Chapter 5
Mark pats Thad’s back with a hard clap that sends him forward over his drink. “Chin up, dude. We’ll leave soon enough. Let me go cheer up Mr. Pete.”
He raises his voice on the last two words, shouting them down the length of the bar. Peter looks up, sees them, and breaks into a wide grin. That’s all the invitation Mark needs—he drifts away, Thad forgotten, and threads through the crowd to where Peter sits.
As Thad watches, Mark slides into the space between Peter and the wall. An arm circles Peter’s shoulders with a friendly ease Thad envies. Why can’t he touch a boy like that? Or, more specifically, touch Jamie? Even just as friends…Thad isn’t that bold.
Then Mark laughs and, because there are no more empty seats nearby, he squeezes between Peter and the bar itself to sit on Peter’s knee. With a grin, Mark chugs back the contents of Peter’s glass.