20. JT #2
They were too beautiful, too glamorous. They wore clothes worth more than all of my belongings put together.
Diamonds and crystals glittered on their wrists and necks, the bling sparkling under the enormous chandelier, and they handed over black credit cards with cash tips—minimum a hundred dollars.
They were unlike any people I’d ever associated with. Yet here I was, standing with one of them.
“The owners of the bar approached us, knowing if we showed, so would the rest of Manhattan’s upper—”
West cut himself off, and I arched a brow. “Upper class ?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Sounds obnoxious, right?”
“Only when you point it out.”
I pursed my lips. “Yeah, but I didn’t this time.”
“Shut up.”
I chuckled as he turned back to the crowded dance floor, enjoy myself a little too much at his expense. It wasn’t his fault he’d been born with a silver—hell, probably gold—spoon in his mouth. But sometimes it was nice to remind him of his elitist take on life.
Hey, he’d been the one to tell me to ground him.
“You gonna dance tonight?” West said, gesturing to the crowd. “Or you going to be a wallflower like you were at the club last week?”
“I wasn’t a wallflower.”
He scoffed. “Please, you practically melted into the damn thing.”
“Says the man who was gyrating all over his dance partner.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back. But it was too late, and when West winked at me, the heat in my cheeks intensified.
“Glad you noticed.”
I rolled my eyes, doing my best to play it off. “Oh, get over yourself.”
He downed the rest of his drink, and just as he was about to speak, I heard, “LaRue?” from somewhere behind us.
West turned, that magnetic smile flashing bright enough to replace the light overhead. “Blake? I didn’t know you were back in town. Where the hell have you been?”
“Oh, you know me, here and there.”
My eyes tracked the newcomer—Blake—as he made his way around the small bar.
Just like the rest of this crowd, it was clear the man was rich as Midas.
The black choker surrounding his neck with a large diamond at the center of it told me that much.
As did the gorgeous lace bustier that showed off his leanly muscled shoulders.
Now, I wasn’t one to stare, but when I trailed my eyes down to the leather pants that were glued to his trim waist and long legs, and got to a pair of six-inch heels, I winced.
Blake pointed a toe in my direction. “Aren’t they gorgeous? Brand-new Jimmy Choos. They were worth every penny, and if West here tells me he’s going to dance with me, they’ll also be worth the pain.”
I looked between the two men staring at me and then shook my head. “I don’t know that anything would be worth the pain those would inflict.”
West put his empty glass down on the counter and leaned in to bump arms with mine. “That’s because you’ve never danced with me.”
A shiver raced up my spine, and I couldn’t be sure if it was from the contact, or what he’d said. But before I could overanalyze it, West pushed off the bar and reached for Blake’s waist, then leaned in to kiss his cheek.
“Blake?” West looked back at where I stood frozen in place, and I imagined what it might be like to— Nope, not going there. “This is my new friend, JT. He just started at Astor this year.”
Blake cozied in to West’s side and ran a hand down his chest, a lighthearted laugh floating out of his mouth.
That laugh was annoying.
“Nice to meet you, JT.” Blake looked between West and me. “ Just friends?”
I almost wanted to refute that, if only to get him to go away. We’d been having a good time before he interrupted.
Before I could answer, West smirked at the intruder. “I do have platonic friends, Blake.”
“Not sure where the fun is in that. But it does make it easier to steal you away.” Blake’s eyes flashed to mine. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Hell yes I did.
But I didn’t say anything at all, because Blake didn’t wait for a response before wrapping his arm around West’s waist and pulling him away.
“One dance,” West called out to me before disappearing into the crowd with the interloper.
“Another,” I said to the bartender after I drained the rest of my drink and pushed the empty glass his way.
There wasn’t much I could do besides wait.
Around the room I could see the others we came with, but I didn’t feel like joining anyone right now.
Not when Blake, a full head above the dancers, could be seen all over West.
Was that his type? Arrogant guys in heels? Or did West prefer them like the one from the concert? Did he even have a preference, or was he into everything and everyone?
Whatever—if dancing or gyrating or getting naked with someone in a club was what he was into, then it wasn’t my business. I didn’t care. I just thought he’d invited me to come hang out with him tonight, and here I was, standing alone at the bar.
I finished off one drink without him.
Then two.
By the time the bartender handed me the third, I was past the point of impatience.
Grabbing my drink, I pushed off the bar and headed toward where I’d last seen them. I stopped at the edge of the crowd and looked around, but I didn’t see them anywhere.
What the hell? West wouldn’t have left me here. Maybe he’d gone back to the bar and I’d somehow missed him—
I did a double take as I caught sight of them heading toward one of the confessional booths. Blake pulled open the door and turned to West, a seductive smile on his face, one that, even from a distance, I could see West returned.
My heart pounded harder as I realized what was happening. What those private rooms were for.
West’s hands were low on Blake’s stomach as he said something, and Blake shook his head, that smile never dimming. He gripped the back of West’s neck, pulling him into the booth. As the door slammed shut behind them, my stomach dropped to my feet.
All of a sudden it was too hot, too loud, too not my scene. I couldn’t believe West had invited me here only to ditch me to go hook up. Why bother inviting me at all?
I had to get out of there.
Did I leave the way I’d come in or what?
“Where’s the exit?” I shouted to the bartender, setting my half-full drink aside. He pointed to where another couple was slipping out a hidden door, and I followed, knocking into people in my hurry to leave.
Turned out I wasn’t much of a fan of Church after all.