Chapter 10
10
S anctuary was unlike any club I’d ever been in. Everything about it was high-end, from the rich midnight blues and deep blacks to the burnished gold accents. As I pushed through the crowds towards the bar, my fingers wrapped around Leo’s wrist so we didn’t lose each other, I reminded myself of why I was here. For Leo. And to a lesser extent, for my dare, to perform my dance in front of people.
And the girls. Speaking of…
There they were, drinks in hand, standing around a high table with Charlie and my teammates Freddie and Levi, as well as Levi’s boyfriend, Asher. Charlie noticed me first, and I lifted my hand in acknowledgement before pointing to the bar and miming myself drinking. He gave me a thumbs up, and I continued to weave through the crowds, tugging Leo with me until we reached the bar.
Releasing Leo’s wrist, I placed my hand on his back, leaning in to be heard over the thumping music.
“What do you want to drink?”
He stared around us, wide-eyed, before shaking his head. “I have no clue. This is my first time in a club. I-I don’t?—”
Fuck, his whole body had completely stiffened, and was that panic in his eyes? I slid my hand from his back to the side of his waist so my arm was curled around him, and he immediately leaned into me.
“I’ll choose,” I assured him, and he nodded, some of the tension leaving him. Keeping it simple, I ordered us two beers, which were ridiculously expensive compared to the prices in my usual student haunts, and I was glad I hadn’t gone with anything more complex.
Turning his head so his lips brushed over my ear, he murmured a soft “Thanks,” accepting the drink, and I suppressed a weird shiver.
Get a fucking grip, Finn . Drawing back from him, I gripped his wrist again, leading him over to the table where the others were waiting for us.
“You made it!” Daisy threw her arms around me, and after a second where I stood there frozen, completely unprepared for her level of friendliness, I patted her back with my free hand. Over her shoulder, I saw Millie blatantly eye-fucking Leo, who was giving her a shy smile.
I gritted my teeth.
Okay, my friend looked good tonight. I’d helped him pick out the outfit. He’d kept it simple, with dark jeans and a plain black sleeveless T-shirt. He’d wrapped a leather band studded with silver around his wrist, and he’d done something with his hair to make it look, in his words, “less of an overgrown mess.” I liked his hair as it was anyway, but whatever product he’d used was making the red and gold tones seem like they were almost glowing. With his huge green eyes, all that pale skin, those freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose and cheeks, his defined cheekbones and plush lips… He was fucking hot. I could admit that. Not that I’d say it aloud because that would be a whole other awkward mess, and I didn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea.
Anyway, the point was, yes, he looked good, but did Millie have to eye-fuck him that obviously? Didn’t she know she was making him feel uncomfortable?
Or was she? Absentmindedly releasing Daisy, I studied them. No, Leo was actually leaning into Millie, his smile widening as she said something in his ear.
My jaw tightened. Spinning away, I greeted the boys, diving into a conversation about our upcoming match against Greenwich Uni. Daisy happily joined in, and she had several surprisingly good insights for someone who didn’t play. It turned out that as well as having a football-playing brother, she and Sophie had both played on a girls’ football team when they were younger. They’d gone to the same school, along with Millie, who hadn’t played football but who had religiously attended every one of their games to support them.
So, to recap. Daisy. Very pretty. Knew a lot about the sport I played. A nice, supportive friend. Athletic—which was my type, according to Ander. All the boxes were being ticked, and I couldn’t work out why I wasn’t more intrigued by her.
I was a lost fucking cause tonight, too in my head, worrying about Leo. Daisy deserved better, and with that in mind, I decided to be a good wingman. I’d seen the way Charlie’s friend Freddie had been looking at her—the same way Millie was looking at Leo—and so I turned to him.
“Hey, Freddie. Have you told Daisy about the initiation thing you did for her brother Pete when he joined the first team?”
They smiled at each other, and I stepped back.
“Bar,” I said, holding up my beer bottle, which was still mostly full. Without waiting for anyone to answer me, I pushed into the crowds, losing myself in a sea of anonymous bodies while I tried to get my head together. I drank as I walked, making a circuit around the large dance floor. Reaching a roped-off set of glass stairs leading upwards, I paused. Charlie had mentioned something about a VIP area, so I guessed I’d found the entrance. The bouncer standing at the bottom of the stairs shot me a look that clearly communicated “don’t even think about it,” so I continued my circuit, coming back up to the table. Leo was still deep in conversation with Millie, and I was honestly so fucking relieved and proud of him. I knew he’d be okay, but something inside me settled, seeing the visual proof in front of me.
Millie noticed me approach, and she said something to Leo, who looked up. When our eyes met, he smiled, wide and bright and happy, and I got weirdly emotional. This was how he should always be. Happy.
“Anyone wanna dance?” Charlie suggested when I reached the others. I glanced over at Leo, who was nodding, and so I ditched my beer bottle and followed everyone onto the dance floor. We found a relatively empty space and shuffled around to the music until Levi muttered something and disappeared. He came back with a tray of shots, the tiny glasses brimming with something green and lethal-looking, and instructed us all to drink them. He’d got us two each, and they burned as they went down. My eyes watered after the first one, and after the second, I was coughing, but I could feel the alcohol taking effect almost straight away.
Ten minutes later, we were all properly dancing, and there was no doubt about it—Leo was the centre of attention. The way he moved was so fucking graceful, despite our recent shots, and he didn’t even seem to notice that everyone was watching him. He was lost in the music, in his own world, and it made me so happy.
That was, until he came back to himself, and his eyes widened. His gaze snapped to mine, and he crooked his finger at me. Charlie was saying something, but I wasn’t paying attention, moving towards Leo and watching his smile grow bigger as I drew closer. When I reached him, he threw his arms around me, and I automatically hugged him back, my alcohol-infused brain not caring how it looked to anyone else.
“You have to dance. You promised,” he slurred into my ear, and, oh. Yeah.
“Do I have to?”
“It was a dare. ”
“Okay, okay.” Releasing him, I shook my head. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this right now.”
His smile disappeared. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” he said immediately. Okay, he slurred it, but I understood exactly what he meant.
“It’s okay. I never back out of a dare.” What was the worst that could happen? Everyone was tipsy, and I’d either amuse them or, more likely, baffle them.
Moving into the centre of our loose circle, I held up my hand. “Alright. Who wants to see my moves?”
“What moves?” Charlie called, and I laughed. Counting under my breath, I began, going through the steps just like Leo had taught me.
Twelve seconds felt like hours, but I made it through, and when I was done, I gave a theatrical bow to the sound of my friends applauding me. Leo was grinning as he clapped, his eyes sparkling, and I returned his grin, giving him a thumbs up.
“Good job,” Charlie said, passing out another round of shots. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“I didn’t, but Leo helped me out,” I admitted.
“You two are close, aren’t you?” he said, and something in his voice had my eyes narrowing.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing at all.”
An arm flung itself over my shoulders, and the next second, I had a drunken Leo pressed up against me.
“You did it! You were sooo good.”
Charlie smirked at me, and mouthed, See. Close. I gave him the finger. Leo’s and my friendship was no one’s business but our own.
“I won’t be giving you a run for your money anytime soon, but I did alright,” I said to Leo, wrapping my arm around his waist for balance. His, and mine. When I thought about it, it was a miracle that I’d executed all the steps correctly.
He leaned into me, his mouth touching my ear. “Can I come home with you tonight? Connor’s not around this weekend.”
“Course you can.”
“Can we go soon? I don’t feel very good.”
Shit. Drawing back, I eyed him cautiously. His eyes were glassy, and yeah…he looked a bit green.
“That last shot was a bit much, huh?”
He nodded slowly, his mouth twisting into a grimace. “It just hit me. I feel sick.”
“Okay. Let’s get you home.”
After assurances from the others that they’d stick together and make sure everyone got home okay, I ordered an Uber to my house. Leo spent the entire time curled into a ball, groaning and saying he felt sick, but we made it back without him actually throwing up. When we got inside the house, I downed a pint of water and made myself a strong coffee in the hope I could sober up enough myself to take care of him. I was feeling more or less normal by the timeI got him up to my room with a glass of water and a bucket.
While I’d been getting the bucket, he’d managed to kick off his jeans and collapse in a starfish position on my bed in his T-shirt and underwear, groaning into my pillow.
“Sorry,” he mumbled when I sat down next to him, brushing his hair back from his face. “I ruined your night.”
“You ruined nothing. Drink this water.” I helped him to sit up, and he obediently drank from the glass before collapsing back down again with another groan.
“I made you leave.”
“You didn’t make me do anything, and I don’t care that we left early. We had a good time, didn’t we? We did everything we wanted to do. You got me to show off my new dance moves.”
“Yeah.” He buried his face in my pillow again. “Can you lie with me? The room’s spinning, and I need to hold on to something.”
“Okay. Let me get the light.” I tugged off my jeans and T-shirt and turned off the lamp. I opened the curtains just enough to allow a bit of light from the streetlamps to filter in, so Leo could see what he was doing if he needed to get up or was sick or anything. Grabbing a clean T-shirt, I pulled it over my head and then carefully climbed onto the bed, trying not to jostle Leo. When I was settled next to him on my back, he shifted positions, curling into my side.
“Thank you.”
I curled my arm around him. “Anytime. You’d do the same for me.”
“I would.” He yawned, unsuccessfully attempting to burrow his head into my shoulder muscle. “Finn?”
“Yeah?”
“I think Millie might want to kiss me. Would…would you be able to teach me how?”
Everything stuttered to a halt. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.
“Finn? I dare you.”
Fuck.
“Ask me again when you’re sober,” I said eventually, but he was already asleep.
I lay awake for a long time.