AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She was so stubborn. God, I needed a couple of hours away from this place and her.
“Fine! I’m going out.”
“There’s a nice little pub on the corner of Bendover. Very pride friendly.”
A gay-friendly bar in this small hick town? Now I was curious. I changed my shirt, put on a nice pair of jeans, brushed my hair, and set out in Gladys’s old truck. The metal creaked and groaned. I winced. If she didn’t move in with me, I would have to convince her to let me buy her a new truck.
For some reason, she wouldn’t allow me to spend money on her. Always said she raised me out of love and not because she wanted me to give anything back. It only made me want to give her the world.
The pub was once a feed store. The lavender-neon lights flashed the name “Bow Ties” next to a Pride flag. Who would have thought finding a parking space would be next to impossible in the lot of a gay-friendly bar in a small town in Minnesota? Just my luck, two guys who’d been kissing against a car broke apart and got in. As soon as they drove out, I claimed their spot.
Since returning to Rosewood Pines, I hadn’t been anywhere. A nervous flutter rippled through my stomach. I stuffed a hand into my pocket.
I’m different now.
Plus, what were the odds that everyone I went to school with had remained in town?
When I walked into the pub, I had a good look around. Wow. It was better than I’d expected. The interior exuded an inviting ambiance with the soft glow of low, warm lighting. Vintage photographs hung on the walls. I made a beeline for the bar in the center of the room and signaled the bartender.
A decade was stripped away instantly. The years hadn’t been kind to our friendship. We’d kept in touch for birthdays and holidays with cards, but whenever we indulged in a call, it could go on for hours.
It’d been ten years since I’d seen Ashlee in person.
“Troy!” She hurried down the bar, her eyes sparkling. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
She knew I was in town and that I didn’t plan to get out much. We had made plans to meet tomorrow for lunch, but it felt so much better running into her like this.
“I’m surprised too,” I said. “But Gladys was driving me nuts.”
She laughed. “Nothing new. Wish I had parents like her. She’s so cool.”
“I’m not sure when your seventy-two-year-old grandaunt goes to a strip club for a lap dance, it’s cool anymore.”
“Haha. She’ll be dragging her walker to the strip club when she’s a hundred.”
“I’ll have to bury her with singles and glitter.”
As much as we chuckled about it, I didn’t enjoy thinking so far in the future. Hopefully, very far. Why didn’t Gladys see this was the reason she needed to come to Atlanta with me? She was getting older. I wanted to cherish every moment with her.
“What are you having?” Ashlee asked.
“Surprise me.”
“All right.”
She made me a cognac-based cocktail. “There you go. And it’s on the house.”
“You can’t do that. Let me pay.” Her life hadn’t been easy with her asshole ex-husband she’d left behind.
“Nope. It’s on me. So…”
“So what?” I took a sip. The liquid went down smoothly and warmed my belly.
“Are you sure you want to stay tonight?”
“Why?”
“We’ve got live music every last Thursday of the month. They’ll be on in five.”
