AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I felt my face heat. “Oh. Right. Well, I didn’t know him before tonight, so… can he get a drink?” I turned to him. “What would you like?”
“Pint of Auld Best please,” Augie said, shifting on his feet. I realized when I felt his movement under my palm that I still held a hand to his back. Pulling it away was excruciating, but I forced myself to do it anyway.
“I’ll take the same,” I said to Charlie. “And can we please get some of that beer cheese dip you have? That stuff is awesome.”
As soon as Charlie gave me a nod and a wink, I led Augie over to a small table in the corner, away from the dancing and louder groups. I held out his chair for him and pushed it in as he took his seat.
Once I sat down too, we stared at each other, and I suddenly realized I’d usurped whatever plans he’d had for coming.
“Oh god, I didn’t mean to steal you,” I said quickly. “Did you… were you meeting someone here?”
Augie looked around as if still in a daze. “No. I was just going to grab a drink before heading home. I remembered it was rainbow night or something.”
“Is that why you decided to leave? You remembered when you saw all the guys?” I tried not to let the thought disappoint me, but I had to admit to remembering what a conservative family he came from.
“What? No. That’s why I came in the first place. But I’m not used to being…”
He paused long enough for me to consider prompting him, but then he finally finished his sentence.
“Out.”
Oh. Ohhhh.
“I thought you were dating a woman in Dallas?”
His face registered surprise before he shoved his glasses up with one long finger and sat forward. “I am. I mean, I was. Well, I am. But not really.”
I felt my mouth widen in a grin. He was fucking adorable. And now I knew he was gay.
Score.
“You’re dating her but not really dating her,” I said with a chuckle. “Clear as mud.”
“She’s a close friend. We went together to a big fundraiser a few years ago in Dallas and the media jumped to conclusions. When my family and Kat’s work friends got all excited about it, we decided to let them believe whatever they wanted to believe.”
“I guess it isn’t easy to be out when you’re from a conservative family.”
Augie snorted and took a sip of his beer. “Hell no. That’s an understatement. I learned early on, being gay isn’t something a Stiel man does.”
I leaned in like I was confessing a secret. “You should become a Wilde. Being straight isn’t something a Wilde man does.”
He barked out a laugh, which got the attention of my brothers and Charlie behind the bar. Otto and Hudson meandered over and pulled up chairs to our little table. The irrational part of me was annoyed at sharing Augie’s company, but I’d also missed my brothers since I’d been on the road so much with Gemma.
As soon as they sat down, the conversation went to the success of LGBT nights at the pub, gossip about the elementary school principal sleeping with one of her kindergarten teachers, and the upcoming bonfire night out at Walnut Farm.
Augie laughed when Charlie popped into the conversation and acted like he didn’t know what a bonfire was. His fake American accent sounded like a melodrama cowboy act and had all of us in stitches. Hearing August Stiel cut loose and relax was enough to make me feel buzzed. When he smiled that much, the very corner of one side of his mouth curled up, making him appear ten years younger.
As the next couple of hours wore on, I found myself sitting closer to Augie and resting my arm on the back of his chair. When Hudson told the story of me stealing a horse from Grandpa’s barn one night when I was twelve and getting as far as the second pasture before getting bucked off, Augie turned to me with a raised eyebrow and leaned in to bump me with his shoulder. I wondered if the beer was responsible for bringing him more out of his shell.
“See? Even that horse wasn’t intimidated by you, kitten,” he teased.
“Ha! Smart man. My brother’s a total kitten,” Otto said, his face splitting into a grin. He puffed up and got close enough to loom over Augie as if to show he was bigger and more intimidating than I was. But the minute Otto approached with a pretend menacing look, Augie shrank back against me with the soft hiss of an indrawn breath.
A fear response.
Otto didn’t notice and sat back down laughing. Augie tried to laugh it off, but when I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, I felt a slight tremble in his body.
