Chapter 14
Colton
Dinner with Sophie was beige and uneventful, the conversation was a dull hum in Colton’s ears. The food and wine had no taste. It very well could have been TV static and Styrofoam.
Colton was utterly numb.
How the hell did he arrive at that point? Had he missed the signs? What happened to make him so miserable and discontented? Was it something recent, and immediate? Or had it been sneaking up on him for years?
Even worse for Colton’s currently fragile state of mind, after dinner, they met Serena and Chastity, Sophie’s model friends, at the new nightclub.
They were accompanied by two nauseatingly irritating male models; both of them skinny, with jet black hair, eyeliner, dressed in black from head to toe, and they clearly felt they were far superior to anyone else in the club.
The two male models, Trey and Troy, were just as bitchy as Dean’s dancers, if not more so.
Their hateful, catty commentary on everyone in the club filled Colton’s ears and grated his nerves.
In that moment, Colton quickly realized something: Dean’s dancers’ snide comments were teasing and bitchy, but they came from a place of friendship and love.
It was a lot like the ribbing he got from his teammates, good natured pokes and jabs in the spirit of brotherhood.
Suddenly, he had a greater level of respect for Dean’s dance troupe.
The snide, bitchy comments from these folks, however, were anything but friendly or loving.
The four of them talked non-stop about the people surrounding them, making fun of their clothes, hair, or overall looks.
Colton couldn’t roll his eyes far enough back into his head.
Their entire conversation was spiteful and mean-spirited, and it made them absolutely hideous in Colton’s eyes.
It was like a really bad, tragic version of Mean Girls.
The night just kept getting better and better.
Colton wanted to run for the door and never look back.
What he really would've liked to do was go back to the loft and have drinks with Dean. At least there, he knew he would have fun.
In an attempt to zone out from the judge-fest around him, he thought back to their time at the loft earlier in the evening.
The relationship between Dean and his dancers was beautiful.
They were like a little family. They bickered and taunted, but there was always love and respect.
It reminded him of some of his favorite coaches, who educated, encouraged, and challenged him.
The thought brought a smile to his face.
A loud, piercing cackle shook Colton from his happy bubble. He was quickly reminded of where he was, and the current horrible company he was keeping. He needed to get the fuck out of there, but he didn’t want to cause a scene.
Instead of running for the hills, he drew a deep breath and excused himself to go get drinks for the group. That way, he’d have a few moments of solitude and could escape their bitter, awful comments.
Colton found a spot at the bar and placed his order.
He turned, with an elbow on the bar, and surveyed the space.
The club was actually nice, dark with strobing lights as one would expect from a nightclub, with elegant, understated décor.
The exposed brick walls, accented with warm, dark wood panels and art deco sconces, gave the space a modern speakeasy feel.
The interior was really well done, and if Colton had been there with literally anyone else, he might actually appreciate and enjoy the space.
The dance floor was mostly full with people of all shapes and sizes, dancing to the club music filling the space.
Colton huffed with a slight chuckle. This was exactly the same environment as Dean’s show that he and Sophie went to…the club atmosphere, dance music thumping, and people drinking and dancing.
But the vibe in this club was different.
At Dean’s show, there had been an air of freedom, inclusion, and celebration. Here, the vibe felt dark and heavy. The people on the dance floor seemed expressionless, mindlessly swaying to the beat without joy or passion. A zombie dance floor.
Maybe that was just the vibe of Colton’s soul in its current state.
Whether the actual vibe in the club was shitty, or Colton was projecting his own misery into the space around him, the fact was that this night was not even remotely on the same level as one of Dean’s performances.
And there it was again. No matter what he was thinking, it always circled back around to Dean.
Colton snapped out of his thoughts, captured by the song currently playing through the club. He had never really paid attention to lyrics before, but these startled Colton like a bucket of cold water…
I like me better when I’m with you
I like me better when I’m with you
I like me better when, I like me better when I’m with you
Colton blinked his eyes, trying to understand why those words resonated with him so profoundly. Sure, the song was catchy and upbeat, but those words, they sank deep into his mind and took root.
Maybe he was just having a bad day and overthinking things? Or maybe this was a sign that something needed to change?
As soon as Colton finished that thought, Sophie and her four friends walked up, cackling obnoxiously and gossiping about everyone nearby.
Nope! No more of this bullshit! Colton thought, feeling annoyed, his stress level rising once again.
He took a breath, pasted on a fake smile, and passed everyone their drinks.