18. Brad
18
brAD
B right flashing lights met my gaze as soon as we entered the club. I blinked a couple of times, trying to undazzle my eyes from the sheer power of the kaleidoscopic rainbow. As I glanced around, amid the swirling lights and deep thumping base, there were people dancing in cages and a few wore too much leather for a regular club. The walls were dark from what I could make out, and people were mashed together on the floor and on leather-looking sofas.
“Shane, did you take us to a bondage club?” I asked, half amused and half nervous. We were in a different country — this was how horror movies started.
“I think this is just how Berlin is.” He shrugged, leading the way as always, like he didn’t have a care in the world.
Maybe he didn’t, but I’d seen enough movies to know this was a horror movie waiting to happen.
We made our way to the bar, where Shane ordered confidently for all of us. Fine with me. I wasn’t so sure about this. I’d have felt better if Dylan was with us, probably, but Charlie was also missing, and it felt a little strange to not have his sense of logic to help back me up.
“Brad, stop freaking, man.” Jason laughed, clapping me on the shoulder. “What do you think is gonna happen here? Someone going to come at you with a little whip? You’re the only single guy. If someone wants to whip you, let ‘em.”
Micah rolled his eyes. “Oh, so you’d want to be whipped if you were single? Don’t make me consider it.” He affectionately stroked the back of Jason’s neck.
“Whipping me or making me single?” he teased back.
Micah laughed and looped his arms around his neck. “It would have to be the whipping. I won’t let you go and no one else is allowed to touch.”
I shook my head, mostly to avoid anyone noticing that I was deep in thought, wondering if that’s how it would be if things ever progressed to that point with Dylan. It was a pipe dream, a fantastical idea, but would he be that openly affectionate? When I’d known him to date in the past, I’d hardly known they were together before I heard about their breakup.
“No, but really, man, get some action.” Theo toasted to me and took his shot.
“Ah, you know, I’m cool.” Did I have a reasonable excuse to say no? Technically not. Dylan flashed through my mind, the look of disappointment that would be in his eyes, or maybe that he wouldn’t even care. After all, casually hooking up didn’t mean neither of us could see other people or have fun on the side. That’s what it implied, right? Even if the very thought made me feel a bit like I was trapped underwater.
Thankfully, the topic seemed to drop for a while as we all had some more drinks and eased into the strange German club.
To be honest, I still wasn’t completely sure if it was a regular or bondage club, and didn’t know that it mattered. There was a vast amount more spandex and leather than I was used to, but maybe Shane was right and that’s just how Berlin was. I felt slightly out of place in just jeans and a t-shirt, but it wasn’t like I’d bothered to bring along a whole wardrobe of options. I wasn’t Shane.
“Excuse me,” came the sound of a man’s voice with a thick German accent.
I turned slightly with a smile, expectant but cautious. He was tall and handsome, with a heavy brow and long hair that fell in dark ringlets. A little more vampire-y than my usual taste.
“Excuse my forwardness…but I do so love Americans. Would you care to come with me to the upper rooms? Tell me…a bit more about where you come from?” His sharp eyes stared at me, watching and waiting.
Upper rooms? Was that where the heavy bondage really came in? “Uh…no, thanks, man, I think I’m alright.”
“He’s just shy — he’d love to.” Jason suddenly appeared at my side, clapping me on the back and grinning like an idiot.
I widened my eyes at him, trying to ask silently what the hell he was thinking. Did he want me to get tied to a table with this guy sucking my blood?
Jason just leaned in a little, close to my ear. “Sorry, man. Lambda dare.” His voice was playful, but I wanted to hit him in the throat.
There was no logical reason I should say no, anyway. I was the only single guy here, and my frat brother thought I should do it. So who was I to say no? I swallowed those thoughts that said I should have ignored him. “Lead the way,” I agreed, but not before tossing back my drink.
“Very good,” the man said, and waited on me patiently.
As soon as I stepped forward, his hand went to my back, and I felt immediately uncomfortable. Maybe it was a pride thing, but I was used to being the one in control. This guy looked like he was probably in his thirties. Did he just think that because I was a decade younger than him that he’d be able to push me around?
Nothing weird had actually happened yet, so I kept going along with it. This was how horror movies went — you weren’t supposed to get separated from your friends in strange places. I’d kick Jason’s ass for this later, when he least expected me to be there waiting for him.
German Dracula led me up the stairs, and I followed hesitantly. What the hell was I going to see up here? Everyone else didn’t seem too thrilled about the idea of finding out, so why was I the guinea pig?
“Don’t worry, my American friend, there is nothing to fear,” German Dracula reassured me. Somehow, I was very much not reassured.
“Where are we going?” I glanced at him. He may have been tall, but I was broader. If I needed to fight him off, I could. Well, unless he really was part of the Dracula family.
“Just up here. Through those curtains is a little more private, you know what I mean?” He leaned in so close that I could feel his breath on my ear.
I shivered, but not in the way he probably hoped. Instead, my thoughts turned to Dylan. Was he still in bed, sleeping? Even though he’d said he was just tired, there seemed to be something more there. Something he didn’t want to say, or maybe he didn’t have the words for it. I didn’t know if it was about me, if I’d let him down somehow. I hoped not.
And here I was with German Dracula while he lay there, possibly suffering. I didn’t owe it to Dylan to not go with this guy. He was clear about what we were. So if I wanted to go in there with this guy, I didn’t need to have a guilty conscience.
We walked over to the velvet curtain, and German Dracula pulled it back. Darkness was everywhere, and I blinked a few times, waiting for my eyes to adjust. It wasn’t quick, and even then, I could make out only a few figures and shapes inside the room. Music played, some kind of thumping industrial beat special for this room.
A chill ran down my spine. I backed up. “Uh…on second thought, really…sorry, but I need to get back to my friends.” I smiled an apology, like it would make it okay or lessen the strange tension. I slipped away from the velvet curtain, leaving behind his hanging arm that reached for me.
I couldn’t go through with it, even if this guy was just after a simple fuck. Something didn’t feel right, and I knew that no small part of that was the way I felt about Dylan. I was overly dedicated to him maybe, but there was no way I would pass up the opportunity to be around him — even if I didn’t get any orgasm out of it — over this German Dracula weirdo and the mysteries of the velvet room.
“Are you sure?” He asked, looking a little puzzled. Who could blame him, really? I’d come with him, seemingly happily, and now I was changing my mind out of seemingly nowhere.
“Sorry, man, yeah.” I held up a hand in greeting, turning on the spot to head for the stairs again. That was weird.
For a moment, I wondered if I’d have gone through with it, if my thoughts hadn’t been filled with Dylan, if we hadn’t agreed to be friends with benefits. I knew my physical needs would already be met, so maybe I didn’t need it. As much as I justified it, a little voice in the back of my head already supplied that I’d have turned him down for just the thought of Dylan, anyway.
When I reached the place my friends had last stood, it was only Jason and Micah and Theo. I drew back and socked Jason in the shoulder, to which he yelped and jumped back, a frown on his face like he was ready to go.
“What the fuck?” he asked, realizing it was me and not some drunken club goer.
“You’re an asshole, that’s what.”
Micah looked between us. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” I shrugged it off.
“Dude, you didn’t go for it?” Theo piped up, looking at me with this wild sense of bewilderment in his gaze.
“Nope. It was a weird situation.” Surely they could see that? If Shane and Alex were standing with us, they’d have probably agreed, at least, that it wasn’t safe and a stupid choice to even consider going alone with that guy. Who knew what he was really capable of, after all? I could handle it, but what if someone smaller went with him?
Like Dylan? My mind supplied.
Okay, in all fairness, Shane probably would have gone for it himself in his single days. Surely, at least Alex would agree with me.
“You’re crazy. He was hot. Who wouldn’t have gone for it?” Theo laughed.
Micah raised an eyebrow. “ Interesting .”
“What! I can call people hot, so can Charlie. Doesn’t mean I’m going to go pick up Brad’s slack.” Theo scoffed, like the idea was a surprise.
I shook my head, Micah just shrugged and said a cryptic, “We’ll see.”