Chapter Nine #2
As Trevor bounded toward the staff room, I couldn’t help but get a little revenge for the way he found so much joy in my predicament a moment ago. “By the way,” I called out above the music. “That little laughing fit you had made your eyeliner run. You look like a raccoon.”
“What?” he shrieked so high-pitched Mariah Carey would have been proud. “Why didn’t you say anything?” He scurried into the staffroom as though the floor was on fire.
Yeah, that helped bolster me before I returned to the table from hell again. I swung by the bar to grab my tray of drinks from an unhappy Marty. “Sorry, man,” I said, holding my hands up in surrender. “Didn’t mean to take a lifetime. I had something to sort out.”
My dick, to be precise.
He shook his head as he pushed the tray of drinks my way.
“I know your man is here tonight. You can repay me with some sordid details later.” His wink reassured me he wasn’t annoyed.
Overall, the guys who worked here were great.
We got on each other’s nerves occasionally, like any co-workers, but at the end of the day, it was a stellar work environment.
“You got it,” I said with a laugh as I grabbed the tray and hoisted it up to shoulder level, balancing it on my hand. With a final nod for Marty, I weaved my way to the table where the rowdy frat boys were laughing their asses off over something.
“Fucking finally,” the loudest of the bunch said as I drew close. He was six feet of chiseled pretty boy who seemed to think his shit didn’t stink. “Been waiting damn near an hour.”
Or ten minutes, max.
“Sorry about that, guys,” I said with my most affable smile, which I’ve been told comes across as a minor grimace at best. “Promise these babies are worth the wait.”
“They better be,” another of the bros said. He was a solid six inches shorter than all the rest, but his inflated self-confidence made him feel like the tallest guy in the room, no doubt.
“What else can I get for you guys?” I asked as they attacked the tray like parched men who’d been wandering the desert without hydration for hours.
“We’re hitting the dance floor after this. We’ll find you when we want you again,” pretty boy said.
Lucky me.
“To getting laid,” one of them hollered, lifting his drink to the center of the table.
I barely resisted rolling my eyes as I turned from the table. Three steps later, a stumbling Ryder flung himself into my arms.
“See you at home, you sexy man,” he said, eyes glassy and smile loopy. Turk stood behind him with an equally wasted expression. Even Corvin had the swaying stance of someone who’d had a damn good night.
“Please tell me none of you drove here tonight?”
“Nah, man, we ain’t that stupid. I got us a car. It’ll drop your boy off right outside his apartment building. All he’s gotta do is get on the elevator.” Turk tried to clap a hand on my shoulder but completely missed, stumbling instead.
I snorted with my arms full of drunk and horny Ryder, who was now trying to kiss my neck. “I’m not sure he can even manage that much.”
“Oh, shit,” Corvin said with a frown. “My car is parked by Ryder’s.”
“You can just Uber from his place and Uber back in the morning to get your wheels.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Corvin said with a downturn of his lips, clearly not loving the idea.
I could have kept my mouth shut, but I wasn’t as much of an asshole as my resting face suggested. With a sigh, I said, “Why don’t you just crash in Ryder’s guest room?”
“Yeah?” Ryder pulled back and scanned my face. “You sure?”
Nodding, I said, “Yeah. Might as well. You’re all gonna pass out soon. Might as well not have that happen in the back of an Uber.”
“You’re sweet,” Ryder whispered in my ear.
“Don’t tell anyone.”
He laughed harder than the sentence called for. Ahh, alcohol. “I won’t.”
I kissed him. “I’ll be there a little before three.”
“And I’ll be waiting for you just the way I promised earlier.” He waggled his eyebrows in a dramatic fashion that had Turk groaning.
“Sure, you will. I’ll be excited to have an extra fifty fucks to add to my tips tonight when I get home and find you passed out in the same clothes you’re wearing right now.”
Turko barked a laugh. “You were right to take that bet, man.” He tried to pry Ryder off me as I attempted to hand him over, but my boyfriend had become a clingy octopus. “Dude, you’ll see him in two hours. Let the man go do his job.”
Ryder pouted. I’d never tell anyone, but it was damn cute. After the difficult few months we’d survived and the horrendous almost-dinner with his parents, I was happy to see him let loose and go a little wild. He deserved a night to turn off his brain and have fun.
Turk had finally managed to wrangle Ryder to his side. My man leaned heavily on his friend. Hell, at this point, we’d be lucky if their driver didn’t have to carry his passed-out ass up to the penthouse. He grinned at me the whole time like a smitten fool.
God, I loved him.
I grabbed the front of his shirt and planted a final kiss on his lips. “I hope I lose the bet,” I whispered.
“Huh?” Ryder blinked at me as his bloodstream absorbed more of the alcohol. “What bet?
Turko burst out laughing. “You’re fucked.”
Yeah, I’d be fifty bucks richer when I got home but unsatisfied as hell.
But there was always tomorrow morning to fulfill those sexy promises. So many tomorrow mornings.
They disappeared into the throng of dancing bodies as they made their way to the exit, and I went back to work.
The last part of the night passed without incident.
The frat boys danced, bitched, and a few found hookups to leave with.
Trevor pretended not to care when he saw Parker talking to a man who could have been his carbon copy.
My friend hated talking about his obsession with our boss, though his feelings ran deep, and watching Parker leave with another guy cut him to his core, especially since every guy he hooked up with bore a striking resemblance to Trevor.
It was an all-too-frequent occurrence that poor Trevor had to witness again and again.
One of these days, the tension between them would explode.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t burn down the entire club when it did.
By the time I parked in the apartment complex’s underground parking garage in the spot Ryder had purchased for me, despite my protests, I was exhausted.
My feet ached, and my body felt heavy with fatigue.
As much as I’d have loved Ryder to be awake and ready to roll around in the sheets for a few hours, the idea of crawling into bed and gathering his sleeping form against me was even more appealing tonight.
I made it to the penthouse elevator without falling asleep on my feet, but I did drift a bit as I leaned against the wall and floated up to the sixteenth floor.
The ding when I reached Ryder’s floor startled me out of a half-asleep stupor.
I entered the quiet penthouse with a sigh.
At some point, Ryder’s place started to feel as much like home as my own house.
And I loved it.
Footsteps from the bedroom had me smiling. I turned to greet Ryder, only to freeze in place. Corvin stood in the hallway outside the master bedroom in nothing but a goddamn jockstrap, scratching his chest. His lean body was on display, and his tousled hair did not help my runaway mind.
What. The. Fuck.
His eyes widened, and he stopped walking but didn’t say anything. No apology, no explanation about how he’d wandered into the wrong room after taking a middle-of-the-night piss.
Nothing.
But then his shoulders loosened, and a half smirk curled his lips.
A cold wave of dread washed over me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. My chest tightened until I couldn’t draw in air. I couldn’t tear into Corvin like he deserved for touching what was mine.
He cocked his head and shrugged as though he wasn’t destroying my entire world. “It’s always made more sense, Alex.”
They’d always made more sense, he meant—two rich boys who moved in the same high-society circles.
He had a similar family, connections, and financial profile, whereas I resided in the gutter.
A poor kid who served alcohol in my underwear to make ends meet.
I wouldn’t be there forever, and I wasn’t ashamed of what I did, not in the least, but when the stereotype of perfection looked down his nose at you, it made you doubt yourself.
At least it made me doubt myself.
And it made me doubt my relationship.
I wanted to tear across the penthouse and wrap my hands around Corvin’s throat.
It’d be so satisfying to watch his eyes bug in shock and fear.
I wanted to make him feel as horrible as I did in that moment.
I wanted to march into the bedroom, lock the intruder out, and remind Ryder just who he belonged to.
But I was so heavy inside that I couldn’t do any of that. Corvin had made me feel two inches tall, and no one was allowed to do that. Even back in high school, when Ryder and his douchebag friends tried, I held my head high and gave it back to them as good as I got.
Better even.
But this was different. I loved Ryder, and Corvin stepped in the middle of that.
So I did the only thing my bleeding heart would allow.
I turned and walked out of the penthouse while my heart left a trail of blood behind me.