Chapter 7
ZACH
The thump of the bass, the strobing lights, the hard muscles sliding against him—it was familiar, and it should have been exciting, but tonight, it wasn’t enough.
Zach had been getting increasingly nervous about leaving Miles alone for such a long time, a ball of anxiety expanding in his chest until he could think of nothing else.
Even the air smelled like Miles, and the stranger grinding against him somehow morphed into his friend’s soft embrace.
The urge to see Miles bowled him over, making him dizzy with need, and he didn’t care if Joel complained and pouted and declared that Zach had ruined his birthday.
Zach needed to leave.
Turning his head, ready to make an excuse, the words froze in his throat. He couldn’t believe what he saw.
Miles’s eyes, catching the flickers of light, shining down upon him.
Miles’s arms, wrapped around him, palms reverently caressing Zach’s stomach.
Miles, not missing a beat, pressing closer, prompting him to continue moving. Despite the questions lodged in his throat, Zach slipped back into the rhythm.
He could ask questions later.
His skin burned and tingled with awareness of Miles’s touch. Usually, dancing was a means to an end, a way to meet potential hookups, a type of foreplay. He’d never really considered how intimate it could be. How magical it could feel.
Time unraveled around them, songs blurring together.
They moved as one, their hearts thrumming to the same beat.
Miles’s hands, hesitant at first, moved up and down Zach’s body—running up his sides, squeezing his biceps, making him lose his mind—and the next time he opened his eyes, Joel was no longer nearby.
Zach tensed and swiveled his head back and forth, trying to find the familiar face.
“What’s wrong?” Miles asked. Though their rhythmic movements stopped, he was still wrapped around him, warm and comforting.
“Joel’s not here.” It wasn’t surprising.
Joel had a theory, which he’d explained the first time they went out together—the more they moved around the floor, the higher their chance of ending up next to the hottest guys.
It was a brilliant bit of logic Zach couldn’t argue against, and one that proved true on many occasions.
“He’s probably fine, but I’ll feel like an asshole tomorrow if he ends up kidnapped or something. ”
Fucking Joel. Zach wouldn’t have bothered worrying if his friend hadn’t made it a habit to pick up the largest, burliest, most intimidating guys at the club. Not that smaller guys couldn’t be giant assholes, but Joel’s choices always stirred Zach’s protective instincts.
Miles pulled away, his burning presence replaced with cool air, stepping around until their eyes met. “Should we go find him?”
“Yeah.” Zach sighed in resignation and dragged a hand through his hair, destroying the carefree look he’d spent twenty minutes perfecting.
It was over. Whatever strange dream they’d been inside of—the boundless energy of the rhythm, the shimmering connection between them, the effortless harmony—had floated away in the heavy air, leaving faint echoes of the memory to cling to Zach’s skin.
Miles wrapped his hand around Zach’s wrist and tugged gently. “Let’s go.”
The club had gotten more packed since they’d arrived, full to the brim with attractive, hungry men, but Zach didn’t look twice at a single person.
He followed closely behind Miles as they navigated through the clusters of people, scanning the crowd for Joel and trying to tamp down the tempest of emotions brewing in his chest. Mostly guilt that he’d become so absorbed in Miles, he’d forgotten all about playing wingman for his friend.
On his birthday. Especially since, for all his confidence and sass, Joel didn’t enjoy going out on his own.
He liked knowing he could always come back to Zach if the night wasn’t going well.
Zach was only dancing with the random stranger—it was still a mystery where he’d gone or how Miles had ended up in his place—for a few minutes, while Joel tried his luck with the tattooed guy in tight leather pants.
After that, they’d move elsewhere, again and again, until Joel found someone he liked.
That had been the plan. And now, Joel was probably sitting somewhere and pouting while slamming down birthday shots from his admirers.
Zach would never hear the end of it.
Beneath the guilt over abandoning Joel was something else, something heavy, muddled with confusion and shame, flaring up whenever Miles tightened his grip. Coiling low in his stomach, it made him queasy and restless, so he tried to put it out of his mind.
There’d be plenty of time to overthink everything later.
After making a full circle, Miles led them down the stairs to the basement, which held a smaller dance floor with couches lining the walls for a more intimate atmosphere. Zach rarely ventured there, content with the loud chaos of the main room.
“I think I see him.” Miles stopped and nodded to the bar. As Zach had predicted, Joel was perched on a stool with a shot glass in his hand, laughing airily at whatever the man next to him whispered in his ear.
Sidling up, Zach bumped him with an elbow. “Sorry, man, I lost track of time. You good?”
“Dandy.” Joel snickered and pumped his eyebrows. “I was gonna get your attention, but you were…busy.”
Joel wasn’t likely to let this go, but Miles was right there, hovering on the edges of their conversation, and Zach’s thoughts were a chaotic swirl. He definitely didn’t want Joel asking questions he couldn’t answer, at least not within Miles’s hearing distance.
“Who’s that?” He tried to change the subject, nodding toward Joel’s new friend. The man was shaped like a fucking tank, nothing but a wide chest and rippling muscles catching the light.
Joel didn’t answer right away, giving Zach a knowing look that promised a full interrogation later before answering. “That’s Kade. He’s a bouncer at Thrum, how cool is that?”
Yeah, him being a bouncer made total sense. No one with a brain would ever start trouble in front of this mountain of a man, who didn’t seem particularly interested in tearing his eyes off Joel.
“Oh, Tyler’s here!” Joel clapped his hands together. “I ran into him upstairs. He seemed kinda sad, so I bought him a lemon drop.”
“Tyler? Our Tyler?” Zach cocked his head in surprise.
He’d heard his shy classmate refer to an ex-boyfriend on occasion, but he’d never in a million years expect to find him at a place like this.
People like Tyler had their meet-cutes in bookstores and coffee shops instead of getting sweaty and humping on the dance floor.
“We only have one Tyler. Oh, there he is!” Joel bounced in his seat and waved at the approaching figure.
It was Tyler, alright, although he’d traded in his usual neat polo shirt for an outfit Zach never would have envisioned him wearing.
Tyler waved back, but when his gaze fell on Zach, his smile wavered.
“I’m heading out, and I promised you a birthday shot before I go.” He stopped on Joel’s other side, briefly acknowledging Zach with a sharp nod. “Zach.”
It could have been the pulsing colors painting the air or the never-ending beat of the bass distorting the sounds, but he could have sworn there was a flash of contempt in Tyler’s eyes and something bitter in his voice when he looked over.
It had to be Zach’s imagination. They’d always been friendly, and he couldn’t recall doing anything to lose Tyler’s favor.
“Tyler, I didn’t know you came here,” he greeted him back with a smile. “Having fun?”
Tyler offered a tight “Yep” before glancing to his side. “Hey, Miles.”
As Tyler ordered the drink—some complicated concoction that made Joel squeal in delight—Zach glanced between him and Miles in confusion. Did they know each other? Everything about tonight was weird, and Zach’s scrambled thoughts spread before him like puzzle pieces that refused to fit together.
After Tyler left, not even bothering to say goodbye to Zach, Joel leaned into Kade. They whispered to each other for a while, long enough for Zach to get bored and walk back to Miles, who’d been shooting him apologetic looks.
“Everything okay?”
Miles rested his palm on Zach’s lower back, far lower than his usual spot between Zach’s shoulder blades. “Of course. I’ve never been somewhere so loud, but I kinda like it.”
Zach chuckled. “I’m sure there are some clubs near your campus.” As he said it, he knew Miles wouldn’t go. Not even if Zach looked it up and drew him a map. And a part of him liked that, liked that this experience wouldn’t be diluted by future trips, would be forever inextricably linked with Zach.
“We’re gonna head out,” Joel announced. “Kade’s gonna take me to Thrum.”
“Already? We just got here.”
“Dude, it’s been—” He checked his phone. “—almost two hours.”
Shit, time had really flown by tonight. Still trying to wrap his mind around it, Zach followed their group upstairs and outside, pausing when they stopped next to a sleek black sedan parked down the block.
Kade reached inside his pocket and waited for the car to make a low chirp before throwing the passenger door open for Joel.
“Are you okay to drive?” Zach checked, wondering if it was a good idea to let Joel out of his sight with this stranger.
“He’s fine. He only had a seltzer,” Joel promised and gave both him and Miles a quick hug, then climbed inside. “I’ll text you tomorrow.”
Kade gently shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side, then paused, meeting Zach’s gaze. “I’m glad little Joey has friends that care so much.” His deep voice rumbled in the darkness, a slight lilt giving it a melodic quality.
“It’s Joel!” Joel’s indignant yell came from inside the car. “J-O-E-L!”
“I’m sorry, Joel.” Kade dragged out the vowels in the name. “Such a pretty name for such a pretty boy.”
Zach didn’t need to hear more. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
Kade chuckled and folded himself into the driver’s seat. When the car pulled away from the curb, Miles’s arm slipped around his waist. “Do you want to go back inside?”
“I don’t think so.” Zach sighed. Whatever strange magic had hold over him earlier was long gone. He’d revisit those memories later, reliving Miles’s scorching touch and their bodies sliding together over and over, but they’d be nothing but echoes of time long past.
Waves of disappointment and exhaustion hit him at the same time. “Let’s go home.”
“Okay, Zee.” Miles threw his arm around Zach’s shoulder and kissed the top of his head. Zach pretended to be engrossed in his phone, ordering a car, staring at the screen far longer than necessary, willing his emotions to ebb.
The silence on the ride back was almost ominous. Miles stared out the window, much as he did on the way there, but this time felt more oppressive, more personal. Zach hunched over and rested his forehead against the passenger seat.
“If you’re gonna be sick, you have to leave the car,” the driver said, not taking his eyes off the road.
Zach straightened and frowned. “Seriously? I’m tired, not drunk.”
“Don’t care. I’ve cleaned puke out of this car too many times. If it looks like you’re going to be sick, I’m pulling over.”
Huffing with annoyance, Zach leaned back in the seat and folded his arms across his chest.
“Everybody’s being a dick tonight,” Zach grumbled to Miles softly, lowering his voice enough so the driver wouldn’t hear. “Did you see how Tyler looked at me?” he complained before remembering the strangest part. “And how did he know your name?”
Miles made a strangled sound. “We met while you were dancing.” It sounded like he wanted to add something, but they were already slowing down in front of their building. Zach wished the driver a good, puke-free night and scrambled out of the car after Miles.
“Zee, I gotta tell you something,” Miles said as soon as they were inside, his eyes suddenly laser-focused on Zach, burrowing under his skin.
Was this where Miles sobered up and realized what they’d done? Was he upset? Did he hate Zach for taking him to a gay club? Whatever it was, Zach desperately hoped they could chalk it up to liquor and laugh it off.
“What’s up?” He tried to keep his voice steady, steeling himself for whatever emotional blow was about to come.
“I might have done something…” Miles walked over to the couch and flopped down. “Something I shouldn’t have.”
That wasn’t what Zach had expected.
“What is it?”
Miles winced, an expression of guilt washing over his features.
“I…” He paused and dropped his head into his hands like he was bracing for impact. “I…may have told Tyler that I’m your boyfriend.”
Zach slowly unclenched every muscle and lifted his gaze as Miles’s words registered in his brain. Still hazy with the adrenaline of expecting the worst, he stared at Miles in confusion.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“He was hitting on me, so I said I was there with you, but then it turned out he knew you, and you were dancing with someone else, and he totally got the wrong idea,” Miles rattled off quickly, embarrassment flushing his cheeks. “I’m really sorry.”
Zach stared at him, trying to make sense of the words.
Of all the things he’d expected to go wrong tonight, Miles pretending to be his boyfriend was not on his bingo card.