He pushed his way through the crowd toward the door that led to the basement. Ryan spotted an empty love seat, and moved quickly to sit down. He hadn’t even been sitting for a minute when a young woman dropped into the seat next to him.
“Hi.” The woman was very pretty. She had wavy blond hair and enormous blue eyes, and Ryan had no idea who she was.
“Hi,” he replied. He couldn’t think of anything else to say, so he took a sip of beer and glanced away.
She sat there, without speaking, and he wondered if she was expecting him to flirt with her or something. She’d picked the wrong guy. Gay or not, Ryan couldn’t flirt with anyone.
Eventually the woman, who he was sure was perfectly nice, gave up on him and left. Ryan inwardly cringed at how rude he must have seemed. He wished he could just wear a sign that saidI’m sorry. I am terrible at socializing. Please don’t take it personally.
In fact, why was Ryan even here? He didn’t want to drink anymore. He didn’t want to make conversation with people. He didn’t want to gently deflect the poor women who tried to flirt with him. He didn’t want to play poker, and he definitely didn’t want to see Dallas Kent’s legendary party basement.
He wanted to dance with Fabian. He wanted to celebrate Tarek’s birthday, who Ryan barely knew. But hewantedto know him. He wanted to know all of Fabian’s friends.
He glanced at his phone. It was almost eleven thirty. It would probably take Ryan an hour to drive back to the Village, which would probably leave him plenty of time to hang out at the club with people whose company he actually enjoyed. In a place where he could behimself.
Or, better yet, be who hewantedto be.
Chapter Fifteen
Fabian didn’t feel like dancing.
He’d been looking forward to this night for weeks, and now that he was in the middle of a loud, pulsating nightclub that was packed with beautiful people, he wasbored.
He and his friends had been at Force for over two hours. Marcus and Tarek were long gone, lost to the throng of bodies on the dance floor. Vanessa had been hanging out with Fabian at the high-top table he’d managed to snag, but she’d gone to the bathroom a while ago and had never come back. Fabian wasn’t worried about her; that was classic Vanessa behavior. She had most likely run into someone she knew. Or fifteen people she knew. Vanessa knew everyone.
Fabian used his straw to poke at the mostly melted ice cubes that were left in his gin and tonic glass. He’d already politely declined three different men who had approached him. He wasn’t surprised—he was alone and he looked fucking fantastic. He’d worn a white lace tank top, which he’d tucked loosely into his black jeans so it billowed slightly off of his slim torso. He’d splurged on the Anastasia Beverly Hills Moonchild Glow makeup kit, and now his face was a shimmering masterpiece of metallic lavender, pink, and silver.
But who was it all for? Could he admit to himself that there was only one person he truly wanted to dance with? To have admire him. To have touch him.
Oh, Fabian. What have you done to yourself?
He thought about getting another drink, but he didn’t really want one. He wanted to leave. Would it be rude if he left? He would text his friends of course. He could say that he had a headache or some such thing. It’s not like it wasearly; it was nearly one o’clock.
In his peripheral vision, Fabian saw someone approach the table. He turned, his mouth already forming the beginning of his apologetic dismissal, when he saw who it was.
“Ryan.”
“Hey. Good. You’re here.”
Fabian blinked, dumbfounded. “So are you.” God, he lookedincredible. “You cut your hair.”
“Yeah.” Ryan ran a hand over it nervously. “I fixed myself up a bit.”
“Oh.” Fabian knew he should say something more, but his brain was frozen. His gaze ran a circuit from Ryan’s stylish new haircut and trimmed beard, down to the open collar of his shirt, and then to the fabric that was pulled tight across his chest and arms. Below that there was the denim that struggled to contain Ryan’s enormous thighs. Fabian had never seen such tight jeans on him before, and he was sort of mesmerized by the bulge of his package.
When his gaze made its way back to Ryan’s face, he could see how much Ryan appreciated Fabian’s outfit as well.
“I didn’t think you were coming,” Fabian said finally.
“What?”
He leaned in, and Ryan bent down until his ear met Fabian’s lips. “I didn’t think you were coming.”
“Oh.” He stood back up. “I changed my mind.”
Fabian smiled, unable to conceal his delight. He wanted to know what exactly had changed Ryan’s mind, but it was too loud in the club to have that conversation. And besides, there were better things they could be doing right now. “Would you like to dance?”
Ryan grinned back at him and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
