Page 35 of All I Want Is Love
Nathalie eventually bids us goodbye and leaves us. When Aspen and Robin lead us inside the bar, Soren still has his hand on my lower back. “You know,” he whispers into my ear. “The food they have here is always great, but tonight you are the biggest snack.”
I blink up at him innocently. “Does that mean you want to nibble at me if you can?”
Soren looks surprised at my boldness, but his surprise only lasts for a second, then he smirks. “Wait and see.” His voice holds so much promise that it sends a shiver down my spine.
“Hey, everything alright?” Aspen says, peeking out of the entrance door again.
“Sorry, I just had to tell Leo my newest joke,” Soren says. “Wanna hear it?”
His bluff works because Aspen looks terrified. “Thank you, I am fine.”
“You know what else is fine?” Soren asks, following my brother inside. He turns to wink at me before he disappears through the door.
I can’t help the shit-eating grin spreading across my face while I follow the two of them into the bar. What I see inside, however, takes my breath away. They kept calling it abar, while in fact it’s more like a club. The first room is indeed a bar where quite some customers are lingering around or sitting on some comfy-looking lounge furniture, but further ahead, a door opens up to a huge room with a DJ and people dancing.
Robin falls back to catch up with me. “Have you ever been to such a place?” he asks. “Because it looks like you haven’t.”
“First time in a club,” I admit. “I have only visited cocktail bars so far.”
“Don’t worry.” He takes my arm to tug me along. “This is a pretty chill place. And we actually have booked a table in the bar area so we can always retreat and relax here.”
He leads me to our table, where Aspen and Soren are chatting with a couple more people. They introduce me to them, and everyone welcomed me. It seems like not all of them are queer – some are allies. It’s all a whole new reality for me that I don’t need to hide anymore. Although I have no chance to remember all their names at once, it makes me happy how welcoming and nice they are, and how many friends Aspen has.
He really has made it in his life.
Not the way our parents wanted him to, but he did. He made a good life for himself.
He has a steady job, he owns his own coffee shop, and he has good friends.
“Are you okay?” Soren asks me quietly while Aspen and Robin chat with their friends.
“Yes,” I reassure him. “My head’s just spinning. So many names, but everyone is so nice. I just don’t want to insult anyone by saying something wrong.” I pause. “I was in the closet for a long time, and I don’t know much about the queer umbrella term.”
“Don’t worry.” Soren reaches out his hand under the table, squeezing my knee. “No one expects you to get it all immediately.”
“Help me?” I whisper.
“Okay, the blond guy there.”
I nod. “The one with shoulder-length hair?”
“That’s Eli. He is in a polyamorous relationship.”
“Like your assistant? Like Nathalie?”
“No, Nat is in a hierarchical relationship. She and her wife are each other’s main partners. They have specific rules with who and how they date others. Eli is part of an actual throuple.”Soren discreetly gestures at a tall, handsome guy with dark hair and another man who looks to be a bit older. “These are his two partners. They are all in a relationship together.”
“How does that work? I would die of jealousy.”
Soren chuckles. “Me too. But for them it works.”
“Right.” I nod. “I don’t want to sound judgmental. I am just so curious.”
“I know,” Soren reassures me. “What else do you want to know?”
“The brunette guy who is talking with Aspen at the moment… He said he is ace.”
“It means he is asexual,” Soren explains.
