Page 20

Chapter Twenty

Ryan

My jaw dropped.

The third floor at Passions was like the United Nations of Gay.

It was a huge open room with a domed ceiling and two bars on either side of the room. The walls were a graffiti blast of rainbows and gay iconography. A mural of famous divas (Dolly Parton, Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, Miley Cyrus) winked and smiled at us behind a large stage that was lit by two bright spotlights. There was a dance floor where people ground up on each other. Three bouncing beach balls were being tossed around.

“Damn,” I said, my wide eyes roaming across the room.

A few fake palm trees stood throughout the room, strung through with fairy lights. A trio of handsome guys made out under one of them. Their hands disappeared into each other’s shorts. As if they were trying to play that game where you lock hands, twist together, and untangle without breaking touch.

Except this was being played with hard dicks .

“Like it?” Jay asked. “I’d come here a few times when I visited my mom. They used to have eighteen-and-up nights. I basically found myself here.”

“I’m sure you did,” I said, shaking my hips to the catchy song that blared through the speakers. Just as I was about to ask Jay to dance with me, the song cut out, and someone over a mic announced the show was about to begin.

“Show?” I asked Jay.

“The drag show,” he said, looking like a kid waking up on Christmas morning. He squeezed my hand and tugged me into the throng of people that gathered around the front of the stage. “You like drag, right?”

I nodded enthusiastically. “I haven’t been to many shows, but the ones I have been to were always a blast.” I spoke loudly so I could be heard over the music that started to play again.

“Here. You’ll need these.” He pulled out a wad of dollar bills from his pocket. “Always tip the queens.”

“You came prepared.”

He winked at me. God, he was so fucking cute. His hazel eyes glowed under the multicolored lights, his lips catching a sheen. He must have just put on ChapStick. “I always come prepared.”

“Maybe you can come prepared on me later?”

Jay laughed at that and playfully slapped my chest. “Your dad jokes are something else.” His eyes still had that glittery glow in them. “And I love them.”

“I think you meant Daddy jokes,” I say with a wink. “And good, because I have loads… so get ready to swallow.”

He rolled his head back and laughed again. “You know I’ll take every last drop. Of your joke, of course. ”

“Of course,” I said, smiling as I pushed in to kiss him.

I was right.

His lips tasted like vanilla and strawberry.

Fucking hell, he’s perfect.

The way we could joke around about things so easily. That shit was hard to find. This complete sense of trust I felt for him. Hell, even taking out the ‘Daddy’ card in bed. I’d never done it before, but I had always fantasized about it. I didn’t want to be judged or anything if I ever hooked up with someone, said it, and they became instantly turned off.

But with Jay, I felt so damn comfortable with him that I wouldn’t have even cared if he was turned off. I knew we would have both laughed it off and continued on with our business of sucking each other’s dicks.

He didn’t get turned off though.

And that turned me on even more.

I pressed myself against him, holding the back of his neck and letting the kiss carry us up through the clouds. He gave a little moan that set my entire body on fire. We were out in public, surrounded by people, and we were kissing .

This shit was next level. I thought I must have grown wings on my ankles and started flying because the floor was no longer underneath me. We floated through the sky while an Ariana Grande song vibrated through the speakers and into the clouds.

I’d never felt this free. This invigorated . Even placing first in rowing didn’t give me this kind of rush. I wasn’t big on smoking weed, but I figured this had to be what being high felt like. Just all loose-limbed and floaty and happy .

The lights started to dim, but I didn’t want to stop kissing him. If it wasn’t insanely disrespectful to the performing drag queens, I would have continued kissing him for the entire show.

Kissing him was like seeing daylight after having your eyes closed for far too long.

Somehow, I managed to pry myself off him as the first queen took to the stage. I reached for Jay’s hand, and we watched the opening lip sync. The queen—named Maliboob Barbara—came out wearing a huge chest plate and a sparkly pink dress, her long blond hair falling down to her ass in silky waves. At one point in the song, she spun around and pulled her hair over her shoulders, revealing two large cutouts in the pink dress, her peachy ass sparkling the same as her face was.

She turned back around and dropped into a split right on beat to the song. The crowd went wild, cheers and clapping and dollar bills raining down onto the stage. She soaked it all up, effortlessly getting back onto her feet and giving a wave as her song came to an end. One of the barbacks came out from behind the bar with a large red bucket and started to collect all the tip money.

“She was so fucking good,” Jay said before the second queen came to the stage.

“For real. How did she do that split? It was so smooth.”

“Lots of stretching, probably. I think I can do the same thing.”

I arched a brow and licked my bottom lip. “I’m going to need some proof of this special ability.”

“Maybe I can try it later tonight,” Jay said, head cocked and those bright hazel puppy eyes looking so fucking devilish.

“You’re already making me hard.”

“Good,” he said .

The crowd was packed around us, everyone chatting with their own group of friends or making out with their dates (or random hookups).

No one paid any attention to us, so no one saw Jay reach down and rub my stiffening dick.

My toes curled inside my sneakers.

“Naughty boy,” I growled into his ear.

He smiled. I made myself throb against his palm. His smirk turned to a smoldering fire.

I licked my lips. “Want to put the show on hold? Let’s go fuck like rabbits in a bathroom stall.”

“As hot as that sounds… I do kinda want to watch the show with you.”

I grinned wide. Kissed him, drinking in his taste. “Honestly, that does sound perfect. I’m having way too much fun being out with you. I figure blowing my load all over your ass can wait.”

“Yeah, but don’t wait too long.” He kissed me back, his lips curled into a smile. My hands went to his cheeks, holding him.

This. This was paradise.

We watched the queens perform, all of them making the crowd go equally as wild. We stayed embracing the entire time. Sometimes switching around so that we both got to experience each other’s boners.

The energy in the room was electric. The dance moves were impressive, the lip-synching was spotless, and the contagious feeling of freedom spread through the room.

When the show was over, Jay and I decided to drift to one of the bars surrounded by fake palm trees. The leaves were a mixture of pastel pink, baby blues, and whites. I ordered us another round of drinks, and we leaned against the bar, talking about the show. It felt so easy and effortless between us.

“Have you ever done drag?” I asked him.

“Twice. Once was obviously Halloween, the drag queen’s national holiday, and another was for a friend’s birthday.”

I smiled at that. I could already see Jay stealing the show. “What was your drag name?”

“Rosey Bush.” He flashed a wide smile and started cracking up. “I ended up having a reveal where I lifted up my skirt and showed a tiny little rosebush right above my tuck.”

That had me breaking down. I could already picture it. And then another question popped into my head. “Whoa, wait, how does that work? Because I’ve seen you naked. That looks very hard to hide.”

“And you better hope it doesn’t get hard when you’re trying to hide it.”

More laughter. I had an arm around Jay’s back, resting on the bar. His hip pushed against mine, his body fitting so perfectly. “It’s actually not that difficult,” he said. “You just kinda pop your balls back into your body, pull your dick back toward your butt, grab the tape, and bam. You’re tucked.”

I crossed my legs and winced. “That sounds like it’s painful.”

“Not really. Taking off the tape is probably the most painful part.”

“Damn,” he said. “I still think I’ll leave it to the professionals.”

“Speaking of,” Jay said, turning his attention to the big-chested blond bombshell who strutted toward the bar. “ Maliboob! You are literally amazing,” he said, capturing Maliboob’s attention. “Such a great show.”

She flipped a wave of blond hair over her shoulder and winked at Jay. “Oh, sweetie, thank you.”

“Can we buy you a drink?” I offered. Seeing her up close and off the stage made her seem even more queen-like. Her hair was big, her makeup was flawless, and her dress seemed tailored to the nines. Her neck dripped in silver necklaces that played with the shiny material of her pink dress.

She was an actual star.

“Oh, of course you can. You can buy me whatever you want. Here, have my Amazon wishlist. What’s your email?” She waved a hand in the air, her long, bright pink fingernails catching the light. “Forget it, I’ll just find you on Grindr.” We all started laughing, the ice completely broken between the two of us.

“Hold on, are you two cuties together?” She pointed between us.

My heart skipped a beat. I tensed for a quick moment. I half expected Jay to hide what we really were, but I had nothing to fear.

“We are,” he said proudly, his hand finding mine.

“Of course you are,” Maliboob said with a roll of her sky-blue eyes. “The hot ones always get with the hot ones. Are y’all from around here?”

“We go to FU,” I said.

Maliboob’s eyes widened. “FU? There’s some good trade on that campus. Do y’all know a Derrick Hughes?”

I racked my brain, the name sounding familiar but no one coming to mind. Jay shook his head. “Nope,” he answered .

“Ah well. He was the best lay of my life. I couldn’t perform for a week from how badly he broke my back.”

More laughter floated between us. Jay’s thumb traced soft circles against my skin.

This was a very different Jay to the one I’d met that night at the frat party. I liked them both, but I had to admit that this version of Jay was top-tier. I’d never felt this amount of butterflies floating around in my chest before. I never wanted it to end.

Which made telling Jay about my dad’s involvement in the Beacon Bay project all the more terrifying.

Fuck .