Heartsville 03 - Another Shot (J.H. Knight) (5 page)

Okay, their conversation was on par with talking about the weather, but Aaron didn’t care. It was good to hear Brad’s voice, his laugh. “You rebel.”

“That’s me,” Brad said softly. “I was actually gonna ask if you’re free tonight? Maybe for a bite to eat or…?”

Aaron liked the sound of the
or
, but he already had plans with his sister. “I wish I could, but I promised Mandy we’d do dinner tonight.” He took the phone away from his ear, hit the speaker button, pulled up his text screen, and sent Mandy a quick, desperate plea.
Mind if Brad joins us tonight?
He knew what her answer would be, but he thought it would be rude not to at least check first.

“Maybe tomorrow,” Brad said.

Aaron was staring at his phone, and before Brad even finished his sentence, Mandy’s emphatic text sprang up.
OF COURSE HE CAN.

He laughed and took the phone off speaker again. “You could join us?” It was supposed to sound like a suggestion, but it was more of a question.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude on family time,” Brad said, sounding genuine.

“I could show you a screen cap of the text she just sent me. She’d love for you to come along.”

Brad’s voice sounded like a smile. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I’ll be free here about eight,” Aaron said, feeling like an idiot for being so excited. “We’re heading to the little pizza place, Slice. You know it?”

“Haven’t been in yet, but I’ve seen it, yeah.”

“See you then.”

“Sounds good,” Brad said before ending the call.

Aaron’s day was definitely going well.

Mandy came outside through the kitchen—a strict no-no, so she must have bribed Simon. Or pushed past him. “You are
so
smitten,” she said, catching Aaron off guard.

“It’s too early to be smitten. I’m… smitten-
lite
, at most.”

She stared at him a beat and then rolled her eyes. “Let’s get out of here so you can change your clothes before dinner.”

“I have two more hours before I can take off and my clothes are fine.”

“Your clothes were fine for dinner out with me, but now—”

Aaron narrowed his eyes and said, “They’re still fine.” To prove his point, he turned around. “See? My ass looks great in these jeans.”

“Yeah, but you’ll be sitting on it for most of the night.”

True enough. But still. “I gotta get back to work. You go… read or something.”

****

Aaron left Simon and Clara to close the shop so he and Mandy would have time to walk down the block and meet Brad.

They found him seated in a cozy booth in the back with a pitcher of beer on the table. “There’s usually a crowd here when I drive by,” Brad said as Mandy and Aaron slid into the booth across from him. “I thought I should get here a little early, but, uh….”

There were only about four other tables occupied. “Wednesday night in Heartsville isn’t exactly booming with activity,” Aaron said with a laugh as he passed Mandy a menu. He really liked the way Brad’s eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled.

“I already know what I want,” Mandy said.

“Pizza?” Brad asked, arching a brow.

“Calzone, actually.” She stuck her tongue out at him, and they both laughed. Good to know they already got along well.

Aaron gave her a nudge and a smile before turning his attention back to Brad. “Mandy tells me you two met in her book club.”

Brad huffed a laugh and actually blushed.

Mandy leaned close to Aaron and said, “He only lasted two weeks.”

“Not much of a reader?” Aaron asked, wondering how he and Mandy were still friends if that was the case.

“I
read
,” Brad said, laughing again. “But I like to
enjoy
the books I read.” He took a sip from his beer as Aaron poured himself a mug. “I joined because I thought it would be a nice, laid-back way to meet people. I thought they would do, I don’t know, fantasy novels or some classic gay lit or… whatever.”

Mandy looked up, as if asking for strength to withstand the stupid people, but she didn’t comment.

“What were they reading when you joined?”

“
Madame Bovary
,” Brad said with a cringe, as if he were still traumatized. “I wanted to kill myself by the end. When they announced
The Great Gatsby
was next, I was down for the count.”

Aaron couldn’t blame him. He’d read both and still couldn’t understand the appeal.

Mandy said, “You just came in on a bad month. We had just finished Gay Lit month.”

“What was last month? Books that require Prozac?” Brad asked, laughing when Mandy glared.

“We were trying to see if we liked the classics better now that we weren’t being forced to read them.”

“Did you?” Aaron asked, curious.

“In some ways, yes.” Mandy sat a little straighter in her seat.

“That’s code for
no
,” he told Brad.

Brad laughed softly and then said, “Well, anyway. She insisted we keep in touch after I backed out of the book club.”

Aaron eyed his sister, who tried to look innocent. They both knew why she would insist on keeping in touch. Mandy didn’t bother with people very often. He shook his head but didn’t say anything.

****

Brad offered to give Aaron and Mandy a ride, but they both declined. Mandy was parked a few blocks away, and everyone had early starts the following day. Aaron thought it would be better to avoid temptation when it came to having Brad up for a nightcap. After a quick kiss for Brad, he walked Mandy to her car.

“You guys are so cute together.”

Aaron secretly agreed, but he didn’t comment.

“He likes all your dorky TV shows, same music, and he’s even neutral about the whole kid thing. Just like you.”

“Yeah, and thanks for getting that one out of him. Your subtlety is… nonexistent.”

Mandy looped her arm through Aaron’s. “Got the job done, though, didn’t I?”

“Yes, and you sounded like a reporter for the
Enquirer
on speed.”

“It was getting late.”

Aaron leaned in and kissed the top of Mandy’s head. Her intentions were good, even if her execution was slightly off. “It’s a good thing you two had already met. Otherwise he would’ve thought you were vetting him for
you
.”

“Well, I am vetting him for me, in a way. I want a brother-in-law, but he has to be one I like.”

“Oh God, okay,
Mom
.”

Mandy was in a good mood, apparently, because all Aaron got for his tease was a nudge with her elbow when they got to her car. She gave him a quick hug before ducking into her lime-green VW Bug.

Aaron walked the rest of his way home in peace, enjoying the cool air, the promise of more rain, and a kind of anticipation—
hope
, even—he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Chapter Six

Friday. Finally. It had only been a couple of days since the little impromptu dinner with Brad and Mandy, but it felt longer to Aaron. He and Brad had sent more than a few texts and spoken on the phone the night before, but Aaron was eager to see him in person again.

They’d decided Brad would pick him up at work—which turned out to be a terrible mistake when Clara and Simon stood behind the counter making kissy faces at them. They managed to get most of the customers in on it as well. Someone even started singing “I Think I Love You” at one point. By the time Aaron pulled Brad out the door, he was ready to go on a firing rampage in the morning.

“It’s like a weird little family in there,” Brad said as they walked to his truck.

“Emphasis on the weird,” Aaron added with a laugh. “But that goes for my real family, now that I think about it.”

Brad got the door for him before coming around to the driver’s side. “I think it’s kinda nice. My family… well, Shawna is the only one I have anything to do with.”

Aaron looked at Brad as they put on their seat belts. He wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he went with the obvious. “That sucks.”

“Basically, yeah,” Brad said on a breathy laugh as he pulled out into traffic. “Truth be told, though, I’d rather have one person who accepts me as I am than ten people who only accept bits and pieces of me.”

Aaron felt the same way, really. Who had time for anyone who wasn’t willing to take all of you? “Everything in life boils down to quality, not quantity, right?”

At the stoplight heading out of town, Brad looked at Aaron with a bright grin on his face. “Exactly.”

****

The Fall Festival was in full swing by the time they got to Brookside. Halloween was still a couple of weeks away, but that didn’t stop the kids from running around in costumes already. There were fortune-tellers, carnival games, a giant roller coaster that was only operational twice a year—now, and again in the summer—and of course, the Ferris wheel.

Brad and Aaron did a turn on the roller coaster, but Aaron barely managed to hold down his lunch. His knees felt like rubber when he got off. “Okay, never again,” he said, laughing as Brad tried to steady him.

“If you hate roller coasters, why’d you suggest we go on it?” Brad asked as they stumbled away from the ride.

“I haven’t been on one since I was a kid. I must’ve blocked it out.” It wasn’t the ups and downs so much as how rickety the old thing felt, like it could fly apart and derail on the next turn, but Aaron didn’t bother to point that out. They’d survived, and that was good enough for him.

Brad glanced at his phone, apparently checking the time. “It’s almost time for the pumpkin carving. You think you’re up for it?”

“Is it on a spinning platform? Will I be suspended in the air?”

With a bark of laughter, Brad said, “No, I think you get to keep your feet on the ground for that one.”

“Then sure, I’m up for it.”

Contestants—who paid a ten-dollar fee to enter, all proceeds going to a local pediatric hospital—were judged in three different categories: speed, design, and execution. Brad’s looked pretty good compared to Aaron’s, but that wasn’t saying much. After an hour, their garbage bag ponchos were covered in pumpkin guts and they were laughing so hard they were a serious risk to themselves with those tiny little saws. Neither of them won, but they had fun trying.

“You’re pretty bad at carving pumpkins,” Brad teased as he picked a pumpkin seed from Aaron’s hair.

“You weren’t much better,” Aaron said, laughing at himself and Brad at the same time. “And you’ve been practicing all week.”

“Maybe I just don’t do well in speed carving?”

“Tell yourself whatever makes you feel better.” Aaron nudged him as they walked toward the vast array of food booths, both of them grinning.

They decided on Chicago-style gyros for dinner, and they split some Greek fries.

“I’ve never been,” Aaron said between bites, “but I’m pretty sure this is fake Greek food.”

Brad nodded in agreement as he got a forkful of feta-covered fries. “You’re probably right, but I can’t care.”

Their eyes locked across the table, and they both smiled at each other. Aaron suddenly wished he’d suggested something closer to home. If they’d been in Heartsville, he probably would’ve leaned across the small picnic table and kissed Brad right there. But he wasn’t up for any bullshit from the Brookside locals—who, he acknowledged, might or might not have been fine with two men kissing in the middle of their fairgrounds—so he settled for pressing his knee against Brad’s under the table.

As they finished their dinner, Aaron said, “If we’re gonna get the Ferris wheel in before they shut down for the night, we should probably hurry.”

Brad collected their trash and tossed it in the can near their table. “I believe we had a deal about that ride,” he said as he stood up and reached out to Aaron.

Okay, he wasn’t willing to risk a few kisses in public, but Aaron happily took Brad’s hand and let him lead the way.

The line wasn’t long, thankfully. But it was one of those ancient two-seater Ferris wheels with—Aaron could swear—visible rust around the bolts. He didn’t back out, but it was a close call.

As they squeezed into their seat, Brad said, “It’s probably a lot sturdier than it looks.”

Apparently Brad could read him fairly well.

“It’s not that it doesn’t look sturdy. I mean, I’ve never heard of a Ferris wheel death at the fairgrounds, but, uh….”

“You can’t help hearing the words ‘first time for everything’ over and over in your head?” Brad said the words with an obvious tease in his voice, but he slid his arm around Aaron’s shoulder as the ride jerked into motion, rocking their seat on its way around.