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Suddenly, Daniel swung toward me, narrowing his gaze again. “If you hurt him, and I don’t mean in the bedroom, I’ll stop beingthe best guy in the world just long enough to ruin your life in every way that matters.”
I wanted to laugh, but his dark eyes shone with a fierce seriousness that I couldn’t even smile at. I raised my glass and tapped it to his. “If I hurt him, I’ll help you do it.”
Daniel nodded, satisfied. We turned our attention back to our men on the dance floor and drank in companionable silence until the little group returned, all of them covered in sweat, and all bright eyed and thirsty.
“Did you talk?” Minty asked, nodding his head at Daniel who now had his arm around a cute curly-haired twink who could only be the incomparable Peter.
“We did.”
“And he approves of you?”
I put on a sad face and shook my head.
Minty’s lips went flat, and he shot a glare Daniel’s way. “How dare he?” He balled up his fists. “I’ll give him—”
I gripped his arm before he could haul off and hit Daniel’s bicep. “I’m kidding. He was fine. I promise. All’s well.”
Minty huffed. “It better be.”
Daniel caught his eye then, smiling at first until he got a glimpse of Minty’s irritation, and then his expression turned bewildered.
“Ah, now, don’t be like that.,” I urged, worried my joke would undo all the good will I’d earned. “He was nice to me, I swear.”
Minty gazed at Daniel, jerked his chin toward me, and then lifted a brow in a “so?” gesture.
Daniel smiled again and lifted his drink to toast us.
Minty relaxed against my side. “Okay then. He likes you.”
I laughed. “Yeah. He does. It’s all okay.” I sobered slightly. “What if he hadn’t, though? What if the best guy in the world said he hated me?”
“Then he’d have to just go on hating you because you’re my forever, and he’s just my best friend.”
I nuzzled his cheek, and he kissed me full on the mouth. The music lifted again, and Minty pulled me out onto the dance floor. I left my drink behind, happier to occupy my tongue with licking up his sweat and kissing his mouth.
As the big hand of the clock drew around toward the top, we all traipsed upstairs to the second floor where a stage was set up for Renée’s drag show. Now that she was a bigger deal than ever, what with her show in Nashville, she’d drawn a big crowd. The entire upstairs was mobbed with people. We packed in around Barry’s bar, and he brought out two Zimas, plopped Jolly Ranchers into them, and handed the bottles to Minty and Windy.
I waited until the others were distracted before turning to Barry.
“Thanks,” Barry said, forestalling my gratitude with his own.
“For what?” I asked.
“For doing what I knew you could.” He nodded toward Minty, who was laughing at something his pal Antonio had in his wallet. The little group was trying to grab it out and, unsurprisingly, Minty won. He crowed and held it over his head. It was Antonio’s driver’s license. “You brought him back to life.”
“It was mutual. I was half-alive too, and now…” My throat tightened. “I just want to make him happy. Fuck me, Barry, but I’d do anything for him. I’d give him the moon if I could.”
Minty glanced my way, blew me a kiss, and Antonio took advantage of his distraction to grab his driver’s license back. A small shoving match began, but I knew Minty could hold his own. He’d taken down Sensei Junior two nights before, and I had as yet to hear the end of it.
“And, by the way, you’re welcome,” Barry said.
I laughed. “I did come over here to thank you actually.”
“I figured.” He grinned and slid a vodka tonic my way. “On thehouse.”
“Fifteen, fourteen—!” the shouts of the countdown drifted up from the dance floor below.
“Here we go,” Barry said. As if on cue, at the count of ten, Renée swept out of the dressing room behind the stage, making a beeline for the bar.
