Chapter 2

“Oh, did I tell you about the drag performance tomorrow night? You can probably catch the tail end of it after your gig thingy.”

He was really getting on my nerves. Gig thingy? And he knew I hadn’t been to the gay bar in town yet because, once again, I hadn’t come out to my family.

“I already told the band I was going to go out for drinks with them at The Amazon.”

Hector scoffed. “The Amazon? That place is a total dump. Come on, you’ll have fun at Charley’s, I know you will.”

“I’m sure it will be fun, but I’ve already made plans.”

He was silent for a moment. I counted down in my head. Three, two, one—

“How come you never want to do stuff I want to do?”

I sighed. “Do we really have to get into it right now? I told you, I’m not out to my family, so I don’t want to be seen at the gay bar, okay? And I made plans with my band. I’m not backing out on their plans just to go see a drag show. Or the end of a drag show.”

“Something I want to do. So, you don’t want to do it.”

I counted to ten, willing myself to calm down. “Hec, come on. Once I find the right time to come out, I’ll go with you. When I have gigs on the weekends, I’m pretty much booked.”

He was silent. Great. I hated when he gave me the silent treatment.

We pulled up to the restaurant and Hector still hadn’t said anything. He shut off the engine and we sat for a moment.

“I just don’t feel like you support me, Junior.”

“I don’t want you to feel that way. I do support you. I mean, I’m going out to dinner with your parents again. And your dad asks me all those questions about how much the band makes and stuff. Makes me feel bad.”

“If you don’t want to do dinner anymore, just say so.” He pulled the keys out of the ignition and looked at me. “I mean, we can go right now, if you want.”

I threw my hands up and slapped them down on my thighs. “Jesus Christ, Hec. That’s not what I’m saying. Why are you twisting my words?”

“I’m just translating what I hear you say, babe.”

“To me, that says you’re not really listening, then. Babe.” He smirked, and I shook my head. “Look, I really don’t want to fight. Can we…pause? Put a pin in it?”

He sighed, reached over and grabbed my hand. “Yeah. I don’t want to fight either. Let’s just do dinner and we can talk about it later.” He squeezed my hand, and leaned in to give me a quick kiss.

Dinner was fine. Hector’s dad only asked about the band’s gig tomorrow night at first, but as the band came up in conversation, he asked how much we were getting paid. I reminded him—like I had several times in the past—that I still worked at the hotel and brought in steady income that way to make up for the band’s meager income.

Hector’s mom asked if we had everything we needed (again), if we were doing okay (still), and if we needed money (again).

I only had one glass of wine, but Hector had three, so I figured I should drive home. He fought with me for several minutes, but his mom finally just took the keys from him and gave them to me. Hector was kind of a lightweight, and he was an incredibly horny drunk. I had to stop him multiple times from trying to undo my pants on the way home.

It wasn’t until we got inside and into the bedroom that I gave in. He unbuttoned my shirt and his lips and tongue made their way down my bare chest, across my nipples, and down my stomach

He clumsily undid my belt buckle, and pulled down my pants and underwear. I groaned at the feeling of his mouth on my skin. I ran my hands through his hair.

I grabbed his face and bent down, kissing him and then pulling him up on top of me. We fell backward onto the bed, where I immediately rolled over to straddle him, undoing his buttons to reveal his muscular, hairy chest. He breathed heavily as I ran my hands along his body, feeling his eagerness beneath me.

I climbed off and quickly undid his jeans, pulling them down to reveal his beautiful naked body. After reaching in his bedside drawer to prepare, I straddled him once again.

His hands went above his head, as they always did. I’d learned early on that if I was going to have sex with drunk Hector, I’d better be prepared to do all the work.