Rainbow Snippets*-- Happy V-Day!

I'm aromantic-- something I couldn't define until just a few years ago. I just knew I was different from my friends. I didn't date and I never planned on getting married (even though I did, and have been with the same partner for nearly 34 years). And yet, I'm fascinated by romance. I guess that's why I read and write it!  

Our wedding day. It was definitely not a serious/solemn event!

This week's snippet is a continuation from last week and is taken from the prologue from Smoke and Sparks, told from Daryl's POV. He has just discovered his cousin Ben is bisexual and he is beginning to accept that he, himself, is gay.  (part 5 of 6-- read part one here, part two here, part three here, and part four here.)  

Cherry was a flame that drew me, and after my fourth beer, I got brave enough to sit next to him as the group settled around the campfire. It was midsummer and hot, and still, we’d built a fire and gathered around as if it was some prehistoric instinct, to keep close in case a sabertooth tiger was stalking us, watching from the darkness.

Or maybe, as humans, we just like to watch the flames and listen to the crackle. Herd instinct sounded better than drunken fascination. Either way, we gathered, we drank, we told stories, and we laughed. And I asked Cherry some really stupid questions. I don’t even know where they came from. And although Cherry seemed amused, I upset Ben. And yes, in retrospect, I went too far when I asked which of the two was the man in their relationship. But I really wanted to know how it all worked. 

 *Rainbow Snippets is a (Facebook) group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers who gather once a week to share snippets from a work of fiction–-a WIP or a finished work or even a book recommendation. If you're interested in following a diverse group of authors, check it out here.