“I didn’t know you were with him,” she whines, and I know she’s embarrassed by the tone of her voice. “It was a strip club. I think it’s by one of the casinos?” There are three legal casinos downtown, and probably twelve clubs that I can think of, so that’s not much help.
Rafe takes a deep breath as if he’s losing his patience.
“Gwen, give me something more to go on,” I press.
“I’m sorry, I’m trying.” She starts sniffling again. “The waitresses were wearing little blue caps—”
“Flight Club,” Rafe interrupts. “There’s a gas station across the street.” He reaches for my hand. I grab my phone but leave it on speaker. He seems to know a lot about the clubs and the area, which isn’t surprising since he owns The After Party.
“You think I should cross the street?” Gwen whines.
“I think if you got yourself in a fucked-up situation, you can help yourself get out of it,” he snaps.
I feel kind of bad when Gwen sniffles again. That was a little harsh. “Gwen, what’s important is you staying safe until we can get there.”
“We?”
“I’m not letting her come get you alone.” Rafe’s car is already running when we exit the house.
“Okay.” Gwen’s voice is small.
“What happened?” I set the phone on my thigh and pull the seat belt over my shoulder.
“I don’t even know.” I hear a horn honk in the distance, and Gwen’s voice is a little muffled, like she’s moving. “Everything was fine, but then Jay told me to get up on stage and dance. When I wouldn’t, he yelled at me in front of everyone!” I look over at Rafe, and his knuckles go white on the steering wheel. She called me in a panic because she was embarrassed?
“Okay,” I murmur, hoping she’ll continue. There must be more to the story.
“I ran to the bathroom and hid out there for a while, then I snuck out one of the side exits. I don’t know how you did it, Lucy.” Rafe’s nostrils flare. Thank goodness he already knew about the fact that I stripped, or I’m sure he would have some questions about what she’s referring to. “I didn’t know who else to call.” She completely ignores the fact that she just could have outed me.
“A fucking Uber,” Rafe mumbles under his breath.
“It’s okay,” I tell her, and most any other night, it would be, but I can’t help feeling a little disappointed, and it’s probably clear in my tone.
“I’m here.” I hear a loud chime of a bell. “Crap, there’s bulletproof glass.” Rafe scoffs and shakes his head at her observation. “Can I wait inside here until my ride shows up?” she asks loudly. I hear some low mumbling in the background. “Fine, whatever.” Gwen huffs. “He’s making me buy something.”
Gwen keeps me on the phone for the entire drive to Detroit. Rafe broke some major speed limit laws, but it still took forever. He whips into the parking lot and honks the horn. Gwen comes teetering out in a super short dress and platform heels, with an open bag of Doritos clutched in her hand.
Rafe grabs my chin and turns me so I’m looking at him. “There is no one else in the world I would do this for.” One of his brows is slanted high above his gray eyes.
“Thank you,” I murmur sincerely.
“Ugh, I can’t believe this.” Gwen gets into the back seat and slams the door hard. “What a jerk.”
“Where’s your car?” Rafe demands, making it clear he wants to get rid of her as soon as possible.
“The Dollhouse.” I jerk my face away from Rafe and glare into the back seat. Gwen purses her lips. “What? You don’t work there anymore.”
“Jesus, Gwen.” I flop back into the front seat. I can’t believe she just said that. There is no way she could have known I already told Rafe about my past.
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry.” She slaps a hand over her mouth, then her eyes narrow and she removes it to glower at the back of Rafe’s head. “Don’t let him judge you for that, Lucy.” She’s indignant on my behalf. “Jay thought it was sexy when I told him.”
“What?” I shout.
“It came up when he asked me to meet him there,” she argues.
“Shit like that doesn’t just come up, Gwen. It’s none of his damn business. Good thing I already told Rafe, since you seem to be blabbing it all around.”
Gwen pinches her temples with her hands and closes her eyes. “Shit, I’m so sorry, Lucy.” Rafe slams on the gas pedal so hard, the back of my head hits the headrest as he speeds out of the parking lot and toward a very familiar place I never expected to see again.
