Raiden frowned, then snorted a puff of air. “We’ll make sure that never happens again,” he said confidently. “Now come on. Show me what this club is all about.”
RAIDEN
“The Fire Hose,” Raiden said, repeating the words slowly.
Lawrence grinned. “Bet you didn’t expect that, did you?”
“Nope. But I guess it seems kind of obvious now.”
They stood in the entranceway, looking out on the large, cavernous club as high-paced electronic music throbbed. There were podiums set up around the dance floor, and shirtless dancers dressed as firemen writhed on each one of them. In the middle, a man held a giant, anaconda-like hose in his arms, and he occasionally sprayed foam out over the crowd while everyone cheered.
Raiden turned to Lawrence, and when he did, a twink slid down a big metal firefighter’s pole he hadn’t noticed before, plopping down by the bar.
“This is a dance club?” Raiden asked.
Lawrence laughed, and Raiden got a thrill from the sound of it. When the guy had shown up to the first bar wearing a pair of white fucking overalls, he wasn’t sure what to make of him. Lawrence looked cute as hell, and Raiden had always been a sucker for a flirt, even if he usually went for rougher men. But he had read the stories in the file that Declan put together, and he knew Lawrence must have something complicated going on, the way he acted so self-destructive. It wasn’t that Raiden judged self-destructive behavior, considering the life he’d led, but he knew that was an explosive combo for a hothead like him, and he did his best to build a wall around his heart right then and there.
“Clubs in Manhattan can be a bit much,” Lawrence said with another gentle laugh. They walked in, and he turned straight to the bar. “Every club tries to outdo every other club and find some way to be the new hip thing. It’s ridiculous, but it also means we get wonderful gems like this.” He waved his arm around, toward the mirrored walls and countless dancing men. “If that’s your thing,” he added, pursing his lips. “Is it?”
Raiden tightened his hands into fists. Usually, he went for guys who looked more like himself, men who snarled when they said hello and who skipped the small talk when they wanted to fuck.
The kind of guy Raiden couldn’t hurt, even if he tried.
But that night? There was just something about Lawrence’s curly locks of dark hair—and the way he leaned his slim body over the bar and arched his back—that got him feeling revved up.
“Firemen aren’t really my thing,” he finally answered as he crossed his arms over his chest. “But you have fun. Like I said, I won’t judge.”
Lawrence sucked in his lip, clearly not happy with the answer, then ordered a couple drinks. He chatted casually to Raiden about the club, pointing out a few go-go dancers he knew and explaining something about a Sunday morning afterparty. He talked so fast Raiden didn’t have a chance to get a word in, and soon enough, the bartender appeared with two tall glasses, filled with pink liquid.
“What the hell is that?”
Lawrence laughed, then handed Raiden one of the drinks. “They call it a Pink Panther,” he said. “Enjoy!”
Raiden frowned as he sniffed the drink, following Lawrence through the crowd and up some stairs. Men passed by, a lot of them cruising him with their eyes, and it dawned on Raiden that his job was going to involve turning down a lot of no-strings-attached sex on the weekends.
“Damn it, Declan,” he muttered, tearing his eyes away from a short and sturdy tattooed man who was eyeing him.
At least he had something even nicer to look at it in the meanwhile, he reminded himself. He and Lawrence took seats at a small, elevated table, looking down on the dance floor. The lights spun above them, and Raiden was glad that the music wasn’t too loud in their little spot, so he could hear the sparkle in Lawrence’s voice.
“You said you’re meeting your friend here?” he asked, then took a sip from the sweet drink and accidentally made a face.
Lawrence laughed at Raiden’s expression, then nodded. “Her name is Mayer. She said she’ll be here in an hour, but that actually means two hours. Unless our friend Tyler decides to join her. Then she’ll be an hour and a half.”
Raiden grinned. “Sounds like my guys,” he said, glad for the reminder of his friends. “Do your friends know you hired a bodyguard?”
“They insisted,” Lawrence answered. “I’ll introduce you to them, if you’d like. I guess they should know who you are. What about you? Your friends are in Albany, you said?”
“My buddy Horatio still is. He’s a hell of a mechanic, if you ever need one. Gray is off on some romantic adventure with his new boyfriend for a while. I don’t know anyone in the city here, though. I’m still finding my way around.”
“Within a few weeks, you’ll know the gay clubs.”
“Maybe I’ll even get a taste for these sweet cocktails,” he said, then took another drink, even though his stomach was likely to object later.
“Or some other sweet things,” Lawrence answered, pursing his lips.
Raiden’s body responded to the flirtation, and he had to gulp from the gross cocktail again to cover himself. The kid wasn’t wasting any time coming on strong, and as Lawrence threw back his drink even faster than Raiden, it was clear he wouldn’t slow down, either.
The music shifted, and when everyone on the dance floor cheered, Lawrence popped up. “Shall we?” he asked, extending a hand.
