Serpentine Walls (3 page)

“We’re going to do ‘Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone.’ Temptations. You know it, right?”

“Yeah.” He sounded hoarse even to himself and cleared his throat.
God, get it together
.

“Okay, you’ll take the main part and I’ll come in on the tenor lines and we’ll all harmonize behind you.”

“Okay,” Pete said, trying to sound nonchalant.
Main part? Oh, shut up. It’s fucking karaoke. How bad can it be?

Aidan leaned over to start the music and motioned Pete to come sing through the mic he was holding while Jay and Lee shared the second mic.

“Ready?” Aidan asked. He flipped the switch.

The intro music started and the four of them tensed in readiness, but the intro went on… and on… and on as Pete kept looking at the machine for the words to start appearing. Jay finally said, “Damn, when do we get to sing?” and they all laughed. Aidan feigned a yawn, which caused Pete to laugh harder and promptly miss the first line.

“Crap—’
the day we’ll always remember
,’” he sang, trying to keep a straight face and ignore Aidan, who was cracking up.

“Lame!” someone called out from the audience.

“Shut up!” Aidan yelled back while Pete kept going about the day his daddy died.

They managed to pull it together, and their harmonies got tighter by the time they were singing about Papa being a rolling stone. Aidan poured on the theatrics, and Pete had so much fun playing to him as they sang, imitating his poses and gestures, that he was surprised when he looked out and saw the crowd in the room clapping along and dancing—he’d almost forgotten about them.

When the music stopped, Aidan threw back his head, laughing, and then hugged Pete while around them people hooted and applauded. Pete had time to feel the heat of Aidan’s body as his face was pressed into his shoulder before Aidan broke away and the four of them did a group high five.

Angie ran up to them, beaming, with John and Cleo not far behind. “That was awesome! You guys should totally go on the road!”

“Right,” scoffed Pete, but he couldn’t help smiling at Angie’s enthusiasm.

“That was actually really good,” John said in his laid-back drawl.

“Don’t sound so surprised, jerk-face. You’re the one who pushed me up there.”

Aidan turned away from the people gathered around him to say to John, “And thank you for doing that! Pete’s a great singer.”

“Not compared to you,” Pete protested.

John raised his hands and bowed his head in false modesty. “Anytime. Greatness must be recognized—ow! Pete, no stepping on the toes.”

Lee and Jay had disappeared into the crowd by the time Matthew came over, clapping his hands. “Excellent rendition! You two were hilarious up there!”

“Totally,” agreed Cleo, which for her was high praise.

“Y’all deserve a drink after that,” Matthew said. “What can I get you?”

Kind of overwhelmed at all the accolades, Pete looked at Angie for his beer, and she opened her hands apologetically. “I put it down and then it disappeared.”

“Another Satan’s Pony,” he told Matthew. “Thanks.”

“That’s a great name,” Cleo said.

“It’s a microbrew from South Street Brewery.” Matthew lifted his eyebrows at Aidan. “Drink?”

“I don’t know. What should I have?”

Cleo raised her glass. “This brandy is delectable.”

“Mm, I like delectable. Okay, I’ll have that.”

“Shove over, darlings. The show must go on.” Parker, Matthew’s housemate, stood in front of them, adorned with a boa, holding hands with a woman of Amazonian proportions who towered over him in a green wig and bright-red strapless bustier, her long legs encased in black fishnet hose.

“The Queen song?” Pete asked.

Parker tilted his head to one side. “How very
Moulin Rouge
of you, dear heart, but no. It’s Lady Gaga or nothing.”

Pete was walking out of the den to look for Matthew and his microbrew when he heard Aidan’s voice in his ear.

“That was fun. Wanna go sit down somewhere and talk?”

Trying not to act as if his wildest fantasies were coming true, Pete nodded coolly. “Sure. Where to?”

“Their screen porch is really nice on a summer night. Let’s go out there.”

Pete followed Aidan through the living room, pretending not to notice Angie’s saucer eyes and John’s thumbs-up from where they were standing by the beaded curtain. In the dining room, Aidan signaled to Matthew, who was by the drinks table, and pointed in the direction they were headed. They passed through the kitchen, where a couple was making out against a counter, and into a walk-in pantry.

Pushing open a door on the far wall of the pantry, Aidan led them on to the dark and deserted screen porch. They felt their way over to a patio sofa and sank down on the cushions, which were worn but comfy.

A small breeze wafted through, carrying the smell of honeysuckle. But then Pete detected another scent, alluring and spicy, emanating from Aidan, who sat so close that they were almost touching, and he was struck anew that he was sitting on a screen porch, alone with Aidan Emery.

“This is great,” Pete said, just to have something to say.
God. Lame-ass
.

His nerves weren’t helped by the fact that he could barely see Aidan’s face, which was illuminated only by the light filtering in from the streetlamp on the sidewalk outside.

“It is” came Aidan’s voice. “I love summer nights—there’s something so sensual about them.”

Sensual
. Okay, Pete could do sensual. He sat in the dark and let himself sense: the warm night, the honeysuckle breeze, the loud chorus of crickets and cicadas, and the fireflies providing a subtle light show with their flashes of gold.

“Look at the fireflies,” Pete said, more relaxed now.

“Fireflies are one of my favorite things. I couldn’t believe when I visited the West Coast that they don’t have them.”

“Yeah.” Pete was about to say more when the overhead light came on, all but blinding him.

“Oh, sorry, guys.” It sounded like Matthew’s voice. “Would you rather keep the light off?” Matthew stood at the door, their drinks in his hands.

“Ouch, yeah, please.” Aidan put a hand over his eyes. Matthew flipped the switch, and they were back in welcome darkness. “We’re looking at the fireflies.”

“Love ’em.” Matthew walked over and held out their drinks. “Here you go. One Satan’s Pony and one brandy.”

“Thanks.” Pete accepted the beer and sat back with a happy sigh
.
He could hardly believe he was out here with the two best-looking guys at the party.

“No problem.” Matthew leaned against the edge of the patio table that faced the sofa. “I have to say, y’all win the prize for the best karaoke of the night. We all know about your ridiculous voice, Aidan, but where did
you
come from, Pete? It
is
Pete, right?”

“Right. Come from? I’m—um, I’m a third year, so I’ve been around.”

“He’s in U. Singers with me,” Aidan said. “Hey, what about you, Layton? You need to get up there with us the next time.” He told Pete, “Matthew has a great voice too.”

Matthew bowed. “Thank you, sir.”

They heard someone yelling from inside: “Matthew! We need your ass in here!”

“Duty calls,” Matthew said with a sigh. “Well, I’ll leave y’all to the fireflies.”

“Thanks, man. Awesome party,” Pete blurted out.

Matthew smiled at him. “You’re welcome. We love giving them, so come anytime. Aidan, carry on, my man.”

“As always, mon capitaine,” Aidan said. “Love that guy,” he added, as Matthew disappeared back into the house.

“He sings? I thought Cleo said he was a graduate student in art.”

“He’s a little bit of everything. He was in U. Singers when I was first year—I think he was fourth year then. We should get him to play the piano tonight. He’s really good. And he makes movies. I’ve acted in a few of his short films.”

“Really?” Pete lit up at the mention of movies. “Cool! I’ve always wanted to make a film. I’ve messed around with a video camera, but I want to learn how to make a real movie.”

“It’s fun to act in them.”

Pete’s eyes had adjusted to the dark, and he could see Aidan more clearly now. “Do you want to be a movie star?” he asked, studying Aidan’s beautiful features. “You totally could.”

Aidan smiled. “I could?”

“Oh yeah. I mean, with your looks and all.”
Shit
. He felt himself blush as he realized what he had said, but Aidan seemed to take it in stride.

“Why, thank you.”

What’s the big deal? He probably hears that all the time.

Aidan continued, “I’d love to be in movies, but no way I’d get romantic leads, being gay.”

“You don’t think Hollywood is beyond that, these days? I mean, Zachary Quinto. Although I guess Spock isn’t exactly a romantic role. And… uh, well….”

“Right. Name one Hollywood leading man who’s openly gay. So I don’t know. I can’t see myself living in the closet.” Aidan took a sip of his brandy while Pete stared at his profile and thought,
Me either
. He was taken aback when Aidan asked, “When did you know you were gay?”

“I—is it that obvious?” Pete winced. That sounded like he was ashamed of it or something. But it was more that he and Aidan had never even talked before, and given the major drought that had been Pete’s sex life for the last two years, he knew Aidan hadn’t seen him macking on some guy on the Grounds.

Aidan smiled at him, raised one eyebrow, and then leaned closer, saying in a seductive tone, “To me, it is. Maybe because you always look at me like you want to eat me up.”

“Uh….” Pete’s face warmed, and all he could think to say was “Busted.”

Aidan chuckled and took his hand. “You should see your face. Don’t worry, baby. I like it.” His voice carried a teasing lilt. “I think you’re pretty adorable.”

Adorable?
Pete had never been called adorable in his life, and he didn’t know whether to be flattered or insulted. Aidan had hold of his hand, though, and that alone was enough to have Pete’s heart pounding. He was disappointed when Aidan dropped his hand and his seductive manner at the same time and sat back on the sofa, stretching his long legs out in front of him. Pete suddenly got a vivid image of those legs wrapped around his waist, which made the ensuing silence pretty awkward, and he cast around for something to say.

“Um, about being gay—I guess I first knew around twelve. Junior high. I was freaked that someone would find out.”

Aidan sat up and leaned toward him. “Yeah. I know that feeling.”

Encouraged by his undivided attention, even as he was somewhat unnerved by it, Pete said, “I hid it from everyone until I was fourteen. I finally told John—the guy I came to the party with.”

“The one who pushed you to come sing?”

Pete smiled. “Yeah, that’s him. We’ve been best friends since third grade. He’s straight, but he was totally cool about it, just surprised. He had no clue.”

“Are you out to your family?”

“I am now. It took a while.” Pete gazed at the fireflies, remembering. “I told my brother, Austin, when I was fifteen. I guess I felt safest with him—he’s three years older and he’s always kind of looked after me.” He paused. “Do you really want to hear all this?”

“Absolutely. I like hearing people’s stories.”

“Okay, but you have to tell me yours after this. I can’t be hogging the conversation all night.”

“Not much to say. But keep going. Was it hard telling your parents?”

Pete lifted the beer bottle to his lips, realized it was empty, and set it down on the table. “Well—I think I was the scaredest telling Austin. Most scared. Whatever.”

“What’re you talking about? Scaredest is a fine word.”

“Ha. But Austin was cool, said he already knew it. Then he basically made me tell the rest of the family while we’re all sitting at the dinner table.”

“God. How many people in your family?”

“Five kids, including me, and my parents.” Pete felt a twinge
. Guess we’re not a family anymore.
“So, Austin goes, ‘Hey, I think Pete has something he wants to say,’ and I wanted to kill him, but then I just said it. Like, ‘I’m gay’—and went back to eating my mashed potatoes.”

“Wow—that’s kind of awesome to tell everyone all at once. And to get it over with while you were still in your teens. You weren’t scared your parents would disown you or something?”

“Naw, not at all. My parents are cool—very liberal. I didn’t think they’d disown me, but I—”

The door from the pantry slammed open, and the overhead light came on again. Pete and Aidan shielded their eyes from the sudden onset of brightness.

“Oh, hey, dudes, sorry to blind you. S’okay if we smoke some weed out here?” Three guys Pete had never seen before stood there, one of them holding a bong.

Pete and Aidan looked at each other, and Aidan shrugged.

“I guess so.” Aidan stood up, Pete following suit. “It’s all yours,” Aidan said to the group as he and Pete passed them.

When the door shut behind them in the small pantry, Aidan stopped and turned, and Pete almost ran into him.

“Huh?”
Eloquent, Morgan
.

Aidan gazed down at him, eyelids at half-mast, seductive manner dialed up to ten. “Will you come home with me?” he whispered.

“Yeah, of course,” Pete said.
I mean, duh
.

Maybe his easy acquiescence was a surprise, because Aidan’s sudden smile was more sweet than sultry. He leaned down and kissed him, a quick brush of his lips over Pete’s. “Good,” he said in a more normal voice.

“Yeah, um….” Pete tried to collect his thoughts while finding it hard to catch his breath. “I just need to tell my friends I won’t be leaving with them.”

“Okay. How ’bout I meet you out front in five?” And with that, Aidan walked into the kitchen, Pete trailing after him in a bit of a daze, barely noticing when Aidan took his beer bottle out of his hand and put it and his empty brandy glass next to the sink.

Pete came out of the kitchen into the dining room, looking around for his friends, and spotted Angie standing by the far wall. She was decked out in a purple wig and oversized sunglasses, being photographed by Parker, with John and Cleo watching. As he started over to them, he saw Matthew coming through the beaded curtain, and he changed course to intercept him.