The last words echoed around the room. The house lights seemed to act as a spotlight for the wet patch on his grey trousers. Quinn realised every eye was on him.
‘Do you need help there?’ Bloody Blair Beckett asked, a look of concern on that perfect face of his.
‘No, it’s okay, just an accident.’ Quinn winced. An accident? Now everyone thought he was incontinent! June clasped a hand to her mouth while Deb looked disgusted. Why did he choose today of all days to wear his heather grey trousers, the ones that felt so soft on his skin, and now clung to his crotch with a chill colder than the snow outside? He stumbled down the stairs, his footsteps louder than a crashing giant. Walking in front of the stage, the spotlight illuminating him, he heard an audible gasp from the audience.
‘Good lord. The manhaswet himself!’
Some people laughed; others made little muttering sounds. Quinn eyed the stage, his eyes finding Noah’s.
Noah took all of him in, looking him up and down.
‘I’ll be right back,’ Quinn heard himself say as he wished the ground would split and he would fall through the cracks. ‘Carry on without me!’
He stumbled through the doors as the audience resumed their applause, just as Blair Beckett cracked a joke about excitement getting the better of people.
‘Bloody Blair Beckett,’ Quinn groaned.
ChapterTwo
‘Quinn, there you are!’
Ivy rushed to him, but he turned his attention to his Welsh brewed beer, staring into the glass with discontent. Fizzing beer had never been so interesting. ‘Leave me alone.’
He wore a pair of tie-dye elasticated harem trousers, something that was being sold on a self-confessed hippie stall for an extortionate price. They clung to his ankles, almost cutting off the blood supply. His grey trousers, still wet with champagne, were in the cloakroom for him to collect later. He felt like a fool.
‘These look very good on you,’ Ivy spoke, admiring his new trousers. ‘The colours suit your aura.’
‘Ivy, not now.’ He slurped his beer like he was at his lowest ebb, willing away the pain inside.
‘Look, I’m sorry, I got excited.’ She sighed. ‘Besides, nobody talked about it after…’
‘After Bloody Blair Beckett joked about it, yeah,’ Quinn said. ‘I missed the whole thing.’
‘I wondered if you were going to come back.’
Quinn turned to her, fighting back tears. ‘How could I? Everyone thought I’d wet myself!’
Those nearest at the bar looked at Quinn with concern. Ivy shook her head in a way that said, ‘I’ll deal with this’, and they nodded with sympathy.
‘I told them it was champagne. Besides, people forgot as soon as Noah started speaking. You would havelovedit, honestly. It wassogood, Quinn. He spoke about his romance novels, but he also spoke about queer stories. I asked him why he hadn’t written one yet, and he said he was thinking about it.’
Quinn perked up, almost forgetting about his ordeal. ‘He did?’
‘Oh, yes.’ Ivy smiled. ‘And now he’s doing his book signing at the bookshop tent, and I think you should come with me to meet him.’
‘Ivy, no, I can’t.’
The last thing he wanted was to meet a man he fancied who no doubt thought he had pissed himself.
‘You absolutely can!’ She touched his arm again, the rings cold on his skin. ‘He won’t remember. No one will. They will be too excited to see Noah!’
‘Ivy, no.’
Ivy cocked an eyebrow. ‘You always do this, Quinn. You shy away from moments that could change your life.’
Quinn wanted to tell Ivy that life-changing moments never happened to him. Average life, average person. The most average man to ever live.
‘But these.’
