The Escape: A One of the Boys Novel

by Crumpton, Teresa

  “Don’t get me started on that subject,” I grumble. “She was a complete bitch after you moved, Wes. She bordered on stalkerish. For some damn, fucked-up reason, she thought since you wouldn’t get back with her, I might want to date her––or make her my sub.”

  “You know, I still don’t get what the big deal is? And I really don’t understand why you’d want Wes’s sloppy seconds as a sub.”

  I have to laugh, because before Calla, the only women Wes ever slept with were submissives. And when it came to Zoe, he always had multiple partners. That’s all changed with Calla. Though, I think she’d find Crave intriguing––and possibly fun––I don’t think he’ll ever take her.

  “Why haven’t you taken her yet?” I needle Wes, smirking.

  “Yeah, why don’t you?” she echoes my statement. “I’ve asked what the big deal is, so why not show me?” She’s pushing that needle in a little further.

  “One,” Wes bites out, “Ben would kill me. Two, Ben would kill me. Three, Sam and Noel would help Ben kill me. You do realize Ben’s wanted to kick my ass for years, right? And he actually threatened to when I moved in. I was shocked as fuck that he said yes when I asked him if I could marry you.”

  “It’s not been that bad,” Calla says, rolling her eyes as she jogs in place.

  “Actually, I’ve heard him threaten Wes a few times. He’s not kidding when it comes to Ben,” I remark, saving Wes the grief.

  And even though Ben is a Frat brother, he is highly protective of his baby sister. Especially when it comes to those of us he knows. I’m not sure if it was just that he’d seen all that Wes had done in college, or if some of the threats were because he knows what Wes’s kinks are. Either way, Ben’s one fucker no one wants to screw with, and just because he takes hits on Sundays doesn’t mean he can’t dole them out pretty damn well.

  “Bust my balls later,” Wes comments as he spanks Calla’s ass to get her moving. “Let’s move.”

  Calla’s open-mouthed double take is priceless. Laughing, Wes and I fist bump, drawing Calla’s ire. Her shock turns to a glare, yet, as she sticks her tongue out at us, I can’t take her temper seriously.

  Not knowing the route Wes and Calla run, I let them take the lead. We start out slow, walking for about two minutes, which allows me pull up my cardio playlist before we kick it into gear and morph into a full-out run. Amen by Halestorm fills my ears as I fall into my groove and my stride evens out as I follow Wes and Calla.

  Passing the state building and heading toward UT, Trey joins our little group. I don’t know how Wes and Calla do this run as often as they do. I’m breathing hard and feeling completely out of shape, which is saying something considering I weight train daily. But I keep pace with them the best I can while we make our way around UT. As Wes, Calla, and Trey pick up their paces, mine slows down, my breathing labored from the cardio I’m not used to incorporating into my daily––or even weekly––routine.

  There is no way in hell I’ll let this run beat me.

  Stopping for only a second, I catch my breath, keeping my friends in sight. It Takes Two by Rob Base plays through my earphones, jolting me with its beat to get my ass moving before I lose sight of Trey. Sprinting to catch up winds me again, but this time I close in on my friends’ heels. Dropping back, Trey helps me even out my stride.

  “You suck at this, man. Maybe you should run with us more often.” Trey’s voice is slightly muffled from the music playing in my ears.

  Flipping him off I add, “Asshole.”

  Chuckling, he smirks, elbow-checking me. “The cafe is right around the corner and a little further down. If you stop now, you know Wes is going to call you a pussy.”

  As we near the cafe, our run slows to a jog, and by the time we arrive, we're walking. It's glorious, and after this workout, I know I never want to run a marathon. Not even to save my life. I've been debating whether or not I should compete in a tough mudder or a spartan race, but now I'm thinking not.

  “Inside or out?” I hear Calla ask as I power off my wireless earbuds.

  “Let's sit inside today,” Wes responds as Trey and I add our agreement.

  “Rex, you wanna see if Teagan wants to join? That way we can go over those details you wanted to discuss with Wes,” Calla adds as Wes opens the door for her and we all follow her in.

  I glance at my watch, making sure it's not too early to send a text. It's a bit early, but there's a chance she could be up. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I type out the message and send it.

  Rex: You up?

  As I wait for her response, Calla tells the hostess we need a table for five. By the time we sit at the table, Teagan still hasn't texted back.

  “Why not call her?” Wes asks as I place my phone on the table.

  I shrug. “I don't want to disturb her this early on her day off.”

  “Isn't she supposed to meet you today, anyway?” Calla questions, and I nod my answer. “Then I think you're okay to call, just to see if she'd like to meet early so she can have the remainder of her day off.”

  She has a point, but I still feel shitty for calling before nine. I pick my phone up off the table and am about to dial, when I hear Teagan's voice. Scanning the room, I find her sitting two tables behind us with some guy.

  Who the fuck is that?

  “Is that Teagan?” Trey asks me.

  Grunting in acknowledgement, my attention stays locked on her.

  Chapter 3

  Teagan

  Today is not my day. It’s too early to be up and out on my day off. I should still be in bed sleeping. Hell I want to still be in bed sleeping. Here I sit, however, because Jayson wanted breakfast at this cafe across from the University. I hear this place is supposed to be pretty good, and as long as they keep bringing me coffee, I’ll be happy. The server finally comes to the table as another group sits down a few tables away.

  “My name is Anna, and I’ll be your server today. What can I get y’all started with this morning?” she asks as she eye fucks Jayson.

  “Coffee. Lots and lots of coffee,” I say, but the chick’s eyes never leave Jayson.

  “I’ll have the same. And will you bring us both orange juice as well?” Jayson adds.

  “Sure thing. Do you know what you want to eat, or do you need a minute?”

  “Give us a minute, please,” Jayson says, and Anna scurries off.

  “It’s too early to be dealing with one of the chicks that want to fuck you. Why are we up, again?” I ask, glaring at him.

  “I need to talk to you about a job interview I had,” Jayson explains, but there’s something in his tone that makes me think he’s not sure about the job...or maybe it's that he thinks I won’t approve of the position.

  Hell, as long as he wants the job, I don’t really care what he does. Actually, that’s not completely true. I do care. The issue is that I have no freaking clue what he actually does, but for some reason, my brother always wants my input. The dork has an MBA with a specialization in entrepreneurship...and that’s where my understanding of what he does ends. It wouldn’t surprise me if his brain and his... “charm”...get him mixed up with something shady when all is said and done. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened––yet. That said, this interview he wants to talk to me about has the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

  “You got me out of bed on my day off to talk about a job interview over breakfast?” I question him. This is extremely abnormal. He never gets me up on my days off.

  “Yes. I need to make a decision about the offer today, and we didn’t have anything that sounded good for breakfast in the kitchen.”

  He has a point there. Not to mention, I’m too lazy to make breakfast myself. Mostly because I’m usually getting up closer to lunch time after closing The Escape at 3 AM.

  “Alright. Tell me about this job.” Glancing around to see where our server is with our coffee, my attention lands on the other occupied table. All four people are in athletic wear, and from the way they're all sitti
ng and sucking down glasses of water, it looks as if they just finished their workout. The woman kind of looks like Calla, from what I can see of her face, and I can’t tell if Wes is at the table or not with two broad backs blocking my view.

  “Teag, are you listening to me?” Jay asks, and he turns in his chair. As he does, both of the guys whose backs are to us turn around, as well.

  Rex. Shit. Wait...what the fuck? We’re supposed to have a meeting with Wes today, and he’s out with him now? Sonofabitch.

  Taking a deep breath, I pull my attention back to Jay and try not to get pissed at my boss. He’s out with friends, and even if those friends have helped him with the majority of details in The Escape, I have to remember that I’m just the general manager, not a partner. I don’t have much say in anything but the staff and the day-to-day workings of the club.

  “Sorry. It’s just early. Tell me about this job,” I say, again, as our coffee and juice arrive, and we stop talking.

  “Y’all know what you want yet?” Anna, the server, askes.

  “I do,” Jay pipes up. “I want the everything breakfast.”

  “I’ll take the eggs and bacon with a side of french toast. Thanks,” I respond.

  “Coming right up!” Anna announces and takes her leave.

  “Back to this job you might be interested in...tell me the pros and cons––”

  “I know the cons first,” Jay interrupts.

  Adjusting myself in my seat, I pick up my mug of coffee and take a sip. “Let me have it,” I tell him and set my mug down.

  “I can’t say much.” He pauses and glances at me. “Don’t give me that look. I can’t tell you because I’d be working for an underground club.”

  “What’s the big deal about an underground club?” I ask.

  “Teag, it’s not just an underground club. It’s a specific type of club. One that people don’t discuss in polite company––or to people not in the lifestyle––if you catch my drift.”

  I nod, understanding that the job would be for a sex club.

  “I’ll be working as the marketing guru if I get the position.”

  “So far, you haven’t told me the cons like you’re supposed to” I remind him, taking another drink of my coffee.

  “Honestly, from what it sounded like from the interview, there aren’t any cons that I can see. It’s kind of my dream job. And that freaks me out.”

  “Why does it freak you out?” I ask as our food is delivered.

  We both dig into our food, stopping our conversation as we take the first few bites. Anna comes back to refill our coffees.

  “Is everything all right?” she asks.

  Our mouths full, we both nod, and she walks away. Swallowing my bite of food, I take a sip of juice, preparing to start questioning Jayson about this job, when a tall, hulking figure steps up to the table. I glance up as the newcomer speaks.

  “Why the fuck aren’t you answering your phone?” Rex says, and I try to interrupt, but he keeps talking. “I’ve called and texted––a few times––with no response. I get that it’s your day off, but you’re the one that wanted a meeting today to go over the last minute details for Alchemy’s grand opening on Friday. I know it’s early, and normally I wouldn’t have been trying to get ahold of you, but Calla and Wes caught me in the stairwell as I was headed to the gym, and they talked me into running with them.” I raise an eyebrow at that admission. Rex hates running.

  Even with my expression, he continues talking. “And since we talked about having this discussion with them, I was trying to get our meeting over early so you could have the rest of your day open,” he finally finishes.

  Taking another sip, I set my glass down as Jayson looks from me to Rex and smirks. I can almost see the thoughts running through his mind right now, and I just want to shake my head. Jay is under the impression Rex likes me, or at least wants to fuck me, and I think he’s nuts. At least I’d thought so the last time we had that conversation before New Year’s Eve. Now, I’m not sure.

  “First of all, my phone hasn’t made a sound. You can ask Jay if you don’t believe me. Secondly, where the hell do you get off coming over here to bitch at me while I’m out having breakfast with my brother?” I all but yell, glaring at Rex.

  Jay clears his throat. “Seriously, man...her phone hasn’t made a sound. Which, come to think of it, is really odd. Normally, it’s chirping all the time. Teag, are you sure you brought it with you?”

  Breaking eye contact with Rex, I glance around the table but don’t see the phone, so I reach for my handbag and search it. It only takes a second or two for me to realize I didn’t bring my phone with me.

  “Ah...I don’t have my phone with me. I must have left it back at our place,” I admit, furrowing my brows as I try to recall the last place I had my phone.

  “Rex, stop being an ass and see if they want to move over here,” Calla calls from their table.

  Anna and the other server make their way over to us. The servers decide to move both of our groups into a shared space between their stations, since Rex and the others haven’t gotten their food yet. As we settle into our seats once again, I end up sitting next to Rex and across from Jay.

  “So, what did you need my opinion on?” Wes asks as he sucks down half of the water in his glass.

  I snort laugh at the question, and quickly cover my mouth with my napkin. Rex’s knee nudges mine under the table.

  “There are at least two topics I told Rex we needed to discuss before we open on Friday. One is the secret password––or passwords––to gain entrance into Alchemy. The second is to finalize the speciality drink menu,” I answer Wes.

  Both Wes’s and Calla’s facial expressions turn pensive at the look between Rex and me. I don’t blame them. I’ve been trying to narrow down the drink list, and I can’t even think about the password issue. Should we have a password? Change the password nightly? Something in between?

  “Y’all need to finish eating before it gets cold,” Calla says, gesturing to our plates.

  Jay digs in, but I hold off just long enough to sip my coffee. As I put my mug down and pick up my fork, everyone else’s food arrives.

  Chapter 4

  Rex

  Signature drinks and passwords––thank fuck I hired Teagan to be the club manager. I wouldn’t have thought of those issues, at least not yet. Teagan though, she thinks of these kinds of things all the time. Hell, she’s already made me more money implementing new ideas at The Escape than I could’ve dreamed of. The app she uses to schedule our employees’ work week, how she’s streamlined our ordering for each of the bars, not to mention the events she's scheduling in the different clubs.

  “Are you thinking about changing the password daily?” Calla asks in between bites of her breakfast.

  Stuffing my face to regain the calories I expended on the run, I glance between Teagan and my friends as I listen to the conversation.

  “That’s what I was thinking. I thought it’d be more authentic if we did that,” Teagan responds finishing her last piece of bacon.

  “That’s a phenomenal idea. I may need to use it once you get the kinks worked out,” Jayson adds.

  “Now, Darlin’ were you just needing us to say it’s a good idea, or did you actually want or need help coming up with different passwords?” Trey asks, pointing his bacon at Teagan.

  “Both, actually. I needed to make sure Rex wanted passwords to make Alchemy truly a blast from the past. And if he liked the idea, I was going to need help with passwords. I mean, I’m sure I could come up with one of a kind, brilliant words all on my own, but a little help would be nice.”

  We all chuckle and snicker at her smartassed response. And this is why I keep her around.

  “So passwords––check. You also said something about drinks? What exactly are we talking about?” Wes questions as he drinks his water.

  “I did some research on speakeasies,” Teagan starts, but Jayson interrupts.

  “Teag's not kidding about
how much research she's done.” Jayson pushes his plate away.

  Teagan glares at her brother and continues “As I was saying...I did some research on speakeasies, obviously, and found ‘signature’ drinks that were generally served. I don’t think we need to serve them all, but we should have a few classics on the menu. Maybe ten, max.”

  “I thought it was primarily a whiskey bar?” Wes inquired.

  “It is,” I interject. “However, since we're dubbing Alchemy as a speakeasy, and back in the day speakeasies didn’t just serve whiskey, neither should we.”

  “From the research I did when Rex first told me he was adding a speakeasy to The Escape, I know that many people aren’t impressed with the gimmicky speakeasies that keep popping up. They want something close to what was really going on in the 1920’s, which is why having passwords that change often is important...and adding those classic drinks. I want Alchemy to become the next big thing. The Escape already has high marks for the different clubs and bars within its walls, but I’d like to get us a few awards, if possible.”

  “Awards?” I clarify, dropping my fork and turning to face Teagan.

  “Yeah. That’s my goal. I’d like to put The Escape on the map. I’ll be honest, I wanted to even before Belladonna’s transformation, but after seeing the changes at New Year’s, I know it can be done.”

  I glance around the table. “She just said awards, right?” I ask everyone, knowing I couldn’t have heard Teagan right.

  Calla, Trey, and Wes nod, but Jayson now seems to be engrossed in his phone as we discuss the remaining details.

  She thinks we can get awards for The Escape? Fuck me...I just wanted a club I’d be caught dead in and not feel like a pussy walking into it.

  “How exactly do you think we can accomplish this?” I question, and she just stares at me with her dark eyes.

  Those eyes of hers have so much depth, yet right now, she’s not giving me anything. That streak, along with my attraction to her, is what made me kiss her on New Year’s Eve. It also makes my hand itch wanting to spank that pert, tight little ass of hers as I hold her over my knee.