After spending ten minutes assuring Nicki and her manager that I was okay, and apologizing profusely for the chaos, I let John lead me out.
Outside, the night had gotten much cooler. A cold breeze blew against my soaked shirt, and I set my teeth.
A group of women chatted noisily while smoking cigarettes, and a pair of men were huddled on the curb, one holding his head in his hands while the second hovered protectively. The second man stood up as we approached.
“Teagan?” Knox asked, his deep voice concerned. “You alright?”
“Yeah. Hey. I… had a little incident with a tray of drinks.” I massaged my sore palm. “I’m fine. Just soaked.”
Knox looked at John with narrowed eyes, like maybe he was responsible for this debacle, then back at me. “I’m taking Goodman to our hotel. Our ride’s on the way. But we can take you to?—”
“John!” Goodman called drunkenly without looking up from the sidewalk. “John! D’you remember what I said earlier?”
John looked at me a little guiltily and licked his lips. “Uh. The one where you compared men and… murder cows?”
“Jesus,” Knox muttered.
“No!” Goodman said defensively. “Although, dude, I stand by that. I mean the part I told you when we were dancing.” He lowered his voice to a very loud whisper. “The part about…eyeballs?”
“Oh. Yeah, I remember.”
Eyeballs? Oh, fucking lovely. They had inside jokes now? Had they exchanged numbers, too? Were they going to see each other again? I was miserable and jealous and soaked to the skin, and now I felt tiny and inconsequential, too.
I tried to step away, but John’s arm tightened around me.
“Are you okay, Gage?” he asked.
“Me? Fuck yeah. Doinggreat,” Goodman confirmed. “In fact, we should go dance some more. Because I got mooooves and—” He started to push himself to his feet, but Knox held him in place with a hand on his shoulder.
“How about you settle down, Magic Mike,” Knox said dryly. “Before the world starts spinning again.” He turned to me. “Our ride’s arriving. Come with us, T, and we’ll drop you off on the way.”
I started to shake my head, but John spoke up before I could. “His name isTeagan, and we’re all set. I already got us a ride. Thanks anyway.”
Knox grunted. “You good with that… T?”
I found his concern really, really sweet, and in my emotional state, I got a little teary. “Yeah, we’ll be fine.”
He opened the rear door of their Lyft for Goodman but turned to look back at me. “I’d feel better if you take my number and send me a quick text when you’re home.”
I nodded and plugged his number into my phone, ignoring John’s growing impatience. “Got it.”
Knox still didn’t seem convinced. “If you’d like, I could?—”
“Thanks anyway,” John repeated, all but growling this time. “But Teagan’s with me. I’ve got him.”
I buried my face in his chest and shivered, suddenly exhausted.
“I wish you really had me,” I murmured.
CHAPTER FOUR
JOHN
The wind pickedup as Teagan and I stood on the curb outside BarZ waiting for our ride, and Teagan shivered despite being tucked against my side. I let him go just long enough to pull off my jacket and wrap it around him.
“I’m f-fine,” he said, pushing half-heartedly at my hands as I zipped it up. “It’s going to get all sticky and ruined.”
“Shush.” As if I cared about that. As if I cared about anything but Teagan.
