Any confidence or self-assurance Charlie had built up instantly deflated at seeing Hunter's schoolboy giddiness at talking to that hipster boy with Buddy Holly glasses.

"Who was that?" Charlie asked, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the growing crowd at The Pitstop.

"Oh just some guy. Met him at Chicago Comics."

"The guy that blew you off when he saw you go-go dancing?"

"Yeah. But everyone deserves a second chance, right?"

"Sure," said Charlie, wishing that it were he getting the reprieve.

"Want another shot?"

"Nah," said Charlie, trying not to let his disappointment show. "I probably should get home, getting kind of tired."

"For sure. Take care of yourself." Hunter watched Charlie go, and then realized that they had been in the middle of another conversation. "Wait! Charlie, what were you about to tell me?!" But it was too late: he was gone. Hunter worried for a moment, but figured if it were important, they'd talk about it in the morning.

*

Scott biked up to The Pitstop right as Hunter was locking the door.

"Wow, that was quick," said Scott. "I thought I'd be able to grab a quick shot of something while you were closing up shop."

"I can open up again real quick... "

"Nah," said Scott. "Let's just grab a bottle of something and head back to your place."

Grabbing a couple of forties from 7-11, Hunter gestured for Scott to enter the apartment quietly so as not to wake Charlie or Tyler. As he opened the door, he found Charlie asleep on the couch, the movie "The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green" blaring on the TV.

"Hey, Charlie," said Hunter, gently shaking him awake.

"I thought you were going out."

"Nah, we came back here."

"Hey," Scott said quietly, adding a friendly wave.

"Are you guys gonna watch a movie out here?" Charlie asked, groggily getting up, knowing what that usually meant in gay code.

"Nah," Hunter said, much to Charlie's relief. "We're gonna play some PS3."

Fuck: Charlie had no idea what that meant in gay code.

*

The forties long finished, Scott and Hunter entered their tenth round of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Hunter had the home team advantage because his controller had all of his preset combos, saving him from less button mashing. Even then, though, the intense fighting game took its toll and they took a quick break to shake out their cramping hands.

Hunter always hated this part. As much as he hated go-go dancing, at least the relationship with the client was cut and dry and not confusing, albeit one-sided. Was this a date? A hang out? A hook up? The years of go-go dancing did a number on his libido, he hated just randomly hooking up. How did porn stars do it, he wondered. The last person he just randomly hooked up with was... Charlie. And look how that turned out.

"Man, I really want to utilize some of the Capcom characters," said Scott. "But the novelty of playing as Hawkeye never gets old."

"Yeah, Jean Grey will always have a spot on my team." Hunter wished he were better at this. He never understood why he seemed to draw as much attention as he did. Especially since the moment he got any guy alone, he lost any sort of game that he thought he had.

"How'd you feel about Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2?" Scott asked, perusing Hunter's games.

"Story was pretty good, game itself got pretty repetitive."

"Kinda like going out in Boystown," chuckled Scott, Hunter joining in. "Yeah I found it pretty boring too. Maybe it'd be better with someone else."

Hunter wondered whether that was some sort of flirty statement. Maybe he should make some sort of witty rebuttal? Something about switching teams? No, that was lame. God, why was his game so off?

"Well," said Hunter. "Maybe we could try it in co-op mode?"

"Well... " said Scott, getting closer. "I'd definitely be up for co-opping with you." Scott kissed Hunter long and hard. They dropped the controllers as they continued to make out, unbuttoning each others shirts and unbuckling each others belt buckles.

"Damn," Hunter thought, as they made their way to his room. "Now HE has game."

###