The hot bite of my anger wasn’t because the paramedics were swarming the bathroom or because Jere was busy answering a cop’s questions for the police report, but because I’d been interrupted. I’d just started to get Matteo to relax and enjoy the journey and we had to stop because of some stupid queen.
I took a deep breath and let it out in a slow hiss. The important thing was that the guy was going to be okay.
Jere shook hands with the cop and made his way toward me, looking as unhappy about the whole thing as I was. He checked the bathrooms on an hourly basis to make sure this kind of thing didn’t happen and was very meticulous in making the rounds. The guy was lucky he’d been discovered in time.
“Jere,” I said tightly. “You got the guy’s identification?”
“Yeah.” He rustled around in his pocket and withdrew a piece of paper with the victim's information written on it. He offered it to me, and I accepted.
Thomas Keiger. 21 years of age.It was always the newbies that ended up in trouble. I handed it back to him.
“Good. Put him on the banned list. I’m instituting a new policy. Anyone caught doing drugs on our property gets the pink slip, no exceptions. This is going to stop.”
“Aight,” he said and left.
I hovered near the bathroom for a half hour as the paramedics left with the guy on a stretcher. I saw the police out and everything went back to normal as if nothing had happened, the music banging, patrons tearing up the dance floor. I sent Matteo a text.
ME: Everything is okay. Will be back up soon.
One in the morning came around and he didn’t respond so I figured he’d fallen asleep. He still wasn’t one-hundred percent recovered. Mostly it was the coughing flare-ups that gave him an issue. By the time the club was secured for the night, and I made my way upstairs to my place, I was yawning.
Matteo rose from the couch, his bed head adorable. He rubbed his bleary eyes. “Fell asleep.”
“I figured.” I pulled my t-shirt off and let it flutter to the floor, not giving a damn.
“How did things go?”
“Drug overdose. The guy is lucky he was found in time. Paramedics said he should be fine. I banned him because I’m tired of finding stupid kids OD’ing on the dirty floor of a bathroom.” I bent down to pull at my shoestrings, feeling like I’d keel over. “One of these days… It’s going to be too late.”
He got up, hugged me and I pushed my nose into the crook of his neck. “I’m glad it turned out okay.”
“I need you to promise me something,” I said, cupping his chin to make sure he was paying attention. “If you want to experiment with drugs, do it with someone you know and trust. Someone who won’t leave you on the floor of a bathroom to die. Please, promise me that?”
“I’m not really interested in that kind of stuff, but…I promise.”
I stroked my beard, considering the sudden idea that popped into my head. “Do you want to sleep with me? Just sleep, not sex. In my bed… You get the point. It’s big and soft and–”
“Okay,” he muttered and followed me into my bedroom.
He craned his head around, taking in the small space occupied by my king-sized bed and single dresser.
I peeled back the blankets and stilled with my hands in my waistband, wondering how naked I wanted to get. I slipped my jeans off and left my boxer-briefs on. He did the same, tossing me a heated glance while shedding his own clothes. Yeah, we had unfinished business that was not going to get finished tonight, but this was the next best thing.
We got comfortable, and to my surprise he cuddled up against me, his head resting on my pec as I held him close. “Well, the evening didn’t go how we’d hoped.”
“It’s fine,” he said and yawned. “I should follow your advice and take this slow. I think we're going to wake up with blue balls, however.”
“Been a while since I’d had to deal with that.”
“Okay, you sex-fiend,” he muttered sleepily. “Thanks for making blue balls a part of my first sexual experience.”
I huffed. “As if it’s my fault some idiot overdosed?”
“No, but it's your fault for getting me hot and bothered.”
“So you admit you’re crazy for me. Nice to know.”
He slapped my chest with a growl. “Okay, Narcissus.”
