In Your Court by Reece Pine

Author:Reece Pine [Pine, Reece]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-63533-224-7
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2017-01-18T05:00:00+00:00

8

THE DUTCH girl and a murder of her shrill buddies join us in a slipshod crew to trawl bars. They’re a perfunctory buffer between Xin and me, both relieving and annoying me by fracturing us. We don’t talk much. After two dim nightclubs, one as big as my kitchen, the other a cheap disco full of drunk Brits being extorted by locals, someone in the group suggests karaoke.

“Sorry, guys. We’re out.” Xin’s hand settles on my shoulder. “Hey, I got a text. Before Contact, want to go meet Thuan?”

God. I’m fading fast, but…. “Yeah, of course.”

Thuan meets us in a dark street and leads us through a closed café that becomes a sundries store, then a private kitchen, into a backyard strung with lights that’s actually a packed bar. We’re just in time for the main act, a girl singing and playing a grand piano. It’s the coolest bar I’ve ever been in, and everyone quiets instantly as the set begins.

Beer glasses are pressed into our hands, round one by Xin, then round two by Thuan, who nods his agreement at my obvious awe of the girl’s voice. After ten minutes it hurts to stand, however, and I know it will hurt as badly to sit, so I shuffle out of view of her and lean back against a brick wall. Xin leans alongside me, a hand on my shoulder. It holds me, but it’s not flirting anymore, nor demanding. It’s forgiving. I’m being let go.

His hand falls during the last song and he laces his fingers with mine. They’re wet from the beer glass, but hot, and they throb at the same slow pace as the melancholy encore.

“I didn’t think an American would be this hard to understand,” Xin says just loudly enough that I can hear.

“I’m from the US,” I say, hating myself for being pedantic, for being pathetic, for being silent. It’s too soon to leave. I haven’t scratched the surface of Saigon. I just know I really like it here and I want to know more.

Thuan doesn’t raise an eyebrow at the two of us holding hands, but he does smile. Of course he does. Gay marriage was legal here before it was at home and Xin’s his buddy. I’m almost a buddy, apparently, from the way he elbows me. “You’ve had a fun trip, then? Ho Chi Minh’s good?”

Xin squeezes my hand and my throat feels as tightly held. “Cam on,” I manage. ‘Thank you.’

“You’ll come back,” Thuan says confidently. “We’ll talk more. You’ll stay with me?”

I nod and we swap numbers before Thuan heads home to his wife and Xin and I are back on the street.

“Contact now?”

I wish. I need to lie down, not deal with propping up the bar of a gay club where everyone will be rightfully all over Xin. I cover disappointment with a yawn and stretch, shaking Xin off. “I’m gonna bow out. Xe om?”

Xin shrugs, indifferent. “I’ll make sure you get home, then.”

“If you want.”

All week I’ve been

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