“Is Kit’s peccadillo.” Sloan snickered, and picking up a loose strand of her hair, he twirled it around his finger. “The playpen is a clusterfuck. Picture a sea of writhing, oiled, naked bodies. Bassy boy here is into group activities. He doesn’t care to know who he’s fucking.”
Kit flipped him off. “And you do?”
“Touché.”
“Shut the hell up, Sloan.” Gina would never see the inside of the playpen if he had anything to say about it. “You’re gonna have my girl thinking we’re just a bunch of freaks.”
“But we are,” Sloan said with a smirk, then he rested his chin on Gina’s shoulder. “Wanna know what I think, Trouble? Be bold. Live epic. Life’s way too short to settle for ordinary.”
“So, when’s this party?” Gina asked, a slow smile building.
Glancing at him, Katie winked. “August twenty-sixth.”
“Perfect, I’m not scheduled to work that weekend.”
“Looks like we’re going then.”
Fuck me.
And Sloan grinned. “You’re welcome.”
It was just the four of them, and that’s how she wanted it. Maybe because Matt spent so much time with them, and by that, so did she, Gina felt comfortable attending the party with his bandmates. He glanced around the VIP space, fondly remembering when the room was almost too small to accommodate them all. The days when nine princes reigned were all but gone.
Nothing lasts forever.
Dillon had been licking his wounds in Dublin for more than a month now. Understandably, Linnea opted to remain at home. Kodiak said Kelly refused to watch her niece put herself on display, which made Matt wonder what Katie and Brendan had planned. Bo and Ava surprised everyone, taking off to city hall to get married a few weeks ago. They were down in Florida on a “familymoon” with Emery. Monica and Danielle’s son came down with a bug, so they bailed. Chloe was watching Declan for Katie, as well as her own two, and Taylor and Jesse wouldn’t come without her.
So, that left him and Gina, with Kit and Sloan on either side of them, swallowed up in cushions of deep plum silk on a U-shaped sofa that was far too big for the four of them.
Kyan’s spirit was here, though. Matt could feel it.
The ghosts of yesterday didn’t exist for Gina. To her, the Red Door was novel and wondrous. Awestruck by the club’s decadent splendor, he watched her curious gaze drift up to the polished wood beams, suspended by chains from the ceiling, and travel down the filmy drapery hanging from them, which provided privacy from the neighboring space beside it. Much like a child’s first trip to Disneyland, Matt wanted the experience to be special for her, and it delighted him to see the excitement in her eyes as she took it all in.
“Where does that go?” she asked and pointed to the grand imperial staircase on the other side of the club.
“Up and to the right takes you to a bar and dance floor. See it?”
“Yeah.” Nodding, she pursed her lips. “How come nobody’s dancing?”
“It’s early yet.” Matt threw his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder. “Come midnight, you won’t even be able to get in there.”
“People don’t go up there to dance, Trouble,” Sloan said from beside her. He stretched his arms and laced his fingers behind his head. “They’re on the prowl for someone to fuck.”
With a shake of her glossy mane, she tsked. “So crude.”
“You do know where you are, don’t you?” Beneath his trendy bespoke blazer with its floral brocade and satin lapels, Sloan ran his fingers up and down his oiled chest. Tailored slim-fit trousers. Hermès loafers. The dude was obviously looking to get laid tonight.
“Is that how you do it, Sloan—dance?”
That’s my girl.
Not put off by his snark, Gina met him quip for quip.
“The only way I dance is horizontal, pizza girl.” And he winked at her as if he needed to make sure she understood what he was implying. “Your man there is the hunter—or was, I guessI should say. I’ve never had to chase down pussy. It comes to me.”
“Christ, you’re so full of yourself.”
“Nah.” He laid his head on her shoulder, and looking up at her with an innocent face, Sloan batted his lashes. “But I am a very talented dancer.”
