But it didn’t make him resentful of Dane. It just made him think he was acting like a child. Sam was a pretty cool mate, and by what Micah had personally witnessed, seemed to be a pretty cool brother too. And Dane was risking alienating himself from all of that, just because of a grudge against his brother’s “work colleague.”
“I guess I should do something he likes to do.” Sam was practically scratching his chin, in deep thought.
“Probably.”
“So, I could hang out in his room and listen to crap music with him?”
Micah grinned. “I would think of something else.”
Sam nodded. “Thanks, Micah.” Getting to his feet, he slapped him on the shoulder. “You know, you’re pretty cluey when you want to be.”
“Believe me, I’ve been the bad brother. I can give you plenty of tips.”
“I need tips on how to help the bad brother, not be him.”
“Touché.”
Sam winced. “Oh, god, I just called him ‘the bad brother.’ He’s not.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.” It was on the tip of his tongue to ask about the dig Sam had given Dane about secrets, but it would only give away he had been eavesdropping. Micah did not want to be seen in that light.
“Cool. So let’s see if I can get through this attempt, first. Anyway, you ready to shake your booty later? You been preparing some hot moves?” Sam did some incredibly bad moves of his own, which had Micah in tears. “Okay, maybe I won’t be winning the dance comp.”
“No.” Micah rolled his eyes. “But me? Believe me, Perth isn’t ready for this jelly.”
THERE WAS still a home game to get through, however, and after a couple of weeks of losses they were finally granted a victory. It meant that the boys were in even more of a party mood than they were already, and Micah wondered if Perth should batten down its hatches. Maia was angling for an invite, desperately wanting to get her groove thang on in a venue where the clientele wouldn’t be trying to bed her (and she wouldn’t have a protective athletic boyfriend trying to defend her honour but would ultimately end up suspended from play if he fought) but had been sternly told by Sam that this was a boy’s night out. Institutional sexism aside, she had actually taken it pretty well although she begged Micah for photographic evidence should Sam find himself the object of another man’s attention.
“Not in a make fun of the gays way,” she said quickly at Micah’s look of consternation. “Just, can you imagine Sam in that situation? He would be trying so hard to let the poor guy down gently he’d probably end up married by the end of the night.” At Micah’s next look, she tried to recover quickly. “If that were legal. Oh, okay! I’m sounding terrible. I’m going to stop right now.”
It reminded him of Simon, and how he would innocently put his foot in his mouth at every turn. Maia wasn’t usually like that, so he quite enjoyed seeing her flustered.
Showered and primped for the evening, Micah surveyed himself in the mirror. The very model of a Respectable Young Gay stared back at him. He looked a bit like a wide-eyed na?f, so he decided to mess up his hair a little and undo the first two buttons of his shirt. His smooth chest gave a hint of developing hair—was it actually growing thicker?—and Micah undid another button to show he wasn’t just some other twink.
Then he buttoned it again. Two was enough.
On his way downstairs to meet Sam, he hesitated outside Dane’s door. It was quiet for once—usually there was some music blaring to act as a barrier to anybody trying to gain access.
He was about to walk off when he decided to hell with it, and knocked sharply on the door. He instantly regretted it, thinking of the secret Dane claimed to hold over him. There was no way of knowing if he’d decide to drop that little bomb or not, and maybe it was best not to antagonise him. This was a huge mistake.
“Who is it?” yelled Dane.
“Your favourite person in the world.” He couldn’t resist, despite everything.
There was the sound of shuffling feet, and the door cracked open slightly. Dane peered out at him, and although Micah couldn’t see the full of his mouth he knew it was set in some form of sneer. “What do you want?”
Charming. “Look, I just wanted to give it one last shot and see if you wanted to come with us tonight.”
“Did my brother put you up to this?”
“Sam’s not that dumb.”
A huff claimed that Dane thought he most likely was, and Micah bristled a little in Sam’s defence.
“I just thought I’d do the nice thing.”
“Well, save it.”
Fed up, Micah imagined kicking the door so it flew back into Dane’s face. It was only a momentary happiness; he knew it was most likely a terrible thing to think. Funny, though. Dane wouldn’t even see it coming. Instead, Micah would do the mature thing and try kindness. “You don’t have to hate me, you know. I’m not the enemy.”
There was a pause, and then four words Micah would never have expected to come out of Dane’s mouth. “I don’t hate you.”
“Excuse me?” He had to hear it again, just to be sure.
But the sudden appearance of Sam in the hallway ruined whatever moment they were about to have.
“You ready?” Sam called out.
Dane’s door slammed. There would be no further conversation with him tonight.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked him.
“Just thought I’d try him one last time.”
“Lost cause, mate.”
Micah really wished he hadn’t said that, as he was sure Dane was still standing on the other side of the door listening to every word he said.
“No such thing as a lost cause.”
Sam shrugged. “Hope you’re right. Now, let’s get you out tonight, otherwise you’ll be one.”
Micah was sure he was more of a lost cause than Dane, but he was willing to pretend otherwise for one night at least. And he couldn’t help but give one last look back at Dane’s room, wondering what the hell was going on in that guy’s mind.
The door remained closed.
NORTHBRIDGE ON a Saturday night was crowded, but Micah still felt it was small in comparison to Melbourne’s nightlife. He also didn’t feel at ease as he did back home—there was a frisson in the air, a static that made everyone seem edgy, as if a fight could break out at any moment.