Chapter 18
DRAKE
Sunday, the final day of the festival
I’d told Nova and Zeke I’d take care of the chickens and Dolores this morning, so I got up at a decent hour to do that and to grab Mabel’s bowl from the stump in the woods. Poppy and Mac, along with the band and assorted roadies, were loading up their vehicles to leave when I came back.
After I’d said goodbye to them, I shucked off everything but my underwear and got back into bed.
It was a shame Finn couldn’t have stayed over, because we’d have had plenty of uninterrupted time to make love.
At the very least I wished I could’ve seen him last night before he’d had to go home.
But Charlie needed his support today, and I understood. I didn’t have a place there.
Still, I wanted one.
Fuck, it was so easy to imagine getting up every morning with Finn, having breakfast with Charlie before he went off to school. My chest ached with how badly I yearned for that.
A family. Finn and Charlie. And if I stayed in Maplewood, I could visit Zeke and Nova. Check on the chickens and future baby chicks. Play D it’s not trendy or metropolitan or anything.
But, would you consider staying? Like for at least a few months so we can see where things go between us? ”
My heart started beating double time. “I—” I cleared my throat. “I’d like that.” I smiled into his eyes, and he gave me a shy smile back.
“Good. Me too. I mean, I’d like that too.” Then he stopped talking and just stared at me, still smiling but as if he didn’t have any idea what to do next.
I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him.
The door at the back of the booth slammed open, and Ever King stepped out with a large black trash bag bursting at the seams. He stopped when he saw us. “Uh, hey?”
Shit. Finn and I broke apart. “Sorry, Ever. We’ll get out of your way.” My face had to be bright red. Ever owned the Honey Spot, and he was competing in the amateur contest. I’d spoken to him several times this week.
“Hi, Ever.” Of course Finn knew the guy.
“Hey, Finn. I heard you two were seeing each other.” He shrugged then headed for the dumpster. “As long as you keep your clothes on, I don’t care what you’re up to back here.”
I took the opportunity to snatch my hat off the ground, and I occupied myself with dusting it off while Ever finished his garbage run.
As he walked back, he said, “Oh, Finn, tell Charlie good luck at the amateur competition.” He grimaced.
“Though I heard the Rocktogenarians are playing ‘Uptown Funk’. Kian and I don’t have a prayer of winning against them.
” He glanced at his watch. “Speaking of, I’d better get to the amphitheater.
” The door slammed shut behind him as he went inside.
“Fuck.” Finn glanced toward the amphitheater. “Charlie’s scheduled to go on right after the Rocktogenarians.”
I groaned. “Sorry. Zeke made the schedule. He said he did it randomly, but it’s hard to know what that means in his mind.”
He sighed. “Charlie’ll be fine. He told me he’s not expecting to win; he just wants to do it for his parents and for the experience.” He put his arms around me again and smiled. “Back to what we were discussing before we were interrupted....”
I raised an eyebrow. “Were we discussing anything though? I remember us using our mouths for other things.”
“Yeah, yeah. But this is important.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, um, I don’t know how long Zeke’s cool with you staying at the compound, but....” He trailed off and his eyes searched mine.
“But?”
He inhaled deeply then said, “But I’d like you to stay with me and Charlie for as long as you want to.”
I blinked, a slow smile curving my lips. “Yeah? Is Charlie okay with it?”
His face went slightly red. “I, uh, haven’t asked him. But I will! I just wanted him to get through the competition first. I’m sure he’ll be fine with it.”
I pressed my lips together. He probably would be. But Charlie had only lived with Finn for a couple of months. I didn’t want to suddenly make their entire home life dynamic all about me. My gut said we should ease into it.
So instead of jumping up and down in celebration and shrieking, Yes!
— which is what I really wanted to do—I gave him a long, tender kiss.
“That’s sweet of you. But I think I should stay at the compound for the next couple of months at least. Let’s take it slow for Charlie and for us.
I’d like to see how things go when I don’t have the festival taking all of my time. ”
His face lit up. “I heard that at least . No matter how long it takes you to move in with me and Charlie, you’re staying in Maplewood permanently and you know it.”
I pushed him away, my bratty side coming out to play. “I know no such thing. We haven’t even been on a date yet. What if you can’t hold up your end of a conversation for that long? What if you have a bad habit I can’t stand?”
He picked me up and spun me around. “You’re staying!”
Okay, that was more like it. Except I lost my hat again.
Finn put me down and leaned over to grab the bowler, which appeared unharmed. He dusted it off and carefully placed it on my head, tapping the crown to make sure it was secure. “There you go.”
I kissed him once more, putting my hands on his waist. His skin beneath the t-shirt was warm, and I could feel his diaphragm moving as he breathed. My heart felt like it would burst out of my chest.
“I haven’t talked to Zeke about it yet, but he doesn’t have anyone scheduled to use the cabins this summer.” I shook my head. “Which is a waste of a perfectly good revenue opportunity if you ask me.”
He chuckled. “Noted. Hey, maybe your brothers can come visit in June. The Pride festival is my favorite.” He winced. “Sorry. Nothing against the music festival, but it doesn’t have a parade with drag queens.”
“I’ll keep that in mind if I end up being involved with it next year.” I slid one of my hands around to the front of his t-shirt to smooth it across his chest. He pressed his lips to mine, smiling against my mouth.
My phone chimed with a text, and I groaned as I pulled away. “They’re probably looking for me so we can go over the judging rules again.”
“I don’t regret a thing.” He released me but grabbed my hand. “I’ll walk back with you. Charlie and Kirk were going to hang out with Kirk’s parents and watch the other acts.”
There was a decent-sized crowd already forming, even though we still had over twenty minutes before the first performance.
Finn scanned the crowd, then waved. “I’ll be over there until it’s time for Charlie to head backstage.
Have fun judging!” He kissed me on the corner of my mouth before weaving away through the crowd.
I watched him go with what I was sure was a silly smile on my face. I was staying. He wanted me to stay. Fizzy excitement swirled through my body as I made my way to the area in front of the stage they’d roped off for the judges.
I could see Zeke with Roy, who was acting as our emcee, and the other judges. I’d met most of them already, but not all. A woman with long, multi-color hair was standing next to Zeke. Was that...? “Oh, my god!” I ran the rest of the way and hopped over the rope barrier. “Mona!”
She whirled around and gave me a huge smile. “Drakey!” She held out her arms and I collided with her, spinning her around as we laughed. Her sparkly red dress ballooned out as we twirled.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” Not letting go of Mona, I turned to Zeke. “Did you arrange this?”
He gave a weird little shrug, almost looking embarrassed.
“I thought I’d do something nice for ya, since you’ve been working so hard on the festival.
I had Jake call your twin to see if he wanted to be another judge, but he had movie stuff to do today and couldn’t get here on time.
He suggested we ask Mona.” He tipped his head in her direction.
“Well, thank you. I’m grateful.”
Mona spoke into my ear. “I’m here for a couple of days. I’m dying to meet this boyfriend of yours.”
I wiggled my eyebrows and whispered back, “Things just got real. I told him I’m going to stay.”
“Yes!” She jumped in the air with a fist raised high. I got another hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Congratulations!” Then in a swirl of sparkly skirts she went into professional mode. “Sorry for delaying things, gentlemen.”
The others assured her there was no problem. Zeke merely grunted and started pointing. “Drake, you know Roy from Harmonic Circus. And Bastian Hall from Hall of Fame is our other last-minute addition to the judging panel.”
I waved at him. “Thanks again for filling in on Thursday.”
“We had a blast, and I’m looking forward to seeing all your local talent tonight.”
Zeke carried on. “This is Dmitri Fairchild, the violinist.” I nodded at him. “And you know Pan MacLeod from Satyr’s Kiss.”
“Good to see you again.” I waved at him.
“Hey, Drake. I was sorry we didn’t get to hear you play on Thursday.”
I smirked. “You got to see Hall of Fame. I think it’s a fair trade.” Everyone laughed, and Zeke slapped Bastian on the back, causing him to stumble forward.
Zeke held up a stack of rating sheets. “Y’all pay attention. All of the acts are listed here, and you’ll mark your rating after each one finishes. We’ll tally up the ratings at the end and announce the top three winners.”
I held up my hand. “I have to abstain from voting on the 7:30 p.m. act, Charlie Hapwell. I’m dating his... family member.”
Everyone nodded. Zeke waved at the tables where we were supposed to sit. “Let’s get settled. Roy’s gonna introduce us and kick everythin’ off.”
Roy went over to the stage to make sure the first act was ready to go, and the rest of us sat down. Zeke had put our names on the backs of our chairs. I was on one end, with Mona beside me, and he was on the other.
The crowd had almost doubled in size. I honestly hadn’t expected the competition to be this well-attended, but maybe having some famous musicians as judges was part of the draw.
I hoped Charlie wasn’t nervous about performing in front of this many people. It was one thing to stand on a stage in front of rows of empty seats. Facing actual people was completely different.