Page 401 of A Matter of Time

“Excuse me,” I said to the guy on my left. “Could you slide down just a little?” The stranger grunted, but he moved, making a spot for my new friend to fill.

“Hi,” he said breathily, absorbing my face with his eyes. “I’m Carrington Adams. Who’re you?”

“Jory Harcourt.” I held out my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

He tried to smile as he shook my hand. “What are you in here for, Jory?”

“Obstruction of justice. You?”

His brows furrowed. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“It is and it isn’t. You didn’t tell me what you did.”

“Solicitation.”

My eyebrows rose, and he let out a shaky breath.

“It ain’t me, Jory. I just needed to eat and… I went to this party this guy told me to go to, and I was just supposed to hang out and drink and talk and…and I got drunk so fast, and then I must’ve passed out and…” His eyes crinkled up like he was in pain. “I just wanna go home.”

“And that’s where?”

“North Carolina.”

I nodded. “Are you okay?”

He just looked at me.

“Hey, pretty boy!”

We both looked toward the back of the room, where the guy who had called him before was. There were five men clustered around him, ready to form a barricade or a wall. Either way, it was dangerous and just plain stupid to go back there.

“Get your ass back here, kid,” he threatened Carrington. “Now.”

There were catcalls and whistles before the loud, lewd comments began. Apparently, the plan was for Carrington to be on his knees for the rest of the night.

He put his head back, letting it thunk against the wall behind him.

“It’s okay,” I told him, “you’re not going.”

He rolled his head on the wall to look at me. “You’re gonna help me?”

“Yep.” I smiled at him before turning to look at the guy in the back. “Hey, asshole!”

He glared at me.

“You know Rego James?”

His eyes widened, and the others went still, no longer threatening Carrington, all their focus on me.

“’Cause he won’t like you touching his boy.”

There was lots of whispering, debate I couldn’t really hear. Finally the question was spoken. “He tricks for James?”

“Yep,” I said matter-of-factly. “So you better put your dick back in your pants unless you wanna eat it.”

No one said another word.

“Jory,” Carrington said, leaning close to me, his lips against my ear. “Who’s Rego whoever?”