Without asking for permission, Dylan grabbed Kaiden and Rus by their wrists and dragged them onto the dance floor. Yep. One of the rarities in the world that could make Kaiden dance—Dylan’s persistence.
Kaiden could attempt to protest, to explain for the thousandth time how dancing made him feel awkward, but Dylan seemed determined to wash away Kaiden’s anxiety. What better way to distract from his discomfort than by giving him something different to cringe about? Kaiden followed Dylan’s lead, shaking away his nervousness, ignoring his own lack of rhythm, and laughing loudly at Rus’ terrible routine. It was the kind of dance that was so bad it almost looped back around to incredibly cool.
Dylan took hold of Kaiden’s hips, guiding the sway of their bodies and forcing him to step with purpose. It wouldn’t stick. Dylan had worked with Kaiden on his dance moves time and time again. Still, Kaiden let loose and followed Dylan’s lead, jumping between him and Rus whenever one of Rus’ bizarre routines actually made room for a partner.
Finally, for a few songs, Kaiden lost himself to the motion and the crowd. It was too loud to overthink. It was perfect. He danced away his stress, lost between Dylan and Rus, the two men who’d become pillars in his life. Both of them held him up the past six weeks, kept his head above water, and provided the support he needed to escape the pain eating away at him.
Kaiden didn’t face his trauma head-on, preferring to bury it, avoid it, ignore it. And while that might not have been the best solution, it was the path he needed to follow right now.
Dylan and Rus didn’t force Kaiden to confront his pain; they just helped him dance it out. They provided him with a safe space and solace. They were the best part of Kaiden’s life.
Chapter Nine
Thenight turned into a blur between the drag performances, the loud music, the crowd of bodies, but Rus relished what sense he made of the small parts. Kaiden had declared this a night to wash away the memory of their last outing, and Rus hoped that in some small way they’d achieved his wish.
“Okay, okay, they’re putting lights up at the bar,” Kaiden said with a heavy breath, pulling away from the dance. “Which means they’re about to do last call.”
“Yikes,” Dylan said with a playful shiver. “It’s past midnight? Does that mean I’m a pumpkin again?”
“That’s the carriage, not the princess,” Kaiden corrected.
“Really? Shame.” Dylan grinned. “Because I like to let people ride me.”
They all laughed, and Kaiden nudged Rus and Dylan off the dance floor.
“Say your goodbyes, it is way too late.”
Rus made his way over to Daysha, who had starteddisassembling a booth with some of the other Pride Club members.
“Heading out,” Rus said, wiping sweat from his brow. “Hope your event killed it.”
“Hmmm, since we’re raising funds for starving kids across the world, I hope we did the opposite of killing it.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Rus retrieved his wallet and handed Daysha forty bucks before she could press him with a late-night discussion on morality.
“I see why you’ve been so busy as of late,” Daysha said, tucking the cash away.
“Huh?”
She eyed him from head to toe and then craned her head past Rus and over to Dylan and Kaiden. “Got a little crush, huh?”
“What?” Rus blanched.
“I saw the way you were looking at…um, well, honestly, both of them.”
“Okay, somaybeI’ve thought about Kaiden once or twice.” Rus cleared his throat. “But I might’ve also been thinking about Dylan.”
“At the same time?”
“Well, not at thesamesame time, you know?” Rus responded, a bit flustered and trying to make sense of his crush. Crushes.
“Flip a coin,” Daysha suggested, somewhat aloof.
“You’re the worst. You realize that’s not how feelings work.”
“You realize you’re asking an ace chick for romance advice?”
“What? It’s a wide spectrum.”
