Page 41 of The Sweet Spot

“Baking is hard too,” Caitlyn said, feigning hurt at being excluded from the conversation. “I have to get up early, carry heavy bags of flour, and work complicated machines. It’s not all icing and decorating.”

“What about me?” I said. “Cooking all day long, buying fresh ingredients, coming up with new recipes. It takes a lot of training.”

“All right, all right, we get it,” Kathleen said. “We’re all superstars.”

First our drinks came, then the food. We were just finishing up when the show started. The MC for the night, Veronica Versace, a gorgeous drag queen with violet-colored hair with matching violet eyeshadow and what looked to be a colorful vintage Versace dress, called us all to attention.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome! We’re so happy to have a packed house tonight. For the newcomers, we always have a charity that we donate to at the end of the night, and tonight’s charity is the Welcome Table. For those of you who don’t know what the Welcome Table is all about, Welcome Table is a nonprofit whose mission is to offer free meals to those in need. Last year alone, Welcome Table served more than a million meals. So make sure to open your wallet for out last performance today! We hope to raise five thousand dollars!”

The crowd hooted, hollered, and clapped, and to my shock, Brandon was right in there, cheering away. Who was this guy?

“First up, I’d like to introduce to you Jasmine LeBlanc, who is only looking for a little respect.”

Jasmine LaBlanc came out on stage wearing a bright red dress that hugged all her many curves. She waved to the crowd and did a little pirouette for us, then the music came on, andshe lip-synched to Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” The crowd went wild, flashing their five-dollar bills and screaming for more. I shouldn’t have been surprised when Jasmine beelined for Brandon. She got really close, and he smiled at her, just as seductively as she was smiling at him. She sang him a few lines, and when he handed her a few fives, she blew him a kiss and went on her way.

Just like Jasmine, Coco Fox, Belle Rider, Crystal Blaze, and Sapphire Sutton also paid Brandon a few visits. In fact, Sapphire was bold enough to invite him on stage for a dance, and when Brandon accepted, the crowd erupted. I was screaming and laughing so hard that I lost my voice for a second. Brandon shimmied with Sapphire, who was half a foot taller in her clear platform heels, and then he gave Sapphire a hug and peck on the cheek when the dance was over.

When he returned to the table, he was flushed and beaming. I’d never seen him have so much fun, not that I usually found myself in places with Brandon that were overly fun. He ordered a round of drinks for the table as the ladies prepared for one ensemble song, the final act to collect donations for the Welcome Table. Brandon had six or seven bills left, just enough for each lady. I wish I’d brought more money with me, but Brandon had done a good job waving his money around.

The ladies lip-synched to Blondie’s “Call Me,” spending a lot of time serenading Brandon. To please all the performers, he pulled out hundred-dollar bills for each of them, and as an added bonus, each got a hug and kiss. I was sure a few of them were blushing under their makeup. When all was said and done, and Veronica and the ladies were counting up the cash, she made her final announcement.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for your donations tonight! We almost reached our goal of five thousand dollars. Can you believe we were only two hundreddollars short? Come on, we must have some people here who can chip in a few bucks.”

I knew Brandon was going to do it, but I jumped up first. “I have twenty-three bucks. It’s all I have left, but it’s yours.”

Coco Fox came to collect it, and suddenly, hands were going up all over the place. Ten minutes later, the ladies had collected another four hundred dollars.

“My goodness, this has to be the most generous crowd. But I think we have to single out one of our guests tonight. He’s a special man, and he’s been very generous. Please come up here, Brandon Warde. The ladies want to thank you in person.”

Brandon jumped up, getting right into it. Each of the ladies pulled him in for a hug, and when they were done, he whispered something to Veronica. She nodded and spoke into the mic again.

“Mr. Sexy Warde—oh, that should be your drag name—wants to say something.”

I looked at Caitlyn and Kathleen, and we both shrugged. What was Brandon up to?

“Thank you for all the kind words, ladies. And may I add, you are all sexy yourselves. But I do want to say one more thing. I’ve heard about Welcome Table, and I know only good things about them, so I am going to match the donations tonight. We are at fifty-five hundred, so if anyone else wants to pitch in a few more dollars, I’d be happy to part with more cash.”

“You sexy devil,” Veronica said. “Did you hear that, everyone? Open your damn wallets because this man is opening his.”

Everyone clapped as Brandon returned to his seat. He gave a reluctant wave of thanks the first time the old, constrained Brandon made an appearance.

By the end of the night, he was in for a total of seven thousand dollars, not including the money he’d already donated that night.

“Okay, that was great,” he said as he drove me home. “The queens were so much fun.” I’d never seen him so excited. Normally, he was so serious and mellow. I loved this side of him.

“You realize everyone in there was taking pictures and video. It’s probably all over social media.”

He pffted that. “Who cares? If people don’t like it, then they don’t have to look.”

He pulled up to my building and insisted on walking me to the door, even though the building was well-lit, the street was busy with foot traffic, and I was feet from going inside. When we got to the door I turned to wave, but instead, he pulled me in for a hug. I think I sighed. Or maybe moaned. Whatever I did, I was probably going to regret it, but it felt so nice, his hard chest, the smell of his woodsy cologne—even though I could smell all the sweeter scents from the drag queens who kept hugging him—and I didn’t want to let him go. And strangely, he wasn’t letting me go either. Then I panicked a bit and froze. No, I wasn’t going to prove Tangi right.

I broke the embrace and smiled. “Thanks for the fun night. We should do it again,” I said absently and hurried into the building. I hated leaving him that way, but I liked my job, and I didn’t want to screw it up with a meaningless fling that would end in heartache, just like all the other times.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Brandon

Igot up early the next morning, went to the bathroom, took a much-needed piss, brushed my teeth, then got changed. I grabbed my phone, started for the kitchen, and smelled breakfast. My stomach grumbled at the thought of eggs, turkey bacon, and Wolseley’s homemade multigrain toast. Then I stopped. I had about a million notifications from almost every guy on the team. Picture after picture of me and various drag queens. They sent them as if I wasn’t there and posing for all the damn pictures. I didn’t bother with replies since I’d be at the rink in two hours for a pregame practice.

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