“Fine,” I said and stepped around him toward the door.
“What, that’s it, you’re leaving?”
I grasped the doorknob and looked over my shoulder. “Yeah, I was obviously reading too much into things. I apologize for intruding on something that clearly isn’t my business.” I opened the door and started walking out. I stepped onto the studio floor and saw Nolan’s head pop up.
“So you’re leaving?” Sparkles said as he followed me.
“Uh, yeah? I mean it makes sense, but not all of it. I mean there were two guys that came into Joker’s Sin, they work for your landlord. I assumed they were…” I wave my hand. “Forget it, obviously they’re new in town, and they were checking the place out. I’m paranoid.”
“We live in Haven Hart. Being paranoid is like a constant state of being here.” Sparkles chuckled.
“Yeah, I guess. Well, I won’t keep you. See ya.” I waved at Nolan as I passed, and he ignored me. Fine.
As I straddled my bike and put my helmet on, I gave one last look at Sparkles’s studio. He was watching me and gave a tiny wave. I nodded, started my bike, and drove off home. Sparkles made it clear what he thought of me, and it was high time I let it go. He’d never want anything to do with me, and that was fine. I was a big boy. I’d get over Sparkles.
Chapter Twelve
Lane
The following week was spent practicing for the charity show at Joker’s Sin. I spoke with Atlas as promised and had gone to the club a few times this week. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved that Max was treating me like every other patron or sad that he didn’t brighten when he looked at me anymore.
I always enjoyed our banter, and while I tingled with want of being with Max, the feeling that he used sex for something other than joy was my issue. And I realized how much it was my issue. I’d used sex to get by, to gain money, to make a life for me and my mother. I assumed so many were like me…mostly Max.
I didn’t know how or when it all started. I vaguely remember seeing Max behind the bar, flirting with some guy and trying the same shit with me. I flipped the switch that day and never dared flip it back.
Atlas was happy when I told him I was able to get in touch with a few others to perform, and even though the stress and worry over Dorian being in Haven Hart loomed, I was letting myself enjoy this feeling of performing.
I hadn’t heard from Dorian at all since he came into my studio the week before, and I was glad…and worried. I knew he had a plan; I just wasn’t privy to it. A few times one of his people would drive by the studio, and I’d seen them at Joker’s Sin. There was no question they were sent by Dorian. I wasn’t running, though. I’d made a place for myself here in Haven Hart; I just needed to figure out how I’d get Dorian to fuck off.
I had just walked into my apartment after a long day—hell, a long week—and heard Tank whimpering.
“Tank, sweetie-pie, where are you?” I ran through my apartment searching for him. I saw him in the corner of my room just as I stepped through the door. “How’d you get in here, silly pup?” I reached down and realized why he was whimpering. His little paw was stuck in the floor vent for the central air. This was why I didn’t let him into any of the rooms where he’d get hurt during the day. It being autumn, I’d covered all of them except in my room because he didn’t come in unless I was in here, and he only ever sat on my bed.
“Let Daddy see.” I flipped the lamp on next to the bed and was able to gently pull his paw out. “It’s okay.” I kissed his head while he continued to whimper. I had no idea how long he’d been stuck there or if he’d really hurt himself. “I’m so sorry. I thought I closed my bedroom door before I left this morning, baby.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. Tank’s veterinarian had an on-call service, and I left a message with them. I brought Tank to the kitchen to get him some water, and he drank out of the bowl as I held it for him. When the vet called, he asked me to see if Tank could walk and when I tried, he was limping and refused to go any farther, plopping on the ground.
“I think he twisted it, I didn’t mean to leave my door open—”
“Don’t beat yourself up. You’re human, we make mistakes. Bring him to the twenty-four-hour clinic. I’ll meet you over there,” the vet said, and my already exhausted body ached, knowing I was in for an even longer night.
“Okay.”
I grabbed Tank’s leash, scooped him up, and after retrieving my keys, headed to the garage. I was so tired that when the elevator doors opened I wasn’t paying attention and walked right into what felt like a brick wall. Tank yelped, and I felt awful.
“Oh, I’m sorry, baby,” I said to Tank as I kissed his head.
“Aww, you don’t have to call me baby, I can handle a little bump and grind.” I lifted my head at the voice, shocked to see Max…even more shocked that he was being snarky.
“What the…why are you here?” I petted Tank as he shivered.
“What is that?” Max pointed to Tank.
“My dog. You do know what a dog is, right?”
“That is not a dog, that’s a fluffy rat.” He crinkled his nose.
“I have no time for you right now.” I moved past him toward my Jeep.
“It’s like midnight, where are you going at this hour?” Max shouted after me.
“I have to get Tank to the clinic; he hurt his paw.” I got Tank into the back seat, settled in his little doggie car seat.
“You named it Tank?” Max was standing right there when I shut the door.
“Yes, he is mighty. Now move, I have to go.”
Max’s booming laughter echoed through the parking garage, and while I could admit he was gorgeous when he looked so carefree, I really did have to go to the clinic. I opened the driver’s door and got in. I had no time to talk with Max.
I had just started the Jeep when the passenger door opened and Max hopped in.
“What happened to the mighty Tank’s paw?”
Max shut the door, and I realized he wasn’t going anywhere. Well, actually, he was. If he was going to be an ass, then he’d come with me to the clinic and could walk back here for his bike. I put my seat belt on and drove. He didn’t protest, so that took some of the fun out of it.
“He got it stuck in the vent on the floor.” I peeked over to see Max’s reaction, but he was looking at Tank in his doggie seat like he was some experiment.
“He? But there’s a sparkly clip in his hair.” Max tilted his head; an expression of serious concentration adorned his face as he stared at my dog.
“Boys can sparkle too.”
There was silence, and I glanced over in time to see Max smile at me. “Yeah, but none sparkle quite like you, do they?”
I couldn’t answer him. It was such a nice compliment, and I wasn’t prepared for it. So I kept my eyes on the road and drove to the clinic.
Max was quiet as I took Tank in and spoke with the nurse at the counter. She said they’d take him back for X-rays, and the vet would arrive shortly. I hated not going back with him, but I couldn’t be there for the X-ray. Max sat beside me in the waiting room, surprisingly. I thought for sure he’d Uber back to the garage, but he sat there reading a magazine and commenting on the fashion in it.
“You wear black jeans and a white T-shirt mostly. If Atlas didn’t have themed nights, you’d only ever wear that, and you have the nerve to make fun of…” I looked at the picture he was talking about and cringed. “Oh, yeah, that’s like a trash can on fire.”
He laughed, which in turn made me laugh. Maybe being stuck at the clinic and exhausted wouldn’t be so bad with Max here to keep me company.
Chapter Thirteen
Max
It was two in the morning by the time we were back in Sparkles’s Jeep heading to his apartment building. Tank the Mighty didn’t break anything, but it did appear his leg was sprained. So he had this tiny ace bandage on his paw. It was pathetic but admittedly cute.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask y
ou why you were at my building,” Sparkles said as he drove.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell him exactly why I was there. Bumping into Sparkles on the elevator was like some sort of sign that what I was about to do was a stupid idea, so I went with it.
“It was nothing, really.” I hoped it could stay like that, but Sparkles wasn’t known for biting his tongue.
“You either came to see me, which by your aloofness as of late I will call bullshit on, or you knew someone there and were going to see them. Which, you ditching them to come with me to take care of my dog is sort of shitty.”
“Aloofness?”
“No, don’t do that, don’t take that part of the conversation and roll with it. Why were you here tonight?”
I sighed knowing I wasn’t getting out of it. “Okay, fine. I was there to see someone.”
“And?”
“And I saw you instead with your Tank, and it seemed like you needed help.”
“Help? He weighs like, a pound, Max.”
I shrugged. “It’s whatever, Sparkles. I texted them. I wasn’t a complete ass.”
There was a beat of silence before he asked what I knew he would. “Who was it that you were seeing?”
Sparkles tried to give off a nonchalant expression but failed miserably. “It’s a big building, I’m sure you don’t know everyone in the—”
“Oh, I do though, so who was it?”
Shit. “You’re nosy.”
“Yeah, I am.” He chuckled but I knew the question wasn’t going to go unanswered. “My guess is it was either Kirt, who is on the fourth floor, or Roger on the eleventh.”
Wow, that was impressive. “Kirt. Now can we not get into this, please?”
“Get into what?” Sparkles let out a pfft like the idea he’d push the issue was insane.
“Telling me I’m a deviant or a petri dish of STDs or whatever it is you tell people to warn them from me.”
He gasped, eyes wide in disbelief. “What I’d nev…okay, I totally do that, but Kirt’s a nice guy and yeah, so good luck there.”
“That’s it?” He didn’t care? No snide remarks? “Are you feeling okay?”
“Tired but I’m fine. Look, I’ll lay off the STD jokes. I just like teasing you.” It was such a sincere comment that I looked over at Tank as if he’d provide some translation for what was happening.
“Well, I didn’t hook up with Kirt, obviously, so the well-wishes aren’t needed.”
“Never say never,” Sparkles said as he pulled into the garage and parked. “Thanks for coming along. You didn’t have to but yeah, so.” He got out and opened the back to get his dog.
“Do you need any help?” I found myself asking.
“Again, he’s like a pound, and the bag of painkillers is less than that. I got it from here. Maybe Kirt’s free still? I mean it’s late, or early, whatever.” He tucked Tank close to his chest and the clip that was in Tank’s fur glittered.
“Nah. I think I’ll go home and crash. I hope he feels better.”
Sparkles gave a small smile. “Thanks, Max.”
I waited until he was in the elevator and the doors slid shut before walking over to my bike. I hadn’t told anyone I wasn’t working tonight, so me coming home at this hour at least wouldn’t be met with a million questions.
“He said you were aloof?” Atlas asked me later that night as I got the bar ready. I told him about everything, but he latched on to that just as I had.
“Right? I asked that too, but he just danced around it and talked about other things.” I filled the canisters with red straws all around the bar. Atlas was helping fill the little napkin holders while we talked.
“I mean you two tease each other, almost to the point of cruelty, but it just seems to be your way.”
I spun almost crashing into Atlas. “Our way?”
“Yeah, like flirting? You do know that what you two do is flirting? I suspect it’s more like ‘seventh circle of Hell’ sort of flirting, but, yeah.” He shrugged and went on filling the napkins.
I loved the back and forth with Sparkles. It was fun…mostly. I mean, when he told that guy a few weeks ago that touching me would give him a rash and the guy ran, that wasn’t fun. Flirting, though? I dunno, maybe.
“Sparkles lives to torture me. I gave up long ago that he’d want anything to do with me other than using me as a verbal punching bag.” I put the remaining straws under the bar and grabbed my rag to wipe the surface down one more time before we opened.
“You’re both idiots. I think you think if you slept together it would scratch that itch, but I think it would ignite you both. And damn, won’t that be a fire worth burning in.” He winked and left the bar area to do his last checks.
I couldn’t get what Atlas said out of my head all night. I did look for Sparkles, but I had a feeling he’d be staying in and taking care of Tank, so I focused best I could on my customers. Kirt did stop by, flirting not so subtly. He was hot with his sandy blond hair and chocolate-brown eyes, but whenever I thought of doing anything with anyone else, Sparkles popped into my head.
That man was driving me insane. Atlas was wrong. I’d asked Sparkles a million times to…hook up. Maybe I need to ask him on a date instead. Maybe he’d go for that? Did I want that? Why was this so hard?
“Two Heinekens,” a deep voice said, and I looked up into the eyes of one of the suits that was hanging with Sparkles’s new landlord.
I narrowed my eyes but got the bottles, slamming them onto the bar. The guy smirked, tossed me a twenty, and walked away with his beers.
I didn’t like those guys, and I knew that landlord of Sparkles’s was more than a landlord. But me asking him about it had turned into a fight. And the idea of a date sprung up again. Maybe he’d talk to me if he trusted me. I made a mental note to get a hold of Sparkles the next day and see if he’d like to grab dinner. If he said no, I’d really and truly drop it and then enjoy throwing it in Atlas’s face that he was wrong. But shit, if he was right, he would never let me live it down.
I shook off thoughts of Sparkles and finished out my night. My body was tired by the end, but I felt excited. I just hoped Sparkles would say yes.
Chapter Fourteen
Lane
I was in my office, trying on my wig for the charity show tomorrow when I heard Nolan’s voice echo through the studio.
“You are seriously a stalker or something.”
I placed the wig down on my desk and stepped out to see who he was talking to, though I suspected I knew.
“How am I a stalker?” I heard Max’s voice before I turned the corner.
“You can’t just show up here,” Nolan said, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t like Max, and where people would think I didn’t like him, I did. I realized after I came home from the vet and was putting Tank to bed that Max wasn’t a horrible guy, and I might have misjudged him. I’d been comparing him to the person I was years ago.
“It’s okay, Nolan.” I smiled at Max and waved him over. “Max helped me out with Tank the other day. He’s probably just checking up on him.”
Max totally gloated in Nolan’s face as he headed my way. “How is Tank the Mighty?”
“I actually have him in the office with me. He couldn’t be alone, but I had to teach.” We walked into my office, where Tank was asleep in his plush pink doggie bed.
“I gotta ask, why such a tiny dog? Aren’t you afraid you’ll sit on it? I mean, look what happened when he was just walking. A big dog like a German shepherd wouldn’t get their paw stuck in an AC vent.” Max leaned closer to Tank and tenderly petted his head. There was a softness in his eyes as he looked at Tank. I knew he wasn’t being cruel, just curious and honest.
“I intended to get a big guard dog, but Tank was there at the shelter when I showed up, and I fell in love. What can I say? I’m a sucker for those puppy eyes.” I sat in my chair and grabbed the brush to comb my wig.
“And then you named him Tank, so he’d think he was big and tough?�
� I shrugged as an answer. “Is that a wig?”
“Do I really need to answer that question?” I held up the obvious wig. “You’re far from dumb; you know it’s a wig.” Narrowing my eyes, I realized Max was nervous. “You came here to ask me something, didn’t you?”
“How’d you know that? Did Atlas call you?”
Okay, this was very intriguing now. “Atlas? Why would he call me?”
Max plopped onto my small couch and pinched the bridge of his nose. I gave him a moment and continued brushing my wig. His leg was jumping, and I was so curious as to what he was up to.
“Okay, so, I came here today to ask you something. You’re right.”
“As much as I love being right, the suspense is killing me, so just say it.” I put the wig down and gave Max my complete attention.
“Fine.” He released a breath and made eye contact with me. His expression was so serious, I became nervous he was going to ask me something horrible. “I came here to ask you if you’d go out to dinner with me.”
“Dinner?” He was asking me out on a date?
“Yeah. I mean I know we have the charity thing tomorrow night. And I don’t know when you have time off or whatever. We can work it out, though…I mean if there’s even something to work out.” He was so nervous that he was fidgeting, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was endearing.
“How often do you ask people out?” I had to know if it was him asking me out that was making him act this way or the fact that he probably didn’t ask people out at all, just to hook up.
“I don’t.”
I nodded and sat back. “But you want to go out to just dinner with me?”
He lifted his shoulder. “I mean, maybe there’d be a kiss or something. I dunno, but yeah, dinner.”
To Die For (Joker's Sin Book 2) Page 6