Chapter Two

Neon City.

I stared up at the bar’s signage, taking in its bright neon coloring, even noting the cute little skyline that flared out from its final Y.

I’d never been anywhere like this before. I’d read online that it was a gay bar, which popped up as soon as I put in the directions for the place on my phone’s GPS. But Neon City being a gay bar wasn’t what made it so interesting. The place had a storied history, having been a meeting spot for LGBT+ activists in the 70s and 80s, as well as serving as a safe haven for homeless youth throughout the years, housing the youngsters in a walkup right above the bar.

I appreciated the place’s atmosphere. Most of the people inside didn’t seem as if they were the kind of people who tried too hard, the patrons giving off a casual, laidback vibe. Even the servers in their neon and black tank tops seemed to be taking things easy as I watched them laugh and joke with the tables around us.

Neon City felt safe, even though I knew it wasn’t meant to be a safe place for me, because I wasn’t gay.

Even so, I felt myself relax against my seat as I looked over at Clarissa. “So, is there a reason you’re meeting your wedding planner here instead of at his office?”

“Yeah, because meeting someone at a bar is way more fun than meeting them at work,” she explained. “Oh, and because I love this place. Don’t you just love this place? It’s so real. And chic.”

“I guess I just don’t understand why you’d need to meet Raven at a second location--”

“No!” Clarissa cut me off. “You don’t need to remember his name. Why the hell do you remember his name?”

“Because you introduced us a few hours ago?” I suggested.

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m watching you.”

“And I’m watching you, too. Well, more like watching your wallet,” I replied.

“I’m not going to bankrupt us,” she repeated. “Why would I blow through all of our money? Trent and I are supposed to be spending the rest of our lives together. You think I want to spend the next sixty years stressed about our finances?”

“Clarissa, your dress is basically a down payment on a house.”

“And you don’t think I’m worth it? Is that what you’re saying?”

“No. I’m saying that I don’t think that anyone’s worth it,” I said. “I don’t think that anything is worth it. I think it makes more sense--”

“To just hoard your wealth like a goddamn dragon, yeah, I know.” Clarissa waved a hand across her face like she was waving off the whole conversation. “Don’t worry, Sky. Trent and I aren’t going to come knocking down your door for your precious inheritance.”

“This isn’t about my inheritance. It’s just about--”

“Mayday! Fucking mayday! Fucking panic mode!” Raven suddenly appeared beside our table. “Vicky’s Flower Shop is out!”

“Out? What, like, they don’t want to do my wedding anymore?” Clarissa asked.

“No, out, as in, they declared bankruptcy and closed down the shop for good last week. Which means that we’re fucked when it comes to flowers. Where are we going to find a flower shop willing to work with a wedding on such short notice?”

“Shit.” Clarissa brought a hand up to her forehead and leaned into it. “Oh my God, Raven. What are we going to do?”

“Don’t panic!” he instructed as he pulled out a chair from the table.

“I wasn’t panicking until you told me to panic, Raven!” Clarissa shrieked.

“Well, stop panicking!” Raven took out his phone, frantically dialing a number on his screen. “I’m going to call every flower shop within a fifty-mile radius. We’re going to get you those flowers, Clarissa, even if it’s the last thing I ever do.”

“That’s… a little dramatic, don’t you think?” I asked, floating my question over to him.

“Dramatic and desperate.” Raven turned to look at me, a smile playing at the corner of his lips.

It felt like something shifted in the space between us, like a veil had been lifted, like I was looking at Raven for the first time and everything about him seemed to glow.

It made me nervous. It made my palms feel sweaty and weak. It made me want to get up from the table and not come back unless Raven wanted me to, unless he asked for me by name.

I wanted him to ask for me by name.

What the hell?

I instantly looked away from him, not appreciating the weird feeling that was making its way to the surface of my mind. I’d never felt anything like this before and I didn’t understand why I was feeling something like this just now.

I wasn’t gay.

Maybe I was just confused. Raven definitely had a feminine quality about him, with the way he carried himself and his closeness to Clarissa. I searched my mind for a word to describe him, but the only word I could think of was pretty.

It wasn’t hard for me to imagine Raven as a woman. Maybe my brain was just filling in the blanks.

I shrugged off my attraction to Raven, chalking it up to mixed signals in my brain.

“Mimosa?” Briar asked as he took a seat beside me.

Before I could say yes or no, he was already sliding the drink across the table.

Briar and I hadn’t officially met back in Raven’s office, but Clarissa had filled me in on the details. I knew this was Briar based on the impeccable way he was dressed, and the general sense of class and style he exuded.

I also knew this was Briar because Clarissa had told me that he was wearing a pair of black faux leather boots that went all the way up to his thighs, which was an exact shoe match for the guy who’d just sat down at our table with a tray filled with wine flutes.

“You’re welcome.” Briar grinned before he picked up another glass.

This time, he offered the glass to Raven, who was currently on the phone with a flower shop.

Raven motioned toward his lips, and Briar seemed to know what he meant. He gently leaned Raven’s head back just enough to pour about a third of the drink right into Raven’s waiting mouth. When the deed was finished, they both shared a stifled laugh before Raven’s focus went back to his phone conversation.

I didn’t like that.

I didn’t like the way Briar had so casually touched Raven, as if he’d done it a million times before. I briefly wondered if they were together, like some kind of wedding planner power couple. It was easy to imagine them, side by side, working late hours and every so often playfully pouring drinks into each other’s mouths--

No.

I shouldn’t have been thinking about that. I shouldn’t have been wondering about Raven and Briar’s relationship either, because what did it matter to me?

I wasn’t gay.

I was just confused because Raven was the prettiest man I’d ever seen in my life.

“Laurel!” Briar suddenly called out, and a guy in a long, fringe coat casually approached the table.

“You rang?” Laurel smirked. “Hey, sorry I couldn’t come into work today, Briar. I thought I was going to make it back from that Fleetwood Mac concert by midnight, but I ended up on the road until like four AM.”

“Did you get pics?” Briar asked.

“Duh.”

“Then, what the hell are you waiting for? Get over here!” Briar motioned for Laurel to come over to his side of the table.

Laurel obliged, walking over to Briar and taking a seat right in his lap. He shoved his phone in Briar’s face, pointing toward the side of his screen, going on and on about what sounded like a life-changing concert.

It was impossible for me to focus on anything Laurel was saying when I was so distracted by the way he’d so calmly taken a seat in Briar’s lap.

If Briar and Raven were together, there was no way Laurel’s chosen seat would’ve been okay, would it? So, why wasn’t Raven reacting to this very public display of affection?

Unless, it wasn’t a public display of affection, at all.

Maybe this was just how Briar and Laurel interacted with each other. Hell, maybe the way Briar and Raven had interacted was just another way of expressing their friendship, too.

I struggled to interpret the situation, unsure of how close these men were to each other or what that meant for Raven and me--

Raven and me?

What the hell was I thinking?

“Hey, Raven, can you keep it down?” Laurel requested as he turned toward him. “It’s hard for me to explain how magical the concert was last night when you’re basically screaming in my ear.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m just over here trying to save a life,” Raven replied. “I’m sorry that’s not more important than your Blondie concert.”

“It wasn’t Blondie. It was Fleetwood Mac. And you would know that if you weren’t stuck on your phone every six seconds.” Laurel sighed and plucked Raven’s phone out of his grip.

Just then, a puzzled look came over Laurel’s expression.

“Why are you calling the flower shop on Sixth Street?” he asked. “I thought you were trying to save a life.”

“First of all, if you thought that I was really trying to save a life, you wouldn’t have stolen my phone from me,” Raven started. “And second of all, I am trying to save a life. The life of Clarissa’s wedding. Our florist went bankrupt, and we don’t have a backup plan. Yet.”

“I have a backup plan,” Laurel said. “Do you remember my friend, Naomi?”

“The girl with the red roses braided into her hair and winged eyeliner so sharp that it could kill a man?” Raven’s voice seemed to raise a few octaves. “Yes, I remember Naomi. I’m a very big fan of Naomi. Please tell me that Naomi is somehow getting involved in my life and soon.”

“She just opened her own flower shop. She doesn’t have a lot of clients yet, so she’d probably be happy to get an order as big as Clarissa’s,” Laurel explained. “As long as Clarissa is okay with violets and calla lilies?”

“Oh my God. Those would be perfect for the bridesmaids’ bouquets!” Clarisa exclaimed.

“Thank you, Laurel! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Raven shouted, rising to his feet. He walked over to Laurel, pulling him into his arms. “You’re an absolute angel!”

“Yeah, I try my best.” Laurel smiled. “And don’t thank me yet. I still need to talk to Naomi about it. I should probably go handle that right now, actually, before she heads home for the night.” He moved away from Raven as he hopped off Briar’s lap. “Briar, do you want to come with? I wasn’t done telling you about the way I locked eyes with Stevie on stage.”

“Of course I’m coming with you.” Briar seemed offended by the question. “And the next time there’s a Fleetwood Mac concert somewhere, you better get me a ticket, too.”

“Deal.” Laurel beamed, nodding toward the door. “Now, come on. Once Naomi blows out the candles in the front window, she’s done dealing with customers for the day. No exceptions.”

“Naomi has lit candles burning in her flower shop?” Briar frowned as he followed behind Laurel. “Huh. She must really like living on the edge.”

That was the last of their conversation that I heard as they continued to walk through the bar and out the front door.

A moment or two passed in utter silence before Raven screamed, “Fuck! Laurel still has my phone!”

With that, he bolted for the door, too.

As I quietly sat at the table with Clarissa, I struggled to keep my eyes from wandering over to the place where Raven had just been sitting. I didn’t want to give off any indication that I was interested in him, that I cared about him as anything more than Clarissa’s wedding planner.

Because I didn’t care about him. Because I wasn’t interested in him.

Because I wasn’t gay.

“Do you think Briar already paid for these drinks?” Clarissa asked as she wrapped her fingers around another mimosa. “You don’t think he would’ve left the bar without paying his tab, right?”

“I mean, even if he did, it’s not like we couldn’t cover the drinks.”

“Oh, so suddenly you’re all about spending money?” Clarissa chuckled. “I thought it was your job to make sure I pinch every penny.”

“I’m sorry if I came off that way,” I replied. “I’m not trying to be a jerk to you, Clarissa. I understand that your wedding is a big day. I just want to make sure you and Trent have enough left over to live the life you want.”

“I understand,” she sighed. “And I don’t think you’re a jerk, Sky. I do think you need to relax a little bit, though. Maybe finish your drink. Then maybe order another one?”

“I’ll drink to that.” I smiled and brought my glass up to my lips.

I looked over to where Raven had been sitting, and a question popped into my head that desperately needed an answer.

“Are Briar and Raven dating?” I asked, trying to come off as casual as possible. “They seem like they’re pretty close.”

Clarissa chuckled. “Sorry. It’s just, that’s a really funny question if you know Briar. He doesn’t date.”

“And Raven?”

“Raven is perpetually single, by choice,” she answered. “I always tell him that he could have any man in the world if he actually went out there and tried, but I think he’s still hung up on his ex--” Clarissa suddenly stopped her story as she narrowed her eyes in my direction. “Why are you so interested in Raven, anyway?”

“I’m not,” I lied.

“Whatever.” She shrugged. “It’s never too late to experiment with your sexuality--”

“I’m not trying to experiment. I’m not…”

“Not what? Not gay?” Clarissa took a final swig of her drink. “Who cares, Sky?”

“I care,” I replied in a soft tone.

She offered me a small smile. “I’m going to head home early.”

“What? Why?”

“Because Briar left,” she continued. “And he was basically the only reason I came out tonight, to go over my menu. But that’s all right. I can just catch him when he’s back at the office.” She looked over at me. “Did you want to come with me? Maybe share an Uber back to my place?”

Before I even had a chance to answer, she leaned closer toward me, her next phrase coming out as a whisper. “Or did you just want to wait for Raven to come back?”

“I’m going to wait for Raven to come back,” I answered. “I don’t want to be rude. Besides, we still don’t know if Briar covered the drinks.”

“He covered the drinks. He always does.” Clarissa winked as she moved away from the table. “And yeah. Waiting for Raven. That’s what I thought you’d say.”

She looked at me with something in her eyes that I couldn’t quite describe. It looked like a mixture of hope with a little bit of pity thrown in for good measure. It was a look I imagined someone might get if they were about to attempt a risky stunt for the first time, or if they were one of the final contestants in a heated competition.

It was like she wanted something good to happen, but she had a feeling that it wasn’t going to.

I wanted to ask her about her strange expression, but by the time I’d mentally formulated the question, Clarissa was already gone.

And I was left, all alone, surrounded by empty mimosa glasses, my eyes floating back over to Raven’s empty chair.