Rule Breakers (Off Limits #2) - Nicky James Page 0,14

out a long-suffering sigh. “Except all my friends are super straight and would think that was gross. Plus, Dad said ladies’ night is a bust. All the dancers are straight.”

“You aren’t there to sleep with them. You’re there to watch them dance.”

“Still, I guess they get weird about guys slipping them money or asking for lap dances… Or dreaming of getting plowed by their monster cocks.” He sighed again.

I understood his complaints. Being the only gay man in a group of friends had its pitfalls. Although I wouldn’t call myself a socialite, the few acquaintances I had at the office didn’t share my sometimes irrepressible desire to go out on the town strictly to hook up. My friends were all straight, married men.

Or Harley.

I hadn’t willfully hung out with my brother outside family functions in decades. There was an unspoken understanding that it wasn’t a good idea. Perhaps we’d both known the past wasn’t buried deep enough.

“Talk your friends into hitting a club instead. Any club. Or go alone.” I cringed, unsure that was wise advice.

“You want me to go to a gay nightclub alone?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, wincing. That was the last thing I wanted. Edison had a certain sex appeal that would make him a prime target in a gay nightclub. If I told him to go, I was more or less throwing him into the lion’s den. The lions being the buff gym rats or lonely older men who would jump at the chance to destroy his ass.

“No, I don’t want you to go alone.”

“And now we’ve gone full circle. Come with me. When’s the last time you went to a club?”

“I don’t know, Edison. It’s not really my thing.”

“But it’s my thing. I’m young and horny and need to get laid, like, yesterday. If you’re denying me sex, then I’ll go it alone. How long do you think it would take me to find a guy who would—”

“Okay, stop. I’ll go. Rules. I’m not drinking or dancing. While there, you call me Denver and drop the uncle. There will be no rubbing up against me or untoward advances. You will not touch my dick. You will not kiss me. You will not stare at me like you want to get fucked six ways from Sunday. Understand?”

“Wow. I’ve got two words for that. Buzz. Kill. Will you at least listen to my counteroffer while we’re out? Maybe you’ll like it, and then we can flush your rules down the toilet and be done with them because they’re shit.”

I chuckled. “I’ll listen. But I’m sticking to my guns. I have to work, or I’ll never get out of here.”

“All right. Later.”

The snowstorm kept the swell of bar patrons to a manageable level. The Friday night crowd was cut in half and far more ideal for a guy who’d ignored this side of life. It had been a lot of years since I’d ventured into a gay nightclub, preferring hookup apps when I found myself wading through a particularly long dry spell.

The first thing I noticed when we entered The Manhole at just after ten thirty was how much older I was than almost everyone else. The stage-type lighting swelled and pulsed in time to the deep bass of the dance music’s beat. It was deafening. The cloying scent of too many layers of body spray, cologne, and sweat made my nose itch. The floor was sticky, and the dance area was filled with scantily clad men all rubbing off on each other in a fashion they claimed was dancing.

I stalled at the door, unsure if I wanted to follow through with this despite having agreed. Edison might be in his element, but the whole atmosphere only made me feel inferior and old.

A grin took up his entire face as he looked around, assessing every corner and person. His head bopped to the beat, and his hips took up a sultry gyrating motion that made it hard not to stare at his ass. I wasn’t the only one who noticed it either. It didn’t help that he’d worn skin-tight black jeans that looked painted on. The perky globes of his backside were his best asset.

“Let’s get a drink,” he shouted over the music, turning a dimpled smile on me while pointing to the bar that ran the length of the room.

I wanted to protest, but Edison linked our fingers and tugged me along after him. A moment of panic fluttered in my chest at the contact.