Page 85 of The Battle of Maddox
[It was a falafel cart, and the end of the day.] Ford made a choking noise. [He didn’t even grab a water.]
“Sorry I was trying to keep your ass alive.”
[I would have accepted a knish.]
Smoke flipped him off. “Let’s go eat.”
Ora headed out the door, and I folded my hand into Aaron’s and followed him.
“What the fuck…” Holland whispered.
Aaron snatched his hand back and looked at me, horrified. But I wasn’t sure what exactly he was horrified at. I looked back at Holland, who was standing with Rand and Ford, just staring at us. I glanced forward at Smoke and Ora in the door. Ora was simply confused.
“What…what was that?” Rand asked.
Aaron turned five shades of red, and hung his head. “Knew it,” he whispered.
Oh, no. This was not going to happen. I reached out and grabbed his hand again, and pulled him into me. I looked at Rand and Holland, then over to Ora.
“What did you know, Ay-ay,” I asked quietly.
He shook his head against my chest.
“Aaron, look at me, babe.”
He lifted his head and glanced at me. “I'm Robot Servant's own personal Yoko Ono.”
I couldn’t have stopped the laugh if I wanted to. “Oh my God, no you’re not! First off, you’re way prettier than she is. Two if you ever do that performance art crap, I’ll take your ass out. “
He was laughing lightly against me, but he still looked devastated.
Finding Ora, then Rand and Holland, and motioning them into us, I held off Smoke and Ford for a moment. This was band business. They didn’t hesitate to move in and join us in a huddle that I moved off to the side of the lobby.
“Who has a problem with a gay man?” I asked.
“What?” Ora asked.
“Who in this group has a problem with homosexuality?”
“You are kidding, right?” Holland asked. “Aaron is gay. We hang out with a ton of gay men. No one here has a problem with anyone in the LGBTQ community and you know that.”
“Okay, now who has trouble with a gay relationship in the band?”
“Whoa.” Rand looked down at our clasped hands. “That kiss on stage was fake. Wasn't it?”
“It was supposed to be.” I blinked a few times. “But it changed. And frankly, the whole thing changed.”
“So, you two are...dating?” Ora asked.
Aaron’s eyebrows went up, and we exchanged confused looks. “I guess?”
I cocked my head and teased him. “You guess? The screaming orgasm on the plane—”
“Stop.” Holland put a hand to his head. “Stop right there. Okay. Fine. You’re suddenly gay, Maddox?”
“Bi,” I answered. “Well, I think. It doesn’t matter. Aaron is hot and I’m on that. He seems to be okay with me too. Honestly, we’ve spent the last four days just trying to escape back here, so we’re just starting to sort this. I...just grabbed his hand, like I'd wanted to do for days. We’ve been hiding, and ducking and dodging shit, and just grabbing sometime for us here and there. How about if we let you know what this is when we figure it out. Until then, let’s let it fall where it may. He and I are a thing, and no one needs to overreact.”
“I thought you were straight.” Rand scrubbed a hand over his face.
