He shook his head. “No. You should talk to boys your own age.” I heard the words coming out of his mouth, but I also saw the steamy way he couldn’t stop looking at my lips as he fumbled my card back into my hand. His fingers brushed against my palm, and I rubbed my thumb on the back of his wrist. He stared at what I was doing before drawing his hand back like he’d been burned.
“If I wanted someone my own age, don’t you think I would already have him?” I asked quietly.
He sucked in a deep breath and looked at my name on the back of the flier again. “Yukio Hinode.”
“That’s me. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
His mouth fell open, and I shook my head at him.
“Iwillsee you tomorrow night.”
He only stared at me as I stood, then turned my back on him and purposefully strode away. Nerves swamped me and I let out a jittery breath while smiling like a lunatic. Glancing back, I watched as Micah stared at the flier I’d given him, almost looking scared. He peeked up and a small smile chased across his lips as we made eye contact.
Be cool.I stopped looking at him before I did something stupid like walk into a bookshelf. He would be at the bar tomorrow night. Excitement so sharp it was nearly painful raced through me. The tidal wave of adrenaline was a bigger feeling than the first game of the season. I rubbed my hands together and smirked as soon as I turned a corner and spotted Milo.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing. It’s just good when a plan comes together. I know at least one person will be there for the band tomorrow night.”
He gave me a suspicious frown, but I flopped into the seat beside him and dragged an accounting textbook out of my book bag. I had no idea whether or not I would be able to get any studying done now that we were here in the library, but I had to try to finish some work. The only memorization I wanted to do tomorrow night included the best ways to make Micah scream my name while I had my dick in his hole.
4
MICAH
I staredat my phone hopelessly and heaved a sigh. No matter how many text messages I sent Alex—Alexander—he didn’t reply. I’d barely seen him since he’d moved, and trying to get him to respond was hard enough on the days he wasn’t furious at me. Now, it was downright impossible. Why I’d decided to come to the club-slash-bar that the handsome young man had invited me to yesterday... I had no idea. Dancing and bands weren’t my thing. I preferred solitude and quiet, because too much noise hurt my head, but something had urged me to get into my car and make my way here.
Gettingoutof my Kia was another story.
When I’d driven past the front earlier, the line outside the small bar wasn’t long, but the people there were young, almost half my age and ready to go in and party. Some of them didn’t look old enough to drink legally, but neither did Yukio.
The bar had a shady atmosphere, with little light in front of the brick building, and while I liked the idea of darkness, I had a feeling the inside would be loud and blinding. There were a couple of small windows, but black curtains covered them, and there were bars protecting the glass that reminded me of a prison.
I took a deep breath and exhaled the way my psychologist had taught me. Closing my eyes, I focused on my heartbeat and the faint smell of strawberry from the air freshener hanging from the mirror. What could it hurt going out for a night?Vikingswould still be there when I got home and so would my books.
I hated the southeast side of New Gothenburg because it always seemed more dangerous than the rest, but I was an adult who could handle situations I didn’t like. “What’s the worst that can happen?” I asked aloud the way Dr. Griffin taught me. “I don’t enjoy myself, and I go home. Simple as that.”
Finally calming down, I grabbed the handle and pushed open the door. I slid out of the car and glanced around the parking lot. After tugging my wallet from my back pocket to fish out cash for the cover charge, I shoved it into the front pocket of my jeans. Once I’d patted myself down and checked that I looked okay, I locked the Kia and walked quickly down a narrow alleyway to the street, then along a few stores to reach the line, which had dwindled even more since I’d arrived.
Mousetrapglowed in white neon on a green sign over the door. It was a strange name for a bar.
The bald bouncer with thick brown eyebrows took one look at me and opened the door as I passed over a ten-dollar bill. I didn’t ask him if he wanted to see my ID because I was already embarrassed that he could clearly tell I was much older than everyone else.
Inside, the music was pumping.
The room was an array of irritations almost immediately, with blue and purple lights that hurt my eyes and a smell of something burning—like scented cigars—that made my nose scrunch in disgust. To the right was the long wooden bar, with easily twenty packed stools, and the back wall was a stage surrounded by a dance floor, or a mosh pit, I supposed. Around the edges of the space were at least thirty square tables with chairs. Some of the partygoers had already dragged a few of the tables together and from the scratches on the hardwood floor, it wasn’t the first time.
A live band was on the stage. The spotlight focused on them as they sang a deep, bass-thumping rock song that had the crowd cheering and clapping and screaming. The singer wasn’t Yukio, though, so I made my way to the bar. A couple of people bumped into me on the way through, and I winced away from their touch. The noise of the overcrowded room hurt my brain. I was already in a bad mood by the time I reached a stool someone had vacated only seconds before, and it was made worse when I sat down and the seat was still warm.Yuck.
The bartender, a young lady with long dyed silver hair shaved at the sides of her head, came directly over, and she slapped her hand on the bar. A piercing glinted in her nose, and her nails were purple. I got stuck staring because the paint was glittery under the dark violet light above her. She winked. “What can I get ya, sweet cheeks?”
I blinked at her. I didn’t drink alcohol, so I had no idea what I wanted. Sucking my bottom lip in between my teeth, I glanced at the people around me. To my left, a handsome young man flirting with the woman beside him had amber liquid in a tumbler, while to my right, a woman had a pink drink in a tall glass. Neither looked appealing.
I sighed. “Can I have a Coke?”
She stared at me for a long moment, and I thought she was assessing whether I was joking or not, but finally she nodded and left to go get my drink. I slouched against the bar, my elbows holding me up as I imagined being at home, dressed in my favorite boxers and wrapped in my fluffy blue blanket as I watched TV on the couch.
Why did I agree to this? Yukio was too young and too sweet, but a part of me liked being flirted with and invited out, even if I hated whereoutwas. After a moment, I realized the wood beneath me was sticky. I winced, tugging my arms away. I touched the skin on my elbows and forearms, which were coated in something disgusting, and huffed.
