tarotgal

Part 5

That night, there was a banquet as part of the conference. They’d purchased a companion pass for David so he could attend, and both men spent a good hour getting ready for the event. Granted, most of that time consisted of showering together, which had quickly devolved into warm, wet blowjobs in the shower. But they were surprisingly well groomed in suits and ties a good fifteen minutes before the event was to even start.

Though neither man said it out loud, David was fairly certain they were both secretly hoping that they might run into Troy tonight. Of course they wanted to look their best at a formal event in any case, but knowing they might make a good impression on a potential lover took their attention to detail to the next level. They were meticulous with their appearances, right down to the choices of cufflinks and dabs of aftershave.

“You look amazing,” Lucas told him when they got on the elevator where the mirrors reflected their appearances outward to infinity on each side. He took David’s hand, swinging it between them.  “If I weren’t absolutely starving, I’d take you right back up to our room and f—”

He broke off at that when the elevator stopped and the doors slid open at floor nineteen. Four people who could have been on a poster for a nuclear family got on. The mother and father eyed David’s and Lucas’ hands still clasped together, but David squeezed Lucas’ hand back, tighter, with no intention of dropping it. The young girl and boy were absorbed in whatever was on the screens of their phones and didn’t even look up. The elevator made two more stops at floors on the way down, so everyone was packed in pretty well by the time they got to the second floor where David and Lucas had to squeeze and shuffle around everybody to get out.

As the door closes behind them, David glances back into the elevator and sees the young boy had lifted his gaze from his phone and smiled at them. David squeezed his husband’s hand. “Hey, did you see that look the kid gave us?”

Lucas nodded. “Mmhmm, but he’s too young to have a three-way with,” Lucas joked, his words soft in David’s ear. They were followed by a just as soft kiss to his earlobe. “C’mon, let’s go get some dinner.”

After picking up David’s registration, they headed into a large hotel ballroom which was packed with what had to be at least a hundred and fifty round tables. The dozen or so at the front of the room by the raised platform of a stage had reserved signs on them, but none of the rest were marked. There were a few people sitting down at tables already, checking their cell phones or chatting with their tablemates. There was a larger crowd in one corner of the room that had a bar. At least fifty people were over there, waiting to get a drink or standing around with a drink already acquired and chatting.

David found himself scanning both crowds for Troy. He had only met him once, but that had surely been enough to be able to pick him out of a crowd. “I don’t…” David began. He trailed off, but it was enough.

“Yeah. I don’t see Troy anywhere either.” He dropped David’s hand and gave him two light pats on the back. “How about you go find us a seat while I get us something to drink?”

David raised his eyebrows. “You’re going to drink tonight?”

“Technically, juice counts as a drink, right?”

David laughed and they drifted apart. Unsure where to sit or with whom, David navigated through the sea of tables until he got to one near the middle that was entirely unoccupied. This was taking the easy way out, he knew, and letting people sit near them instead of the other way around. But he didn’t want to be the one responsible for accidentally spending the night at a table full of yoga instructors or a table of trade show exhibitors trying to sell them workout DVDs.

He sat down at a table, moved his napkin to his lap, decided that looked far too eager, and put it back on the table, straightening it neatly so it looked like he hadn’t touched it. It was less than a minute before he looked up at the door, having a chosen a spot where it was in his direct line of sight. If Troy came in, David would notice. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he did notice, surely jumping up and down waving was out of the question, and only Lucas had his cell phone number, so David couldn’t text him. And it wasn’t as though they were saving a seat for the man who most likely wasn’t going to turn up. But, all the same, David watched the door like a hawk.

The room started filling up, and people by the bar began choosing seats. David put his suit jacket on the back of the chair beside him to indicate it was taken. And several people decided to sit at his table before Lucas returned with the drinks—a pair of sisters who apparently owned a health food blog and a man who was a fitness trainer and one of the judges for the awards that were to be given out tonight. David felt like he had done an all right job attracting people to the table, and the fact that none of them switched tables when Lucas greeted David with a rub on his back and a kiss on his cheek spoke volumes for them.

David noticed that Lucas actually hadn’t asked for juice; he had instead acquired a bottle of water for himself. David squeezed then pushed the lime down the neck of his bottle of Carona Extra. He gave it a second, and then he took a sip. That familiar taste of the cold, pale lager made him smile and relax more than any beer buzz could. He felt Lucas rub his back, and he smiled. Lucas was being far more hands-on than usual tonight. He knew it had to do with how they were reevaluating their relationship. Maybe Lucas needed to constantly reaffirm their connection, maybe Lucas felt like he needed to display his claim, or maybe he wanted reassurance that David wasn’t going anywhere. Whatever the reason, David liked it. If he could have scooted his chair over and cuddled up with Lucas during dinner, he certainly would have.

The rest of their table filled up with three college students from Vermont who working toward degrees in sports therapy. Their school had paid for them to attend, though apparently all three were stuck sharing a room because their travel and hotel budget had been cut. David wondered if the universe was going to stop throwing hints to him that this three-way with Troy was destined to happen.

After a while, Servers came by with tablets to take their orders—beef, chicken, fish, or vegetarian. David knew Lucas would order the steak and then proceed to eat off his plate anyway, so David ordered the chicken for some variety.

Having been to a number of medical and pharmaceutical conventions over the years, David was fully prepared to sit through a number of boring speakers he’d never heard of before and hear about awards he didn’t understand the significance of. Instead, the lights went down, colored laser beams zoomed toward the stage where an entire college step team appeared to do a routine. Their moves were phenomenal, complete with several men being launched through the air and doing flips. The level of athleticism required was certainly appreciated by everyone in attendance, as applause followed practically every move they made on stage. The level of excitement was off the charts by the time they finished and their master of ceremonies took the stage.

He spoke dramatically, like the announcer at a boxing match, and wasted no time at all in introducing the keynote speaker. And though David hadn’t heard of him, apparently Oprah had, because he had been featured multiple times on her show. He had a dynamic speech that felt more like a TED talk about innovation, creativity, and overcoming life’s obstacles. It all boiled down to one point: change can be good. Once again, there was the universe having its say about his love life.

The awards went by amazingly quickly, too, with each winner taking the stage only long enough to pause for a press photo. The MC’s voice made each sound like they were getting ready to rumble with each other. It was highly entertaining and so fast that it ended while David still had half his dessert in front of him.

“Wow,” he breathed out as the lights slowly came back up, allowing their eyes time to adjust to the fluorescents. “That was…”

“A lot better than your boring pharmaceutical conventions?” Lucas finished for him.

“Stop reading my mind,” David protested.

“Never.” Lucas took his hand again as they wished their table companions well and headed out toward a black light dance party. They checked their suit jackets before going in, getting back a claim ticket and a whole rainbow set of glow bands. “Well… this sure takes me back,” Lucas said, handing half to David and cracking then shaking his half to activate them all at once.

David remembered their first pride after party together. They’d been wearing considerably less at the time and had ended the night adorned in glow-in-the-dark body paint, glitter, and glow sticks. David remembered how those sticks had kept glowing as the two of them made love all night. The sheets had been a nightmare to deal with the next morning, though. Sometimes when he cleaned, David suspected he was still finding glitter from that night.

This party wasn’t quite as wild and unrestrained as that, and they didn’t have to worry about glitter. But David did worry about pulling a muscle; at least, he worried until he got the third beer in him, and then all worries were forgotten. David hadn’t danced so much in years. And though he couldn’t help searching the room every so often for Troy, he was mostly able to keep his mind on his husband, on the madly talented way Lucas’ body moved to the techno beat thumping through the room.

Lucas knew exactly how to move his body, executing each move with flawlessness. He made dancing look easy and, when he was pressed up against David or holding David, he guided them both to those same, perfect heights. He danced as if he knew every song intimately. Sometimes they danced alone, sometimes in the middle of a group with everyone’s eyes on them. But all the time they danced by throwing all they had into the movements as if it were a party held just for the two of them.

Way, way before David was ready to stop, someone was announcing “last call” at the bar and then “last song” on the dance floor. He danced until his glowing white shirt was drenched in sweat, and then he collapsed into Lucas’ strong arms. The world spun around him for a moment, exertion and adrenaline mixing within him. He closed his eyes, hoping that would somehow keep this night from ending. He felt Lucas’ lips on his forehead and Lucas’ arms both wrapped tight around him. Everything felt so right, so very perfect. He wanted to capture this feeling forever.

But then Lucas was “C’mon”ing him yet again. And he opened his eyes and let himself be dragged back into the second floor hotel lobby, to the coat claim stand, and then to elevator banks. He swayed a little, as if still hearing the music he had felt thumping deep inside him for two hours straight. There was a pounding in his ears and in his heart and the only thing he knew for sure was the second he was alone with Lucas, these clothes were coming off and these glow bands were staying on as they made love in the dark.

“We should go dancing more often,” David said, falling onto one of the hotel room beds and waving his arms to watch the glow sticks fastened around his wrist blur yellow and pink through the air.

“Says the man who spends his Friday nights curled on the couch reading medical journals for fun.”

Lucas wasn’t wrong about that. “It is fun. But that was more fun.”

Lucas flopped down on the bed and maneuvered himself to straddle David. He ran his hands up David’s thighs. “I can think of something that’s even more fun.” He rocked forward, hot and heavy and teasing, their cocks brushing against each other through layers of fabric.

Reaching down to unzip his fly, David didn’t take his eyes off his husband. “Show me your best moves, baby.”

Lucas did.