"It's just a bar, Liam.
They can't keep us out."
"You think not?" Liam
laughed nervously. "We're in redneck hell, Jace. Not only can they keep us
out, they can tar and feather us."
Jace Marrok rolled his
eyes when Liam glanced behind him at their friend, Bay. "That is what they do
in these backwater towns, isn't it? Tar and feather people?"
Bay snorted. "Normal
people, maybe. Queers like us?" Bay shook his head. "They string us up and,
like, throw lawn darts at us or something."
"Oh please," Jace
replied. "This is a public place. We have as much right to be here as anyone
else."
"Honey, I hate to break
this to you, but we're not anyone else." Bay chuckled. "We're loud,
flaming, flamboyant queens. Hell, the eyeliner on Rue's face alone could get
our asses kicked."
Jace frowned.
Rue blushed.
"Jace, honey, if someone
looked up ‘gay’ in the dictionary," Bay said as he gestured to all of them,
"they'd find a picture of us."
"We're not that bad,"
Jace insisted.
"Jace, what color is my
shirt?" Bay asked as he plucked at the silky material with his fingers.
"Azure blue, why?"
"And Liam's?" Bay
continued.
"Chartreuse."
"Uh huh," Bay said, "and
what type of piercing does Rue have?"
Jace glanced back at Rue,
grinning. "Guiche."
"Honey, face it, we're
gay!"
Jace laughed at the blush
creeping up Rue's face again. Bay was probably right. Rue did wear a lot of
eyeliner. Still, they had as much right as anyone else to be in this bar, even
if they were clearly gay. And, unless someone was blind and deaf, they were
all clearly gay.
They talked gay, they
walked gay, and they looked gay. Hell, they probably even smelled gay. They
were the stereotypical gay men. Loud, bright colors, makeup and piercings,
even the effeminate body movements—they had it all, in spades. Christ, two of
the four of them had little sequined purses under their arms.
"Okay, so we're gay. So
what? That doesn't mean we don't have as much right to be here as anyone
else," Jace said as grabbed the door handle to the bar. "Besides, maybe we can
teach those hicks a things or two about fashion and makeup."
Jace was laughing as he
opened the bar door and took a step inside. He came to a screeching halt at
the scene before him. Bay, Liam, and Rue plowed into him from behind. Jace's
laughter slowly died away.
In this instance, he
might be wrong about where they could be.
He was looking at a sea
of rough, muscle-bound, jean-clad, cowboy-boot-wearing, beer-drinking
rednecks. They were everywhere, as far as the eye could see. And more than one
of them were drool-worthy.
Most, if not all of them,
had beers in their hands. A few men sat around booths on the back wall of the
room. Several were playing pool. There were even a few men that seemed to be
just hanging out at the bar. Loud country music could be heard…well, almost
everywhere.
It was really loud.
The place basically
looked like every backwoods bar that Jace had ever envisioned—pool tables,
beer and peanuts, country music, and rednecks. And Jace couldn't see a gay man
in the bunch.
Jace grinned
mischievously. This could be fun. He didn't much care that the four of them
stood out like warts on a thumb. Jace wasn't ashamed of the fact that he was
gay or that he loved men. He didn't care if his demeanor made some people
uncomfortable. He was who he was, and he wasn't going to change that for
anyone, not even a room full of rednecks.
"Come on in, boys." Jace
giggled "There's eye candy as far as the mascara wearing eye can see."
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