Dare You To(2)

 

"How's that going, anyway?" Dare reached over, grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl on Austin's lap and tossed it into his mouth.

 

"Good, I think. We have a lot in common. The conversation never stops when we're together. I haven't seen him as much the past couple weeks as I had been, but we're getting ready for the upcoming Rainbow Prom at the center, so I've been spending some extra time there. He understands." Or at least Austin thought he did. He had been a little frustrated when Austin told him he couldn't hang out tonight, but this was his and Dare's tradition. Even Dare skipped out on his wild adventures or sex with random men on Sunday evenings. This was their thing, so he couldn't cancel it. "He's a good man."

 

"Oh shit, are you going to go and fall in love with this guy?" Dare asked, a strange twinge to his voice that Austin hadn't heard before.

 

"What? No." Austin shook his head. "I like him, though. As I said, we have a lot in common. He doesn't think my choice in movies would put him to sleep," Austin teased. Really, if there was a form with questions for the kind of man who would be perfect for Austin, he was pretty sure Brian would check every box that should be marked.

 

"Hmm." Dare reached over for more popcorn. "I'm not sure I like him. He definitely doesn't like me. He looked at me like I was something he stepped in, the bastard. He seems a little boring in my book, and like an asshole. Assholes are usually fun. If you make ass boring, there's something wrong with you."

 

"Oh, great, Dare. I just said he and I have a lot in common, and now you say he's an ass. Spending time with you really boosts my self-esteem." Austin set the bowl of popcorn on the table and crossed his arms. He was being ridiculous, and he wasn't sure why. The truth was, hearing Dare say that made his insides twist up. He'd always felt boring and sure didn't want to hear that someone he related to had a quality he'd always feared was his.

 

 

 

        

          

        

         

 

"Shut up." Dare nudged him. "You know I don't think you're boring or an ass-the bad kind of ass, at least. We balance each other out, and when you do pick a movie I don't love or want to stay home to read a book, you get the best-friend pass."

 

Austin opened his mouth to tell Dare to fuck off, but Dare spoke again. "I never really had a best friend before you."

 

He closed his mouth. Opened it. Closed it again. Dare didn't offer much of himself, and nothing of his past. Hell, Austin didn't even know his real first name. It used to be that Austin asked him all the time what his name was, but Dare would never tell him. He was still curious but he'd come to accept it. For Dare to have said that about Austin was a big deal. "I … "

 

"Shut up. Let's not get sappy here. Put the movie on before I veto you and choose one of my own." Dare leaned forward, grabbed the bowl of popcorn and started to eat from it again. Austin knew the conversation had ended, and the moment was gone. Still, he couldn't stop thinking about it all night. How did he get so lucky to be Dare's first real friend? And how could that be true when everyone in the world loved Dare, gravitated toward him and his electric personality? It didn't make sense, but then, that was Dare.

 

*

 

The bar was wild tonight.

 

He loved it when Wild Side was like this. Yeah, they were busy every night-men and women came in to dance, drink, stick money in the underwear of go-go boys and girls, because Dare believed in having something here for the ladies too-but the place was alive with energy tonight.

 

It had been the perfect Friday. He'd spent the morning on the ocean and the evening in his bar. He never would have thought he'd have this kind of life-the kind where good shit happened more often than bad shit. He'd worked hard to be the man he was, hard to make it so he wasn't like the family he'd been raised with.

 

And he'd done it. Every time he looked around Wild Side, he couldn't believe he'd really fucking done it.

 

He had no clue what made him think about his past tonight. It was probably the comment he'd let slip with Austin the other night. He wasn't even sure why he'd said it. He was usually pretty good at keeping things like that closed tight. What was the purpose of dwelling on the past? Or feeling sorry for yourself? Dare liked to have fun, to skirt the rules and take risks. He was much more interested in enjoying his life now than focusing on anything else.

 

Fucking Austin made shit like that sneak out every once in a while.

 

Speaking of the man, Dare weaved his way through the mass of bodies dancing to Britney, pulling out his phone as he did. Austin picked up before Dare made it out of the main part of the bar.