Page 62 of Laken's longing

Laken gave his name, and the big guy grabbed two stuffed packs and handed them over. “The changing area is through there. You can leave your things in the lockers, keys are in the packets. Headphones are bluetoothed to the sound system, the controls for sound are on the side. It’s dark in there, despite all the glo sticks and colored paint, be aware of those around you when dancing. We don’t want any injuries. All paint powders are safe to use. If you use the drums, all we ask is don’t use all the powdered paint in one go. The billowing powder can be too much if you inhale a lot of it. We have one rule; no shifting, it’s too dangerous.” Thick, bushy eyebrows rose, the one with a gold hoop glinting in the overhead lights. “Questions?”

Isley shook his head, eager to get inside and dance.

“Drums? Paint?” Laken questioned in alarm. “I thought this was a silent disco.”

“Yep,”—the guy winked—“everyone loves them.”

Laken made a noise that didn’t deter Isley in the slightest.

“This is going to be epic,” he assured Laken, tugging him in the direction of the changing rooms, albeit with more effort withLaken dragging his feet. “I’ve always wanted to try a disco like this. I love that you wanted to give me this. We get to be wild in the dark, it’s gonna be mega!” He beamed at the silent, grumpy eyed man clinging onto his hand far too tightly, like it was a life raft, looking paler than when they first entered.

“If you say so,” Laken muttered dejectedly.

Isley restrained himself from letting out an amused chuckle and nudged him with his shoulder. “You’re gonna love this,” he promised, knowing this was nothing like what he’d expected from Laken, and though he seemed reluctant, he was here and that was what counted.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Laken

Laken’s ears buzzed with how he was going to murder Jupiter—slowly, so very slowly, wringing out all the damn pleasure from it.

Can you really blame Jupiter?

Laken had understood in theory what they’d be doing, kind of. He’d comprehended dancing in the dark. It's why he had agreed to this madness in the first place.

Should have booked the tickets myself!When the guy had explained everything, it had thrown Laken when he couldn’t admit he’d been clueless about the paint and the drums, having had Jupiter book the tickets for him.

Helpful fucker knew what he was doing.

In the darkness—or so he thought—he was less likely to look foolish when he had zero dance skills. Part of Jupiter’s plan was to remove the phobia of disco dancing—any dancing—in front of others and looking foolish. He had never felt inclined to want to get up and dance in his entire life, still didn’t. Yet here he was.He had spent the last hour reminding himself this was about showing Isley a good time. He needed to suck it up and plan Jupiter’s death.

The night before, at Ren’s, he’d talked about his brothers because Isley knew them. It made that easier. And he needed easy after spending four hours working up the courage to ask Isley if he wanted to grab something to eat before heading home. He’d taken Isley to Ren’s because it was a busy burger joint and less intimidating when he was practicing his romancing skills.

Jupiter had hauled his ass over the coals for that because work colleagues frequented the place, not dating couples. He was trying, wasn’t he?

Only he’d let the doubts creep in, and this was why he’d ended up here after listening to Jupiter.

The idea of wearing headphones to listen to music meant, in principle, that he didn’t have to worry about finding small talk and could just relax. What it didn’t account for was how sweaty his ears got. He decided small talk might actually be better than wet ears. He hated feeling the sweat tricking down the sides of his throat, wetting his T-shirt. He moved the left headphone off his sweaty ear to hear drums beating out of tune and voices singing the 80s pop music blasting from his headphones. Currently, Rick Astley was singing about ‘never going to give you up’.It was pure cheese, yet Isley didn’t seem to care as he danced around in front of Laken like he didn’t have a care in the world. He was having a good time.

Of course he is!

Laken hadn’t progressed from the side shuffle he had going from left to right, keeping his eyes on the man glowing in the dark, face covered in paint particles that fluoresced in the darkness. He was rainbow bright, and Laken suspected he looked much the same given that it was impossible to find a place to hide from paint colored air.

Jupiter’s words ran through his mind.“Dancing is good because you can create intimacy even if you’re only swaying on the spot. Even your novice ass can do that.”

Jupiter—the dick—had gone and sold him on an afternoon date, leaving him free to choose where to continue it or, if things got awkward, to drop Isley home. What had he said?You want spontaneity. It’s what romance is all about.

How was it romantic to be covered in paint and looking like a glow in the dark dildo? How?

Romance sucked.

He felt old and every one of his thirty-six years when he coughed at the paint plumes wafting from the large drums, which he’d so far avoided playing on. He’d seen Isley casting them a longing look several times and like the dick he was, Laken had pretended not to notice.

Who the hell puts drums in a silent disco and thought throwing paint powder on them for folks was a good idea? Jupiter had said they needed a change of clothes because they'd get sweaty dancing and he was bound to get hot while keeping up with Isley—not because of the powdered paint flying around coating everything it touched. It was going to be hard to get this stuff out of his clothes.

Isley swung around, head bopping in time to the music, his face a mass of colored streaks. But it was his eyes that caught and tugged at Laken’s heart. Happiness. Pure, unadulterated happiness. Laken’s grump disappeared under Isley’s spell. The man held magic in that smile. It had captivated Laken’s heart when he hadn’t wanted it to, but here he was, ensnared and no longer fighting it. Isley had a way about him that made everything better. Laken selfishly wanted to grab hold and tuck Isley inside him and never share him with anyone. Whenever darkness shrouded Laken, Isley was there showing him the light.The whimsical thought took him aback. Air caught in his chest at the truth.

Before he could take a step back and take a moment to find his balance, the track changed and Isley swayed towards him seductively, giving him a sultry smile that hit right in Laken’s balls. The impact was as hard as the baseball Silas had caught him with once during a baseball game. His dick throbbed as a voice sang in his ear about love, hope and its celebration.