30. Drag Show Night
Chapter thirty
Drag Show Night
Sawyer
I could not wait for Hector to meet my boyfriend. Thinking that, I realized we hadn’t actually discussed being exclusive between dinner and the night of passion. I hadn’t stayed after because of the dog, even though waking up next to Neil almost would have been worth putting up with her.
I sent Neil a text message, then spent the rest of the afternoon obsessively checking my phone for a reply. Finally, after an hour, Neil got back to me with just a heart emoji. Success! I had a boyfriend. The fact he still had a dog that I was scared to be in the room with? Well, that was a minor hurdle to overcome.
We met downtown since Neil wanted to go home to drop Bubblegum off after work. We’d just been to Books & Bites the night before, so today, I took him to my favorite boardwalk food cart.
Neil sauntered up a few minutes after I arrived. He looked great, wearing the same clothing I assumed he’d worn to work, a button-up and slacks, but he’d undone the top few buttons and rolled up the sleeves, making them look much more casual.
“The tacos at this place are great,” I told him, holding up a fist for him to bump. “But don’t order the empanadas.”
“I don’t know what an empanada is, but okay,” Neil said, giving my fist the side eye.
“Here, you bump it with yours,” I said, giving Neil an encouraging nod as he hesitantly raised a fist. “And you’ve never had an empanada?”
Neil gave a shake of his head, blushing bright red.
“We’ll have to fix that.” I glanced at the cart. “But not here.”
I pulled Neil close for a kiss.
We settled into an awkward silence, Neil biting his lip. The sunlight sparkled on his dark hair. We ordered and then ate sitting side by side on a bench looking out over the water. It was all very romantic.
“So that text you sent earlier?” Neil said but said it like a question.
“The one you replied with a heart emoji?” I leaned closer. “I assumed that was a yes,” I said in my best sexy tone.
“It was. But who asks someone to be their boyfriend over text?” Laughing, he bumped my shoulder with his. “I guess I should be glad it wasn’t in emojis.”
I laughed along with him, glad he didn’t know that my original text had been in emoji. Glad I came to my senses and rewrote it. “Haha, yeah. A proper guy deserves a proper ask.”
“Not very romantic,” Neil muttered, but I noticed he was still smiling.
He wanted romance? “Romance isn’t really my thing, but I’ll try.” I slid off the bench and dropped down to one knee to face him. “My dearest Neil, will you go steady with me?”
Neil laughed and threw a fry at me. It bounced off my forehead. Who orders fries from a taco cart? But I loved him anyway. “Kneeling is for proposals, silly.”
“Told you it’s not really my thing.” I got up, brushed sand from my legs, grabbed my trash, and headed for the garbage.
“Ready to meet Hector?” I called over my shoulder.
“I think you do alright,” Neil said under his breath as he got up.
I looped my arm through Neil’s and strolled down the boardwalk with him. Another couple passed us by, walking a big, sleek black dog. I cringed against Neil, grateful that he was between me and the beast, and then immediately hit by a wave of guilt for using him as a human shield.
Neil squeezed my arm. “You did great.”
The doors to the club hadn’t opened yet, and a line of people had formed along the sidewalk. We found Hector and Leo near the end. They stopped their conversation as we strolled up.
Neil already knew Leon, but I introduced him to Hector. Neil greeted Hector warmly. “Is this a double date?” Neil asked with a laugh.
“Man, you know I just moved here. Not all of us move as fast as you,” Leon said with a laugh. Though, I noticed he cast a speculative look at Hector.
Neil turned a bright shade of red, and I put my arm around his shoulder, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Ignore him.”
We made small talk until the line started shuffling forward. I was glad my best friend and my boyfriend—my heart thrilled at thinking of Neil like that—were getting along so well.
We managed to snag one of the four-top tables near the stage. We had a little time until the show started.
“First round’s on me,” I offered. There was already a line at the bar. I waited impatiently, tapping my credit card on my leg as I kept an eye on the table. Neil laughed at something Hector said, and I crushed an irrational surge of jealousy.
I got back to the table with our drinks right before the house lights went down. Neil cheered and clapped along with the audience as music started up, and the MC came out on stage to introduce the first performer, who turned out to be Diego.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Syka Dellic!”
I leaned over Neil and yelled into his ear, “That’s my friend Diego.” She wore a skin-tight glittering bodysuit and had big flamenco fans tipped with feathers that she used to great effect.
Neil seemed to be having a great time. He had a big grin on his face and stayed riveted to the stage.
“Finally, let’s wrap up with our premier drag queen of Gaynor Beach, Envie Alotta!”
I hadn’t seen Envie perform before. I’d thought Diego’s outfit was over the top, but Envie was another level above that. She was great, sashaying all over the stage.
After the show, Neil gushed as the house music started back up. “Wow, that was amazing. I’ve never seen a drag show live before! That was even better than Drag Race !”
“I’m glad you had fun,” I said. I loved seeing the big smile on Neil’s face and the way his eyes lit up.