By Any Other Name (22 page)

“Kara not here yet?” he asked as he got downstairs.

At least his entrance made an impression. Both of the men looked at him with their mouths hanging open.

Thom snapped his shut first. “She’ll be here in five, she just called Skye.” And then Dru was pulled close and into a kiss that made his toes curl and cock twitch. Damn, he knew he’d chosen the right look.

There was a cough, and they separated to look at Skye, who was blushing. Was there a slightly bigger bulge in his jeans, or was Dru imagining things?

“Excellent. I’ll call the cab, then,” he said and walked around the guys to the kitchen phone to call the cab service. It was easiest to go to the city and the club by cab. It was expensive, but they had promised each other long ago that they would never drive after having drunk any alcohol. There had been a real scare in Thom’s youth when his parents had been driving home from a friend’s birthday party and had nearly collided with a truck because Thom’s mom hadn’t been quite sober when driving back. After that it was a family rule, and it had become Thom and Dru’s family rule too: no driving under influence.

There was a knock, and Thom went to open the door for Kara. She was a vision: black corset top and some smart-looking dress pants. Dru’s eyes snapped from her to Skye, who was smiling at her widely.

“You look great, hun,” Skye said, and the pet name made something inside Dru bristle.

“So do you. Man, you’re hot,” Kara said and walked straight to kiss Skye’s cheek. Skye even leaned down for her to be able to do it, and now they were holding hands, and Dru had to blink to get himself under control.
Fucking hell….

“Babe, are we having drinks here?” Thom walked over to him, blocking his view of the happy couple. The look Thom was giving him didn’t escape Dru’s notice.

“I think I need one,” Dru said gruffly, and Thom rolled his eyes at him but grabbed his hand anyway to lead him to the cabinet they had in the library, where the good stuff was kept.

“One for me too!” Kara called after them.

“You need to control your jealousy, babe. I know you love me, but this is making me insecure too.” Thom’s tone was strange, and it made Dru feel bad.

“I’m trying, it just…. They just….” He shook his head while Thom poured them both double scotches.

Then Thom poured a gin and tonic for Kara, and they went back to the living room, where the others had ended up. Well, at least Kara wasn’t sitting on Skye’s lap or anything.

“Do we have a plan for the night?” Kara asked as she took the drink. Dru noticed Skye had a can of Coke in his hand.

“Nothing other than to get to the club and have one of us, which means you”—Dru nodded at Kara—“ready to take Skye home if it becomes too much for him and I’m not available. I have to represent whether I want to or not, and Thom will want to keep batting the guys off of me….” He smirked at Thom, who snorted and shook his head.

“Okay, fine by me,” Kara said and leaned her head on Skye’s shoulder.

They looked so comfortable it was painful to watch. He wanted to be the one leaning on Skye like that! Dru wanted to have Thom on one side and Skye on the other, and that would be it. Not like this, not watching from the outside when Skye was healing and starting something new with someone else.

Skye and Kara were chatting in low tones, and Thom was trying to distract Dru from his funk by asking him questions about the club, most of which he had already asked weeks ago.

Luckily, there was a honk as the cab got there, and they tossed back their drinks and went to put shoes on.

“Babe, if you choose your combat boots, I might have to fuck you in the back room of the club,” Thom said loudly enough for the others to hear, which made Dru wonder, but he went with it.

“Really? Is that an offer?” Dru practically purred as he went for the combat boots.

“Oh, darling if you really put those boots on,
I
might try to have a go.” Kara giggled, and Dru winked at her.

There was another honk from the driveway, and they piled out and into the cab as fast as possible. It wasn’t fast enough that Dru missed the way Skye tried not to blush and ogle him. There was no question anymore, none whatsoever. Skye wanted him, yet he was still with Kara. Hell, if Dru begged or groveled or even asked…! But he wasn’t that guy.
So
not that guy.

The ride to the city was filled with Kara and Thom’s chatting and Skye and Dru’s silence. It was weird, almost. It wasn’t late yet, but there was already a long line in front of the old industrial building, a factory of some sort, that housed the club.

“Jesus… did you know there would be this many people?” Thom asked, in awe.

“Nope, but it looks like I’ve done a good job,” Dru mused as Kara paid for the cab. It was one of her things, something they didn’t question anymore.

“Okay, then, let’s go,” Thom said, and they got out of the cab.

“Oi, Dru!” There was a call from the door, and Dru waved at Axel, who was picking and choosing who the huge bouncers could let in. Elitist bitch, Axel was.

Dru dragged Thom toward the doors, having decided to leave Skye for Kara to take care of.

“Hello, gorgeous!” Dru grinned at Axel, who cast a very lingering look at Dru, then looked at Thom and the others.

“Flatterer… hello, Thom, Kara. And who is this beefcake here?” Axel practically purred.

Great.

“This is my old friend, Skye. He might have to leave early or go out for a while, he has a thing with crowds and such, so can you make sure he and Kara can get back in when needed?” Dru asked, and Axel added the names to the list.

They were given VIP hand stamps, and there was some hollering from the line, but they didn’t stop to listen to it. Instead, they followed Axel into the club and were given the tour.

“So the VIP space is up those stairs.” Axel pointed out the stairs in the back corner of the large space. “There’s a back room now over there, and the bathroom is that way.”

“I like it that you moved the bar, it’s better there. Also, I say the leather couches are kinda nice up there. And is that a second bar upstairs too?” Thom asked, as if Dru hadn’t already filled him in with the details while building the website and adding the pictures.

“Thank you, and yes, there are now two bars, and the one upstairs is for both the second level and the VIP space, kind of a divider, as you can see.” Axel tossed his long blond ponytail over his shoulder and beamed a little.

“Very clever. I’m happy you made these changes. The place rocked before, but this is…,” Thom said and grinned widely while gesturing around.

“I wouldn’t have done any of this if it wasn’t for your man here. Dru made me see the point, and it looks like it might pay off. I have never seen such a line outside, and I’m hoping it’s a trend that continues,” Axel said and patted Dru on the back. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go see the DJ, he had some questions for me. Everything is on the house tonight for all of you.” And then the blond was gone to run his business.

“Drinks first?” Dru asked, and everyone else nodded. “Let’s go upstairs, then.” He didn’t need to mention it was for Skye’s benefit, because it was clear that they couldn’t hang out on the lower level for much longer. Skye was getting antsy as it was.

The view from the VIP area was perfect. The two platforms for the male dancers were situated so that you could see into them directly from the balcony. The music wasn’t that loud on the upper level, so they could have a conversation. As they went to take advantage of one of the long black leather couches, Dru noticed the other people in the VIP area. They were the young professional gay men of the city; Dru and Thom knew most of them on sight, even if they weren’t friendly with them. They got nods and grins and many, many pairs of eyes fixed on the oblivious Skye.

Dru tried not to feel jealous, but he couldn’t quite shake the feeling. Thom was chatting with Lucas, one of the few other more or less openly gay guys in the city’s justice system.

“Yeah, Dru made the new site, did you like them?” he heard Thom ask Lucas and turned his head to follow the conversation.

To his surprise, Lucas actually knew a lot about how websites were made, even if it was just in theory. It made for an interesting conversation and made Dru loosen up a little more, just like his drink did.

After a while, Dru noticed Kara and Skye getting up and going to the emptier part of the balcony. They seemed to be having a conversation of some kind, but Dru was dragged into another one of his own. When Thom went to get them another set of drinks, he barely noticed until the drink was placed in his hand and he turned to kiss Thom as a thank-you.

When the music began to change into the kind Dru liked the best—not just remixes but the actual songs—he looked at Thom hopefully, and his partner laughed at him a little.

“I’ll come down for one song, then you’re on your own, babe,” Thom said and shook his head before they tossed their drinks back.

In an instant, Dru was on his feet and dragging Thom down the stairs and onto the now-crowded dance floor. He loved to dance, and it was even better if he had Thom with him, given that he had managed to convince his lover that he wasn’t an old guy trying to be young again.

They tangled themselves together, Dru straddling Thom’s thigh as they ground against each other. It was easy to see how much Thom was turned on by what he was wearing. During the second song, Dru started getting warm, so he leaned back a little and whipped the tank top over his head, stuffing it into the waistband of the leather pants he wore. Then he pressed closer to Thom again and got a groan in response.

“Having fun, old man?” he teased Thom and was rewarded with a hard squeeze on his ass.

The song changed again, and he began to mouth the words to Thom, whose eyes were sparkling with affection and heat. Anyone could see their connection—nobody tried to get between them like they did with some other couples. No matter how hot they were, they were clearly into each other.

Thom threw his head back and laughed at the lyrics—Dru was basically calling himself soft, sweet, and angelic—looking so beautiful it made Dru’s heart hurt. How did he ever get this gorgeous, perfect man? He reached up, wrapped his arms around Thom’s neck, and pulled him down into a hard, deep kiss that made Thom growl. “Upstairs?” Dru asked as they panted for breath a moment later.

“Back room?” Thom’s question caught him off guard completely. Usually Thom wasn’t into public playing.

“Later? Check on the kids first?” Dru asked, his mind actually going to the right place for once.

Thom nodded, kissed him again, and then led him back to the stairs and the VIP area. Thom and Dru went to get some drinks for them all and then went to find their friends.

They found Skye and Kara sitting on the end of a couch. Kara was sitting on Skye’s lap and chatting with Axel’s on-again off-again boyfriend, Michael. Skye looked interested in the conversation, which was a good sign. At least he wasn’t feeling that bad?

“You guys looked so hot down there!” Kara said in her usual enthusiastic tone and then looked at Skye. “Didn’t they, Skye?” she asked in the tone she used when she wanted an actual answer.

Skye looked like a deer in the headlights. “Uh… yeah….” And then he pretty much shoved Kara onto the couch and jumped up to get a soda for himself, despite having had one just brought to him.

“Good job, K,” Thom mumbled and shot a look at Kara.

“Whatever!” she snapped back, and Dru could tell she was reaching the state where the alcohol would make her a bit bitchy.

Dru got up from where they had sat and began to pull his tank top on.