CHAPTER 21
Victor barely had time to change his shirt and spritz on cologne before he was due to meet his date outside the gates into the midway, which was ablaze with carnival lights even as the weather dipped into the low fifties.
They wouldn’t have much time to look around before the rodeo started, but Victor had already decided to treat Sebastian to some carnival food.
He wasn’t sure how often NYC boys got to experience country fairs.
Hopefully he wasn’t a vegetarian, because everything here was most likely fried in some kind of animal fat.
Victor was looking at his phone when he felt someone tap his shoulder.
He turned and was instantly met with Sebastian’s smiling face, which very much looked like the one in his photos—tight black curls, olive complexion, cherubic features and each ear and one nostril bearing at least one ring.
To his surprise, Sebastian launched himself on Victor with a strong embrace, and Victor staggered a step with a laugh before hugging Sebastian back.
“I’m sorry!” Sebastian said, stepping back with a grin. “I guess I’m just so happy to meet you! Wow.” He paused, blinking. “You’re so cute, oh my God.”
Victor’s reaction must have been shocked, because Sebastian threw a hand up. “Sorry, I shouldn’t just say that. That’s weird. Ugh, sorry I’m so awkward.”
“No, it’s fine. You’re fine. You’re cute, too.
” The words felt weird in Victor’s mouth; he wasn’t raised to be so honest and upfront.
Still, Victor wanted to hug him again, just because it felt so good to be around someone like him.
It didn’t hurt that Sebastian was good looking and seemed far sweeter than most of the guys Victor met up with from Grindr.
“I know it’s not PC or whatever to compliment each other on how well we pass, but, like… you’re very much goals,” Sebastian admitted. “Again, sorry if I shouldn’t say that—”
“It’s fine. It’s been a long time since I’ve been clocked.”
“God, that sounds nice. I just called ma’am yesterday when I wasn’t wearing my binder.
” Sebastian curled his arms around himself and rolled his eyes.
“Not my fault I’ve got huge boobs. I’ve been trying to raise money for ages to get them chopped off but, you know…
” Sebastian shrugged. “It’s a lot of money.
” He paused, then winced. “Geezus, I told myself if I met up with another trans guy we wouldn’t spend our time talking about being trans and look at me! Sorry.”
“One trick to passing as a man,” Victor said, holding up a finger, “is not apologizing for anything. Let’s get something to eat, cuz I’m starving, and I’m paying.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I am. What kind of fried food do you like?”
“The south is going to give me heart disease. There’s no vegetable they won’t fry. But a burger or whatever sounds fine.”
“Here’s the place to get one. Come on.”
They wandered around the carnival a bit, trying to gauge what Sebastian was in the mood for.
Finally he settled on a pulled pork sandwich, and they parked their butts on a picnic table to eat as the Round Up twirled behind him.
Occasionally Victor found Sebastian staring at him with a mixture of attraction and awe, and Victor couldn’t help but flush and hide a smile.
It felt good to be admired, and Sebastian wasn’t hiding it all that well.
In his baggy T-shirt and jeans, it was obvious Sebastian was still dressing to hide his body, and Victor felt a pang of empathetic understanding.
He’d been through that same exact stage, especially before his top surgery.
It was weird wanting to protect someone at the same time he wanted to kiss him.
It was very different from how he felt around Johnny, which involved more wanting to punch him.
“God, I’ve needed this,” Sebastian said through a full mouth. “Hiding out in my apartment is not good for me.”
“Why haven’t you been out more?”
Sebastian shrugged. “Still struggling to make friends, I guess. And Grindr is such a shit show. I mostly use it to find other trans guys at this point. I have zero trust for cis men after my boyfriend dumped me. He told me he was cool with the whole trans thing, but I guess he changed his mind.”
“Huh, yeah, I’ve been through that.”
“Would have been nice to know before I moved across the country for him.” Sebastian swallowed down the last of the pulled pork sandwich. “Wanna play a carnival game?”
“Absolutely.”
They unwound their legs from the picnic bench and found a carnival game that involved shooting darts at targets.
By some miracle, Victor was able to get one of the targets down, resulting in his pick of their smallest stuffed animals.
Victor let Sebastian choose, and when Victor was given the stuffed raccoon, he handed it over to Sebastian.
Sebastian curled his arms around it and gave it a firm hug before holding it up and making it give Victor a kiss on the cheek.
“Thanks,” Victor said with a laugh, and Sebastian followed it up with a kiss on the cheek of his own.
When Victor turned to him, he flushed and giggled nervously.
If there hadn’t been a crowd around them, Victor might have grabbed him and given him a proper kiss, but he remembered just in time they weren’t in the safest place for PDA.
Still, he gave Sebastian what he hoped was a heated look, and Sebastian flushed even redder.
After eating their fill and having their fun at the carnival games, they made their way into the main arena where the rodeo was getting ready to start.
It took them about twenty minutes to get to their designated seats, which weren’t very good but Victor had seen enough rodeos that he didn’t really care about seeing the action.
Instead he and Sebastian chatted about their families, where they’d grown up, and what they were into.
Sebastian had gone to college for music, but he’d struggled to find any work in that, so now he was just working at a warehouse making barely above minimum wage.
By the time he’d told Victor all about that, the rodeo began.
Unlike the podunk rodeos back in small-town Oklahoma, this was the real deal. The horses were huge, and the purses were bigger. This was a rodeo for pros, including some of Johnny’s fellow competitors. Victor just hoped no one got irreparable head damage tonight, because it made for a poor date.
“I can’t believe anyone voluntarily does this,” Sebastian noted after the first rider was dumped six seconds into his ride. The drafty bay mare he’d been riding rocketed off, bucking until the flank strap was removed by a man on a horse.
“My friend did until he got his head kicked in,” Victor said. When Sebastian’s face fell, he clarified. “He’s alive. He just doesn’t do rodeo anymore.”
“How crazy is he?”
Victor laughed. “About as much as you’d expect. From what he’s told me, it gives you a thrill akin to a drug. It’s why he did it for so long.”
“You know they make drugs now, right? You can just take those.”
Victor let out a collective groan with everyone else as another horse dumped its rider.
Watching this made him think of those videos of Johnny at events just like this, the way he’d settle down on a horse’s back in the shoot with the expression of a man about to dance with death.
Johnny was crazy, and so was Victor for finding it a little hot at the same time.
The rodeo lasted about three hours. In that time, Victor and Sebastian carried an easy conversation that never seemed too stilted or awkward, and overall Victor could say the date was a success.
He offered Sebastian the chance to see his horse, and of course Sebastian agreed.
When the rest of the crowd headed to the exit, Victor steered them the opposite direction, out of the arena and across the expanse between the stadium and the stables.
There were some people working their horses in the practice ring, but for the most part the barn had gone quiet.
Victor was happy to see that someone had fed and watered all the horses.
“So here he is,” Victor said, gesturing toward Blitz, who left his corner at the back of the stall to come check them out. “This is my stallion Blitz.”
With wide eyes, Sebastian reached out to touch Blitz’s nose. “Oh my God, he’s beautiful.” When Blitz wiggled his lip against Sebastian’s fingers, he yanked them back like he’d been shocked. “Does he bite?”
Victor chuckled. “No, he likes you.”
“Sorry, the only horses I’ve ever pet were the carriage horses at Central Park.” Sebastian reached back out, softly stroking Blitz’s forehead.
“You want in the stall?”
“Are you sure he won’t stomp on me or something?”
Victor tried to hide a smile and threw back the lock on the stall. “Come on. Inside.”
So Sebastian slunk into the stall, moving slowly like he was approaching a ferocious tiger. Victor closed the door behind them, then threw an arm over Blitz’s back to watch Sebastian lightly run his fingers down Blitz’s shiny copper mane.
“He’s so soft,” Sebastian said almost in a whisper.
Victor watched Sebastian pet him for a few seconds before he said, “Do you wanna sit on him?”
Sebastian took a moment to consider, then nodded. “Okay. How do I get on?”
“Here.” Victor knelt down in the clean sawdust on the floor of the stall and slapped his knee. “Use my thigh as a stepstool. Then just swing your leg over.”
Sebastian’s mount was about as uncoordinated as those attempted by the six-year-olds Victor had as students, but Blitz didn’t move, and eventually Sebastian was able to climb his way on.
The expression on his face at the end made it all worth it.
He looked like a child who had been plopped down on a fat pony at the fair.
“Oh my God,” he laughed, grabbing two fistfuls of Blaze’s copious mane. “I’m so high up.”
“How’s it feel?” Victor asked, grinning.
“Terrifying. I can’t imagine doing this for a rodeo.”
Victor reached over and slipped an arm around Blitz’s head, twisting him slightly so that he moved away from the stall wall.
Sebastian let out a little yelp and clamped down with his legs, as if Blitz had done more than a simple turn in a circle around a 10x10 stall.
Once Blitz came to a stop, Sebastian let out a large gulp of air, and his shoulders dropped from around his ears. Victor had to laugh.
“Don’t make fun of me!” Sebastian pleaded. “I can’t help that I’m a scared little baby.” Sebastian leaned forward and patted Blitz firmly on the neck. “You’re such a big sweetie. Can you take a picture, Victor?”
Victor took the phone that Sebastian handed him and took a few pictures of him smiling atop of Blitz. Just as Victor handed his phone back, there was a knock on the metal part of the stall, and Victor twisted around to see who it was. Johnny and Taylor, because of course.
“What’s goin’ on?” Johnny asked, eyeing Sebastian.
“Just teaching my date how to rope a steer,” Victor replied coolly. “How’d you like the rodeo?”
“Uncle Johnny’s better than all those guys,” Taylor volunteered with an assured nod. “Aren’t you?” she asked, looking back at her uncle.
“Yeah,” Johnny muttered, still giving Sebastian the stink eye.
“Sebastian, this is my friend Johnny and my student Taylor. This is my date, Sebastian.”
“Sebastian is a boy’s name,” Taylor said, wrinkling her nose.
“Taylor, why don’t you wait for me down by the exit over there? We’ll leave in five minutes,” Johnny said.
“But I want to—”
“I ain’t gonna ask again.”
With a pout, Taylor stomped miserably away from the stall.
“Something up?” Victor asked darkly, his tone daring Johnny to talk shit.
“Nah, just makin’ sure all’s good here.” Johnny knocked his knuckles against a stall bar like a twitch. “You enjoy the rodeo, Sebastian?”
“Sure, it was fun. New experience for me.” Maybe he was being nice, or maybe he didn’t feel the tension between Victor and Johnny. “You train horses, too?”
“I used to ride the broncs.”
“You used to ride rodeo?” Sebastian looked legitimately impressed. “Wow, you’re crazy.”
Johnny’s pissy look lightened as he fought back a smile. “You could say that.”
“So, uh, Victor, how do I get down?”
“Just swing your leg over and slide down. Yeah, like—nope, other leg. It’s like—” Victor reached up to help Sebastian figure out what to do with his legs on the way down, and he still nearly ended up on his ass.
He grabbed onto Victor to keep from toppling over, and Victor grasped both of his elbows to keep him upright.
For a second, they were standing only a few inches apart with their arms entwined.
The moment didn’t last when Johnny cleared his throat.
“Guess I need to work on the dismount,” Sebastian said with a forced smile.
“You from these parts?” Johnny asked, lip slightly curled with disdain.
“Oh, no no. I’m from New York City originally. This is the closest I’ve been to a horse in my life. But I can see why you like it. He’s very cuddly.” Sebastian reached out to pet Blitz’s head.
“You need something, Johnny?” Victor asked, wondering why the hell Johnny was hanging around.
“Nah. Just makin’ sure all’s well here.”
“We’re just goofing around. You should probably head out with Taylor. Where are you staying anyway?”
“The Marriott across the street.”
Victor raised his eyebrows. “That’s where I’m at.”
“You heading back now?”
“I have to make sure Sebastian gets home.”
Johnny opened his mouth, reconsidered it, and nodded. Then he walked off, leaving Victor and Sebastian in the silence of his absence.
“Cute friend,” Sebastian said, which made Victor snort.
“He’s in a weird mood today.” Victor opened the stall door and waved Sebastian through. “Do you know how you’re getting home?”
“I took the bus here. Generally I’m a big fan of public transportation but the buses in this state suck ass.”
“Want me to drive you home?”
Sebastian pouted and gave him puppy eyes. “Would you? That’s so sweet. I’d love that.”