Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“Hi, Trevor,” Autumn says, suddenly looking shy.
“We work together,” Garrett says. He puts his arm around Autumn’s shoulders, but when she looks at him, he takes it down again. There is something strange going on with these two.
“It was a great show,” Autumn says, sounding like she genuinely means it.
“Yeah? You liked it?”
“You’re all very talented.” Her eyes slip down to my chest, but she quickly brings them back to my face.
“Thanks. I’m glad you came,” I tell her. “Do you want a picture?”
Autumn looks to Garrett then, hesitant and uneasy. “I guess so,” she says quietly. “Do you want to take it?” She extracts her phone from her purse and hands it to Garrett, who’s frowning.
Rather than grabbing my muscles or trying to get her hands in other places like a lot of the women who wait in line for pictures do, Autumn stands next to me and leans in, posing like you’d pose with a friend. A sweet honey fragrance floats up from her hair, and her skin is soft when I put my arm around her.
There were a couple of other people in line, but they’ve gone over to take pictures with another dancer. “Looks like I’m done for the night,” I say as Autumn retrieves her phone from Garrett. “Would you two like to hang out for a while? It’d be good to catch up.” I’m looking at my former classmate when I say this, but in truth, I want to spend more time with Autumn. There’s just something about her that intrigues me.
The two of them look at each other, and the awkwardness is almost palpable.
“I guess we could,” Garrett says finally.
“My roommates were going out tonight. We could go to my place,” Autumn offers.
Before I say anything, I let Garrett respond. I was thinking we’d go to a bar or somewhere public. Going back to her place would be more personal, and I don’t want to get between whatever might or might not be going on with them.
“Sounds good,” Garrett says with little enthusiasm. He always was the serious type, but I strongly suspect he’d rather be alone with her, and who can blame him?
“I need to go and change,” I say. “Meet you out front in five minutes?”
“We’ll be waiting,” Autumn says.
7
Autumn
The night air is cool, and I’m grateful for it. My skin is hot from standing so close to Trevor’s nearly naked body, and I’m still feeling the presence of Garrett’s hand on my upper back even though he removed it after leading us out the door.
“Was Trevor in a lot of your classes at school?” I ask Garrett as we wait just outside the door.
The big, burly guard who carded me is just on the other side of the doorway, talking to a group of women.
Garrett thinks for a moment before saying, “No, not really. We were in chess club together, though. We were actually the top two players our junior and senior years.”
This news doesn’t surprise me about Garrett, but it’s an interesting piece of information about Trevor.
“Other than that, we didn’t cross paths much. He played football and baseball and somehow managed to fit it all in his schedule.”
“Did you play any sports?”
“Basketball in younger grades,” he says. “You ran track, right?”
“That’s right.” Garrett and I haven’t talked about high school much, so I’m surprised he remembers me mentioning track meets.
The guard is alone now, and when he catches me looking at him, he nods at me. When I don’t look away immediately, he adds a wink, and then I definitely do look away. What’s wrong with me tonight, lusting after Trevor, thinking about Garrett in ways I never have, and now staring at a muscled man old enough to be my … uncle.
“Are you okay … hanging out with Trevor?” I ask Garrett.
“Sure,” he says after some hesitation. “He’s a nice guy. It’ll be good to see what he’s been up to … besides stripping,” he adds, with a look to the building behind us.
Trevor comes out then, sooner than the five minutes he predicted, and we make arrangements for him to follow us to my house. He doesn’t make any mention of having just been there last night.
Garrett is quiet during the short ride, and I wonder what accounts for his mood tonight. We usually talk so easily, and he says he likes Trevor, so I don’t understand why he seems bothered. It’s not as though he has to hang out, unless he thinks I need protecting from Trevor. Is he worried Trevor will take advantage of me? That could’ve happened last night, if Trevor was that kind of guy.
“Must’ve been weird seeing a classmate strip,” I say, feeling the need to break the silence.
“It was weird seeing all the men strip,” he says.
“Well, thanks for going with me. I’d have been okay alone, though. The place didn’t seem sketchy.”