Trouble & the Wallflower by Kade Boehme Read Free Book Online Page B

Sean and Mason also made sure to pop in the shop on their breaks to say hi or ask if he wanted to have lunch with them. Their other friends Nate and Devon only came when it was the entire group, and Nate was a bit cold in his demeanor toward Davy. Davy wasn’t sure why, but Nate made him uncomfortable. Then again, who didn’t?
    Gavin was his most constant visitor, though. Gavin would swagger in after class under the guise of getting peanut-butter shakes for his grandfather, but after a few days, he’d dropped the pretense and would just wander in and sit at one of the stools at the counter and talk about inconsequential things.
    Davy learned a few precious details about his new friends. Since he still wasn’t one for talking, they’d talk and he’d listen and smile at their stories. Sean’s parents were from Columbia, but, like Davy, he’d been born and raised in Seattle. When he was annoyed he’d go on tirades in Spanish, but that was rare. Mason was from some small town in Texas and had moved up to Seattle for college but had dropped out after a year and decided not to leave. He was so laid-back Davy was surprised the guy wasn’t catatonic.
    Both Sean and Mason worked across the street in the market, Mason in a coffee shop and Sean in the comic store. Then there was Devon, who tossed fish. He was sexy as sin, but his permanent dopey grin and good nature made him approachable. He was, by definition, a total airhead, but he was really nice. Devon was also quiet, like Davy—well, not in a shy way, just in a man-of-few-words way.
    Gavin, on the other hand, was a full-time student who lived with his grandfather after moving from Maine. He lived off some trust that he insisted wasn’t impressive, but it was nice enough that he drove around in a rather large new-model Ford truck. Why he needed such a big truck in Seattle was anyone’s guess.
    Davy was surprised when he found out Gavin was an art major at the University of Washington. He didn’t seem very artsy or like one for school, but Sean had assured Davy that Gavin was in fact in the top 10 percent of the art department as far as grades went. When he’d found that out, you could have knocked Davy over with a feather.
    This had been the first day none of them had stopped in, though. So with the lack of customers or busywork, Davy had time to realize that in just a couple of weeks, he’d actually grown accustomed to having people around—other than his worrywart uncle. Who’d’ve thunk it? Which made not seeing any of them after such a long, boring day a major bummer, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
    Finally, 9:00 p.m. rolled around, and after taking out what little trash had accumulated throughout the day and taking care of the few closing duties he hadn’t already finished, Davy turned out the lights and locked the shop up for the night. He was happy to find that the night air was still warm, only a cool breeze from the Pacific reminding him that it wasn’t quite summer yet. The streets were deserted, aside from a few homeless people camped out under the pavilion in the park.
    As he stood waiting for the crosswalk signal to tell him he could walk, a familiar car approached. The blue Mitsubishi stopped abruptly at the curb beside him and rolled its window down. Davy leaned down to see Sean leaning across the center console with his usual friendly smile. “How much you charge for the full monty ?”
    Davy smiled. “You could never afford it.” He wasn’t sure at what point he’d developed the ability to joke about sex with Sean. He sure as hell couldn’t with Gavin. Gavin mentioning sex still made Davy’s insides turn to mush and his face turn a bright shade of red.
    “I’m glad I caught you. A few of us are headed out to the beach. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a brown-bag beach and we’ll have a bonfire.”
    “Brown-bag beach?”
    Sean’s look was incredulous. “Dude. You’re so lucky you met me.”
    Davy snorted. “The jury’s