A Clean Break (Gay Amish Romance Book 2) (26 page)

As a new song blasted on, an exclamation rippled through the Beacon. Clark danced in his seat. “I love this new Kylie! The diva from down under’s still got it.”

“That she does.” Dylan tapped out the rhythm on the table.

David and Isaac shared a puzzled look. Sometimes it felt like people weren’t even speaking English.

Liam/Logan’s gaze slid to David. “Are you going to go back to school too?”

All eyes around the table focused on him, and it felt like everyone in the Beacon was watching and listening—and judging—even though he knew it wasn’t true. He could feel his face getting red. “No.”

David tightened his grip on his beer glass. Why had he agreed to come out? In the days since he’d gotten the letter from Mother, all he’d wanted to do was curl up and sleep. He told himself to relax and have fun, but it was easier said than done.

“David’s a master carpenter.” Clark raised his hands with a flourish. He was wearing a sheer black shirt and glittery makeup on his eyes. “You remember my new dining set? This is its creator.”

Liam/Logan and the other two men exclaimed, all of them praising David’s work. David smiled and thanked them, and Isaac squeezed his knee under the table. It felt good to be praised, which in turn made him feel a little guilty. He snapped back to attention as Clark reached across the table and put his hand on his arm.

“I was telling Tyler you’re the perfect man to have in the bedroom.” He paused. “To make his new headboard,” he added.

Everyone laughed, although Isaac only sucked on his straw, draining his soda. David smiled. “Um…thanks.” He held out his glass eagerly as the waiter dropped off another pitcher of beer.

“Clark, you’re making him blush!” The man who must have been Tyler rolled his eyes. “You’re incorrigible.”

Clark’s nails gleamed with dark pink polish, and he squeezed David’s arm through the thin material of the button-down. “Just calling it like I see it.” He leaned back across the table with a wink. “Really though, if any of you need something involving wood, ask David.”

There was more uproarious laughter, although David couldn’t figure out why. Knowing Clark it was a sex joke. He glanced at Isaac, whose brow was creased. Isaac played with his straw, poking at the ice cubes in the bottom of his glass.

“I honestly didn’t mean it to sound like that.” Clark held up his hands. “I swear to God.”

Dylan chuckled. “That’s enough teasing.” He sat on the other side of Isaac, and he leaned in to murmur something, the twists of his braided hair falling over his forehead. His shoulders relaxing, Isaac smiled and nodded.

“I really would like to talk to you about my bed,” Tyler said to David. He laughed and brushed back his light hair. “Jesus—everything sounds dirty right now. Clark, you are a terrible influence, you know that? I mean about making a headboard. Do you have a card?”

“Uh…” David wished Aaron was there to look to. “No?”

Dylan spoke up. “He means a business card. Not sure if you’ve ever seen them? Anyone have one on them?”

Liam/Logan pulled out his slim wallet from his back pocket. “Here’s mine.” He handed a piece of paper to David. The card was made of thick glossy paper, and the words were printed in simple letters next to a symbol David recognized from one of the big banks.

Logan Lin, MBA

Financial Advisor

Logan’s email address and phone number were there as well. David was pretty sure MBA was a degree from school. “I get it. I have a website that my friend does for me. I guess I could get cards and put that on it as well?” He handed it back.

Logan waved. “Keep it. If you guys ever need help with banking or investments, let me know. And yeah, you should get a card with your site and contact info. Any printing place will be able to do them. It doesn’t cost much.”

“Thanks.” David slipped the card into his pocket.

“I still need to get a bank account,” Isaac said.

“This must be so weird for you guys.” Logan shook his head. “I can only imagine how fucked I’d be if I had to give up everything I know and go plow fields. Seriously, if you need any help figuring out money stuff, I’m happy to meet with you. No charge.”

Isaac smiled. “Thanks. We appreciate it.”

David smiled too. The beer was loosening the ever-present knot of tension, and he felt back on solid ground. Clark and Dylan and their friends were confusing, but they clearly meant well.

“D, are you going to Volume on Friday?” Clark asked.

Dylan shook his head. “Not this month. Maybe next time, though.” To David and Isaac he added, “Volume’s a gay club. We’re too old to go every week like we used to, but one Friday a month they do a retro night. The music’s the best.”

“Retro?” Isaac asked.

“Oh, retro means…” Dylan smirked. “Well, it means
old
. They play music from the nineties and the early two thousands so we can relive our glory days.”

“You boys should come with!” Clark pursed his lips. “Although not you, munchkin. Have to be twenty-one for Volume.” He turned his gaze to David. “But you should check it out sometime.”

“If Isaac can’t go I don’t want to.”

After a moment, Isaac shrugged. “No, you should go. You can tell me all about it.”

“Really?” David wasn’t even sure he wanted to go to a club. The Beacon was loud and crowded enough. “But—”

“No buts. I don’t want you to miss out because I’m not old enough.”

“We’ll see.” David shrugged.

“I do declare—is that Dr. Paculba and her dashing husband I see coming this way?” Clark popped up from his chair and threw his arms around Jen, kissing her soundly. “You’re actually early. For you.” Then he kissed Aaron right on the mouth. “Hey, handsome.”

David and Isaac shared a glance, their eyebrows raised. But Aaron was smiling and didn’t seem bothered at all. “Hey, yourself.” He stood behind Isaac and David, giving their shoulders a squeeze. “You guys having fun?”

“Uh-huh,” Isaac answered.

Jen gave them both a kiss on the cheek. “Hey, boys!” She made a little exclamation as a new song came on. “Aaron! We are dancing right now! Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars.” She yanked him toward the dance floor, which was packed with gyrating people. Clark, Logan, and Steve followed, leaving Dylan and Tyler talking and laughing about something.

As David puzzled over what two hundred dollars had to do with anything, Isaac grinned and nudged him.

“Hey! My friends from school just got here too.”

David froze. “You didn’t tell me they were coming.”

Isaac was already pushing back his chair and waving across the room. “I wasn’t sure if they’d be able to make it.”

Nervous energy shot through David, curdling in his belly. “Why are they here? You see them almost every day.”

Isaac frowned down at him. “They want to meet you. I thought you wanted to meet them too. Why wouldn’t you?”

It was a good question—for which David had no good answer. He tried to smile. “Of course I do.” He drained his glass and stood as three people approached. They all appeared to be around his age.

“Hey!” The girl threw her arms around Isaac.

The two guys held up their hands in turn, but instead of shaking with Isaac, they did a little slap-clasp thing with him.

Isaac turned to David, beaming. “Lola, Chris, and Derek, this is David.”

One of the guys grinned. He was tall and looked Chinese like Logan, with close-cropped hair and a gleaming smile. “Hey, man.” He held up his hand. “I’m Chris.”

David clumsily tried to clasp Chris’s hand the way Isaac had. “Hi.”

Derek was blond and blue-eyed, and had faint red marks on his skin that looked like the scars Joseph Wagler had from pimples. He held up his hand, and David took it the same strange way. “Great to meet you,” Derek said.

Lola extended her hand for a shake in the usual way. “The famous David. How’s it going?” She was fairly tall, and had brown hair cut to her jaw with a streak of purple over her forehead. She was what David’s mother would have called butter chubby, with wide hips and ample breasts. She wore a low-cut shirt that accentuated them.

He shook her hand. “Good, thank you. How are you?”

“Fan-
tas
-tic.” She bounced, her short skirt swirling around her thighs. “Gay bars are the most fun.”

Derek glanced around. “This place is cool.” He shot Lola a look. “But you know you’re not allowed to abandon us.”

She rolled her eyes and squeezed between Derek and Chris, linking her arms through theirs. “Yes, I’ll protect your straight-boy virtue.”

Chris laughed. “Hey, you know it’s all good, but I just don’t swing that way.”

“It’s okay. My brother’s here and he doesn’t either,” Isaac said. “You guys want to get drinks?”

“Is the Pope Catholic?” Derek asked. He lowered his voice. “You want us to snag you one?”

Isaac shook his head. “I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“We need to get you some fake ID,” Chris said. “David, what’ll it be?”

“Vodka tonic,” he replied before he could think twice. Maybe it would help calm the anxious tension gripping him. He wished he could just leave and not have to embarrass himself.

Chris and Derek squeezed through the growing crowd and disappeared toward the bar. David shifted from foot to foot and gave Lola an awkward smile. Someone jostled him, and he inched closer to Isaac, glancing back at their table and blinking in surprise when he saw people he didn’t know in their seats talking animatedly with Dylan.

“David, how’s work going?” Lola was shouting over the music, which seemed to be getting louder and louder. “We saw your website, and your stuff looks
awesome
.”

“Thanks. It’s good.” He cast about for something to say. “How’s school?”

“Great! I’m almost ready to graduate and get my GED. And Isaac is doing
so
freaking well. He’s like a little sponge.”

David tried to think of something else to ask, but his mind was a void. He was jostled again, and sweat gathered on his brow. He felt like ants were crawling on his skin. Meanwhile, Isaac said something to Lola that he didn’t catch, and they both laughed. As they chatted, David smiled and nodded, his mind turning uselessly like an upended buggy wheel.

Fortunately Derek and Chris returned soon, and David gulped his drink. The last thing he needed was to have an episode right here in front of everyone. “How much do I owe you?”

Chris waved a hand. “Just get the next round. It all evens out. So, how are you finding it here in the city?”

“Good.” He cringed. He sounded so
stupid
and dull.

“Glad to hear it,” Chris said.

David felt acutely aware of the seconds passing. He needed to think of something to say.
Anything
. “Why didn’t you finish high school when you were supposed to?”

Chris hitched a shoulder and stared at his shoes. “You know how it is. Life happens.”

David could sense Isaac’s tension, and Lola was looking at him with her lips pressed into a tight smile. He realized he’d said something wrong. “I didn’t mean that it was bad to finish now.” His cheeks were hot.
This is why I shouldn’t talk
.

“It’s cool, man.” Chris turned to Derek. “Hey, how’d your presentation go?”

As Isaac and his friends chattered about school, David nodded and tried to keep up.
Why is this so hard?
The music was like nails hammering into his skull, and sweat dripped down his spine. More and more people seemed to be crowding in. His drink was gone, and he needed another one.

“David, when did you first learn how to be a carpenter?” Lola asked.

“Do you guys want to dance?” he blurted. He didn’t want to talk about work or Zebulon—or anything.

Lola grinned. “
Always
.”

Isaac’s eyebrows flew up. “You really want to dance?”

Tugging him toward the dance floor, David nodded.
It’s better than talking
. Squeezing through the writhing bodies to find an empty space, they waved to Aaron, Jen, Clark, and Logan. He and Isaac shuffled awkwardly, and David tried to concentrate on the beat. Aaron looked totally at home stepping and shaking to the music, so there was no reason David couldn’t, but as he watched Isaac’s school friends dance freely, he felt hopelessly out of place.

Isaac’s breath hit his ear. “Maybe we should take lessons. I have no idea what I’m doing.” He rested his hands on David’s hips.

David hesitated for a moment before touching Isaac’s shoulders.
It’s a gay bar! You’re allowed!
He felt better already with Isaac close to him. “I guess we just…go with the flow, I think they’d say.”

Isaac bit his lip, and then launched himself at David, kissing him hard. “Go with the flow sounds good to me.” He kissed David again.

Breathing him in, David held Isaac near, swaying and shuffling to the beat. The music was faster than they were going, but he didn’t care. The rest of the people around them seemed to fade away as Isaac pressed their lips together. Holding him close, David didn’t even need another drink to feel better than he had all night.

The muffled chirping could barely be heard over the power saw, and David quickly shut it off and grabbed his phone from the corner of the worktable. June’s name was on the screen, and he tapped it before remembering he had to swipe.