“Of course you can.” To my surprise, Chris placed his hand against the small of my back and began to lead me away from my bandmates, Lester keeping pace on the other side. “Let’s go sit over here and chat.”
“I actually already knew who you were,” I said. “I’m a big fan of your band.”
“Are you now?” Chris and Lester exchanged grins. “That’s very flattering.”
“I had no idea we were opening for you tonight,” I said. “I can’t believe it actually happened.”
“You were amazing,” Chris said. “None of us could keep our eyes off of you.”
I felt myself blush. “Truly?” I asked.
Lester nodded. “That’s actually why we came over here. We wanted to ask if you’d be interested in joining us upstairs after the show. No pressure if not, but we think we could have some fun together.”
“Upstairs?” I echoed, confused. “What’s upstairs?”
Lester and Chris exchanged glances. “Valentina didn’t tell you?” Chris asked.
“Tell me what?”
“Well, now I feel like a sleaze,” Lester said, offering an apologetic smile. “We assumed you knew. The music venue is only half of the Ball’s establishment; upstairs is a sex club.”
“A sex club?” Suddenly, I felt a little faint. That explained the latex. My face flamed. Did Susanna and Liz already know? Had they been making fun of me behind my back this whole time? Once again, I felt small and naive.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Chris reached for my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “We didn’t mean to spring this on you. I hope we didn’t make you uncomfortable; it’s cool if you’re not interested.”
Their meaning dawned on me all at once. “You wanted to go upstairs with me? Both of you? I mean, at once?”
Chris and Lester chuckled. “I guess you’re more of a one man at a time kind of girl,” Lester said.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’ve never really had the chance to find out.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything, isn’t there?” Lester said.
I had to admit: my interest was piqued. “Is this something you guys do a lot?” I asked. “I mean, don’t you get jealous?”
Chris looked at Lester and smiled. “Can we admit something to you now?” he asked. “Lester and I are a bit more than friends.”
It took a moment for their meaning to sink in. “Oh!” I said, not sure what else to say. There weren’t many openly gay—or bi—men in my hometown. “That’s great—I mean, congratulations!”
Lester smiled at Chris over my head. “Thank you. We haven’t told the rest of the guys yet. We’re still figuring things out ourselves.”
“I won’t say anything,” I promised.
“Thank you, Ella,” Chris said. He leaned close to me, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, and I shivered with delightful anticipation as his fingers brushed my skin. “We’ve got to get going, our set is about to begin, but give it some thought, will you? We’ll be in the silver room, if you want to come find us after the show. The password is ‘over the moon.’”
With that, they were both gone. I watched them go, slightly dazed. I could hardly believe what had just happened to me. I had been propositioned! By two men at once! My immediate impulse was to brush it off, pretend it never happened, but a voice in the back of my head asked a question that demanded to be heard:
What would Sexerella do?
I could see Susanna and Liz making their way toward me. “What were you all talking about?” Susanna demanded.
“They just wanted to talk about music,” I said. Susanna rolled her eyes.
“Whatever. They’re clearly fruits,” she said. “Come on, we’re leaving.”
I was shocked, both by her bigotry and by her rush to leave. “What do you mean?” I said. “We can’t go yet, the show is just starting.” From the stage, I could hear the opening banter of the lead singer. I itched to escape into the audience, wanted to watch Chris and Lester perform.
“Well, we’re done,” Susanna said. “What’s the point of waiting around? We’ve got our paycheck, now we can get the bus fixed and get the hell out of here.”
“You guys can go ahead,” I said. “I want to stay and watch the show.”
Susanna rolled her eyes again. “Suit yourself,” she said. “Just don’t take too long; I don’t want to stay any longer than we have to. Come on, Liz.” She took her sister by the arm and the two marched off.
9
Grant
I watched Chris and Lester shamelessly flirt with the lead singer of the opening act, trying not to examine too closely the mix of emotions that churned in my gut. If I did, I’d have to admit to myself that I was definitely feeling more than a little jealous, and that would mean that I was interested in the girl. Which, of course, I was not.
The girl—Ella, as she’d introduced herself to the crowd—listened intently as Lester and Chris bent low to whisper in her ear. Chris’s hand brushed her neck as he tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear, and I fought the urge to go over and physically fight him.