by Andrew Grey
“Is that the guy you were interested in?” Bobby pointed across the dance floor.
“Yeah. I talked to him for a few minutes.”
Bobby chuckled and leaned into Dean, whispering something in his ear, and they shared a laugh. Bobby turned to smile at Trevor. “You weren’t going to get anywhere with him with your smile and stunning good looks.”
“Why not?” Trevor demanded.
“He’s blind.” Bobby said the words so easily, and they shocked Trevor into silence. He watched James, and it made sense. The way he held his glass with both hands wrapped gently around it as if he’d lose it if he wasn’t touching it. How James had looked through him the entire time Trevor had been speaking to him because he couldn’t see and was just looking in his direction, probably to try to be polite. At least Trevor understood why none of his “charms” had worked.
“Are you going to go talk to him again?” Bobby asked. “He looks lonely. He’s been just sitting there for over half an hour.”
“I don’t think so.” Trevor had nothing to offer a guy like that. He always caught guys’ attention with his looks; it was the main gun in his arsenal. Hell, if he thought about it, his looks were his only weapon. Well, that wasn’t true. He could talk to men with no problem, but there weren’t many guys who were interested in Trevor for his repartee. Usually they didn’t get that far.
“Why not?” Brent got up and leaned his hands on the table. “If you aren’t, then I am. He’s….”
“Angelic,” Trevor supplied, and Brent nodded and began walking across the floor to where James sat.
Trevor groaned, clenching the stem of his glass so tightly, he was lucky it didn’t snap in his hand, unable to take his eyes off James. “Fuck it.” Trevor got to his feet and strode across the room, causing a breeze as he passed Brent.
“James, is it okay if I join you?”
“Trevor?” James asked with a smile. “If you like. But I’m not very good company.”
Trevor pulled out the nearest chair and sat. “Why wouldn’t you be?”
James had tilted his head toward the dance floor as though listening for something or someone, but then turned to him. “I’m a little lost. My friend Lester said he wouldn’t be long, and I keep wondering where he is.” James leaned close. “I need to go to the bathroom and I don’t know where it is, and even if I did, trying to make it safely through all these people would be impossible.”
“Because you can’t see?” he said gently, and James nodded. Of course, that was the answer, but Trevor wanted James to know he understood what the issue was. “The bathroom is just around the corner, and I can help you.”
“But as soon as I get up, someone will take the table and then I’ll be totally lost.”
“That’s not a problem.” Trevor caught Marvin’s eye, and he came over. “James, this is Marvin. He’s one of the bouncers here.” Trevor waited while the two men shook hands. “Marvin, would you please hold the table for James while we’re gone for a few minutes?”
Marvin smirked knowingly and nodded once.
“Thanks so much.” Trevor stood and waited while James did the same and extended a collapsible white cane. Trevor glanced at Marvin, whose expression had changed completely, and nodded. Then Trevor gently guided James toward the restroom, speaking softly to let him know what was in front of him.
“You do this very well,” James said as Trevor motioned for people to get out of the way. One guy seemed oblivious until Trevor bumped into him so they could pass.
“There you are. The door is straight ahead. That’s it. We’re inside. Do you need a stall?”
“Please.”
Trevor guided James to an empty one and closed the door, standing guard outside. Why, he had no idea, but he wasn’t going to move. One guy approached and tilted his head questioningly toward the other stall, smiling and raking his gaze over Trevor. Usually he wasn’t one to turn down a blowjob if he could get one, but Trevor shook his head. Once the toilet flushed, he waited for James to open the door before guiding him through the steady stream of guys coming and going.
“The sink is right ahead of you.” He turned on the water, and James washed his hands. Trevor handed him a paper towel and then threw it away once James was done before guiding him out of the bathroom and back to the table. Word seemed to have gotten around because the way parted like the Red Sea as they passed. “Thanks, Marvin.”
“Yes, thank you,” James said as he found his chair by the wall and sat once again. “I really appreciate it.”
“No problem,” Marvin said. He had the deepest voice and always sounded like God whenever he spoke. “If you need anything, just let me know.”
“I will. Thank you.” James smiled in Marvin’s direction, but Trevor didn’t tell him that Marvin was already gone. He turned back in Trevor’s direction. “Do you need a drink?”
“I’m good for now. I have to drive home so I need to be careful.”
“Me too.”
“You’re driving?” Trevor asked, teasingly, and James giggled. It was a gloriously joyful sound, and though he tried to cover it up and shift his laugh to a heartier sound, those few moments of abandon were pretty amazing, and Trevor was happy he got to hear them.
“You’re a real smartass. I like that. I meant that I have to be careful how much I drink. Can you imagine the damage a stumbling drunk blind guy can do? The last time I took out three old ladies and a Jehovah’s Witness with my cane.”
“Come on, no way!” Trevor said, enjoying James’s great sense of humor.
“Having too much to drink dulls the senses, and since I can’t see, I need what I have to navigate the world.” James turned around in his chair. “Over there are three guys, and they’re about to have some kind of fight. Their tone is getting rough and the light teasing is turning hurtful.” James pressed himself to the back wall as one of the men chose that moment to leap to his feet and grab one of the others. The bouncers were at the table in seconds, breaking up the argument and escorting the guys out of the club.
“They’re gone.”
“Good. They were getting out of control.”
“How did you do that?”
“When you can’t see, other senses become sharper. I listen very well, but here it’s extra hard because so much is covered up by the music. I hear some voices, but much less than I normally would. Also, everyone is always moving around. It’s like a blob of ever-changing voices around me and it’s too hard to follow, so I end up giving up and then I’m completely lost.”
“James, are you having fun like I said you would?” a skinny guy, wearing tight jeans with a navy blue T-shirt plastered to his body, asked as he hurried over. His hair was damp and slicked down to his head. “I wasn’t gone too long, was I?”
“No.” James was lying, and Trevor wanted to teach Lester a lesson. Maybe trap him in one of the bathroom stalls so he could see how it felt.
“It was at least an hour,” Trevor said firmly, locking gazes with Lester. He was wild-eyed, and Trevor wondered what exactly he’d been doing while he was on the dance floor. The club was warm, but not enough to have someone covered in sweat like that, along with the manic demeanor and darting eyes. Trevor was going to guess Ecstasy, but he wasn’t quite sure.
“I was only gone a few songs, and I met the cutest guy.” Lester seemed totally in his own world. How could a guy like that bring James to a club and basically abandon him? “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You can come dance with us, you know. I’ll stay close.”
Somehow Trevor doubted that, and James waved Lester off to go dance and have a good time. “I’m fine here.”
“Okay. I’ll be back soon.” Lester threw his arm around some guy who looked as strung out as he was, and they disappeared into the gyrating crowd of people.
“I’m here with some friends. We have a table on the other side of the club. Would you like to join us? It would give you someone else to talk to besides me.” Why he was offering to share this be
autifully kind man with anyone was beyond him, but he didn’t want James sitting here all alone, especially after being blown off by his friend.
“You don’t have to do that. I can sit here and wait for Lester.”
Trevor figured James was going to be waiting for quite some time. And even when it was time for him and Lester to go home, Lester wasn’t going to be in any shape to drive, and Trevor could see James being stuck. “Come on. They’re nice guys. Though don’t say anything to Dean about breakups. He’s here to try to forget a pretty bad one with Dumbfuck Chuck.”
James laughed. “Okay.”
Trevor stood and waited for James, then took his glass in one hand and guided him across the club.
“Why does everyone get out of the way? When we got here, we had to fight through the people.” James stepped slowly and carefully as though expecting to bump into someone.
“I think they’re scared of me,” Trevor said.
“Why? Are you frighteningly ugly or something?” James turned his gaze to him. He had beautiful eyes, with no signs of scarring or cloudiness, so the problem with his vision must be deeper.
“I don’t think so. I’m tall and broad, and when I scowl, people get the hell out of the way.”
“So you’re a bruiser or something?” James stopped moving, turned toward him, and placed his hands on Trevor’s shoulders, leaving a trail of heat as he slid them over Trevor’s arms and then across his chest. “Not a bruiser.” James smiled, and Trevor rolled his eyes, even though James couldn’t see it, and guided him the rest of the way to his empty chair.
“This is James.”
“I’m Brent.”
“Dean, and this is Bobby,” Dean said. “Look, he and I are going to take off. You guys have a good time.” Dean stood and hugged both Trevor and Brent. “It was great to meet you, James. Have fun.” Dean waved quickly, obviously in a race to leave.
“Thank God. Dean has been sucking Bobby’s face off for half an hour. I was starting to think they were going to get it on right here, and while I’m not averse to watching… I don’t want to see Dean’s bare ass ever again.”
“Is it that bad?” James asked. “Maybe I should be grateful I’m blind, then.”
“It’s not bad. But the last time we were at the lake in the summer, Dean and Dumbfuck Chuck, his ex, decided to go skinny-dipping. Well, they got too close to a flock of geese and Dean came running out of the water, hands over his junk, with a goose chasing him, pecking at his ass. He was black-and-blue for days, and sitting wasn’t particularly comfortable for him judging by the level of complaining he was doing. So we have a rule that Dean is never to show his bare ass around any of us to avoid any sort of repeat.” He and Brent laughed, while James made a weak attempt at a chuckle.
“I’ve never seen one, but they sound vicious.”
Trevor said, “They can be. It’s a large brown bird maybe thirty inches tall. They poop everywhere and they’ve very territorial, especially around their young.”
“They can also run fast and seem to have an affinity for Dean’s butt. Of course, if they went for Chuck’s ass, he’d end up with brain damage.” They all laughed at Brent’s attempt at humor.
“Was Chuck as bad as you say?”
“Worse,” Brent said. “He used Dean for years and then cheated on him.”
James didn’t react initially. “I know what that feels like.” He lifted his glass and drank the last of his beer. “The next time you see him, tell Dean that he should have smashed Chuck in the nuts.” He was so vehement that it took Trevor a little by surprise. James had been reserved and nice up until then, but he contorted his lips and showed his teeth when he talked about what Dean should have done to Chuck. He must have been hurt badly to have such anger.
“There you are,” Lester said as he skidded to a stop near the table. “I looked over there and you were gone, and I thought that….” He wiped his brow, and Trevor handed him a napkin. Lester was really starting to piss him off.
“James is fine here with us. You bring him here and then ignore him most of the time because you found someone interesting.” Trevor leaned toward him, narrowing his eyes. “Go on and have all the fun you want. We’ll watch out for him and see that he gets home.” He glared at Lester, who looked like a stiff breeze was going to blow him over.
“You can’t. He—”
Trevor stood, towering over Lester. “Listen. I don’t know what you’re on, but he isn’t getting in any vehicle with you, and if you push it, I’ll call the police and see what they have to say about it. Now go find your friend and see if he gives a shit about whether you get home or not. You aren’t putting James in danger because you were stupid.” He stepped closer. “Do you get my meaning or should I have the bouncers toss your ass out?”
Lester paled, and Trevor hoped the kid wasn’t going to be sick. He waved Lester away and sat back down.
“But I don’t know you. How can I let you take me home?” James said, and Trevor realized just how out of control and small James must have felt at that moment. “I didn’t really want to come. Places like this aren’t comfortable for me, but Lester talked me into it and promised he’d stay with me.”
Trevor patted James’s hand lightly. “It’s all right. If you don’t want me to take you home, then when you want to go, I’ll get you into a cab. It’s not a problem. But I’m not going to let you ride with him.”
“Is he really on something?”
“Yes. Ecstasy, I think. And he isn’t making good decisions and definitely shouldn’t drive.” Trevor caught the attention of one of the waiters and ordered another round with just a soda for himself. If he was going to be driving James home, something he hoped he’d be allowed to do, then he was going to be stone-cold sober. “Nothing is going to happen to you. I know you just met me, but you’re in good hands. I promise.” He was more concerned with making sure James was okay than anything else.
That thought made him pause. What the hell had happened to him? He’d come here to get laid, hopefully with someone as hot as James, and what was he doing? Playing the protector. This was completely new territory for him. He was the bad boy, taking what he wanted and walking away. He didn’t get to know the guys he slept with… well, fucked was a better term. He stayed aloof—that way he didn’t get hurt—and was up-front. They had some fun, nothing more. He never made promises to anyone. Yet here he was making promises to James that he had every intention of keeping.
“That’s very nice of you.” James turned his head as though he were looking around and then, finishing his drink, he stood. “We should all leave now.”
Brent’s hand stilled with his drink halfway to his lips as James took Trevor’s arm.
“Please lead me toward the door right away.” James practically pulled Trevor to his feet. “You too, Brent.”
Trevor wasn’t sure what the hurry was, but he downed his drink and led James toward the front door. As they got close, a bright light flashed from the back of the club and people started screaming. Trevor picked up the pace, half carrying James to the door and outside onto the sidewalk. Brent was right behind them, and Trevor guided James across the street as smoke poured out of the front door.
Alarms sounded and other doors around the side opened, the noise louder now as still more people poured out of the club.
James looked unsurprised. “I smelled smoke, probably from overheating wires, definitely electrical. It was getting worse.”
Other people hurried across the street, soaking wet, probably from the sprinklers coming on. More smoke poured out of the club as the building lights flashed and then went out, the water most likely shorting out the electrical system.
“I didn’t smell anything,” Brent said.
Trevor shook his head. He hadn’t either, but there were so many people and the place was filled with guys who’d bathed in every brand of cologne available. “Why didn’t you say anything when you said we needed to leave?”
“I didn’t want people to pa
nic, and we needed to get out without being stomped.” James held Trevor’s arm tightly as people milled around them. “Can we go?”
“Yes.” Trevor turned to Brent. “Where’s your car?”
“A block that way. I should be good to go.”
Trevor hugged him. “Call me when you get home. I’m going to take James home. Talk to you soon.” He waved and guided James toward his car a block the other direction. He used his fob to unlock the door and helped James inside. Then he closed the door, went to his side, and got in. Trevor started the engine and asked James for his address, putting it into the GPS, and then he pulled out, turned the car around, and drove away.
Chapter 2
JAMES STEWART—yes, that was his real name. Lord knows why his mother decided to bless him with that moniker for the rest of his life, but she had. She must have been some sort of fan; either that or she secretly hated her son. He’d never asked. But most people didn’t call him Jimmy, and for that he was truly grateful.
“Are we doing okay?” James asked from the passenger seat of Trevor’s car. It smelled new and was supremely comfortable. He wanted to sit back with his eyes closed, but if he did that, he’d get carsick. It was weird, but if he rode with his eyes closed, he got sick, but as long as they were open, he was fine. James had never been able to figure that one out.
“It’s fine. We’re out of the area around the club, and it shouldn’t take me too long to get you home.”
“Thank you.” James could feel the direction they were heading, and with the turns Trevor made, he was able to follow where the car was going. The GPS also helped a great deal, even if the computer messed up pronouncing Kinnickinnic Avenue, but that was fine. He knew they were very close when the GPS instructed Trevor to turn onto Quincy.
“This is a really nice neighborhood.”
“I like it.” James smiled.
Trevor pulled to a stop in front of his house, the bump on the pavement rumbling through the tires. That always told James he was home.