The Wrong Mr. Right (The Queen's Cove Series #2)(67)

“Another pink drink?” the bartender asked, and I nodded with a big smile.

Two more queens performed in the little bar and I couldn’t look away. I’d have to bring Avery here, she’d love this. Maybe Max and Div would want to come along. We could make a night of it.

“Hi,” my idol dropped onto the stool beside me.

My eyes widened. “Hi.” I was breathless. Her makeup was exquisite. Harsh, swooping brows, full red lips, insane lashes, and precise liner. She was perfection.

She waved at the bartender. “Can I get a water, please?”

That voice. I knew that voice. It clicked and I gasped.

“Div?” My jaw was on the floor.

She smirked at me.

“But you—” I shook my head, taking her outfit in. “How did… I didn’t know. Oh my god.” I beamed. “You’re amazing.”

She grinned a little wider. How could I have not seen it before? It was in the smile. The bartender set a water and my second pink drink on the counter.

“Come on.” She gestured for me to follow. “This wig is itching.”

Through the black curtain, the other queens were in various states of disassembly. Div gently removed the voluminous red wig before setting it in a case. From a nearby stool, I watched as he pulled out wipes and removed his makeup in front of a mirror leaning on the wall.

“Where’d you learn to do makeup like that?”

He shot me a quick smile before he smeared off an eyebrow. “YouTube, mostly, but sometimes the queens help each other out before or after shows. Teach each other things, stuff like that.”

“Why did you choose her?” My voice was awestruck.

One of his shoulders lifted and he studied the makeup wipe a moment, before he peered into the mirror and worked at removing the rest. “She’s girl power, she’s femininity, and she doesn’t care what people think.”

I nodded. “That’s why I love her too. She’s so sexy.”

We exchanged a smile that felt like friendship. “She is, isn’t she?”

“Bye, honey,” one of the queens called as two of them left. Div waved in the mirror at them. “Bye, new girl.”

I flushed. I was a spectator here in their world, but it was nice to be seen instead of invisible.

“Why do you do drag?”

Div finished wiping off his makeup before he answered. He left the lashes on. “A couple years ago, my therapist asked me what I did for fun.”

“And what did you say?”

He let out a flat laugh. “Nothing. I didn’t know what to say. I thought it was a weird question. I worked. All I did was work. And before that, I went to school and studied.” His throat worked and he tossed the wipe in the garbage. “It made me realize, what’s it all for? If all I do is work, and I don’t do anything purely for me, what’s the point?”

The last queens waved goodbye as they left and Div and I were alone in the stockroom. Music from the bar filtered through the curtain, and it swayed as the front door of the bar opened and closed.

“When I’m her, there’s a point to it all.” He pressed his mouth into a line. “It’s just for me, it makes me happy, and I love it. It scared me but I’m glad I did. It’s my true self, or one of my true selves, up there.”

He shot me a skewering glance, like he was daring me to laugh or make fun of him.

I nodded and swallowed with a smile. “Well, you’re amazing.”

His expression softened and he looked down at his makeup case. “Thanks.”

“Can you show me how to do eyeliner?”

He laughed. “Sure. I can do that.”

Div finished cleaning up and we walked to our cars together. Something daring streaked through me.

“Hey, Div?”

He sent a text on his phone and looked up at me. “Yes, Hannah.”

“You should come hang out at my bookstore sometime.” I shrugged. “I mean, I know you’re busy working all the time, but if you have a day off or something. You don’t have to—”

“Sure.” He smiled. “That would be fun. Avery won’t shut up about it.”

A laugh bubbled out of me. “Okay. Cool.”

He tilted his head. “So, you and Wyatt.” He raised an eyebrow and his eyes glittered. “Camping.”

I groaned. “Oh my god. Mortifying.”

The corner of his mouth rose. “I expect all the details of what made you howl like a werewolf.”

“I did not howl like a werewolf,” I sputtered, shaking with laughter.

“Maybe, maybe not. Maybe that’s what Miri’s telling everyone. Wyatt likes you, and you should go for it.”

I bit back a grin, flushed. “Maybe I will.”

He lifted his eyebrows once. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

We climbed into our cars and I pulled out my phone. When I unlocked it, the picture Wyatt had taken of me in the bookstore was on screen.

Div had said he was his most authentic self up on stage in drag. He said it was scary but brought him happiness and made life worth it.

The bookstore made me feel like that. Not the old version of the bookstore, but the new one. The one where we sold mostly romance novels, had a stand at the farmer’s market, and would soon have a huge, beautiful mural outside.