Chapter 1
Blake
The curtain rustles when my teammate, Everett Mathers, pushes through the thick velvet, revealing a glimpse of Euphoria beyond. My fingers trace the ornate details of my black, white, and gold mask before trailing to my nape, and I swallow the bout of discomfort clogging my throat.
This is not my scene, but it’s his girl’s twenty-first birthday, and she begged him to meet her at the sex club after her friends told her about these masked nights.
He caught me in a weak moment and dragged me along.
As I draw in a deep breath and follow him through the curtains, I already regret my life choices.
I’ve been to strip clubs before, but this is something else. The place is already packed with people in various states of undress, some engaging in sexual acts in cages right here in the main lounge. I’m no prude—I’ve seen some dark shit in my twenty-five years—but I draw the line at exhibitionism. It’s just not my thing.
We head straight for the bar, and Everett buys me a beer. He bobs his head to the music as he scans the room, no doubt looking for Emily and her friends, but I keep my eyes fixed on the bar.
“Relax, Dad,” he teases, elbowing me in the stomach. “You’re so fucking uptight.”
I scowl at him. “I’m not your dad, arsehole.”
He laughs. “Seriously, dude, take a chill pill. You look like you’re in the middle of a prostate exam.”
“Shut the fuck up, Mathers.” I shake my head. “Not everyone is comfortable walking into a real-life porno.”
He claps a hand on my shoulder. “No one’s forcing you to lose your virginity tonight. We’re here to celebrate Em’s birthday and check out the club.”
I shove him off me and arch a brow. “Really, dude? You were still in nappies when I was getting laid.”
Being the eldest player on the Beckford U soccer team, I cop a lot of shit from my teammates about being old and boring. They don’t know I had to grow up fast after a life-changing incident rocked my life when I was fourteen. My life hasn’t been easy, and because of that, the pressure to keep out of trouble is unrelenting.
With my history, stepping into a sex club feels like a disaster waiting to happen.
“How are you even going to find her?” I ask. “The whole point of the masks is to make it impossible to tell who anyone is.”
He smirks. “She sent me a photo of what she’s wearing.”
I grimace. “Is that why you took so long in the bathroom before we left?”
His laughter is the answer to the question I wish I never asked.
While clothes seem to be optional here, Everett and I aren’t exactly overdressed in our jeans and button-up shirts. There are men in here wearing suits. But most of the women are wearing lingerie.
My hand finds my nape again. I’m about to see more of Everett’s girl and her friends than I bargained for.
“You’re okay with other men seeing her like this?” I ask, waving a hand towards the scantily clad women walking by.
He shrugs, taking a sip of his beer. “I won’t tell her what to do on her birthday.”
“You’re a better man than me.”
Not that I’ve ever had a girlfriend—my past is too fucked up. Don’t get me wrong, I hook up enough to meet my needs, but I’ve never risked letting anyone get close enough to ask questions. Even my teammates don’t know much about my past.
It was a huge decision to move in with Everett when I came back from visiting my sister, Tori, in Sydney after Christmas, but at almost twenty-six, I needed to move out of the Beckford dorms—I can’t handle living in a shared space with so many people. Everett has his own shit going on with his family that he likes to keep pretty close to his chest, so he doesn’t pry into my private life, and I don’t pry into his. It works for both of us.
“C’mon, man,” Everett says with a groan. “We’ve been living together for three months now, and you haven’t hooked up once. I’m worried about your dick.”
I shoot him an amused look. “Why are you thinkingabout my dick? Should Kincaid be worried about you in the showers with his boyfriend?”
He rolls his eyes. “I’m plenty happy with Em’s perfect pussy, thank you very much. But is this you telling me I haven’t seen you with any girls because you’re sneaking around with one of our teammates?”
