Page 18 of Poolside

At that Wade broke into a small smile. “Seriously?”

Tommy nodded. “Seriously.”

Chuck clapped his hands together. “So now that everyone has met Wade, who is actually a hockey celebrity in hiding,” he said loudly, “everyone, this is Miguel, who uses they/them pronouns.”

He watched his friends’ faces closely for a reaction, but they all just nodded in affirmation. The rest of the introductions went quickly, and then they were all sitting around the booth with drinks in their hands.

It was sweet, really, that everyone wanted to come out to support him. It was a little bit awkward, and he couldn’t totally shake the feeling that everyone was watching him, trying to suss out who exactly Chuck the gay man was.

Rebecca and Darius were the first ones who went to the dance floor, followed closely by Miguel, who dragged Chuck along with them.

House remixes of 80’s pop songs played loudly, and brightly colored lights cut through the darkness, sweeping across the dancing bodies. Chuck quickly fell into the music, sinking down into his hips as his body found the heavy beat.

Chuck was alone for all of three seconds before he felt the unmistakable heat of a body behind him. He glanced back, finding a big bear with an exposed chest and the kind of bulky muscles that most men couldn’t attain without steroids.

Chuck let himself lean back into the unfamiliar body, lost himself in the man’s musk and the ghost of his hairy arms as they wrapped around Chuck.

But there was still a little prickle of self-consciousness. His friends were here, hisotherfriends. What if they were watching him?

He took a moment to glance around, catching flashes of recognizable faces when the lights swept over the dance floor.

Rebecca and Darius, tangled up like two people who couldn’t help but touch each other. David and Sage in a similar position. Miguel standing at the bar in an animated conversation with a platinum blonde twink. And there, at the table in the corner, Wade and Tommy were locked in conversation.

Something turned in Chuck’s stomach as he watched Tommy staring wide-eyed at Wade, obviously hanging onto the man’s every word.

He forced his eyes shut, willing himself to focus on the man behind him. Throwing himself into the moment, being there and present and, finally,all of himself.

When the man asked if he could buy Chuck a drink, he agreed. It was easy to thread their fingers together as they wound their way through the crowd.

He introduced himself as Gavin, his hand lingering on Chuck’s lower back as he bought him a local lager and ordered a vodka soda for himself. They flirted, an easy exchange of questions while they very obviously checked each other out. Chuck liked his thick beard and the chest hair peeking from beneath the v-neck of his shirt. He could already imagine how Gavin’s soft belly would feel pressed against his back as he fucked him.

He could go either way, but tonight he needed to be fucked.

“You got any other plans tonight?” Gavin asked as his gaze lingered on Chuck’s mouth.

Chuck shrugged, feeling the heat of the beer rise to his cheeks. “I’m here with friends now and I don’t want to bail on them. Are you okay hanging for a bit then we could get out of here later?”

Gavin grinned, revealing a crooked front tooth that Chuck found endearing. “Works for me.”

They arrived back at the table just as David and Sage returned from the dance floor. Chuck made quick introductions, relieved when his friends shook hands with Gavin and didn’t make a big deal of it.

If Tommy’s smile wasn’t quite as warm as the others when he shook Gavin’s hand, Chuck pretended not to notice. It was probably just the beer and his head fucking with him.

As David asked Gavin about what he did for a living, Chuck found himself watching Tommy rather than keeping up with the conversation.

Tommy’s face was carefully blank as he looked at Gavin, but every once in a while a frown would slip through. Maybe there was something about Gavin that Tommy didn’t like, and that thought distracted him from the hope and optimism he’d been feeling as he danced with the man earlier.

Chuck didn’t know if he could be with a man who Tommy didn’t like.

“Are you ready to get out of here?”

Chuck flinched at the touch on his arm, glancing up in time to see Gavin’s expression shift to concern. He had no idea how much time had passed, he’d been so completely lost in his thoughts.

“Is everything alright?” Gavin asked.

“Yeah,” Chuck said, standing up and grabbing ahold of Gavin’s offered hand. He didn’t need to be thinking about Tommy, not when he planned to go home with a handsome man whoactuallywanted him. “All good. Just got lost in my head for a minute.”

Gavin’s smile was understanding. “Happens to me all the time.”

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