He shrugged. Did he have those? He didn’t think so. Those were for people who didn’t have the music riding them hard.
His cell phone buzzed with a text message from Kyle. It was a picture of Kyle and another dancer with Alan, the bartender at the Purple Poet. Kyle had his arm around the dancer—was it Rob?—and was kissing him on the cheek.
Alan misses you. Aren’t you done yet? Come have a drink, baby.
Oh….
He sighed and leaned forward to speak to the driver. “Can you take me to the Purple Poet after you drop my friend off?”
He needed some uppers in the worst way. Just a little chemical boost.
“Is that Kyle? Come on, dude. Tell him you need to sleep. I’ll get you some green and you can relax. You gotta work tomorrow.”
“I’ll work. I swear.” Timmy didn’t understand, not really. It was hard to be everything he needed to be. Kyle was special. He had to try harder than everyone else, just to keep up. He wasn’t as shiny as everyone else in Kyle’s life.
Hell, what shine he had was from rubbing hard, not because he was made from gold.
“I know, dude. You work your ass off, I know. But….” The car pulled up to the curb, and Timmy sighed. “You gotta pace yourself or you’re not going to be any good, you know? And I’m not talking about the music.” Timmy slid out of the car. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Night, boo. You’re good to me, swear to God.”
“Night, man.” Timmy shook his head, closed the car door, and gave him a wave.
“Thanks for doubling up, friend. I appreciate it.” He leaned his head back and watched the light trails dance in the rear window.
“No problem.” The driver got him there fine, but it took a while. It was late, but on Saturday night the traffic was as bad as rush hour. The bar was hopping too; a small crowd was hanging out outside smoking, and light and music spilled out into the street.
Kyle wasn’t hard to spot, which didn’t surprise him. His lover, in skinny jeans and a tight black sweater, was at the bar with a martini, sitting very close to that guy, Rob, who was in the picture Kyle texted. Rob had an arm across the back of Kyle’s chair.
Stop it. You’re shit-tired and feeling teeth on your bones.He headed over, offering Rob a toothy smile before touching Kyle with his aching fingers. “’Lo, cher.”
“There you are!” Kyle gave him a smile that lit up the bar and a kiss that stopped time.
“Mmm. Hey, how you been?”You been missing me?
“Move over, Rob, would you?” Kyle made scooty hands at Rob to make the guy slide over a stool, and then pulled him onto the warmed seat.
See? Nothing to get twisted up about after all.
“I had a long day. I needed to see you tonight. Are you okay? Are you sick? You don’t look good, baby.”
“Just tired. It ain’t no thing.” He leaned his cheek against Kyle’s arm. “I need to get me a coffee IV is all.”
“Aw. How was your session tonight?” Kyle took one of his hands and started rubbing like before, dragging warm thumbs over his tired, aching palm.
“Good. They’re fierce. They know what they want.” His eyelids fell closed at the massage.
“Is that easier or harder for you? Or… maybe that’s not the right question. You like to collaborate more, don’t you? Do you feel less creative when a group knows what they want?” Kyle let that hand relax and switched to the other one.
“You don’t have to think on it. You just give up the notes. You know, like a dance you’ve done for a lifetime.”
Kyle nodded. “Like the show I’m in now. I still love it, but I don’t think that hard about the choreography. I just get out there and dance. I really enjoy what we’re doing, though, the way we work together—oh! I got them to let us into the theater tomorrow morning. I thought it would be good for you to be in the space for a little while, feel it out for sound. I’ve danced there lots of times.”
“Sounds perfect.” This was why he’d come out, not because he was jealous of that picture. “You know how I love to see you dance.”
Lord, he needed a cup of coffee.
“We’ll just do a couple of hours. I know you have a gig after lunch.” His lover slithered off the stool suddenly. “Oh God. I have to pee. Watch my martini.” Kyle leaned in for another quick kiss. “Back in a sec.”