“Jake, dude!”
Even though he called his friend out, I didn’t miss the blip of discomfort that crossed Ethan’s face at the comment. Not one that said that he was horrified by what his friend had said; one that said that he was horrified about what I do.
What Ihaveto do.
He doesn’t understand that I’m stuck here, that my boss is a dangerous man that I can’t risk running off on. He doesn’t get it, and he never will.
You can’t get it unless you’re in it.
“It’s fine,” I tell Ethan as crimson heat burns its way across my chest. “Do we just want the vodka? Or are we mixing it up a little?”
I can’t exactly wrap my head around this not being a normal group of guests – or at least, one of them not being a normal guest. I have a feeling that if Ethan weren’t here, his friends would be having a heyday, and I would be going home feeling completely empty.
Ethan’s friends leave just after two in the morning, but he hangs around until the end of my shift to walk me to my car. It’s a nice gesture – sweet, honestly – and I appreciate it.
“Do you want to come over?” I ask him as his hand rests on my waist. “We can make a little cheese board, watch a movie…”
“Oh,” he says. His eyes flick toward my car, toward the club behind me, and back to me. “I think I’m gonna go home. But it was good to see you.”
With a quick peck to my cheek, he’s on his way to his car.
And just like that, I’m still left feeling empty, anyway.
FIFTEEN
Davis
Me:I’ll be in and out in five. No bloodshed.
Me:Unless he starts it.
I slip my phone into my pocket after shooting off a text to Colt, and I walk up to the bouncer at the door of Envy. “Hey man,” I greet him. “Need a meeting with your boss. He in?”
“Name?”
“Davis,” I tell him.
He jerks his head to the side, gesturing for me to follow him. We walk through a densely-packed group of people, headed for the back office of the club. I’m stopped in my tracks when my eyes land on a woman dressed in a sexy little bodysuit, swaying her hips side to side as she carries an empty tray above her head; no doubt on her way to restock for whichever table she’s working.
She glances around the room and even from here I can see how gorgeous she is, even though she seems really fucking sad. She has high cheekbones and full lips that could drive any man fucking crazy, and bleach-blonde hair ironed pin straight. She’s just a short little thing. When she turns her head again, I see her pale green eyes, like seafoam. Aside from the hair, she looks exactly like…
Holy shit.
“Noelle!” I shout over the crowd, reaching an arm over my head to flag her down.
It’s like a fucking replay of the first time that I thought I saw her, and I feel like an idiot shoving through these people, but I know those eyes. I’ll never forget those eyes as long as I fucking live.
Those eyes belong tome.
I push and shove my way through the crowd, knocking people into each other, desperate to get them the fuck out of my way.
This isn’t like our little game of predator and prey; this is different. This isn’t for fun. This is aneed.
“Noelle!” I shout one more time, only a few feet from her now, and thank fuck above she hears me this time.
Her head snaps in my direction, eyes scanning the area before finally landing on me, going wide as goddamn saucers.
I push the last person out of the way, damn near tripping over them, until I reach her, grabbing onto her shoulders.
