Trouble & the Wallflower by Kade Boehme Read Free Book Online

social cues very well. I, uh, didn’t get to be around a lot of people my age until I got my job at the soda shop.”
    “Oh?” Gavin didn’t want to fuck up again. He’d been waiting forever for some little tidbit about this man. He wasn’t sure why Davy was so intriguing. Maybe it was because he couldn’t have him. Normally he wouldn’t look twice at someone as shy as this guy was. But he wanted to know Davy, and if it required him keeping his fool mouth closed for once in his damn life, he could do it. So all he did was start walking in the direction of Dick’s waving for Davy to follow.
    Davy was silent for the rest of the walk. He didn’t say anything again until he requested a large order of fries and a chocolate shake. Gavin somehow didn’t imagine it was going to help his libido any to watch Davy suck a straw for the next fifteen minutes.
    He was right. Those rosy lips wrapped around the straw, Davy’s cheeks caving in as he sucked, and Gavin almost had to excuse himself to the bathroom. Then Davy’s wicked tongue would sneak out to lick the salt off his lips and there was no need for the bathroom. He was fairly certain he’d creamed his jeans. Now a cigarette and a bed would complete the night.
    How in the hell did Davy have that kind of power over him?
    They ate silently, Gavin watching the crowd thin until there were only two couples other than them. He and Davy finished eating, so he collected their trash and dumped it into the bin. He turned to say something to Davy, but he hadn’t followed. He was still sitting in the booth, eyes downcast. Gavin felt a frown pulling the corners of his mouth. Please don’t let him be a crybaby drunk.
    “Hey, Davy? Ready to go?”
    “Can we just sit here for a minute?” Gavin studied Davy for a moment, not sure what to make of him. Davy took it as a no and started stammering. “Never mind. It was dumb. Sorry.” He’d not looked up once since he’d asked if they could stay, and tried to shuffle out of the booth. Gavin placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back down into the booth.
    “Dude, chill. I got nothing but time, ’kay? It’s all good.”
    Davy gazed out the window looking particularly miserable, embarrassed.
    “What’s wrong?” Gavin hated to push, but he really wanted to figure out these weird triggers of Davy’s.
    “Sorry.” Davy finally looked at him, eyes a bit watery. “I promise I’m not a crier when I drink. I just don’t do well with people. I hate embarrassing myself.”
    Gavin placed his hand over Davy’s on the table and tried to sound as encouraging as possible. “You did nothing embarrassing. I just couldn’t tell if something was wrong. You seem bummed. That’s all.”
    Davy stared at Gavin’s hand covering his for a long minute, then pulled his away and put it in his lap. “I was homeschooled. I couldn’t remember if I told you that.”
    “No. You didn’t. That’s cool.” It explained it a little, but Gavin knew plenty of homeschooled kids who were way less shy than Davy.
    “Not really. It wasn’t cool. I wanted to go to school.” Guilt flashed over Davy’s face. “Homeschooling would have been cool, but my mom wouldn’t really let me do any of the group stuff.”
    “Why so?”
    Davy grimaced. “She had panic attacks. Uh, something bad happened and she stopped leaving the house. Therefore, neither did I.”
    The pieces fell into place so loudly in Gavin’s mind that it sounded like a game of Bunko rattling in his brain. “Is that who you live with now?”
    Pure sorrow surrounded Davy. From his posture to his frown. “No. She died about a year ago. Aneurysm. It’s just me now.”
    Oh, Davy.
    “I’m so sorry.”
    Davy’s chin trembled, but he never shed a tear. “Thanks. It was sudden, so I’m still caught off guard by the fact she’s gone, sometimes.”
    Gavin didn’t know what it was like to miss your mother. He would never miss his. He was glad it wouldn’t eat at him like it did Davy, but