“I’ll have an espresso martini.”
Ryder nodded and began making our drinks. “Before you run off, he’s here. Finn and I dragged him out for some fun because he’s been really down. I keep telling him he needs to talk to you, but he wants some time.”
“Dammit,” Hugh said, now drumming his fingers on the counter, quickly losing his patience. I was in the same state,desperate to find Atlas. The longer it took to talk to him, the more he would get up inside his head.
He finished making the old-fashioned and covered it with a smoking lid as he began mixing my drink. “I learned from Knox and Finn how important it is not to keep shit to yourself. I made that mistake, and I hurt myself even more. I don’t want that for Atlas. You just being here shows how much you care about him.”
“We love him,” I said.
Ryder glanced at us underneath his thick bangs and nodded. “Good. Atlas is a good person, and he’s a friend. I hate seeing him hurt.”
“We aim to fix things,” Hugh insisted.
Ryder slid our drinks across the counter to us before jerking his head toward the right side of the club. “He’s at a private table we set up for him and a few of our friends.”
We grabbed our cocktails, and Hugh paid him and dropped a twenty-dollar tip.
“Thank you,” I said to Ryder as Hugh pulled me away and led us toward the back of the club.
Hugh and I held our drinks, careful not to slosh them all over us as we meandered through the large club. No other place in DC could you find so much Botox and filler in one place.
Suddenly, Hugh pumped his brakes, and I nearly collided with him. My gaze traveled to where he was staring, and my breath caught. There he was, our Atlas. He was so beautiful, wearing a pretty pink crop top with baggy jeans as he sipped on a cosmopolitan. But what I focused on the most was the sadness there. He tried to smile as three other men talked to him, but he hid it away between sips of his drink.
Hugh slammed his drink back, coughing as it went down, and I did the same, though my drink was probably smoother. We set our glasses on someone’s table and made our way toward our princess. It was time to bring him home with us… permanently.
We stopped in front of the table as Atlas looked up at our presence over the rim of his martini glass while sipping his drink. His dark eyes exploded into wide circles, and he started choking.
“Uhm, what are you doing here?” he asked.
“What do you mean, what are we doing here?” Hugh snarled. “We’re here to take you home where you belong, dammit!”
His eyes watered, and his lip trembled. “But—”
“No buts!”
“Who are these people?” I asked him, suddenly wary with a sense of jealousy.
“Oh, uhm…” He waved a hand at an attractive guy who looked like a damn linebacker, but was dressed like some cowboy with light brown hair. Hell, they were all attractive. “This is Waylon. He’s Ryder’s best friend from back in Nebraska. He’s here to find a job and a place to live in DC.” Then he waved a hand at a man who looked like some damn supermodel with wavy, dark brown hair, dressed to the nines in a crisp suit, with his button-up shirt unbuttoned at the top. “This is Casey, who’s an old model friend of Finn’s, and that’s Isaak, uhm, Casey’s professor.” I didn’t recall ever having a professorthathot. He had dark brown hair that fell over his ears and wore a sexy smirk, as if it were a natural feature on his face rather than a sign of smugness.
Then Atlas introduced us. “Well, everyone, these are my guys… were, I guess. Hugh and Linden.”
“‘Were?’ I swear to god, Atlas, you’re going to be punished for that,” Hugh snapped, tense as hell. I was just as frustrated with him, but we needed to talk. “There is no ‘were.’ We belong to you, and you belong to us. Now enough of this.”
No one said a word as a tear spilled down Atlas’s face, but Waylon wrapped an arm around him. I wanted to rush to him,but I wasn’t sure what to do with all those other men there. I especially didn’t like that Waylon hugging him when it should’ve been us.
Hugh and I hadn’t expected him to be at the club, and we certainly couldn’t have a good discussion there.
“Do you… really want me?” Atlas said.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Hugh hissed. “Stand up and come over here.”
“Now wait a minute,” Isaak said, standing and about to confront Hugh. I couldn’t blame him, since Hugh was being intense as hell.
Atlas pressed a hand on Isaak’s arm and shook his head. Then he stood, walked over to us, looked up at Hugh and me. I reached for his face and wiped the stray tears, but my cousin was less patient. He lifted Atlas and tossed him over his shoulder. “We’re done here. Time to talk, Princess.”
He didn’t fight it, and in fact, I was almost certain I saw a smile there for a second.
Hugh didn’t set him down as we meandered back out of the club and walked toward the car. Only when we reached his car did he finally put him back on his feet. I opened the door, and Atlas slid into the back seat, while I climbed in behind him. I needed him. I needed to touch him and hold him.
