Shady Queens was at her sparkling best. The buildings glowed a fresh white in the afternoon sun. Brightly colored boats painted like different LGBTQ+ flags bobbed in the water along the main dock. The grass was green, the paths were neatly trimmed, the sand was raked smooth on the volleyball courts … Everything was ready for the guests.

Off-duty staff were generally not to be seen around the resort, but they had free rein of the staff dorms, dining hall, and cabin. They could even swim around the employee dock as long as they weren’t loud or rowdy. Archer had definite plans to work on his tan this summer, but for now he had one thing on his mind: sleep.

He showered and crashed hard in his bed until Ben shook him awake a couple hours later at dinnertime. He realized he hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to his other roommates the last few days, having spent most of his free time with Caleb.

“How’s your week going, guys?” Archer asked, digging into his stir-fry.

“Good,” Ben said at the same time Beau snipped, “Fine.”

Archer glanced between them. “Okay?”

Beau’s gaze shifted sideways at Ben. “Ben’s having a great week.”

Ben sighed, eyes rolling. “I was not checking him out.”

Beau smiled a tight smile and patted Ben’s leg. “Of course not, love.”

“Um.” Archer froze, fork hovering. “Checking who out?” He instantly regretted asking, of course, but it was too late.

Now Ben had a tight smile of his own. “Beau thinks I was checking out Gage.”

“He’s stone cold,” Beau said, stabbing his chicken with a fork. “Why wouldn’t you check him out?”

“Yeah, he’s hot, but just because I happened to be looking at him—”

“So you admit he’s hot?” Beau’s eyebrow arched dangerously high.

“I—” Ben shut his mouth with a snap and gave Archer a desperate will-you-help-me-out-here? look.

Archer chewed slowly, looking between the two. “Nothing wrong with noticing someone is hot, right?” he ventured.

Beau studied him for a moment. “Of course not, Archer.” He took a delicate bite.

“Speaking of hot,” Archer continued, “I’m so excited for the show tonight.” Sadly, in all his time in New York, focused as he was on auditioning and saving money, he hadn’t seen much drag.

“Oh my God, we saw Eva in New York last fall!” Beau announced and, happily, the subject was changed.

Ben flashed Archer a grateful look.

Eva Stiff was a marvel. She was at least six foot eight with her platform heels and towering pink wig, wrapped neck to ankle in shimmering gold fabric. The dancers were allowed to watch the show from the wings, so Archer crowded in with the rest of the troupe, except Mateo, who was not there.

“Isn’t she fierce?” Dominik whispered in awe as she took the stage to the utter delight of the crowd.

“Amazing.”