Sideways

Chapter 35 Buck 30.0

Friday, June 30th

The repeated thump of the drum beat bounces from the speakers, and Eddie Diaz can feel the groove of the house track as he pulls his sister Adriana's hand, leading her through the crowded dance floor of Exchange. As they cut through the crowd trying to find their group, Eddie sees the outline of two tall figures standing above the others on the dance floor. Not many people are as tall and broad as Buck and Cole.

But Eddie would know Buck's form anywhere. Eddie is really starting to think Wes is right and that they are connected on some other, deeper level. They always know where the other is in a room like this. As soon as Eddie spots Buck, it's almost as if Buck senses it. His eyes snap up to find Eddie and a warm and loving grin spreads across his face. Buck is dressed in nice black slacks and a tight, short-sleeved maroon button-down. The deep red makes his eyes pop even more.

Then there is Cole, the man is a walking tank. He is deceivingly large, and the differences between Cole and Buck's frames are only highlighted when they are next to each other. The other two inches he has on Buck's height and his wider muscled frame stand out more when they are side by side like this. Eddie looks at Cole's frame, from his grey slacks to the olive button-down, which, just like Buck's, is screaming tight across his chest.

Adriana squeezes his hand, and Eddie turns to face his sister. She smiles at him, clearly noticing the interaction between him and Buck. She points to the side where Maddie dances with Sophia, Bosko and Dani. Eddie releases her hand and watches as she ebbs and flows through the crowd. He only takes his eyes off her as he watches her hug Bosko, who winks at Eddie, letting him know his sisters are safe and in good hands.

Eddie turns back to Buck to find him pushing away a woman who was trying to dance with him. As he gets closer, he hears Buck say, "Sorry, I'm taken." he lifts his hand to point at his wedding band. Eddie slides into Buck, leans in and places a chaste kiss on his lips. The woman is gone before Eddie pulls away from the kiss.

Just as he does, Buck's hands find their way to his waist, pulling Eddie closer and bouncing to the track's beat. The vocal of the song starts, "Don't know why I need you like I do, But I see better things, the us to be, Yes, I dream of this so much, I do see, Walking in a clouded room, I try to make it through, but I see, You are coming up to me, yes I think I'm going numb, no use, yeah, I'm losing control." The vocal of a track triggers a memory of Buck telling Eddie that one of these days, he is going to lose control in the bedroom. Just as Eddie is about to mention it to Buck, he feels someone slide in behind him and, at first, thinks it's Wes before he feels Cole's broad chest press in and against his back.

The three men lose themselves to the rhythm of the song for a moment. Eddie's mind drifts back to the conversation they had a few weeks ago about society's expectations and assumptions, and he has a brief moment to wonder what his parents would think if they saw him like this, dancing and sandwiched between the two bigger men. He lets that thought in for a moment before deciding once again he doesn't care. Not anymore. He loves this. His new life. The life he and Buck made together.

Eddie feels as if someone is staring at them, and he looks to the side to see an annoyed Wes standing there, arms crossed, foot tapping in mock jealousy and anger. Eddie laughs, and the three men pull apart as the song changes. Wes walks over to join, and Eddie has a moment to appreciate Wes's choice of clothing. His grey polo makes his stormy eyes stand out. He watches as the same woman who tried to dance with Buck repeats the same mistake with Wes and can't help but laugh. He wishes Hen was here to see this, it was a repeated joke she made.

Someone bumps into Eddie's side, and he turns to find Chim and Albert, both hands full of drinks. They hand them out to everyone but Eddie, and he just steals some of Buck's drink. Eddie pulls Albert aside and points to the sad and dejected-looking woman. Eddie takes a moment to look her over. She is beautiful. Olive skin, long and flowing brown curly hair. He watches as Albert walks over and strikes up a conversation with her. The look on her face goes from sad to as if Christmas came early.