday party last year. Ace had gotten drunk and way too handsy with the hired stripper. I’d had to prop him up most of the night and then nurse him through a wicked hangover the next day. I dealt in drugs, not puke. Nursing was not my forte, although I had bandaged half a dozen customers over the years, and I did enjoy jabbing a few with needles. Immunizations, mind you.

---