12. Chapter 12
Onyx
W ith my hat lowered and my sunglasses in place, I found my way around the market to the food area. Food Alley. The accessories I wore weren’t merely to be fashionable but were chosen to help disguise me as well. When Theo and I had been out on the town in the mountains, it was different. Even if I had been spotted and recognized, I doubted it would turn into a big thing, unless my location was shared.
While we weren’t in a huge city, there were already more people milling about with just the vendors than the entirety of folks we ran into in the mountains. I liked people. I was generally a people person, but my perspective changed when I was on tour. Fans were important to me, and I loved talking with them, but it was different when there was a large group of them, and it became more of a mob.
I kept my head down, but still found myself looking around. There was so much to see. I couldn’t shop yet because the market wasn’t officially open to the public yet, and well, I had all day, so there was no need to get things now and have to hold on to them for hours. Of course, it didn’t stop me from gawking as I headed toward the food.
When I hit the end of Maker’s Mall and turned onto Food Alley, a loud laugh popped out of me when I saw one of the food trucks present. I bee-lined straight for it, bypassing the very tempting food booths. Pies, jerkies, breads, cookies, jams, and more. Yup, I would definitely be returning to investigate them.
There was one person in line ahead of me and once they were gone, I stepped up to the Love Bites truck with a smile on my face. I didn’t remember his name, but I recognized the man with medium length bleach blond hair and dark roots held back by a bandana.
“Good morning, welcome to Love Bites. What can we get started for you?”
Pushing up onto my tiptoes, I peeked into the truck to see a tall, lean man wearing a black pill-box chef hat. “Hi, is that Jonah?”
The man at the window squinted and gave a nod. “Yeah, sure is. Who’s asking? Oh, wait... I think we met last year, right?”
I removed my sunglasses, so my face was easier to see. “Yes, at Pride. I’m so sorry, I forgot your name.”
He shrugged it off. “No big deal, it’s Van, by the way.” He turned his head and called out, “Hey, Sweets, we have a visitor.”
“Be right there.” Jonah got a sandwich out of the sandwich press, wrapped it in paper, and passed it through the other window to the waiting customer, before sidling up next to Van. Their height difference was really cute, and they clearly had chemistry, even from the way they stood together. He looked out and scanned over my face, recognition dawning.
“Oh! Hey!” He mouthed my name silently. Onyx?
I nodded. “You can use my name. I don’t have another.”
He bobbed his head. “Cool. Let me come out and we can chat for a minute. Can you cover me, Van?”
The shorter man scoffed. “I think I can handle it. Seems to me I was the one running circles around you before we joined forces.”
Jonah smiled affectionately. “That’s only because you had hired muscle to keep my customers away.”
“Even if my lunk-head brothers hadn’t shown up, I still could have out-sold you.”
“Keep telling yourself that, love,” Jonah teased as he walked toward the back door of the truck.
I waved at Van through the window and moved to meet Jonah at the back of the truck. The two of them were so cute together.
With the door open, Jonah hung up his apron on a hook in the truck before stepping out of it and greeted me with a hug. “You know Crow, so I wasn’t sure if you were in a similar position of not wanting to draw attention to yourself when you’re not performing.”
Crow, or Ian, when he wasn’t in his stage persona, was the lead of Crow’s Nest, a queer indie rock-punk band. I’d gotten to spend some time with them when I opened for them at a local Pride event last year. It was my first big stage, especially opening for a huge name, and was the event that had given me a big boost in followers and led to my tour. I really admired Crow's Nest and looked up to them. They made it big, and I only hoped to achieve half of what they had. Besides, I had a platonic crush on Crow.
The man was gorgeous, and his makeup was on point, but it was more how completely affectionate and infatuated he was with his husband, Bodhi. When I met Bo at Pride with his Pets for Pride booth, he had trans colors painted across his chest highlighting, his top surgery scars. We shared a connection and had hit it off.
“I totally get that, but no, I didn’t have time to come up with an alter ego. It all sort of happened too fast. And this name was one I chose with intention anyway and it felt nice for it to be known, but I appreciate the consideration. You never had a different name either, right?”
Jonah shook his head. “No. I was hoping I could fly under the radar when I started my food truck, but the guys all insisted I should capitalize on my ‘ fame .’” He used finger quotes with the word, fame.
“I mean, it makes sense, especially trying to have a successful launch. Which totally worked out for you, right?”
He shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable. “I suppose it did.”
I forgot how low-key Jonah was compared to the rest of Crow’s Nest, especially compared to the rambunctious Crow. He wasn’t with the band when I met them, having retired from his music career to pursue his food one, but he had been hanging out with Ian and everyone during our event rehearsals.
“I didn’t expect to see you at something like this. I thought you two were catering for celebrities now.”
“We do have some bigger clientele, and it keeps us pretty busy, but we had the holiday weekend off.”
I chuckled. “You had the weekend off, so instead of enjoying it, you’re working?”
Jonah slid a glance toward the truck and, likely, the man inside it. “We are enjoying it. This is something we both love doing, and it’s like coming back to our roots. Planning a simple menu for individual orders is entirely different from planning a whole event with every detail planned out from start to finish. I mean, we love that, too, but this is relaxing for us. What brings you here? I thought you were based in L.A.”
“I am, typically. But I’ve been on a bit of a break myself. I needed to get away after the tour ended.”
Jonah nodded. “I understand that. Being on the road is... a challenge.”
“No kidding. Anyway, I’ve been staying in a cabin in the mountains for a break and to focus on writing for a bit.”
Jonah looked around and arched his brows. “Um, you know this isn’t the mountains, right?”
I laughed and nudged his arm playfully. “Of course. No, I’ve been staying with... someone, and he’s a vendor here, so I came with him to check it out.”
“It’s a great event. We came a while back to check out the food scene here and loved it. By the way, I highly recommend the meat guy over there. His name is Dash; he does veggie stuff, too. We actually contracted him for some of his specialty bacon we've used at a few different catering events. It’s nice to shop local when we can.”
“Thanks for the tip. I’ll take a look. Well, it was great seeing you. If you talk to Crow or the others, let them know I would definitely be interested in connecting again, but just FYI, I’m on a self-imposed social media ban for the rest of the month, so if I don’t answer, that’s why.”
“I’ll pass it along, for sure. The guys were really impressed with you, and we’ve all been cheering you on. It's been great seeing your talent get recognized.” Jonah nodded toward the truck. “Whatever you want for you and your someone is on us.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’m happy to pay.”
“Nope, your money is no good here. I’m adding you to the friends and family discount.”
“If you insist. Thank you.” I gave him a hug, and he climbed back into the truck. As much as I’d been hoping to fly under the radar here, I was thrilled to have seen a familiar face. I'd been meaning to reach out to Ian-Crow to catch up and compare tour stories, but time got away from me.
As I returned to Theo’s booth few minutes later, I had two loaded trays of food that smelled amazing. What I found there took me by complete surprise. I nearly dropped the food from shock when he fired up a big chainsaw behind the plastic shield.
“Holy shit!” I whispered in awe.
Theo wore a long-sleeved flannel, gloves, ear protection, and safety goggles, but I was pretty sure he was the hottest thing I’d ever seen. Wielding a chainsaw was typically up there on my horror movie ‘ nope list ,’ right along with axe murderers, but somehow, he made it look sexy as fuck.
He brought the chainsaw down and lopped off a corner of the stump in front of him. Repeating the step in a few more places, he stood back and eyed the piece of wood before nodding in approval. When he looked over his shoulder and saw me, a smile stretched across his face. And on his cheek, I could clearly see the lipstick I’d left behind. I had planned to tell him about it or wipe it off myself, but he looked so good with it, I couldn’t do it.
And now. This man holding a fucking chainsaw was wearing my lip print on his cheek, making him even hotter and more adorable. He was Theodorable.
He set the big tool down, removed his gloves, and wiped his hands on a cloth. Theo moved the partition enough to give him room to step out of the hexagon and walked toward me.
“Perfect. I should probably eat before I really get into it. Once I get going, I have a hard time stopping until the piece is done. I was just cleaning it up a bit before I use my dime-tip saw to start making more precise cuts.”
“A chainsaw? A fucking chainsaw?” It was all I could manage to say.
Theo slowed his steps and looked uncertain. “Uh, yeah. Live carvings, like I said. Is that... okay?”
“Shit! Theo, yes, it’s okay. Just unexpected, and incredibly hot. You’re telling me I’m going to have to sit here and pretend not to be completely turned on while you do that?”
His expression changed to one of interest as heat burned in his eyes. “I suppose so.”
“Damn! That’s cruel, so very cruel.”
“Sorry?” He shrugged, looking not sorry at all.
Shaking my head, I couldn’t help but laugh. I loved how much more comfortable Theo was getting with me. Little teases, quick witty remarks, it wasn’t a lot, but it was way more than where we were a week ago.
I handed him a tray. “I hope you’re hungry. It turns out I know the people running one of the food trucks, and they loaded us up.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! One of the guys was in a band I performed with. I don’t think that’s secret information. It was pretty well known when he left the band to open his food truck.”
“Wow. Small world. This looks great, thank you.” Theo popped a golden hushpuppy into his mouth and let out a moan of satisfaction. As if he wasn’t hot enough already, making sounds like that wasn’t going to help.
“Speaking of looking good... I should probably tell you that you have some lipstick on your cheek. I probably should have told you in the truck, but you looked too cute. You should know, though, so you don’t go around all day unaware.”
Theo sucked on his teeth and color rose in his cheeks. “I’m aware.”
His soft answer surprised me. “Oh? Did you want me to clean it off for you?”
“No. I think I’ll keep it.”
My surprise turned to intrigue. He knew it was there and didn’t want to change it. Something about that made my heart flutter. Thinking about everyone seeing him marked by me was thrilling. “Really?”
Theo gave me that sexy crooked smile of his. “I like it. It, uh, feels like a charm or something.”
I leaned over and kissed him right on the lips this time, wishing it could be more, but settling for a quick kiss, knowing I would have him alone later. “ Theodorable ,” I whispered.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt,” a voice shouted from behind us.
I took a step away from Theo to give him some space. A person with shaggy, loose curls, a septum ring, and a fluffy, blue fur jacket walked up. “Hi, so sorry about that. I was hoping to catch you before I’m stuck at my booth all day.”
Theo shook his outstretched hand, and I could see him go back into the shell. “It’s all right. Uh, what did you need?”
“I’m Jasper. We met a while back when I was first scoping out the place. Derek is my marketing consultant and his boyfriend, Marley, was showing me around.”
Theo nodded as recognition filled his eyes. “Right. I remember.”
Jasper’s eyes slid to me, and I gave him a smile. “Hi, I’m Onyx, they-them. I love your look.”
“Thanks! I saw this jacket in a thrift store and it just called to me, ya know?”
“I totally get it.” I hadn’t been in a thrift store in a while, but it was my favorite place when I was figuring out my style.
Jasper turned his attention back to Theo. “I don’t know if you remember, but I’m a glass-blower. When I first heard about the market, I asked about demos, and they said you were the only one so far who’s done live demonstrations. I missed it the last time you did it, but I’ve been dying to check out your set-up. This is wicked cool. I love what you did with the space. Safe, but usable. It’s exactly what I needed to see.”
“So... you’re wanting to blow glass at Heartcraft?” Theo asked, looking like he was trying hard to not cut off the conversation and duck behind his shield. Bless him .
Jasper popped his lips. “Well, I’m trying to see if it’s doable. You know fire is a whole liability thing, but you managed chainsaws, which are pretty extreme, so maybe I could work something out. Smaller scale items, perhaps. Maybe not glass-blowing necessarily, but at least melting glass and creating figurines. It doesn’t have the same wow factor, but can be done with a torch, which would be much easier than a giant furnace.”
The way Theo took the tiniest step away from Jasper might not have been noticeable to anyone but me. I bit my cheeks to keep from smiling.
“A furnace probably wouldn’t work,” Theo replied.
“Nah, but, hey, I’ve been trying to connect with local artists, which is what brought me here. I’d love to show you my shop, if you’re interested. I’m currently renting space from Gio. You know Gio, right?”
“No.”
Theo’s one-word answer made a laugh pop out of me, which I tried to cover by stuffing my mouth with food. This man was seriously lacking in people skills. Of course, it made me feel all that more triumphant for how he was with me.
“Oh, Gio, he’s the bee guy. At the end of Grower’s Row. He has honey and beeswax, all sorts of cool stuff. Anyway, he has a farm outside of town. It turns out it’s really hard to get insured within city limits when using an industrial furnace. But you should come by sometime. I know wood and glass are two totally different beasts, but I’d love to see what you think.”
“That sounds, uh...” Theo looked like a deer caught in headlights.
The poor guy, I couldn’t leave him hanging there, so I jumped in. “It sounds great. We’ll look at our schedule.”
“Sweet! I gotta head back to my booth, but it was great talking to you, both of you.”
“Sure. Same to you,” Theo managed to say.
As soon as Jasper walked away, I laughed and nudged Theo’s arm. “He was nice!”
“He was... a lot.”
I snorted. “How do you handle dealing with customers all day?”
“I don’t. If they want to buy something, they’ll tell me, and I’ll sell it to them.” Simple. Transactional. Very Theo.
“You are a very sweet man, Theodore, but you are a terrible salesperson.”
He shrugged. “I’m not a salesperson. I’m a carver and a carpenter. People either know they want to buy something or they don’t. I’m not going to change that.”
I tilted my head, conceding to his point. “Valid.”
Theo stared at me for a minute, his eyes lifted slightly to meet mine. I was wearing wedge-style sneakers, so they gave me extra height. He looked like he had something very serious to ask me. “Onyx?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you like flowers?”
A smile stretched my lips at the random, not-serious question. “I do.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.” I repeated with amusement. The quick exchange sent him into his head and I could practically hear the man thinking. For someone who didn’t talk all that much, he sure seemed to have a lot to say to himself.
After we finished our breakfast, Theo gave me a quick kiss and took his position behind the acrylic barrier, pulling out a second, smaller chainsaw, and started it up. The market was officially open, and people began trickling in. It didn’t take long for a crowd to gather around Theo, which wasn't surprising. He was truly remarkable.
The chainsaw might as well have been a paintbrush. Each stroke expertly placed as if the animals he carved into the wood were already there and he was simply uncovering them. When he started, I had no idea what it would turn into, but was fascinated by his quick movements as wood chips and sawdust flew within the walls he put up. It was like watching a snow globe come alive.
Once he got to a certain point, he turned the stump away from the crowd so we couldn't see what it was. After sanding it down with a grinder and wiping the statue with oil, he turned it back for everyone to see. A collective gasp sounded, and I was right there with everyone. The piece of wood had been transformed into an owl with intricate feathered details. It was stunning. Everyone erupted in applause.
In between each piece, Theo took a break and came out from behind his shield. He would begrudgingly accept praise from onlookers, but he usually sold whatever piece he finished. His interactions were as minimal as possible, and I could see that really was the hard part for him. The wood was putty in his hands. But then so was I. I grew fonder and fonder of him throughout the day, watching as he tried to navigate socialization, knowing how much of a struggle it was for him.
It was also a huge turn-on, watching him use his power tools and mad skills to create such lovely work. Talent was sexy as hell. His muscles bulging visibly against his flannel shirt sure didn't hurt either.
I could have spent my entire day as a part of his audience, but I stepped away a few times to check out the rest of the market. By the end of the day, I had a pile of bags, imagining where everything would fit in the second bedroom-turned closet. At this point, I really was going to need another suitcase or two to get everything home at the end of the month, though a few of my purchases were edible, so at least that was something.
By the end of the day, Theo sold every statue he brought or made during the day, making him a decent profit. It was really impressive, but also a lot of work, so I understood why he only did the live carvings a few times a year.
Theo took his beanie off and dragged his forearm across his head. “Do you mind hanging out while I go get the truck?”
“Of course.”
He stopped before walking away and gave me a quick kiss, just enough to make me want to lean into him, melt in his arms, and kiss him until my legs went weak. But alas, it would have to wait.
While I stood guard, a thin person wearing short-shorts and knee-high socks with a rainbow sweater was walking by and waved. “Are you married to the market, too?”
“Married? No, not yet. It’s my first time here.” Funny how many times the subject came up when I was with Theo. “But I take it you are?”
“Yup, literally.” They popped the p sound, looking quite proud. “Going on two months now. My husband—God, it doesn’t get old saying that—he has a booth in Food Alley with the jerky and sausages.”
“Oh, Dash! Yeah, I bought some stuff from him. And okay, hello tattoos!”
The person across from me grinned from ear to ear and stepped closer, holding out their hand. “Hi, I’m Evan, he-him. And yeah, I may be a little biased, but I’m certain I married the sexiest man alive.”
It wasn’t often people introduced themselves with their pronouns before I did, but it was always really refreshing when they did, making me feel instantly more comfortable. I shook his hand and smiled. It was cute how enamored Evan was with his husband. Dash was cute, but he didn’t compare to the ruggedness and vulnerability I’d seen in Theo, but he was clearly in the newlywed glow, so who was I to burst his bubble? “Onyx, they-them.”
“Shut up! Onyx?” Evan came closer to me before putting his hand over his mouth. “No way. You’re you ? You’re the Onyx?”
I took my glasses off and gave him a wink. “Yup. But I’m keeping it on the down-low if you don’t mind.”
“Yeah, sure. I totally get that, but holy shit! Oh my God, my bestie would totally freak out right now. Starla and I have been following you since Pride and have been to a couple of your California concerts. Okay, would it be like totally uncool to ask if we could get a pic?”
“I’d be happy to take a picture, but would appreciate it if you didn’t do a location tag.”
“Absolutely.” Evan set down his crocheted strawberry bag and came up to me. I took off my glasses, but left my hat in place, because... hat hair. I leaned into Evan as we stared into his phone and smiled.
“Oh my God, thank you so much! She is going to flip. In case you couldn’t tell, we’re huge fans. It’s great to see a trans person on stage, being your authentic self, so thank you. It really means a lot for so many to see someone like you.”
“Thank you for saying that; it’s really nice to hear. I promised to be who my younger self needed to see if I ever made it.” Growing up, there were so few nonbinary stars, and luckily things have changed, but representation was so important. Somewhere out there was another kid feeling like they were all alone and didn’t fit in anywhere, like I did. If I could be my full self and show that I could still do what I loved and was embraced for who I was, maybe it would give them hope.
“I love that. What are you doing here, by the way? This is the last place I would have ever expected to run into my favorite singer.”
I bit my lip and put my sunglasses back in place. “Well, I’m here with a friend... Theo.”
Evan’s brows arched. “Wait! Theo? The wood guy? How do you two know each other?”
I chuckled. “It’s... a long story.”
“Ok, wait. Hold all the way up. You said... not yet married to the market. What does that mean, exactly?” Evan bounced his brows suggestively.
“It means... I hope to come back to the market sometime, which is why I’d like to not let it get out that I was here.”
“Copy that, Mx. Onyx. My lips are sealed. Except, of course, I have to tell Starla, or she will unalive me.” Evan made the motion of zipping his lips.
“Of course,” I said with amusement.
“Well, I, for one, am rooting for you, and not selfishly just so I can see you again here.”
“Thanks, Evan.” I leaned in conspiratorially. “I’m rooting for us, too.”
Theo pulled up with his truck, and Evan picked up his bag from the ground. “It was so great to meet you and thank you for the photo. I gotta go help my husband.”
“Great to meet you, too.” I waved.
Theo hopped out of the truck, holding one arm behind his back, and watched as Evan walked away. “That was... Dash’s boyfriend, right?”
“Husband, actually. They got married a couple of months ago.”
“Huh, good for them,” Theo replied.
I laughed and patted his chest. “One day here, and I already know more about the other vendors than you do.”
Theo shrugged. “I pretty much only talk to Marley. Well, I don’t talk, I listen to Marley, but no one can turn him away; he’s too infectious. Aside from brief greetings and small talk with my neighbor, Collin, I don’t... mingle.”
I snorted. “No, I don’t see you as much of a mingler. It’s okay, though, I still like you.”
“And I... like you, too, Onyx. Thank you for being here today.” He pulled his arm from behind his back and in it was a bouquet of flowers. A beautiful mixture of red, black, and white.
I took the bouquet from him and smelled them, feeling all sorts of warm and fuzzy from the sweet gesture. “These are stunning, thank you!”
“I’m glad you like them.”
“I really do. These colors are perfect and they smell amazing.”
Theo’s crooked smile appeared. “I’m just going to load up, and we can head back home.”
Home . It sounded better and better every time.