“What do you even want?” Geoffrey snapped. “I’m assuming that you’re here for another reason than to just call me a whore.”
Brendon’s eyes widened. Geoffrey had never been direct with him, not when there were other friends about. He’d just tolerated him to keep the peace with the group. And that was his mistake.
“I thought we could talk.”
“Talk?” Geoffrey laughed, throwing his head back. “Talk in a nightclub? I can barely fucking hear you.”
“Then let’s go somewhere. You and me. We can talk and—”
“There’s nothing to talk about!”
He started to turn away so that he could face Patrick and Kody again, preferably forgetting about Brendon completely, when Brendon grabbed his arm. He quickly did a twist and snap of his arm, breaking free of the hold with a move he’d learned from Sven’s class.
“What the fuck!” he shouted.
“I want to give it another try.”
Geoffrey stared dumbfounded up at him, barely registering the smile that grew across Brendon’s face, as if he thought he’d honestly won Geoffrey over. He couldn’t believe it. Sven had been right.
“You dumped me,” Geoffrey said when he could finally speak. “You left.”
“I want to try again. I think we can make it work.”
“No. Oh, fuck no!”
Brendon’s smile disappeared in a flash and deep lines dug in around his mouth as he frowned. “Why? Because of that blond oaf?”
“No, because you’re a fucking asshole! I’d never date you again. I’m lucky I escaped you the first time!”
“Fuck you,” Brendon snarled. “You’ll wish you never said that. You’ll be begging me to come back to you. Begging!” He pivoted on one heel and shoved his way into the crowd, heading toward the front door. Geoffrey stared after him, stunned at his explosion. He’d never thought in a million years that Brendon would want him back. His parting words sent a chill through him. Brendon had never struck him as the violent type. He was prone to grabbing and shoving, but that was about it. Would he try something more extreme?
Dominic caught his eye, one eyebrow raised in question, but Geoffrey gave a tiny shake of his head, pasting his smile back in place. It was something for Gidget to look into, though he still struggled to believe it was possible.
As he turned, Patrick scooped up his right hand in both of his, pressing it to his sweat-damp chest. “Are you okay, Geo? What the hell was that about?”
“Brendon wanted to get back together,” Geoffrey said, knowing he sounded utterly incredulous.
Kody laughed. “I guess you said no.”
“I said fuck, no!”
“Good. He was horrible for you. You can do so much better. Someone who will treat you right.”
Geoffrey wanted to roll his eyes and laugh. He could do so much better, but the man he wanted wasn’t willing to admit that he wanted Geoffrey back. He knew in his gut that Sven would treat him right.
“Is that why you’ve got Sven? Because of Brendon?” Patrick asked and a chill swept through Geoffrey.
“What do you mean?”
Patrick at least had the sense to look embarrassed, his hands tightening on Geoffrey’s. “I…I might have looked up your friend after lunch today. He’s a bodyguard. He works for that Ward Security.”
“I know he’s a bodyguard.” Geoffrey forced a laugh while pulling his hand free. “You think I don’t know that? He’s not my bodyguard. Why would I need one?”
“Rich, single, famous,” Patrick easily counted off on his fingers.
Geoffrey just rolled his eyes and snatched up the drink he’d left on the small high-top table he was standing near. He paused for a heartbeat, his stomach churning as he remembered being drugged the last time he was at a club, but he forced himself to down the last of it. This time was different. Sven, Royce, Dominic, and Quinn were all there to watch his back. Nothing would happen to him.
The last of the drink was mostly water and he was already looking for Sven to return with his fresh one. But the truth was he was pretty sure that Sven had been watering his drinks down since they arrived. He’d just finished his third and he didn’t have even a hint of a buzz. It wasn’t that he wanted to get drunk, but a brief, baby buzz would have been nice to take the edge off.
“Sven really is helping me with a project. Nothing more.”
Patrick covered the hand Geoffrey was using to hold the edge of the table with his own. Geoffrey fought to keep from frowning. Was Patrick always this touchy-feely? Or was he just paranoid? Or maybe it was because he wasn’t usually this sober around Patrick and had never noticed before.
“I’m sorry,” Patrick leaned closer, his chest bumping against Geoffrey’s arm. “I’m just trying to look out for you.”
Geoffrey looked over at Kody, his smile small and tight. “You’re a nice guy and the world is filled with assholes.”