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“Excuse me, babe.” The guy in the shorts spun on his heel, stepping up to James and stabbing his finger into his chest. “I am not a stripper. I’m a dancer.”
“Same dif—”
“Walker.” Grant’s warning tone was enough to cut him off mid-sentence.
“Can I just point out that all he was doing was standing in front of me? You put two and two together and made twenty, dickhead.” I bit down on my tongue when Theo jabbed me in the ribs with his elbow.
“Stop talking. You’re making it worse,” he hissed in my ear, and I turned to him in surprise. Blinking, I stared at him for a long moment before I shook it off.
“Aww. You do care about me. So sweet.” I blew him a kiss, making his nostrils flare and his jaw clench. Then, because contrary to popular belief—or Theo’s belief, at least, I wasn’t a total asshole—I slid out of the booth, jerking my head at the dancer guy. “Can I have a word?”
He rolled his eyes but followed me over to the bar, where I leaned back against the gleaming surface with a sigh.
“Look, I’m, uh, really sorry about all that.” I waved my hand in the direction of the booth. “They’re probably just giving me shit because I’m new, uh, new to their football team, and you got caught up in it.”
His mouth thinned as he shook his head. “It’s still not okay. Even if you’re not gay, comments like that—”
“I know. Believe me. There’s a lot of, uh, casual homophobia in football. Not even casual, I guess. Even if it’s unintentional, it’s not okay. It’s…uh…I dunno.” I shrugged, at a loss for words.
The guy gave me a small, tentative smile. “I won’t hold it against you personally.” He held his hand out to me, his smile widening into something more genuine. “I’m JJ. And you must be the new footballer everyone’s getting so excited about.”
I took his hand, clasping it in a brief handshake. Glittering specks drifted from his skin to the floor. I hoped it was biodegradable glitter. “Yeah. Jordan Emery. You watch football?” Even though I tried to keep my tone neutral, there was still a note of disbelief that I couldn’t quite disguise.
JJ sighed. “What, because I’m gay, I can’t be into football?”
“Uh…uh…no,” I stammered. “I didn’t know you were gay. You never actually said, and anyway, that wasn’t it. I just…oh, fuck. You’re so…sparkly.”
He stared at me for a moment and then doubled over laughing, clutching the bar counter. “I can’t be into football because I’msparkly.” There were actual tears in his eyes.
Sinking my face into my hands, I shook my head. Thank fuck Theo wasn’t close enough to witness this train wreck of a conversation. At least my humiliation seemed to have chased away all traces of his anger. “That isn’t what I meant. I meant—I meant—”
His hand patting me on the back made me jump out of my skin. “Calm down.” When I lowered my hands from my face, he winked at me. “FYI, I’m not into football. But the staff like to gossip, and I have a housemate who’s very into football, and you might have come up in conversation once or twice. Your social media is quite…interesting,” he purred.
“I’m straight.”
“Mmm, you said. Shame. Keep posting those pretty pictures, though.”
“I will.” A smile tugged at my lips as I finally relaxed. It wasn’t like it was news that a gay man appreciated the hard work I put in to look good. I had plenty of comments and messages from men as well as women. “In return, can you get me an intro with her?” Pointing at the blonde on the pole, I lost myself in watching the sinuous movements of her body.
“Honey Rose? Nope. Sorry. There’s one rule here that we all have to abide by. No touching the dancers.” Amusement flared in his gaze. “How about you get out of here, back into the VIP area you’resupposedto be in, and I’ll have a word with the bouncers. Honey Rose isn’t your only option tonight.”
“Yeah, okay.” All I wanted was to celebrate. Theo had derailed that as soon as he’d arrived, but now it was time to get this party back on track.
“You owe me. I’ll have some bottles of our most expensive champagne delivered to your table, shall I?” JJ winked at me.
“Deal. Put them on Theo Lewin’s tab. He kindly agreed to treat everyone tonight. It’s the least we can do after all the disruption.”
JJ stared at me for a second and then glanced over to the booth, where I could see Theo’s gaze fixed on us, his eyes dark and intent. When he looked back at me, he shook his head. “The two of you are going to be trouble, aren’t you?”
“Me? Never. I’ll be on my best behaviour tonight. A model citizen.”
“We’ll see” was all he said.
* * *
A few hours later, everything in my world wasso good. I loved everyone. Everyone loved me. Here I was with my new best friends, having the best time everrrr.
“Fuckin’ love you, bro,” I slurred into Reuben’s ear, slinging my arm around his shoulders.
