Trouble and the Wallflower Read online

  TROUBLE

  & the WALLFOWER

  KADE

  BOEHME

  Copyright © 2020 by Kade Boehme

  All rights reserved. This is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  Cover Artist: Natasha Snow

  Published in the United States of America

  This is a work of fiction. While may include actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning

  This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. For adults 18+ ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

  TO EVERY WALLFLOWER

  Love,

  Us Troublemakers

  Chapter One

  Davy passed an ice cream cone loaded with two black-licorice ice cream scoops to a beaming toddler who bounced in her father’s arms. After a thanks and a tip from the dad, Davy gave his typically shy smile-and-nod routine. He was pretty sure he was the only person who managed to ever get tips off shyness, but he figured it was because working in an old-fashioned soda shop where the majority of clientele were tourists and children, being unassuming was preferable to being overeager. People were at ease around his shy nature and it paid his bills

  The bell that hung above the door jingled, followed by laughter, signaling that he had customers. As he turned to greet them, he couldn’t even muster a smile when he recognized the group of five guys walking in. Okay. So there was occasionally something about his job that wasn’t quite so comfortable, and these guys—more specifically one of these guys—rattled his cage and he wasn’t sure why.

  Well, that was a lie. He knew why. They were around his age and attractive, his opposites in every way, and they were guys. Cute guys. They had the hipstery look of most Seattle twentysomethings and spoke freely with one another, laughing raucously at their own ridiculousness. They came in at least once a week. In fact, he knew most of their orders by heart at this point. He also knew they were all openly gay after having heard plenty of their carefree conversations. He knew they were students and all of them worked in the area surrounding the market at Pike’s Place. He’d seen most of them daily, though he was certain they never noticed him. Not many people did. He liked it that way. But one of them always noticed him. Whether they were in Bart’s Soda Shop where Davy worked or if they bumped into each other on the street, this one guy rattled him the most because he saw Davy.

  Davy had figured out the guy’s name was Gavin, mostly because the guy had told him. About a hundred times. Gavin always zeroed right in on Davy even as the rest of the world passed quiet Davy by as if he were a ghost. It was unnerving. Davy didn’t know what to do around other guys in general. He could sit in the club for hours being a wallflower, seeing the occasional guy look his way, and never once leave his spot. He’d flee before anyone thought to approach him. He wasn’t a total freak, but being around other guys, especially gay men, tended to make him a nervous wreck. But damn if he never gave up.

  Gavin with his beanies and skinny jeans that hung low in the crotch and his wicked grin that sported two devastating dimples was definitely someone Davy couldn’t ignore. And those eyes. Big brown eyes that were shadowed by his ridged forehead and prominent eyebrows. Those eyebrows were perfect. Dimples and glinting brown eyes aside, Davy had heard enough of their conversations to know Gavin wasn’t exactly a blushing virgin. Not by a long shot. Davy didn’t intend to be a notch on that guy’s bedpost any time soon. Not that he was a notch on many guys’ bedposts willingly, but he did his damnedest to avoid it where this guy was concerned.

  Of course, Gavin’s gaze locked on Davy’s before anyone else’s as his small group of friends made it to the counter. Gavin shot Davy what he must think was his most winning grin. Davy gave his usual response—he rolled his eyes. Gavin laughed, his friends shook their heads at him, but he was never discouraged, damn him. He hung back as usual as his friends came up one at a time to order their milkshakes, floats, and cones. Davy kept peeking out of the corner of his eye as, one by one, he handed each of the other guys their treats. They looked at him apologetically, rolling their eyes right along with him, always confirming that the only reason they came in the shop was so Gavin could throw himself at his potential conquest.

  Davy often wondered how Gavin was so certain that Davy was gay. Not that he wasn’t gay. He most definitely was. But it still seemed he was way too quiet for anyone to make an assumption other than perhaps thinking he was asexual. Perhaps Gavin hit on all men that shamelessly, but he seemed overly confident that he might have a chance with Davy. Which he did not. At all.

  Finally, it was Gavin’s turn and Davy plastered on his best fake smile, but crossed his arms over his chest as Gavin slid smoothly up to the counter with that annoyingly sexy smile and those devilish eyes and leaned in as close as he could, elbows propped on the top of the counter, chin in his hands. Davy quirked and eyebrow as Gavin shamelessly appraised him, causing Davy to blush. Damn how easily he blushed for giving him away every time. Didn’t matter that his skin was naturally a honeyed tan, his blush still shone bright on his high cheekbones. Gavin’s smile grew smug every time Davy’s cheeks colored and it really pissed Davy off. Another one of many reasons he wouldn’t give this guy the time of day.

  “Heya, Davy.” Gavin’s voice dripped with suggestion and Davy rolled his eyes. Again.

  “Hello, sir. Cherry limeade, as usual?” Davy kept his tone even.

  Gavin gripped his heart dramatically and his friends snickered behind him. Davy’s lips thinned in annoyance. “Ouch, Dave-o. I remember your name. Do I mean so little to you?”

  “Less than you’d think,” Davy said with a glare. He hated this guy for getting a rise out of him. He tried to tell himself it was because he couldn’t stand the guy, but he knew it was because he actually wanted to jump the counter and lick the guy from head to toe. Thankfully Gavin didn’t know that he was the only person who inspired any type of reaction out of Davy, who was normally shy enough he wouldn’t backtalk someone who jumped in front of him in line. Damn this Gavin dude.

  Gavin leaned in again with a smirk. “Now, I just don’t think that’s so, Davy. I don’t see you talking smack to my friends. I don’t see you talk back to anyone, really. So I think you’re just playing hard to get.”

  Shit. “Whatever.” Clever.

  Gavin’s eyes practically widened in excitement. Davy’s lack of a poker face must have shown Gavin that he was right. Although he’d call it never gonna get before he’d say hard to get. He looked to Gavin’s friends, beseeching the strangers with his eyes to intervene. They were all too busy turning red from laughter or shrugging apologetically. No help there. Before he embarrassed himself with this jackass any further, Davy turned to the soda station and started squeezing limes for the cherry limeade. He just wanted them gone.

  He concentrated on the work at hand, breathing in and out. If only Gavin understood. He’d give anything to be normal enough to just take his number one of the million times he’d offered it. He’d love to go have that coffee with him. But Davy wasn’t normal. He was struggling past a panic attack now. Th
e only thing stopping him from freaking out totally was the familiar actions. Cut the lime in half, juice it, add sugar and carbonated water. Shake. Shit. He forgot grenadine. He had to look at Gavin again because the grenadine was under the counter. Damn. He avoided eye contact but he could feel the smirk on Gavin’s face, and part of him wanted the throw the guy’s drink in his face. The rest of him wanted to run into the back and hide. He hated being noticed. Why couldn’t Gavin just figure that out?

  When he went to pour the drink into a to-go cup, Gavin cleared his throat, making Davy look up at him, startled. “Something got you flustered?” Gavin’s smugness really, really made Davy reconsider running and vote for slinging the drink in the guy’s cocky mug. Gavin nodded down at Davy’s hands, and Davy noticed he’d dumped the damn limeade on the floor instead of into the cup.

  Shit!

  Davy had to control the growl that wanted to escape.

  Get a grip. Now Gavin’s friends were in full hysterics, and Davy hated them for it. He wanted to die. He flung the cup in the trash and turned to make another limeade, and poured it into the cup this time instead of the floor. “On the house,” he said. Please just leave.

  Gavin held his hands out as if he was surrendering.

  “No, no, no. I insist.” Gavin pulled some cash out of the pocket on his plaid button-down shirt.

  “I messed up the first one, so this one’s on the house.” Davy flashed his best grin at the friends, then with a “Have a good afternoon,” he escaped into the back room, wishing he could get farther away from Gavin than that. From the stockroom he could hear choruses of “shameless” and “creeper” from Gavin’s cackling crew of friends.

  After the bell over the door signaled their departure, Davy waited for their laughter to recede like the coward he was, then sighed and headed back out into the shop. He came up short as soon as he opened the curtain that separated the front counter and the back rooms. Gavin was still there, leaning on the counter and sucking on his drink through a straw. Yeah, those lips wrapped around that straw held a promise. A promise Davy had to will his body to ignore. All he needed was for that pest to see him get hard for him. This was one of those moments where Davy was sorry they employees had gotten rid of their uniform aprons, though he’d originally been the one to suggest it.

  Gavin noticed Davy before he could even think of slipping back into the storeroom again, but he knew he’d look silly sneaking off. “You didn’t think I’d leave without giving you a tip, did you?” There was that suggestive tone again. Who was this guy, The Most Interesting Man in the World? It was as though his voice dropped an octave just to sound sexy. It was as though he studied too many noir films to get his come-ons. Davy almost laughed at the idea of the shaggy-haired guy before him in a trench coat and fedora. Then Gavin’s eyes got that predatory gleam again. Shit. He must have seen that almost-smile. Shit.

  “Uh. Really, it wasn’t necessary. I messed up.” Davy busied himself with a mop, cleaning the spilled drink from the floor, but Gavin didn’t take his hint to bugger off. But why should this time be any different?

  “No. I insist.” He made sure Davy saw him slip a ten-dollar bill in the tip jar. Davy wanted to pull it out and throw it at him, but he couldn’t turn down a tip. And didn’t this guy know a tip was a tacky way to try to pick someone up. What am I, a hooker? “You know, my gramps loves peanut-butter shakes. I remember you saying to someone that you made the best. Mind whipping one up for him? To go, of course.”

  Davy huffed. Damn was he glad his boss wasn’t here to see him being so rude to a customer, but wasn’t this sexual harassment, anyway? He had a sudden urge to look up how he could deal with that in the handbook. He hoped it involved pruning shears.

  With a scowl, Davy scooped the ice cream and peanut butter to make the shake. He knew Gavin watched him the whole time and could feel his ears burning. Of course Gavin looked pleased with himself when Davy handed him the shake red-faced and fidgeting. He laid down more cash on the counter. “Keep the change.”

  Davy looked at him defiantly. “That’s ridiculous, Gavin.”

  “See! I knew you remembered!” Gavin looked as though he’d won a prize. Damn him for being adorable when he was excited. And smug. Who made smug look cute? Apparently Gavin. Davy blamed it on that button nose and the dimples. Bastard. Gavin picked up one of the to-go menus they kept on the counter and a pen from beside the cash register, then jotted down his phone number for the millionth time. When he slid it across the counter toward Davy, they locked gazes and Davy had to force himself to look away. Gavin chuckled. “Use it.”

  “Have a good afternoon,” Davy said, using his most annoyed tone, which just got another chuckle from Gavin. Oh yeah. Gavin’s figured that trick out already.

  “See you next time, Davy.” Gavin’s voiced dripped sex. Davy refused to look at him, wiping the counter viciously though there wasn’t a smudge on it. The bastard had the nerve to chuckle all the way out the store. When the door closed behind Gavin, Davy let out an exasperated grunt and smacked his hand on the counter. At least he had avoided a panic attack. He looked over at the to-go menu with the phone number and Gavin Walker written on it. Davy was always surprised at how neat Gavin’s penmanship was. That didn’t stop him from wadding up the paper and throwing it in the trash before removing the liner to take to the dumpster.

  Chapter Two

  “Are you sure you don’t need anything? I’ll be in town next week. I can bring groceries.” Davy’s Uncle Drew meant well, but every time they talked on the phone, it ended like this. Davy stretched out on his couch, knowing this conversation wasn’t ending anytime soon.

  “Really, I’m cool. I promise.” It was his automatic response. He knew his uncle was just worried about him, but he was being honest when he said it. His uncle was worried he was following in his mother’s footsteps. Drew had watched his older sister’s downward spiral into being a house-bound agoraphobic helplessly. He checked on Davy daily, making sure he ventured out into the world. Davy definitely didn’t consider himself that bad. Yeah, he had some social anxiety issues and was painfully shy, but unlike his mother he would go stark-raving mad if he stayed locked indoors all the time.

  “If you’re sure.” Drew sounded skeptical. He, like Gavin and his friends, was the opposite of Davy in almost every way. He was an attractive, outgoing gay man who took time out of his busy social schedule every afternoon to be a mother hen to his awkwardly shy nephew. Being an educator, he’d always been annoyed with Davy’s mother’s choice to homeschool her son. He was right, honestly, because even Davy knew his biggest issue was that he had absolutely no socialization other than work. He’d not spoken to anyone other than his elderly neighbors until he got the job at the soda shop when he was sixteen. His mother had been dead set against him leaving the house, but his uncle had talked her into it, and Davy found his first bit of freedom. It hadn’t served him too well. His first fumblings with friends and boys were all unsuccessful because he was too naïve to realize when he was being played. He was wary of people, but certainly not of the sunshine and the busy streets of the city.

  “Are you okay for money? I know you can’t make enough to live on at that ice cream place.” Drew was like a dog with a bone, but it made Davy smile wwhile feeling warmth in the knowledge that he was lucky to have someone who cared.

  “I’ve still got enough from financial aid and Mom’s life insurance to make up the difference.”

  Drew harrumphed inelegantly. “Well, how are your online classes going?”

  “They’re good, Uncle Drew. I’m almost done, actually. I’ll be able to get a big-boy job.” And Gavin won’t be able to stalk me there.

  “That’s great, Davy. If you need any help with your resume….”

  “I’ll call you.” Davy laughed. “I really should go finish some schoolwork, though.”

  “Davy, it’s a Saturday! Fuck your homework! Go out. Have some fun.”

  Davy shook his head at his uncle’s enthusiasm. He
didn’t know what the point of going out would be. He’d just sit in the background and watch other people have fun. His uncle wouldn’t know what that was like. He was only twelve years older than Davy’s twenty-two years, but he acted more Davy’s age than Davy did. When he wasn’t busy playing mommy/uncle, that was.

  “I’ll think about it,” Davy said. He knew that was the only answer that would get his uncle off the phone.

  Drew sighed in exasperation. “I know that’s a no, but I’ll leave you alone. Love you, man. Have a good night. If you need me, call Allie’s phone. She’s DD. She’ll answer and get me.”

  “Night, Uncle Drew.” Davy didn’t give his uncle a chance to start rambling again and pressed the End Call button on his phone’s touch screen. He tossed his phone down on his coffee table and rubbed his hands over his face. He sat up and looked around his spartan one-bedroom apartment. When he’d transferred to the smaller apartment after his mom’s death a year earlier, he’d sold off most of her oversized furniture. He needed the money, and her stuff was way too ornate and feminine for him. Anything that was special went into a cheap storage unit down in Tukwila. His apartment was all bare walls and IKEA furniture. It was all he needed. Not like he entertained enough to need anything fancy. He was a loner and this was his space. He was cool with that.

  You sure about that? his brain always teased him. He pictured plump lips and wicked brown eyes for a moment and he definitely wasn’t sure that he was quite as happy being a loner as he once had been. Without his mom rattling around, his lack of human contact—a simple hug or a ruffle of his hair while he worked on his schoolwork—was starting to make his inner cuddle-bear desperate. Dammit.

  He stood in a huff, pushing that thought away and went to his fridge to stare inside for a minute. He wasn’t hungry. Maybe he could go for a run. He shut the fridge and started pacing. He could always go biking. Or you could listen to Drew and just go out. No way. That wasn’t an option.