Page 52 of Role Model

He could not do it. As soon as he saw Scott, Eric, and Ilya, he lost his nerve. He pivoted and went to the bar instead.

“Hey, handsome,” Kyle said with a flirty smile. “What can I get you?”

“Can I just get some water?” It felt like the room’s temperature had increased twenty degrees in the last five minutes.

“No problem.”

Troy leaned on the bar, needing the support. He wished, suddenly, that Harris were there. Harris would love this place, and he would love knowing that Troy was here, with these guys. He’d be so excited about it.

Troy was grounded a bit by the thought. He could tell him all about it when he saw him again.

“Here you go.” Kyle set the water in front of him. “Anything else?”

“No,” Troy said. “But, um...are you dating Eric Bennett?”

“Been together for months. Why?”

“I didn’t know he was...uh...”

“Spoken for? Sorry.”

Troy knew Kyle was teasing him, but he still flushed with embarrassment. “No! I meant—”

“I know what you meant.”

Troy gave a nervous laugh, which was a testament to how much the whole evening was fucking with his head because he never did that. “Sorry. I’m just a little, um, out of my element here.”

Kyle’s eyebrows shot up. “First gay bar?”

“Uh, yeah. Actually.”

“Don’t worry. As long as you leave by midnight. That’s when the floor opens up to reveal the sex pit.”

Troy’s laugh was a little less nervous this time. He liked this Kyle guy. “Thanks for the warning.”

“If you wanted to stick around for the sex pit, though, I’ll bet Cutie over there wouldn’t be sad about it.” He nodded subtly to Troy’s left, and when Troy turned to look he spotted a very attractive man with olive skin and stylish glasses checking him out.

Oh.

Troy looked away. Then looked back. Then away again. What if he talked to him? What if he just went over and talked to him? And flirted with him? And went home with him? Jesus, Troy could have sex tonight. He could pick up a man in a gay bar and have sex with him.

He downed half of his water in one go and forced himself to look anywhere but the handsome man who was trying to catch his attention. His gaze landed on a bulletin board behind the bar that was neatly displaying flyers for various upcoming events. In one corner, there was a small enamel pin in the shape of an apple with a rainbow flag heart in the middle.

Holy shit.

“Hey,” he asked Kyle. “Where can I get one of those pins?” He pointed to the bulletin board.

Kyle looked confused. “That’s just an old New York Pride pin. I think I have a few under the bar here still. You want one?”

“For a friend,” Troy said, probably too quickly. “I know someone who would love it.”

Kyle ducked below the bar and came back with an identical pin. He handed it to Troy. “All yours.”

Troy held the pin like it was something precious, stroking his thumb over the raised metal ridges. His face must have given everything away, because Kyle smiled at him knowingly.

“He’s an apple farmer,” Troy explained, trying to sound cool, but unable to keep the uncharacteristic giddiness out of his voice. “And he’s gay. And he loves pins. So this is, like, perfect.”

“Sounds like it.”

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