Sammy shrugged and took another swig of her drink. “Is it mean if it’s true? It was a compliment anyway.”
Luka watched all this with a sense of mounting dread. What if they could tell what he was, too? Would Sammy turn her attention to him? He wasn’t popular or strong like Reno, and when Luka glanced at Reno to see how he’d reacted to the comment, Reno seemed more confused than anything.
The bus door snapped open. Immediately, Reno turned, waving, a smile cracking back over his features. Without another word, he floated away—like some sort of magical creature in pursuit of T-yan, Voltage’s drummer, with half his hot dog held out as a gift. With Reno gone, the conversation at the grill shifted back to the group.
“Nice one, Sammy.”
“What did I do? He knows I’m a dyke, it’s fine.”
Dominic sighed. “He’s not from here. I don’t think he gets it.”
“He’s foreign, not stupid," Sammy snapped back, then handed her drink to Jake. “I’m gonna get some shut-eye. Hey,you two” —she pointed at Luka and Maria— “thanks for comin’ out, have a safe trip home.” She flipped her fringe out of her face and left, waving over her shoulder as she headed towards the other bus.
“Maria, yeah?” Dominic said, leaning forward to get in her line of sight. “Can I get you a drink or anything?”
“I’ll take a hot dog, thanks.” She smiled at Dominic and Luka wondered how she could be so effortlessly charming.
“I’m gonna go smoke this.” Luka held the cigarette up for her to see as she got up and started busying herself putting ketchup on a bun. “I’ll be back in ten.”
Luka hopped out of the chair before she could turn away from the grill to reply. He darted around the group of musicians and headed towards the only open space free from cars and people loitering. He had to get away from the group, the grill, the conversation. The spot he picked—while mercifully devoid of people— was unfortunately, close to the tour buses.
He could hear laughter from the buses. A speaker somewhere was playing a song he didn’t know. The venue was still pumping with the headliner’s set, muffled as it carried over to the parking lot. He pulled a lighter out of his pocket and sparked it, watched it sputter, die, then tried again with no success. Only sparks.
“Need help?”
Luka turned and gasped, cigarette falling from his fingers. Reno was only about an inch taller than him without his boots on—He had swapped them out for tennis shoes and taken out his earrings in the brief time they’d been apart—which was surprisingly short for how large he seemed on stage and in music videos.
Reno bent down to reach for the fallen cigarette, leaning so close that his hair brushed Luka’s exposed stomach. When he handed it back, his fingers slid against Luka’s, and it was all Luka could do not to drop it a second time.
Rummaging around in his pockets, Reno swore under his breath then said, “I’ll b.r.b. Stay here.”
“Okay," Luka said in a hushed voice as Reno jogged back towards the bus and pulled the door open. When he returned, Luka had not budged, hand still half up to his mouth with the cigarette dangling between his fingers. Reno smiled at him, and it was blinding in the streetlamp light. When he sparked a Zippo in front of his face joyfully, the reflective ribbons wound into the braid behind his ear flashed like fireworks.
Luka stopped staring long enough to put the cigarette in his mouth and let Reno light it, feeling mildly dizzy with how close they were. He took a drag, tried not to cough, and leaned against the chain link fence behind him. Reno put the lighter back into his pocket and joined him, letting his head fall back against the fence, tilted to the sky. Luka tried not to stare at the line of Reno’s throat, his pronounced adam’s apple, the curve of his collarbone under multiple soft straps of studded fabric and glittering buckles. Luka let his head tilt back too, trying to pretend he wasn’t sweating in a crop top in fifty-degree weather, and looked at the three stars he could spot through the light pollution.
“Do you live here?” Reno asked, quietly. “What’s it like?”
“I live a few hours from here. It’s pretty much the same, though," Luka replied, pausing only to take another drag. “Conservative assholes, nothing to do, suburbia.”
“My hometown’s full of that, too. Assholes.” Reno huffed a little laugh then held out his fingers for the cigarette. Luka handed it over and watched in a daze as Reno put his lips where Luka’s had been only seconds before. “It’s nice being in the U.S. People don’t stare as much. They don’t know what I am, though.”
“What do you mean?” Luka choked out, unable to hide his curiosity.
“Well, a man. For one.” Reno shrugged and handed the cigarette back to Luka, who considered never throwing it away. “What’s the word she used… Queer. Kind of an ugly slur, don’t you think? Faggot has a more fun ring to it.”
Luka coughed, trying not to choke on nothing. “Oh, so you…”
“Like men, yeah. Disappointed?”
Luka squirmed, not sure what to say. “No. I mean, I like guys, too.”
“That's normal though, ne? Don’t worry, I like girls too.” Reno waved his fingers to ask for the cigarette back and didn’t bother waiting for a response. “You coming to the next show? Would be fun to see you around.”
“I can’t, I have to get back to school.” Luka swallowed, trying not to watch the way the cigarette’s ember glowed in Reno’s dark eyes and made his skin look like a sunset.
“What are you studying?” Reno asked, his attention on Luka overwhelming.
“What? Oh.” Luka had to do something about his stomach. If it kept dropping like this, he wouldn’t make it until tomorrow. “No, I’m in high school.”
