Status Update (#gaymers) by Albert Annabeth

Author:Albert, Annabeth [Albert, Annabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2015-12-07T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Once Noah recovered the use of his lungs and Adrian shoved his phone into the kid’s hand, the wedding was a lovely celebration of mingling cultures and traditions. A priest, a rabbi, and a minister all gave blessings. Adrian’s sister did not go into labor in the middle of the ceremony, which Noah counted as a huge victory, and she and her groom danced their way back down the aisle to an overblown pop song that most of the chapel seemed to know. Emily blew kisses as she pranced with her adoring new husband.

Adrian’s jaw was hard enough to sharpen knives as they stood for the recessional. Without thinking, Noah touched his wrist. It was the smallest of gestures, but Adrian shifted his attention from the couple to Noah and smiled. He grabbed Noah’s hand. Squeezed tight. A current passed between them and Noah understood on a visceral level why Adrian had tried so hard to be here—and why he’d needed a date.

The couple’s love for each other radiated with every word they spoke, every tender touch, every step, until the whole church was under their spell. Noah didn’t care how mutual the breakup had been, it had to be tough for Adrian to bear witness to such happiness for his ex. Noah’s chest filled, lifted. If he was able to take even a small piece of Adrian’s burden, it was worth the awkwardness of coming.

But at the reception it was harder to see the upside. Noah endured stilted conversation in the Land Rover on the way to the hotel. The Land Rover owner was named Evan, and he was married to Adrian’s sister, Rachel. They had three boys, two of whom shared their mother’s dark hair and light eyes and easy smiles, and a third who was blond like Evan with an equally suspicious glare for Noah. The two older boys claimed the back seat, which left the talkative Ben between Noah and Adrian. His constant stream of questions only made the awkward silences among the adults more pronounced.

The church had held around fifty guests, which while a lot to Noah, was manageable. The reception, however, seemed to triple in size. It was in a historic hotel, a huge brick and masonry affair with a formal ballroom filled with people happy to forget about the weather for a few hours. Most people seemed to know Adrian and there was a constant stream of greetings and the sort of inane small talk Noah detested. Plus there was this strange pause whenever Adrian introduced him. Whomever they were talking to would look from him to Adrian and back again, and depending on the gender, they’d either smile knowingly (the women) or shift around uncomfortably (the men). Noah felt a bit like an exhibit at the liberal zoo. Come meet my token gay relative/friend!

Which might not have been entirely fair, but Noah felt scrutinized and exposed on a level he hadn’t since graduate school and his job search. The

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