Page 6 of Country Road Romance

Suddenly an ugly voice broke through the crowd.

“Go back to California with the rest of the sinners, faggot!”

All of a sudden the adoring crowd turned as one, everyone looking either angry or horrified. For his part, Charlie’s anxiety had suddenly turned into the scalding anger that he knew too well, the part of himself that he worked very hard to keep buried so that it didn’t get him into trouble.

Don’t do it, Charlie,he thought.Don’t pick a fight with this asshole, because it’s just going to get you into trouble that you can’t afford.

Then the crowd parted to reveal the guy who’d shouted the slur, and whatever inclination Charlie might have had to be restrained flew right out the window. He’d half-expected the guy to be some kind of redneck but, to his surprise, he was dressed in a pair of khakis and a dress shirt and tie. A pair of brown loafers completed the whole getup, and the sign he was carrying–withthe words “Go back to Sodom and Gomorrah” on it–was just the icing on the cake.

I’m surprised that he doesn’t have a whole gaggle of religious bigots behind him,he thought.

Even though that little voice in the back of his head kept screaming at him not to give this asshole any encouragement by engaging with him, he knew that he was too far gone. He’d put up with guys like this his whole life, and now that he had the privilege and the money and the status, he’d be damned if he’d let him say that kind of stuff and get away with it.

Not while I’m in West Virginia,he thought.I let assholes like this get in my way too many other times, but not this time.

Just as he started to walk toward him, though, conscious all the while of the eyes of his fans and reporters locked on his every move, he heard the sound of an engine roaring and tires squealing, and then Jared was there, his hand resting gently on his arm.

“This guy isn’t worth it,” he whispered, somehow both urgent and reassuring. “Trust me. I’ve seen him at events like this, and he’s trying to get you to do something stupid. Don’t give in.”

Something about Jared’s calming tone seemed to bring Charlie back to himself, and he gave himself a little shake, thinking about how close he’d come to doing something colossally stupid.

“How did you know what I was getting ready to do?”

Jared gave him a level look. “ I could see that you were about to deck the guy, and the last thing I want is for the festival to have to bail you out of jail.”

Suddenly the brief feeling of euphoria that Charlie had felt at Jared potentially doing something to help him for his own sake evaporated. He should have known that he’d only been thinking about the festival and its well-being.

So much for that,he thought bitterly.

When Charlie didn’t make any move to go to Jared’s truck, the other man started guiding him, one hand on the small of his back. Even just that little bit of a touch was enough to send a flood of warmth through Charlie's body, reminding him that it had been way too long since anyone had touched him in a romantic way.

“I’m not an invalid,” he snapped under his breath.

“Then stop acting like one,” Jared snapped back. “I’m supposed to show you around the city, and that’s what I’m going to do, whether you like it or not.”

“You’re really pushy and obnoxious, you know that?”

“Yeah, well, you’ve let fame go to your head, so I guess we’re even.”

They continued bickering like this as they made their way to Jared’s truck, and all the while the gathered fans and reporters just kept looking at them and clicking their phones and the bigot kept shouting at them and waving his sign.

I can just imagine what Sheri is going to say about this,Charlie thought dismally.She told me not to get into trouble, and the first thing I do when I walk outside the hotel is almost get into a fistfight with someone.

As he got into Jared’s truck, he started to wonder whether it was a good idea to have come to this festival at all, or whether he should have just stayed out in LA. It might have been at least a little bit easier if Jared had shown any signs of warming up to him, but if anything he looked even more hostile. As he started the truck back up he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead of him, staring at the road as he drove around town.

After about ten minutes of this, Charlie decided to try to ease the tension a bit.

“You know, if your job is to show me around and let me see the sights of your fair city, the least you could do is, you know, actuallytalkto me.”

Jared just grunted and kept staring out the window.

Charlie sighed, but he was also starting to feel a bit annoyed about this whole thing.

“Thank you for coming back to get me,” he tried. “Sheri said she was going to get in touch with you.” He thought briefly about pushing Jared to try to get him to say more about why he didn’t like him but decided against it. He’d probably get around to doing so in his own time, anyway.

Just then Jared sighed.

“I guess you’re right,” he said. “I know that you haven’t been here before, and that kind of surprises me. I mean, it’s the second largest city in the state, after all. And I know you’ve been to Charleston and Morgantown. So what gives?”

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