He waits for me to get into the car and closes the door behind me. When he gets to the club, he comes around to open the door, and he holds my hand as we walk toward the entrance. I guess this is officially a date in Garrett’s mind, even though I’m also hoping to spend time with Trevor.
It feels nice having my hand in his. It’s comforting, but also energizing, and fills me with hope that there might be more physical contact between us later tonight.
We’ve arrived earlier than the previous night, so there aren’t as many people going into the club yet.
The big guard who checked my ID last night is at his post outside the door, watching us approach. I get more of a chance to observe him tonight and am fascinated by the size of him, as well as by his looks. Tattoos cover all of his visible skin except for his face, which is framed by a dark beard and mustache, and tightly-trimmed hair that’s left thick on top and smoothed back from his forehead.
When we’re about to pass the guard, Garrett stops abruptly. “I left my phone in the car,” he says. “I’ll be right back.”
A wave of self-consciousness hits me. The guard has made no effort to hide the way he looks at me.
“Back with your friend again?” the deep voice asks.
I turn and look at him, noticing for the first time that his eyes are almost black.
“Looks like more than a friend tonight. You weren’t holding hands last night.”
“I know it’s your job to scrutinize the club’s patrons,” I say, staring back at him, “but do you pay this much attention to everyone who goes through these doors?”
He smiles, with just a hint of guilt in his dark eyes. “Only the beautiful ones,” he says.
Just then, a car drives up. Trevor’s in the passenger seat and leans out of the window to yell, “Find someone your own age, Duke!” before winking at me.
“Fuck off,” the guard growls back as the car rolls on by, though he doesn’t seem particularly angry, despite his gravelly tone.
“Everything okay?” Garrett asks, reappearing at my side, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder.
“Everything’s fine. Find your phone?”
He nods and lifts the phone to show me that he has it.
When I look back at the guard, his head is turned to the left, and I follow his gaze to see Trevor approaching with the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.
His pale blue eyes catch my attention first. They’re framed by thick brows, groomed to look perfectly unruly. His heart-shaped face leads my eyes to his full lips, and I instantly imagine kissing him. He’s blond with golden, sun-tanned skin, and I’m mesmerized.
“Hey, great, you guys came,” Trevor says, pulling me into a quick hug before shaking Garrett’s hand. “Autumn, this is Adrian,” he tells me, stepping back to gesture to the godlike man standing next to him.
“Autumn, nice to meet you.” Adrian’s voice is deep and smooth and it, along with the touch of his palm to my hand, delivers a kick to my ovaries.
“Nice to meet you.” My words come out sounding like a young teenage boy whose voice is changing. What is it about this man? Sure, he’s stunningly gorgeous, but Trevor is extremely good looking, too, and all of the men in the show were attractive. Why is my body responding so strongly to this particular man?
“Garrett?” Adrian says, holding out his hand to my coworker. “Trevor told me you were here last night.”
“Yeah, we just can’t stay away,” Garrett says with lighthearted sarcasm as he looks down at me. His hand is still on my shoulder, and he gives me a quick squeeze.
“Aren’t you supposed to get here earlier?” the guard interjects, his question aimed at Trevor and Adrian.
“We have plenty of time,” Adrian says. “Looks like we were just in time to rescue Autumn from your clutches. Autumn, have you met Duke?” he asks, turning to me.
“Not formally,” I say.
“Duke Ramos,” Adrian says, with a sweeping gesture toward the older man. “He keeps all the underage girls out, and steps in to protect us if our fans get too aggressive.”
Duke just snorts at that, and doesn’t hold out his hand to shake like Adrian did, but he does look at me with softer eyes than before.
“We do actually need to get inside,” Adrian says, looking to Garrett. “Will you be around after the show?”
“I will,” Garrett says, looking at me again.