Page 5 of Don't Scare Me, My Love

A familiar yellow raincoat caught my eye. Jack—the only other gay guy in town, and therefore my friend—walked in with two boxes of donuts.

The cereal killer turned back to me. “Well, you win this round. Pineapple on pizza is gross.” He laughed at me. “Two more questions. First: Would you mind if I took some photos and videos around here?”

“Why would you do that?”

He took a deep breath. “Look, I’m not a creep, even if I come off like one.”

He obviously didn’t get the memo that I was still talking to him because he was the most fascinating guy I had met in years.

“I drive around the country and have a MyTube channel where I document my journey. It’s not big, few followers, but it’s close to my heart.”

“And why would you want to film a gas station in the middle of nowhere?”

“Because it made an impression on me,” he said with a smile that could have melted my heart if I didn’t know he was just saying that to get a yes out of me.

I gestured behind him. “Knock yourself out.” My eyes darted to Jack, who watched the spectacle with curiosity. “And the second question?”

“Do you have a restroom?”

I took a deep breath and pointed to the small hallway next to the coffee station to my left. “Down there on the right.”

I reached under the counter, pulled out what I always affectionately called‘the brick,’and placed it in front of him. Itwas a three-inch key with a twenty-inch clay tag that weighed two pounds. “Please bring it back.”

“Will you hunt me down if I don’t?”

“You can bet your ass I will.”

“Then maybe I’ll keep it,” he said, taking the key but setting the half-finished coffee on the counter as if he wanted to make sure I knew he wouldn’t leave without talking to me again.

I looked after him and couldn’t help but stare at his firm ass as he strolled down the small corridor, looking at everything as if he were in a museum.

Jack stepped up to the counter and stared after him as well. “That was… what was that?” Jack asked, handing me the two dozen donuts. He sometimes comes by to deliver them when Sienna from the Mountain View Cafe doesn’t have the time to bring them over before they open up.

“Don’t ask me. Found him sleeping in a minivan behind the building this morning.”

“Gay?” Jack asked.

I shrugged. “Everyone is assumed to be gay until proven otherwise.” I pushed some buttons on the coffee machine to make Jack a cappuccino.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would say he was flirting with you,” Jack said, a little louder so I could still hear him over the coffee machine working its magic.

I put on a rubber glove and moved the donuts from their box to the refrigerated display. “He’s just passing through.”

“Even better. Nothing to worry about if he’s straight.”

Jack and I had known each other since he moved to town four years ago. Like everyone else, he came here regularly for coffee, probably to have someone to talk to who wasn’t at least half a century older than him. But the ten years that were in between us were enough that it took us two years to figure out that we were both gay. At that moment, we both thought weshould go on a date—just because. But after an awkward minute, we unanimously agreed that we weren’t each other’s type and that we’d be better off as friends.

The coffee machine beeped, and I handed Jack his cup. He put his credit card on the counter, but I slid it right back to him.

“Do you know how it makes me feel when you never let me pay?” Jack asked, shaking his head.

“Loved and cherished as a friend?”

Scowling, he took the card and coffee.

With a creak, the restroom door swung open, tacitly ending Jack's and my conversation. The brown-haired giant ducked into the corridor. I tried not to stare too obviously at him and focused on getting the donuts into the display. Jack blew at his coffee, studying the merchandise as if he had no work today, while I could see him glancing over his shoulders.

The guy put the restroom key on the counter, leaving his hand on the clay tag. “Or do you want me to keep it so you can hunt me for fun?”

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