A single butterfly spread its wings in Baz’s stomach at the thought.
“I’d like to stick around,” he heard himself say.He imagined Naija’s nod was approving.
Sami returned, balancing a shot glass and drink in each hand.He placed both down without spilling a drop.Baz scooted into the middle of the bench for Sami to sit down, which he did—with one knee on top of Baz’s lap.He truly was allergic to sitting straight.
“Start with this,” Sami demanded and placed the shot of maple-syrup-brown liquid in front of him.Who was Baz to argue with the boss?
He positioned the glass and threw his head backward.The sugary sweetness was immediately overshadowed by the burn of pure hellfire running down his throat.His eyes teared up.Ugh, this was awful.And exactly what he needed.
“Thank you.”He slithered his arm along the backrest and rained his fingertips down on Sami’s shoulder, slowly enough for him to pull away if he wanted to.Sami melted into his side with the sweetest smile that gave Baz a sugar high just from looking at it.To get a taste… would be a step too far.They were in public, and they didn’t do kissing outside the heat of the moment, so Baz busied himself with the second drink instead: an insanely strong gin and tonic that was much kinder to his throat.
He hadn’t invested much thought into what sort of people Sami hung out with, but if he had, this group was somehow exactly and yet not at all what he would have imagined.
Kaina made one remark about how she was glad to have finally met a good lawyer in Baz, and she and Sami were off on a rapid-fire exchange of quips about who should shut up first.The others generously supplied anecdotes about previous battles of wits that Baz was sad to have missed, never passing up on jokes at each other’s expense which were met with hearty laughter.The ease and familiarity between them were palpable, an infectious level of comfort Baz had never felt in any group dynamic.
When their host, a drag queen called Diane o’Cancer—Baz traded a massive side-eye with a too-amused Sami—interrupted by announcing that it was time to start the game, Baz, for the first time ever, felt disappointed at the introduction of structure.
The rules were simple: there’d be six rounds of queer-themed trivia.The sheet for their answers was on the table.The group who earned the most points won a round of free drinks.
Baz had gone all out for less.
He wasn’t the only one.Tony hadn’t been kidding about the group’s competitiveness, whisper-yelling answers at each other, fighting when they disagreed while Zahra wrote down whatever answer she deemed best.Good thing Baz wasn’t shy nor easily intimidated—and the art and literature round was where he shone.
“Which famous writer had a mental breakdown in Charles Dickens’s front yard?”Diane o’Cancer had barely finished the question when Baz hissed, “Hans Christian Andersen!”at exactly the same time Sami did, the words coming out in perfect synchrony.
Sami’s mouth was ajar under his sparkling eyes.
“You thought you were the only one who knew fun facts?”Baz teased and got rewarded with Sami’s hand gliding to the inside of his thigh, tracing along his inseam.
“Next question: Which renaissance fine artist is considered to be the first to have expressed a queer identity?”
“Donatello,” Baz said.Never did he think taking art history would be good for anything in this life, but here it was, finally paying off.
“You sure?”Zahra asked.Since they’d only just met, Baz would give her a pass for doubting him.
“I wrote an essay about it in college.Trust me.I’m sure.”
“What grade did you get?”Sami dared to ask when he should have known better.
“An A, obviously.”
“Put it down,” Naija said.Damn straight.
“I thought you were a business major,” Sami said.
A few weeks ago, Baz might have wasted energy on wondering how Sami knew that—the Baz of today couldn’t care less about his sources as long as his information was accurate.
“God forbid a guy has hobbies.”
“Hot.Maybe we should go to the art museum so you can share all your sexy art knowledge with me…” His index finger traced down Baz’s dark green tie, accidentally matching the shade of Sami’s eye shadow.
“So you can make fun of me?”
“Naturally.”That shouldn’t be self-evident, but Baz supposed with Sami, it was.Now that he knew that Sami teased his friends too, it was hard to pretend it wasn’t a sign of affection.
Maybe Sami did like him, somehow.Maybe that was why his front teeth caught on his perfect lips, why he held Baz’s gaze hostage…
Two fingers snapped between their faces.Baz jerked back.
