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One look at her had Aled instantly worried. Dawn wore a particular, oversized black hoodie with frayed cuffs that seemed to swallow her entire body, and her face was pale, even without her make-up. She had her hair down, and fuzzy slippers on her feet. It was her bad day outfit.
“Aled’s got that date with his posh sugar daddy tonight,” Jeremy said with outward casualness, but he sent Aled a look that said he knew they were treading on eggshells with Dawn.
“Is he posh?” Dawn asked, pushing away from the doorframe and wandering over to the bed, where Aled’s clothes were now laid out.
“Not particularly posh,” Aled said. “We’re just going to a club for supper.”
Dawn blinked and snapped a wary look up to him. “What, like a club-club? Like a rave or someplace with loud music and lights where people do drugs and have sex in corners?”
Coming from anyone else, that would have been a joke. From Dawn, it was a genuine fear that could quickly spiral out of control.
“No, not even remotely,” Aled laughed, pretending he was relaxed as he moved to pull Dawn into his arms. “It’s more like one of those snooty gentlemen’s clubs that Jane Austen used to write about.”
“Jane Austen didnotwrite about gentlemen’s clubs,” Dawn said dismissively, leaning her whole body into Aled’s and resting her face against his shoulder.
Aled’s pulse sped up a little as he hugged her and kissed the side of her head. This was not a good sign.
The only way to avert a complete meltdown was to lavish Dawn with reassurance and to help her feel involved in everything in a good way. So Aled kissed her head one more time, pushed her gently away, and turned her to look at the clothes on the bed.
“This is what I’m wearing,” he said. “I think Jeremy approves, but what do you think?”
Dawn scrunched her face into a frown as she studied the clothes. “Is it a fancy date?” she asked.
“Yes,” Aled and Jeremy answered at the same time, Aled normally and Jeremy with a smarmy grin.
“Then you need a tie,” Dawn said.
The next half hour was spent picking out a tie and then picking over Aled’s accessories once he was dressed so that he met with both siblings’ approval. It was a little too fussy for Aled’s taste. He didn’t enjoy being dressed by committee, and he didn’t love the idea of his brother and sister being so involved in his dating life. Especially since things with Jamie were still so new and raw, and he didn’t know where it was going to go.
But Dawn needed the reassurance of knowing every detail about where Aled would be for the evening, what he would look like, how he would present himself, and more than anything, that he would be completely safe.
“Nothing is going to happen to you, is it?” she asked, her eyes big and glassy with tears she was fighting to hold back as Aled headed for the door. “You’re quite safe at this club, right? You said it’s a club for gay men. No one is going to attack it or try to burn it down or commit some other hate crime against it or you, are they?”
Aled smiled, as they reached the front door and he turned to face Dawn. “Love, I’ll be fine,” she said. “No hate crimes tonight. From what I understand, The Chameleon Club is a dozy little place off of Park Lane. It’s a five minute walk from the Marble Arch Tube station. In fact, I’ll be able to take the Central Line the whole way there without switching once, so you won’t need to worry at all.”
“What if there’s a problem with the train or it gets stuck, or if there’s some sort of terrorist activity on the line, or—”
“Shh,” Aled silenced Dawn softly, pulling her in for a hug. “Nothing is going to happen, love. I’ll be home before midnight. Sooner, probably.” And there went his plans for spending the whole night with Jamie in kinky bliss. “Besides, Jeremy is here if you need anything.”
Aled glanced up and across at his brother, mouthing the words, “Thank you.” Jeremy didn’t have to be there. He had his own flat farther west in Ealing now, but he’d come home to the house Aled had bought with his parents’ insurance money, and they’d agreed that he would stay the night in his old room.
It took a few more minutes of hugs and a complete run-down of Aled’s entire itinerary to calm Dawn to the point where he could leave. And really, he didn’t mind. Aled took his responsibilities toward his family seriously. Dawn would be fine. She was already growing out of the worst of the damage done by the trauma. And if worse came to worst, medication could do wonders. Dawn just didn’t like the side-effects.
He was a little late by the time he stepped out onto Park Lane from the Marble Arch station and strode along the rows of posh hotels and restaurants looking for The Chameleon Club. Jamie had warned him that the entrance to the club was so discreet that most people found it hard to locate. He wasn’t wrong. Aled walked past it three times before realizing the nondescript doorway wasn’t just a fire exit for the hotel next door.
He was further astonished the moment he stepped into the building and made it past the security guards to find himself in a place of Victorian splendor. It was like stepping back into a bygone age to gaze up at the marble hall that greeted him, then on to the long hallway that stretched back into who knew what wonders.
“Aled, you made it,” Jamie greeted him at the top of a short staircase that separated the vast entry hall from the corridor leading to the rest of the club. “And you look stunning.”
Aled laughed and reminded himself to tell Dawn and Jeremy they’d chosen well for him. “My brother and sister chose the outfit,” he said, walking up the steps to meet Jamie.
There was a brief, gloriously awkward moment once they were standing level with each other. Jamie was dressed in the same clothes Aled had seen him in earlier, on campus, which made him feel overdressed. But there was something about Jamie’s comfortable smile and the way he seemed to fit so well into the unusual surroundings where they found themselves.
And there was the undeniable energy between them. It wasn’t the same kinky zip that had made things so exciting during the weekend away. It was more of a warm, pulsing glow. It was the beginning of something with a dash of compatibility that made everything feel grown-up and perfect.
The awkward moment ended when Jamie took Aled’s hand and leaned in for a kiss. It was just a simple, closed-mouth kiss, and Jamie had taken the initiative. No, they definitely weren’t playing. In fact, for a change, Aled felt like he needed to be led and to have everything explained to him.
“Don’t be nervous,” Jamie whispered, a hint of teasing in his tone. “It’s just a club. Think of it like any other hotel, except unlisted, and you have to be a member to dine or stay here.”
