“Of course. Please enjoy yourselves. I need to go do the host thing.” I nodded toward the house. I liked these two a lot and hoped they’d continue to be a part of our circle.
Jax’s friend, Todd, was busy in the kitchen making a bunch of frozen drinks, though I wasn’t entirely sure why. But everyone seemed happy about it, so if he wanted to help host, I was fine with that. One less thing to worry about.
In addition to fun drinks, chicken, hamburgers, and two kinds of hot dogs, one of which was vegan, were on the menu, and Hudson was at the grill. It became evident that Vince wasn’t around. All his friends were pitching in, and he was missing from his own party. But these were the people he needed to know. Not only because of their social standing, but because, out of anyone in the world, this was the bunch that would not judge him for being my daddy, or whatever we were into. These were our people, even if he didn’t know it yet.
“Hey, Todd.” I tapped on the island.
Todd shut off the blender. “Hey, Joey. Want a drink?” He poured a pink slushy concoction into a red Solo cup.
“Uh, no. Thank you. I’m looking for Vince. Have you seen him?”
He pressed his lips together. “Hmm…I think he went upstairs a few minutes ago.”
“I’ll check there. Thanks.”
“Sure.”
Rushing upstairs, I looked around. I heard some guys in the back shooting pool. Maybe he was with them. Stepping farther into the room, I saw Braxton Caruso holding the little end of a pool cue in front of him, the other end planted on the floor. He smiled, watching someone bent over with his back to me,making a shot. I’d recognize those legs anywhere; it was Vince. Maybe he did understand who his people were.
I waited for Vince to stand upright, the balls clacking together after his follow-through. “Ah…damn.”
Braxton snorted. “I swear, man. You should be better than this with a table in your house.” The owner of Afterglow was tall and broad, sporting a two-day growth of beard and colorful tattoos peeking out past the collar of his golf shirt and climbing down his arms.
“Eh. I haven’t even had it for more than a few weeks.”
“I’m sure you’ll get better.”
Vince turned, flashing those soft amber eyes at me. “Joey. Hey, you guys know, Joey?” He gestured to Braxton and then to another man, lingering in the back. I’d missed the guy. He was tall, thin, with curly dark hair cut short, and an air of sophistication otherwise absent from the room.
“Joey, hi. Nice to see you. This is Phillip.” Braxton held his arm out to Phillip, who stepped forward, offering me his hand.
“Phillip Stryker.”
“Joseph Bennick. Call me Joey, please.” I shook his hand, wondering why I introduced myself like that; I’d never been the formal sort, but this Phillip dude seemed cold and distrusting. Or maybe just out of my league, which made me uncomfortable.
“Joey’s done some advertising and promotions for the club,” Braxton went on.
Vince’s eyes went wide with that explanation. “Oh.”
Phillip snapped his fingers. “That’s why I knew your name. So nice to finally meet you.” Suddenly, warmth flowed from the willowy man. “I was hoping we could chat at some point, but I’ve been away.”
Braxton cleared his throat. “Uh, Phillip is a partner in Afterglow.”
Newsflash for me. I knew he had a couple of partners, but I’d never known the specifics. I thought it had been some real estate company from up north who’d dropped a windfall on him, but maybe this guy did too. He so obviously came from money. It was more than his looks and exquisite clothes; it was about how he carried himself.
Vince opened his arms, pulled me to him, and wrapped one around my shoulders. As if he sensed that I was unsettled, he kissed the side of my head. “We’ll be downstairs in a few. Everything else going okay?”
“Yep. But you should come soon. Hudson has food ready.”
“Fantastic. Getting my ass kicked at pool has me famished.”
Braxton laughed and Phillip chuckled—very properly.
“Good enough. I’m going down to get a drink. Todd had a whole blender station going on in the kitchen. Please feel free to join me.” I gave them a polite nod before going back down the stairs.
True to his word, Vince did come down a few minutes later, followed by Braxton with his arm around Phillip. That was telling. Everyone knew Braxton was a Dom, so did that make Phillip a sub? His sub, maybe? I hadn’t seen him around the club and hadn’t heard any rumors. As far as I knew, Braxton was single. Maybe not.
At some point, Phillip caught up with me again by the pool. “Joey, got a second?”
