“Of course!” Jules looks around, his eyes going right over the girls very obviously standing right beside me, because I’ve never brought girls around before. To be real, I don’t think I’ve broughtanyonebefore.
“This is Kira, Janessa, and Lexie!” I introduce them, and then tell the girls their names. After their initial surprise over my female guests wears off, my crew absorbs us like a protective shield made out of body glitter and hair gel, and suddenly the party is a lot more fun. They’re funny, and interesting, and now we’re really dancing as the girls feel safer in the company of these obviously unthreatening friends of mine.
“Is one of them your boyfriend?” Lexie yells at me once we’re close enough to hear each other.
I shake my head, smiling and breathing hard, sweating because this is exactly what I needed. Sam slides behind me and then to my front, and we dance for a little while, and I’m passed around their group like a prop, the bigger dance partner they get to use when they want to grind on someone without worrying about getting flirted with or being harassed. Even Georgie, the new guy, dances with me and smiles with me, taking cues from his friends that I’m safe to flirt with. I don’t mind them using me for a little fun, or if they tell guys I’m their boyfriend or that they’re my harem or whatever they tell people to get them to back off; I enjoy dancing, so we all get something out of it.
“You need some?” Maggie asks when he’s with me again, slipping his hand toward the tiny pockets in his skirt. “You know I always save some for you.”
My whole gut lurches with want, and it takes real effort to shake my head. “Nah.” I lean down to his ear so he can hear me. “I better not. I’m watching the girls tonight. Can’t havetoomuch fun.”
“We can watch them for you, you know we can,” Maggie reassures me. He’s not trying to be a bad guy, or get me in any trouble, he’s just trying to help, and I know that, so I just smile and shake my head again.
“Next time.”
“How long has it been?” he asks.
“A while,” I answer begrudgingly. “Come on, Maggie. Let’s just have some fun. I can’t do that right now.”
He drops it, and we spend the next hour dancing and taking the occasional trip to the bar for drinks. I keep the girls on the weak stuff, and the bartender makes sure to water their drinks down once I signal him.
It’s after one of these breaks, as we head back toward the dance floor for a remix of a popular song that I do a quick headcount and realize–
“Hey, where’s Georgie?” I ask Ry.
He jumps like I’ve shocked him and whips his head around like an owl, then grabs Maggie. “Hey, where’s Georgie?”
“He went to the bathroom,” Jules says, overhearing us. “That was a while ago, but sometimes the lines take ages.”
“How long ago?” I ask, then shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. Watch the girls, I’ll go find him.”
“Thanks, Tommy,” Sam calls after me as I cut through the crowd. It’s probably nothing. In fact, it usually is nothing. I’ve seen one of my dance partners disappear and then pop up again countless times. I’ve gone looking for them, worried they’re in trouble, countless times. Usually, they’re fine.
But once or twice… Once or twice, they’re not fine. So I go look for them, every single time they go missing.
Just in case.
The hallway for the bathroom is dim, the sounds almost muffled from the narrow acoustics. The line to the women’s room is hella long, the men’s is shorter but I don’t see Georgie. I shove past the line and check who is in the urinals, bang on the stall, but he isn’t there. He’s new to me, but I remember his voice, I remember his face, and he’s with my crew, so I keep looking.
I check the nook by the pool table, I ask the DJ, I ask the bartender. I look to the dancefloor and see the girls safe with my group, dancing and laughing, but Maggie is watching me. I shake my head, and he pulls his phone out with a nervous expression.
“Billy,” I push toward the ID booth. “You see one of my crew, the new guy, Georgie? You remember him? Did he leave?”
“Went out about fifteen minutes ago with Oscar.”
“Oscar?” I ask, my blood getting hot. “My Oscar? Jail time Oscar?”
“Oh shit,jail timeOscar? Since when?!” Billy asks, but I’m already jogging out the door.
“Duke, have you seen Oscar?” I ask the big guy holding the line.
He rubs his jaw, thoughtful and pensive. “Yeah, he went around the back with a guy, said they needed a smoke break and asked to be let back inside in half an hour.” He emphasizes ‘smoke break’, because we both know it was something else.
It sounds consensual, sounds like Georgie is just going to have a little fun in a semi-public place, which, I’m not gonna kink shame, is fine if he wants it. But I don’t trust Oscar, and if he were on fire, I wouldn’t even piss on him to put it out. I circle the building, on the hunt for trouble.
And trouble is exactly what I find.
The lighting out here isn’t great, but there are a few bulbs overhead, and I can see Georgie leaning back against the brick wall, Oscar in front of him, looming over him, and two strangers right behind him. Georgie’s hair is a mess, Oscar’s pants are open.
