Page 5 of Pitcher Perfect

As the shorter guy studied the menu mounted on the outside of my truck, the taller one leaned on my counter and eyed me—more like he eye-fucked me as if we were in a club. It was flattering but didn’t really do much for me.

“I heard this place is amazing, but you’re not what I expected.”

The shorter guy snorted then rolled his eyes. “Leave the man alone, Tyler.”

Tyler batted his eyelashes at me. “What?”

“Sorry about that. I’ve been thinking about putting a warning sign on him. ‘Beware of blatant and obnoxious flirting.’”

“My flirting might be blatant, but it is not obnoxious,” Tyler said.

The other guy patted his shoulder. “Sure thing, honey.” Then he turned to me. “I’m Ethan. We’re two of the owners of Tap That Brewery a couple of blocks over.” He pointed down the road to his left.

“I’m Caleb. Great to meet you.” I shook their hands.

“You look familiar,” Ethan said as he studied me.

“Maybe you visited my food cart in Portland?”

He nodded. “Probably.”

I noticed they both had on white T-shirts with a logo over their chests of a man’s silhouette as he drank a beer. Tap That Brewery and Dahlia Springs were embroidered underneath it. The rainbow beer can contrasted with the black silhouette. Back in Portland, I’d heard rumblings about a queer brewery in some small town toward the coast but had never learned the name. It was pretty new from what I could remember. Maybe theirs was the one I’d heard about.

“That’s a bold pun. I like it.”

Tyler beamed at me, looking boyish for a moment. “That was all me.”

“I bet you’re shocked by that.” Ethan rolled his eyes. “Fortunately, this is a pun-friendly town.” Ethan gestured to Dave’s coffee shop, A Whole Latte Love. “Yours fits right in. I love Bill and Ted.”

I chuckled. I’d been proud when I came up with the name Be Eggcellent to Each Other for my food truck once I’d decided to focus on breakfast sandwiches. “If it wasn’t pun-friendly, I’d have to pack up and move on.”

The guys chuckled.

“What do you recommend?” Tyler winked.

I didn’t take the bait. “The croque madam is a popular one. Gruyére, ham, fried egg, and mornay sauce. I like the brie and blueberry one too. If you have a sweet tooth, the grilled Nutella and banana one is a sound choice. A classic is the avocado and egg on wheat bread I buy from the bakery down the road.”

“Those sound amazing. I want the first one.” As if on cue, Tyler’s stomach grumbled. “It was a rough weekend. I need sustenance.” He patted his stomach.

“Spending a Saturday hitting bars in Portland does not a rough weekend make,” Ethan said. “Brie and blueberry for me.”

“Clearly you haven’t been out with me in a while.”

My curiosity was getting the better of me. “Does Tap That happen to be the queer brewery? Not just queer-owned but themed? Like with the beer names and stuff?”

“You’ve heard about us?” Ethan’s smile grew.

“Yeah. I was in Portland before moving here and heard mention of you guys from a couple of people.”

Ethan and Tyler high-fived.

“Hell yeah,” Tyler said. “I knew people would start noticing us.”

They told me about the brewery as I cooked, the hilarious punny names for their beers, how they wanted to be a queer-friendly space, their business model of donating a portion of their proceeds to LGBTQ+ organizations, and their plans to host events for queer artists. It sounded pretty amazing. Hearing about their experience gave me hope for my own business.

I didn’t have queer-themed dishes or anything, but as a gay man who owned a business, I would be lying if I said I hadn’t had some reservations when picking up and moving my truck to Dahlia Springs. I was fully out and didn’t want to downplay a part of who I was out of fear of harming my business.

After I flipped the egg, I looked up and saw Frank Ambrose walking by. “Hey, Mr. Ambrose. Can I interest you in a late breakfast? On the house.”

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