Trouble & the Wallflower (5 page)

“Okay….” Sean’s eyes lit up, bemused. Damn. Gavin had forgotten he was there. “While you guys are macking on each other in public, I’m gonna head to work. I’m already late.” Davy blushed and busied himself shoving things back into his messenger bag. “Oh no. Don’t stop on my account. The Asian ladies aren’t finished taking pictures of you.” Sean pointed to where the camera-wielding tourists were still tittering together, watching them.

Davy’s face turned a nice shade of crimson as he turned his back to the ladies. Gavin and Sean traded a look of amusement and tried to hold back laughter.

Gavin was about to head over to the stack of papers and books he’d gathered when he saw the bright-yellow flyer on top. “Hey, you like the Jawbreakers?” He was surprised. Davy didn’t seem like the house-music, club-kid type. Davy snatched the stack from Gavin with a “thanks,” but Gavin saw an opening and he was gonna take it. He had just made a fool of himself for Davy, so the least Davy could do was answer a simple question.

“You going to the show?” Gavin persisted.

Davy was hesitant, but he eventually shrugged. “I’m not sure. I like them, but I think the show is sold out.”

Gavin gave Davy his most winning smile. “You’re in luck. I’m going and a friend backed out. I happen to have an extra ticket. You should come with.” Davy opened his mouth to protest, but Gavin spoke over his objection. “It’ll just go to waste, and I don’t want to go alone.” Davy’s expression was dubious at best. “Just as friends! Don’t make me go alone. None of my friends like dubstep. You owe me for being your knight in shining armor, anyway.” Davy scoffed at that. “Please?” Gavin tried for an angelic expression that got him an eye roll from Davy, but he got those from Davy quite often, so he wasn’t discouraged. “If you have a horrible time, I’ll never ask you to go anywhere with me again.”

Davy was clearly calling bullshit on that one. “Seriously?”

“Cross my heart.” He made an X over his heart.

“Okay.” Davy looked as though he couldn’t believe he’d agreed to it, then nodded as though he’d accepted his fate.

“Awesome!” Gavin gave Davy a playful punch to the shoulder.

“But I’ll meet you there, okay?”

Gavin preferred picking the guy up, but he’d play by Davy’s rules just this once. “Perfect. I’ll be waiting outside at seven thirty.”

Davy nodded again. “Okay. I’ll be there.” He put his bag back over his shoulder and took a step back from Gavin. “Well, I should get to work too. You guys have a good day. I’ll, uh, see you Thursday, then.” He turned and headed off down the sidewalk at a brisk pace.
Damn, those jeans fit that ass just right.
Gavin’s cock agreed as it plumped in his shorts.

When Davy was out of earshot, Gavin gave a triumphant “Yessss!”

“So I’m guessing I’m out of a ticket, huh?”

Gavin jumped at the sound of Sean’s voice. “Dude, you scared the hell out of me!” Sean had his hands crossed over his chest, but he didn’t seem pissed. “Er. Yeah. I’ll make it up to you, though.”

Sean waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. Just don’t fuck up with that guy, okay.” Gavin tried his best “who, me?”
routine, but Sean didn’t bite. “You’re such an ass,” Sean said affectionately. And with that, he left Gavin at the mercy of the Asian ladies who were looking at him with flirting eyes and rosy cheeks.

Being the smart-ass he was, he did the only thing that seemed appropriate now.

He took a bow.

T
HE
CONCERT
was in the Industrial District in a converted warehouse. The neighborhood was close to the water and had a dingy covering of dirt over all the buildings that made everything look gray. Davy had never been a fan of the area. There wasn’t much to do other than go to one of the few bars, which were mostly populated with frat-boys, metalheads, or Seattle’s version of rednecks. He hadn’t even heard of the large club the concert was housed in until he saw one of his favorite bands would be performing there tonight.

Davy still wasn’t sure why in the hell he’d said yes to Gavin. That feeling grew with each passing moment. He was nervous, trying to fend off a panic attack. Not only had he agreed to be around a ridiculous amount of people, but he would be there with Gavin. And none of the people going in there looked like Davy’s kind of crowd. Not that anyone was really his kind of crowd, but these were hard-core club kids wearing bright colors, short skirts, stilettos, and random accessories that had blinking lights in them.
Hope there are no epileptics attending tonight.

Adding to his nerves, Gavin said they were there just as friends, but Davy wasn’t sure he trusted that. Although, after being sufficiently emasculated in public by that jackass in the park on Monday morning, and then again when Gavin swooped in to defend him, he couldn’t imagine Gavin saw him as anything other than the pitiful creature he’d come across as.

Not that he wanted Gavin to think of him any other way. Well, maybe not the pitiful part, but he didn’t exactly trust guys enough to want to date anyone, and Gavin didn’t have a trustworthy bone in his body. The guy may be sex from head to toe, but that predatory gleam to his eyes left Davy feeling let down when he’d realized Gavin had only helped him in the park so he could manipulate him into a date. He’d almost allowed himself to believe Gavin was actually defending him because he liked him. But the shameless way he’d goaded Davy into coming to the concert with him was a neon sign saying “I’m gonna make you my bitch.”

So that’s why you took an hour to get ready and showed up early?

“Shut up, you.”
Oh, now you look crazy fussing at yourself.

He glanced around to make sure no one had heard his moment of weirdness. He owned his eccentricity, wore it like a badge, but he didn’t like the idea of a stranger having him carted off in the jacket with the arms tied behind the back because he was fighting with himself.

As if Davy wasn’t feeling dumb enough for being so early, Gavin was ten minutes late.
Fuck this.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. This was ridiculous and he was not sticking around. He’d just tell Gavin something had come up
—
if he ever saw him again. He was tired as hell anyway. He’d been late with an assignment and that had set off his anxiety. That’s why Davy never procrastinated. Last-minute pressure always flustered him, and then the realization he was flustered would set off a freak-out that tumbled over into a crippling inability to function—a fucked-up domino effect that could be easily avoided by just doing shit in a timely manner.

Instead, he’d remembered his late assignment while working the night before and flipped out while trying to close down and had just barely survived closing. The repetitive routine of counting down and cleaning had eased his nerves enough to get him home and in bed. Which was where he really wanted to be now.

Only he didn’t get so far as across the street when he spotted Gavin loping toward him decked out, looking good enough to lick. He even made smoking look sexy. And Davy
hated
cigarettes. Davy couldn’t help but stare at Gavin’s easy swagger as he crossed the street, jaywalking. The guy didn’t follow any rules, even simple ones, did he?

Gavin drew nearer, and Davy’s heart thudded harder and his cock started pointing toward the man as if attracted to its polar north. The guy was fucking devastating in a pair of straight-legged black jeans, white high tops, and a gray Henley, buttons open to reveal a chest tattoo. And of course he wore his beanie. Did he ever take it off? The tattoos on his arms and his James Dean bad-boy looks were getting him stares from more than just one passing person
—
male and female. But that damn smug smirk that seemed to be his trademark quirked up on the edge of his mouth as soon as his gaze lighted on Davy. Davy felt that goddamned smirk down to his toes.

“Heya, Davy,” Gavin drawled.

Davy almost came in his chinos when Gavin took a final drag from his cigarette, holding it between his thumb and his forefinger before flicking it on the ground and stamping it out. That mouth was lethal.

“Litter much,” Davy scolded.
Smooth.

Gavin cackled and dismissed the words, scanning the crowd gathering at the door of the club. He didn’t look impressed. “What are them lame dudes doing here?” He pointed to a group of guys who looked as though they’d tried too hard to emulate the cast of
Jersey Shore
.

Davy didn’t feel quite so lame now. His black V-neck and chinos looked
GQ
compared to those idiots with their popped-collar Abercrombie shirts and orange spray tans.

“We call that the douche patrol. What, did every freshman at U-Dub decide to hit this show tonight?”

Davy shrugged. Gavin appraised him for a minute. His stony-faced scrutiny was almost unbearable. Davy felt as though he could finally breathe again when Gavin went back to scanning the crowd of concertgoers.

“Uh, as much as I like this group, those douches look like they’ll get the cops called on this gig and I hate this part of town. Would you oppose ditching and doing something else?”

Davy agreed with Gavin’s assessment, but he was wary of the invitation to do anything else. Partly because he wasn’t sure whether Gavin actually didn’t want to deal with the crowd or if he could tell just how uncomfortable Davy was. He hoped like hell it wasn’t the latter. He was tired of embarrassing himself in front of Gavin only to have Gavin come to the rescue.

“Like what?” His tone was so dubious Gavin gave a hearty laugh. Davy couldn’t deny that it warmed him inside. It was such an honest laugh, and Gavin’s face was open and relaxed like it had been at the club when he was with his friends and unaware of the eyes on him.

“Well, we’re all dressed up, may as well have somewhere to go.” Gavin pulled out his phone and started typing. After a moment the text-message tone sounded and he smiled. “Hey, Sean says karaoke is on over at The Place. He and Mason are there.”

Davy was really unsure. He did feel better knowing that they wouldn’t be there alone, and he had spent a lot of time getting ready. And if he was perfectly honest, he had been looking forward to actually spending a night out with another person, even if it was Gavin with his leering and flirting that just never turned off.

“Davy! C’mon. Drinks, watching drunk gays trying to hit Whitney’s high notes.”

Davy almost gagged at the puppy-dog eyes Gavin attempted to sway him with. Granted, they were really pretty brown puppy-dog eyes, but that innocent look was in direct contradiction to the bad-boy thing Gavin was trying for. Davy wondered which one was the real Gavin, which made him even more wary of the guy.

Gavin sighed. “Okay. How about this? Come for an hour. If you hate it, I’ll tell ’em I hit on you and you stormed out because I’m a major dickhead.” Davy felt himself giving in. Gavin obviously saw a crack in the façade, so he decided to move in for the kill. “I mean, you look hella sexy tonight. May as well show off that ass in those chinos. That should not be hidden from the world.”

Davy blushed. “Okay, gah. Just don’t say any more shit like that, okay?” Gavin laughed again, and Davy couldn’t imagine saying anything other than a resounding yes to any question Gavin might ask if he kept looking at Davy with that brilliant light in his eyes.

And you thought you were above being led around by your dick.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?” Davy snapped.

Gavin stopped laughing, face displaying total surprise. Davy stammered through an apology but couldn’t think of anything that made him sound less crazy, so he settled for “Sorry. Uh, let’s just get going.”

He mentally kicked his own ass the whole way to the bus stop.

G
AVIN
WAS
many things, but stupid he was not. He could tell Davy was not feeling the concert at all. He wasn’t impressed with the crowd himself, but Davy was almost vibrating with his need to get the hell out of there. He was glad he’d messaged Sean, because twenty minutes in the bar and a cocktail later, Davy had loosened up a little. Sean and Davy seemed to get along well. Davy was talkative with him…. If you could call it talkative. Talkative for Davy, anyway.

It wasn’t hard to figure out that Davy didn’t get out a lot, but after about his fourth vodka and cranberry and a group shot of tequila, he’d confirmed it by saying, “I never do this, guys.” He was still shy as hell, even drunk, but he thanked them for inviting him out. Gavin wished he could be as good with Davy as Sean was. Sean was patient and asked the right questions. Then there was Mason whose enthusiasm was infectious, so he had Davy almost bouncy and laughing openly at his antics. Gavin didn’t mind too much, though. While Sean had Davy talking about how horrible it was that some queen murdered an Usher song—“How dare they give him a mic!”
Damn, Davy has fangs. Store that away for later
—
Gavin got a good look at Davy. And damn, was that boy sexier than Gavin would have guessed in his uniform khakis and Bart’s Soda Shop T-shirt.