“I-I don’t know what to say …”
“Well, you’ve swooped in and turned Trick completely inside-out so Grady knows their mutual agreement is about to expire. He’s just buying time, that’s all.”
“So I’m supposed to pretend that I’m not with Trick?”
Tamsen shrugs. “No.” Lifting up on her tiptoes, she looks around the room and grins as her eyes fix on something or someone. “As you can see, the women are all over Trick. They always are, like they think they can convert him, but he ignores them like any gay guy would.” She purses her lips to contain her smirk. “However, if it were me, I would play it up to my advantage.” Looking me over, her grin widens. “You look hot tonight and there’s not a straight guy in this room who hasn’t noticed you, so I’d find my own group of attention. At least if it were my man, I’d make him sweat it out for a while.”
“You think I should flirt with other guys?”
“Flirt, no. Trick’s not flirting. In fact, if you asked him he’d say he’s just not making waves. So you should wade through the pond, and if you catch a few fish along the way, so be it. Just don’t make waves.”
I love Tamsen. She’s the girlfriend I never had but have always wanted. “You’re evil … but brilliant.” I grin.
She hands me a glass of wine and nudges me toward the crowd. “Nope, just experienced. Now go get ’em.”
Squeezing through the crowd, I look for a friendly face.
“Hey there.”
I turn. Bingo! I’m not proud of the fact that I’m quite familiar with knowing when a guy’s interested. After I grew out of my nerd girl phase in high school, I rebelled … really rebelled. I lost my virginity in the restroom of a pub on campus to a guy I met two hours earlier—not my proudest moment. I never saw him again after that night. With rebellion comes the stubborn attitude that all your bad decisions are someone else’s fault. Those first two years, everything was my father’s fault.
“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure yet. I’m Drake”
I grin inside. Drake has a few too many piercings for my taste, but the tats on his brawny arms and up his thick neck rival Trick’s. His head is shaved, but his blue eyes mirror mine and so does his friendly smile.
“I’m Darby.”
Drake plays into Tamsen’s plan as if he’s been hired to do so. Placing his hand on my bare lower back he pulls me closer to his side. “Phil, Bradley, Todd, meet Darby.” The skinheads circle me with greedy eyes.
“Darby, your dress is the shit!” Todd licks his lips while his eyes take liberty with my body.
“Thanks, I just came from another event so I feel a little overdressed.”
Bradley shakes his head, eyes glassy. “Nope you’re fucking perfect.”
“She is isn’t she?” Drake’s hand slips an inch lower.
Don’t make waves. Don’t make waves.
“How do you know Grady and Trick?” Drake lightly teases circles on my skin.
I look around and spot Trick among a crowd of women, but his eyes are fixed on me. The petite brunette on his right teases the tips of her fingers along Trick’s waistband just under his shirt.
Yeah, this is bullshit!
“I’m a client of Trick’s,” I mumble, keeping my eyes on Trick.
“I see. Well, have you seen the upstairs? If not I could give you a private tour.”
Drake’s words are a distant echo over my mind’s attention on Trick. “Um … will you excuse me for a moment?”
I step away from the pack and head straight to Trick, who is leaning on the back of the couch acting like a llama at a petting zoo. There are so many women around him he’s untouchable to me. It’s like he’s some rock star and I can’t see over his groupies.
“Pardon me. Excuse me. Step aside please.” I elbow my way through the women, earning a slew of nasty looks and catty hisses. As I steal the position directly in front of Trick, he crosses his arms over his chest. I cross my arms mirroring him, like we’re seconds away from a showdown.
I don’t know if it’s the little bit of wine I’ve had, my worn nerves from the gala, or my need to be alone with Trick, but something snaps and my mind forgets all reason and my words escape all censorship. “I think Drake wants to take me upstairs for a quick fuck. What do you think about that?”
Our small circle of spectators falls silent with the exception of a few gasps and whispers. Trick has dominant control over his emotions, but I can see in the slight tensing of his jaw that it’s wavering.
I purse my lips, tilting my head to the side. “So you don’t have any thoughts on the matter?” I raise my shoulders. “Okay then, he seems like a nice enough guy and I’m horny as hell right now so have a pleasant evening, Mr. Roth.” Turning on my heels, the crowd of women part like the Red Sea and I strut my stuff straight toward Drake.