“Yeah, right. Anyway, I hope it goes well.”
Micah reached for the remains of his beer and clinked the bottle against Sam’s. “Yep. Me too.”
Chapter 18
PIKACHU95 WAS already waiting for him when Micah got to the café. He had chosen Soda on the West Coast Highway, close to home, in case he had to escape. Plus, the views of the beach would be distracting enough if conversation lulled.
How was he going to greet him? He couldn’t even remember his real name. A simple “Hey, you!” wouldn’t suffice—at least if he wanted their rendezvous to last longer than the salutation. And he couldn’t call him “Pikachu”—it just reminded him of the little yellow rodent jumping up and down screaming “Pika Pika Pika!” He suppressed a smile as he wondered whether anybody had ever yelled it out in bed with him.
Pikachu95 seemed just as nervous as he stood to welcome Micah. They hovered for a moment, unsure whether to hug, shake hands, or just wave at each other. For fuck’s sake, Micah thought. I’ve been naked with this guy. Why is it so awkward?
He had just answered his own question there.
In the end they settled for an overenthusiastic handshake, and sat down.
“Wow. I’m surprised to see you,” Pikachu said.
“You are?” Micah asked.
“I was hoping to hear from you, but then I never did. I thought I was… well, I can’t say dumped.”
Micah shrugged, hoping it didn’t seem dismissive. “Close enough, yeah?”
Pikachu frowned, then laughed. “You don’t remember my name, do you?”
Ugh. Might as well be honest. “Sorry.”
“It’s Dick,” said Pikachu, er, Dick.
“Really?” Micah tried not to laugh. Wait until he told Kyle. Which reminded him, he had promised to keep in contact with him. He should really let him know things were finally looking up.
Dick grinned. “No, not really. It’s Todd,” said Dick, er, Todd.
“For real, this time?” Micah thought he better make sure.
“Yeah.”
“I’m—”
“I know.”
“No, really. I don’t think I gave you my real name.”
“You didn’t. But you’re Micah Johnson. The third most famous gay footy player in Australia.”
For fuck’s sake. Even Todd was putting Greg Heyward above him. “Fourth, if you include rugby,” Micah reminded him. Ian Roberts had come out in the nineties, and nobody had followed him out of the closet in that sport since.
“Fourth,” Todd agreed.
“Did you know? I mean, that night?”
“You would have to be living under a rock not to know who you are.”
Micah’s mouth went dry—Todd had sounded so much like Paul there. But he put that thought out of his mind, even though he couldn’t help thinking of all his hook-ups, and how they had probably all kindly decided not to expose his charade to his face. It also made him grateful to realise that none of them had decided to sell him out to any media if they were interested. Which they most likely would have been, at any hint of a “gay scandal.” “Well, thanks for… well, you know.”
“What I’m more interested in is why you’re contacting me now,” Todd said. “You haven’t passed on an STD, have you?”
“No!” Micah cried, horrified. And remembered the pills back home. What a fucking hypocrite he was, to judge others who might be in that situation.
“Well, that’s a relief.” Todd grinned. “Shall we order coffee?”
“Don’t you want to know why I contacted you?”
“Coffee first,” Todd said. “I’m dying here.”
Micah followed him to the counter to order their drinks. He smirked as he thought Pikachu still suited Todd.
At least he didn’t seem to be a Dick.
“COFFEE” STRETCHED out into lunch, and when Todd finally had to leave for a shift at work Micah was disappointed and was pretty sure Todd was as well. Micah had told him a (somewhat expurgated) version of what had happened in the past month or so, and Todd had shared a few of his own tales of going off the rails when he first came out. Both were surprisingly nonjudgmental about their experiences, and although Micah didn’t think their first coffee together was suitable for explaining his recent scare, he knew he trusted Todd enough that he could the next time they saw each other.
But there he was, getting ahead of himself. They hadn’t even decided if there would be a next time yet.
Micah paid against Todd’s wishes, but Todd relented when he told him it was a thank you and an apology.
“You don’t have to apologise,” Todd said as they crossed the road to where he had parked his car. Micah had also insisted on walking him there. “Sounds like you’ve been going through some pretty heavy shit.”
“It’s all pretty banal shit, really. Nothing to justify being a knob to people. You’d think I’d learn by now.”
“You’re nineteen. I’m only a year older. I think we’re pretty much allowed to still get away with it occasionally.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse anymore.”
A car raced past with a guy in the passenger seat hanging out the window. “Go Dockers!”
Micah flushed, as Todd burst out laughing. “That probably doesn’t help.”
“So embarrassing,” Micah muttered.
“Are we about to get mobbed?” Todd looked nervous at the surrounding people who had realised a star AFL player was in their midst.
Micah sighed. “Comes with the job.”
“Look, I’m gonna go. But it was really nice to catch up.”
Was that it? Everything was now so rushed; the crowd was advancing for their pound of flesh with a celebrity, and Todd was bolting. Probably couldn’t handle it—how did Simon handle it all with Declan?
His thoughts were interrupted as Todd’s lips mashed into his. Micah yelped slightly with pain, but that was forgotten as Todd alleviated the pressure and his kiss became gentler. Micah returned it, caught up in the moment, but before he could really start enjoying it Todd pulled away.
“Shall we do this again?” he asked.
“Yeah, sure,” Micah said, knowing he sounded stunned.
A piece of paper was shoved into his pocket.