Ice Cold - Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Wren Ridley
The look on Landon's face when we pulled into the parking lot was priceless. His face flushed and his eyes widened slightly while he clenched his jaw when he realized exactly where we were. The colorful signs and the people walking into the club gave it away.
I was tempted to take a picture of him and hold it against him forever.
"You still sure it was a good idea to come with us?" I asked him.
He just glared at me.
"You guys go ahead," I said, turning toward the back seat.
"You're not coming?" Stella asked.
"We'll meet you inside," I told her. Maybe. If Landon would get out of the car.
Stella, Jess, and James got out of the car and made their way inside. Landon and I stayed put. It wasn't until the others disappeared from sight that I started speaking.
"I just want to make it clear you know where we are," I started, turning to face him. "Since you don't have the best track record when interacting with other queer people."
"I did this to myself," he muttered, running a hand through his now dry hair.
"Yeah, you did," I agreed. "But if you can't handle it, you shouldn't go in. This is a safe place for them, and if you're going to blow up if a guy even looks at you, then you just shouldn't go in at all."
I would admit only to myself that I had a soft spot for this place and the people who went here. I spent some time here while still coming to terms with my own sexuality.
Landon stared at me for a moment and then looked back at the building. His eyes landed on a couple walking inside, holding hands.
"But if you actually want to try to not hate yourself for one night, then you should come inside," I continued. "Just so you know, they do card here, but on the bright side if you're hot enough people will just buy you drinks."
Landon rolled his eyes and looked back at me.
"Let's just go in," he muttered, opening the door and stepping out of the car. I followed after him, locking the car after we closed the doors.
Landon was tense and silent as we walked through the parking lot, but I chose to keep my observations about him to myself. I didn't need him punching me before we even walked through the doors.
We got in and found a high top table near the bar. Stella and Jess were out on the dance floor while James was already up against the wall making over with some guy.
"He works fast," Landon said, glancing over at James.
"He's over confident, some people like that," I told him, sitting across from him.
I watched as Landon looked around the room. This was undoubtedly the most queer people he had ever seen in one place, which I guess would be overwhelming for someone who had enough internalized homophobia for everyone in the room. But he didn't say anything, didn't have a look of disgust on his face, just sat and watched.
I looked over at the bar and saw the bartender, Mara, who had coincidentally been the bartender the first night I came here. They had apparently been working here since the place opened up almost ten years ago, though they looked much younger than they were if that was the case.
"Hi Mara," I called out. "Can we get a couple of waters?"
"You got it," they replied.
Mara brought the waters over and Landon nodded at them in thanks before they walked away.
"The bartender uses they/them pronouns," I told him. "Pronouns are—"
"I know what pronouns are," he cut me off.
"Do you? What are yours?"
His eyes turned to slits. "I'm a guy."
I snorted and shook my head at him.
"I'll just refer to you as guy then," I retorted.
"You know what I mean."
"Do I?"
Landon's gaze seemed to get even harsher as he stared at me. His eyes were a dark, forest-like green that held so much behind them. They seemed like an actual forest, deep and dark, easy to lose your way in if you didn't know your way around. I was worried if I looked in his eyes for too long, I'd get trapped in them and never find my way out. This thought was new and strange and I hated it, but still I felt like I couldn't look away.
"Sometimes I think you are purposely obtuse," I told him, taking a sip of my water and quickly taking my eyes off his.
"You use words like obtuse and wonder why people find you odd."
I laughed, shaking my head. "I've never wondered, or cared, why people find me odd."
He stared at me for a moment, then looked down at the table and nodded.
"People aren't really my thing," I added. "I don't really care what they think of me."
"That makes one of us," Landon muttered.
I was surprised he would say something like that without being under the influence of alcohol, but I didn't let my surprise show. Landon wasn't really as much of an open book to me as I made him think he was, and I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity of him letting me in.
He took a sip of his water and looked around the room. His expression was blank, but I swore I saw some interest there as he watched the strangers dancing around the room, the variety of people that were before us and looking like they were living their lives to the fullest.
"I'm surprised you've stayed here this long," I told him, causing him to turn his gaze to me. "Considering how many queer people are around."
He scoffed. "I have nothing against queer people."
"Anymore," I added.
He rolled his eyes, but didn't disagree.
"You just don't like the fact that you're queer," I said.
"We're not talking about this."
I grinned at him. "Don't worry. You're not the only one that's ever felt like that. Definitely not the only one in this room."
"Not talking about it."
"I used to hate myself for it too," I admitted. "Though, probably not nearly as much as you do, but I did. It took being around more people like me to really accept it and be okay with it."
Landon's expression turned to one of surprise, and I couldn't tell if it was because of what I said or because I actually said something about my own struggles to him. I didn't know why I did it. Maybe this place just brought out something in me, but I just wanted Landon to stop being so hard on himself, at least in here where he was surrounded by people who wouldn't judge him for being himself.
Neither of us had time to say anything else before Mara showed up at our table with a drink, placing it in front of Landon.
"Oh, I didn't order this," Landon told them in a polite manner.
"I know, he did," they said, pointing over at a guy at the bar. "For you. Don't worry, I made the drink and brought it right over so there's nothing in it."
"Oh," Landon said, his cheeks turning pink as he glanced over at the guy Mara had pointed out.
The guy was glancing over at us now, grinning at Landon who just gave him a nod and turned back to me.
"Enjoy!" Mara said before going back to the bar.
I kept my eyes on the guy at the bar as Mara left. He was average looking with buzzed blond hair and muscles looking like they were misplaced on him. He wore a tank top even though it was October and the autumn air was cooling down enough to wear layers. He kept his eyes on Landon as his friend talked beside him.
Landon kicked me under the table.
"Will you stop staring?" he hissed in a whisper that I could barely hear, like he was worried that guy would hear him from across the bar.
I brought my eyes to Landon's face. He still looked sheepish and embarrassed, his cheeks pink and his eyes slightly widened as the drink lay untouched in front of him.
"See, I told you if you're hot enough you wouldn't have to buy drinks," I said, causing him to look even more embarrassed.
"This isn't funny," he snapped.
"Who's laughing?"
"I'm serious," he said, his voice almost whining. "Now he's going to fucking come over here and it's going to be weird as shit!"
"I get it, you're not ready for this sort of thing," I replied, quirking the corner of my lips upward.
"No, I—"
"Luckily for you, I know how to solve this," I said. "Come over here."
He now looked less embarrassed and more confused.
"What?"
"Bring your chair over here," I said. "Sit next to me."
"No!" he snapped.
"Suit yourself," I said with a shrug.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, both of us sipping on our waters. Landon's other drink was still full, the condensation on the glass starting to slide down and form a small puddle around it on the table.
I saw Landon's eyes widen, and before I could ask him why, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I glanced up at the owner of that hand and saw another average looking guy smiling down at me. He was cute enough, someone I would potentially hook up with on any other night.
"Hi, can I buy you a drink?" he asked.
I grinned up at him, then glanced over at Landon to find he wasn't even looking at me. He was shooting daggers with his eyes at the guy standing next to me. I was so used to his glare being on me, it was strange to see it at another angle. Only this one was slightly different. It looked lethal.
"Sorry, I don't think my boyfriend would like that very much," I told him, gesturing toward Landon.
Landon instantly turned his gaze to me. He looked like he was about to strangle me right there. It was comical, really.
The guy let his hand fall from my shoulder. He looked between us with a confused expression and nodded.
"Sorry, I didn't realize," he said.
"No worries," I said. "He's not very affectionate."
The guy chuckled and waved before walking away from our table.
Landon kicked me under the table again.
"You're going to bruise me," I complained.
"What the fuck is your problem?" he snapped. I could help but be amused at how angry he looked at me. His anger was nowhere near the level it was that night he had come drunk to my apartment, but it was still strong and seemed like he was seconds away from punching me right here in the bar.
"I didn't want to be hit on and you're right here," I said with a shrug.
"You could have just told him to fuck off without involving me," Landon replied, his voice low.
"But this will keep him from being persistent," I said. "That's how you get people to leave you alone in these places. Look like you're here with someone else. No one wants to go up to someone if they think they'll reject them."
Landon didn't say anything to that. A second later, the guy who bought him a drink got up from the bar and looked like he was about to make his way over to us.
"It looks like you're going to have to find some other way to reject him," I said, nodding toward the guy walking toward us.
Landon looked from him to me then quickly dragged his chair over to my side of the table. I laughed as he sat close to me without actually touching me. I grabbed his hand and held it on the table in front of us. He jerked it, trying to release my grip, but stopped when the guy from the bar walked right by our table, glancing at us briefly.
Landon stared down at our clasped hands, his mouth open slightly. He made no move to take his hand from mine. His hand was rough in mine, but it didn't feel like it didn't belong there. Landon was tense, but the longer he stared at our hands, the more he seemed to relax, like he realized nothing bad was going to happen to him here just for holding another guy's hand. That, or he was having some sort of crisis because he had never shown affection for another guy before, even if this affection was contrived.
"See how easy that was?" I asked, trying to ease some of the tension between us.
He looked up at my face, still not letting go of my hand. He pressed his lips together tightly before, keeping my gaze for a moment before speaking.
"You're never going to let me live this down," he said.
"To be honest with you, this is probably one of the least embarrassing things I have against you."
He shook his head, taking his hand away from mine and looking straight ahead to keep his eyes off me. I reached out and pulled his chair closer to mine, startling him.
"If this is going to work, we at least have to look like we're together," I told him.
I put my arm around the back of his chair. When he leaned back, his back rested against my arm and he looked over at me with a strange expression.
We were too busy looking at each other to realize James had come up to the table.
"Well, aren't you two getting cozy," he said with a wide grin, picking up Landon's untouched drink and taking a long sip.
"Shouldn't you be getting blown in the bathroom or something?" I asked.
He dragged a stool over from the bar and sat down across from us.
"Did that, like, an hour ago," he said. "Unless one of you are offering, then yes, I should be."
Landon scoffed at him and shot him a look of disgust.
"Don't say shit like that to him," I said. "He doesn't like it."
James rolled his eyes. "Like you've never said anything to him that he didn't like."
"That's different," I replied. "He likes when I make him mad."
Landon groaned, putting his head in his hands and resting his elbows on the table.
"I should have just let that guy keep buying me drinks," Landon muttered against his hands.
"Ooh, not a good idea unless you're willing to put out," James told him. "Because then he would expect you to let him fuck you and not even take you home and fuck you, but in a bathroom stall."
I nudged Landon with my elbow.
"James has plenty of experience with that," I said.
"I'll admit I've been fucked in that bathroom," James replied with a shrug.
"I know you have. I walked in on it at least once."
"You guys are disgusting," Landon said, sitting up and fixing a glare on me.
"And you're so sweet," I told him.
We eventually found Stella and Jess and got ready to leave.
"Next time, I'll get you on the dance floor," I said to Landon as we walked through the parking lot, Stella, Jess, and James in front of us.
He shook his head at me, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"You don't have to admit it, but I know you didn't hate it in there,"  I said. "I could tell. You didn't have that look on your face."
"What look?"
"The 'I hate everything and everyone and myself' look."
He sighed. "You're so stupid."
I just grinned at him and we got in the car.