Bayard Stanton rolled his eyes as he followed his friends into some backwoods bar they had come across on their drive through the countryside. He thought it was stupid to stop but Jace insisted, said he was thirsty or some such shit.

"It's just a bar, Liam,” Jace argued. “They can't keep us out."

Bay was pretty sure they could. This place wasn’t the absolute end of the earth but it was damn close. He was pretty sure they were in the middle of inbred central.

"You think not?" Liam laughed, sounding very nervous. "We're in redneck hell, Jace. Not only can they keep us out, they can tar and feather us. That is what they do in these backwater towns, isn't it? Tar and feather people?"

Bay snorted when Liam glanced back at him. "Normal people, maybe. Queers like us?" Bay shook his head. "They string us up, and like, throw lawn darts at us or something."

Liam’s eyes rounded.

"Oh please," Jace replied. "This is a public place. We have as much right to be here as anyone else."

"Honey, I hate to break this to you but we're not anyone else." Bay snickered. "We're loud, flaming, flamboyant, queens.” He waved a hand toward one of his friends. “Hell, the eyeliner on Rue's face alone could get our asses kicked."

Jace frowned.

Rue blushed.

Bay laughed. Jace was constantly going on about Rue wearing eyeliner. He'd have a coronary if he ever learned that Rue got the eyeliner from Bay.

"Jace, honey, if someone looked up gay in the dictionary"—Bay said as he gestured between them all—"they'd find a picture of us."

"We're not that bad," Jace insisted.

Hell, yes, they were.

"Jace, what color is my shirt?" Bay asked as he plucked at the silky material with his fingers.

"Azure blue, why?"

"And Liam's?" Bay continued.

"Chartreuse."

"Uh huh," Bay said, "and what type of piercing does Rue have?"

Jace glanced back at Rue, grinning. "Guiche."

Bay planted his hands on his hips. "Honey, face it, we're GAY!"

Jace laughed. 

A blush crept up Rue's face again.

Unless someone was blind and deaf, they'd see that all four of them were clearly gay. They talked gay, they walked gay, and they looked gay. They were the stereotypical gay men society so often associated with gay men. Loud bright colors, makeup and piercings, even the effeminate body movements, they had it all, in spades.

Christ, two of the four of them had little sequined purses under their arms.

"Okay, so we're gay. So what? That doesn't mean we don't have as much right to be here as anyone else," Jace said as grabbed the door handle to the bar. "Besides, maybe we can teach those hicks a things or two about fashion and makeup."

Jace was laughing as he opened the bar door and took a step inside. He came to a screeching halt at the scene before him. Bay plowed into him from behind, Liam and Rue running into his back. When Jace's laughter slowly died away, Bay glanced beyond his friend for the reason.

In this instance, he knew they were in deep shit... again.

The place was filled with a sea of rough, muscle bound, jean clad, cowboy boot wearing, beer drinking rednecks. They were everywhere, as far as the eye could see. And more than one of them were drool worthy.

Most, if not all of them, had beers. A few men sat around booths around the room. Several were playing pool. There were even a few that seemed to be just hanging out at the bar. Loud country music could be heard…well, almost everywhere.

It was really loud.

The place basically looked like every backwoods bar that Bay had ever envisioned…pool tables, beer and peanuts, country music, and rednecks. Bay doubted there was a gay man in the bunch. No one was stupid enough to go into this place if they were gay…except the four of them.

Bay didn't like the grin he saw crossed Jace's face. He knew it meant trouble. He loved Jace, really he did. They were best friends, but Jace always seemed to be dragging the four of them into one scrape after another.

Jace didn't much care that the four of them stood out like warts on a thumb. Jace wasn't ashamed of the fact that he was gay, that he loved men. He didn't care if his demeanor made some people uncomfortable. He was who he was and he wasn't going to change that for anyone, not even a room full of rednecks.

Bay loved that about his friend.

He also hated that about his friend.

"Come on in, boys." Jace giggled "There's eye candy as far as the mascara wearing eye can see."