Defying Dominance (MxM) (18+)

17

Chapter 17: Jace

I'm still feeling slightly floaty when Daniel and I get in his car hours later, but I'm mostly back to normal.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay? Not overwhelmed, not scared?"

"I'm fine, Daniel. Thank you...For earlier. It was nice. It made me feel cared for."

"I'm glad. So...which way do I go?"

As we go, I give him directions between our conversations. "I'm so excited for you to try boba. And they have the best muffins! You're going to love this place, Daniel!"

Daniel smiles at me, mostly keeping his focus on the road. "Are you going to do karaoke?"

"Probably. Why?"

"I just think it would be fun to watch you sing. And to hear you."

"They have a lot of musical songs on their track list, because one of the owners was in musicals for years, so you'll definitely hear me sing something. They also have a lot of pride music."

"Have you ever gone there with anybody?"

"No, just alone. Cameron isn't big on karaoke clubs. He'd rather go to kink ones. Which, yeah, those are alright but kind of intimidating. Aurora isn't as intense as some others, though."

"...I've never even been in one of those clubs. Most of them require you to be 21 and up."

"If you're 18, some will let you in to look around and see how they operate and fill out papers if you potentially want to join when you're older. You get put on a waiting list. I'm on the one at Aurora, but I bribed the bartender to give me alcohol because I was distressed. I think he pitied me? He only took half the money I offered."

Daniel hums, carefully pulling into a parking spot. "They've got the progress flag in the window."

"Yeah. There's lots of pride décor. Come on!" I hop out of the car and walk around to grab his hand, half-pulling him into Mic Drop. "Corey!"

Corey looks up from where she's putting muffins in the display, giving me a wide smile. "Hello! Oh, you brought a friend! Welcome!"

I pull Daniel up to the mint green counter, noticing that he's looking around at all the twinkling fairy lights and the few people scattered around. No one is singing right now, but there's soft music playing from the speakers. "I'm on a date!" I tell Corey ecstatically. "Isn't he handsome?"

Daniel blinks, face going pink as Corey looks him up and down. "He is quite handsome."

"Where's Lou? I want Daniel to try his boba."

"He's in the restroom. He had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction with his dress. He'll be back at the counter soon, though."

I nod, then point at the display. "We'll take some muffins, then. Double chocolate for me, and..."

"Banana nut," Daniel says.

Corey smiles and puts them on two little pink plates. "I'll send Lou your way when he's out. Go have fun, J."

I grin at her then guide Daniel to my favorite table. It's tucked into a corner, under some draping fairy lights, with a perfect view of the rest of the place.

"This place is very...cute."

"Lou is very into cutesy aesthetics. And he's an interior designer, so he really made Corey's idea come to life. And Joel- he doesn't work here-but he's an accountant, so he manages their stuff like that. Actually an accountant! Not an accountant."