Page 20 of A Little Bit Uncertain

“I’m a gymnast in the bedroom, Wright, and I can usually make it to at least third base.” He joked back.

“Oh my God, yes.” Maverick smiled at the jockeying between us. “I love that there’s someone else that is ready to give Bennett shit. But wait, can you really sing, Donovan? Please say yes.”

“I’ll give it my best effort,” leaving it vague enough so no one knew what to expect. Lord knows I couldn’t carry a tune to save my soul. But Bennett didn’t have to know that.

He had chosen Sweet Caroline, and what we couldn’t sing for, we made up for in dancing.

Me. Donovan Wright.

In New York, the gossip sites had started calling me The Recluse because I had become completely unavailable, but tonight The Recluse was shaking his ass on a stage in a small South Carolina town with not a care in the world. I should have had Audra take a video and send it to my sister because without evidence, she’d never believe I was up on stage.

After our rendition that brought thunderous applause, we sat back down.

“Well, I can’t say you brought your voice, but you can shake your ass Wright, I’ll give you that,” Bennett laughed.

“Hey,” Murphy interjected. “We’re having a poker night tomorrow at our house. Do you play?”

I looked around knowing full well he was talking to me, my brain just fumbled. “Me?”

“Yeah. It’s guys’ night. None of these beauties are allowed, but if you want to come by, it’s a small group of us, and it’s usually a good time.” It took so long for me to process the request that Murphy half-rescinded his offer. “No pressure or anything.”

“Yeah, I’d love to join,” I stuttered. “Thank you for the invite.” Once again, the interaction left me with a feeling of ease, like we were all just old friends. I had a pang of sadness thinking about how easy my friendships with my travel group used to be. Well, at least until Tommy’s death. The friendship between these guys reminded me a lot of my friends. I wonder what they were up to, beyond the things I saw on social media. Our lives were so performative by nature, I knew there was so much that went on beyond what was posted. Maybe I should reach out sometime.

The night progressed, and the thing that surprised me most was that after a couple of hours, I was able to relax in public, and it had nothing to do with how much alcohol I’d consumed. Old habits die hard, and at the beginning of that evening, I found myself looking over my shoulder for paparazzi, but none appeared. No one seemed to give a fuck about what I did in this small town, and I couldn’t be happier.

Towards the end of the evening, it was clear everything was wrapping up, and it looked like people were pairing off. I briefly debated throwing out the suggestion for Audra to come home with me, but I had to be very careful how I played this. The same concerns and reservations I had before were still there. She was still Maeve’s best friend. I couldn’t lose Maeve. Ergo, I couldn’t do something stupid with Audra. I had never once hesitated to go for what I wanted, but I had to play this smart.

Soon after that, the night officially ended, and we all went our separate ways. Well, Audra and I went our separate ways. Everyone else seemed to have a partner. I would have loved to continue an evening with her, but that would come in time.