“IT SHOULDN’T TAKE a group effort to help you win your bet,” Travis grumbled, as we snuck around the back of Baker Hall late the next night. “This is fuckin’ cheating.”
Donovan rolled his eyes at Travis. “No one’s forcing you to jailbreak the kid.”
“I’m not about to let West get caught again—”
“It was one time,” I said with a growl. “Let it go.”
Travis shrugged, shoving his hand into the pockets of his black trousers. He practically faded into the shadows with the dark sheer and velvet top he’d left unbuttoned halfway down his chest. The necklaces he wore shimmered faintly with every step he took, and when he caught me eyeing him, his kohl-lined gaze narrowed. “What?”
I clapped a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Travis may not have outright admitted it, but his being here was his way of showing he cared—even if he bitched the whole time.
“You’re a good man, McKinney. Be even better if you’d keep your watchdog on a leash.”
“Excuse me?”
“Caleb’s been whispering in JT’s ear. I don’t like it.”
Irritation curled Travis’s lip. “Not my fuckin’ problem.”
“Isn’t he, though?”
“The fuck you mean by that?”
Ooh, there went the temper, so quick to rise. “I mean if you could, I don’t know, shut him up, stop the interference, that’d be great.”
“Again. Not my problem.”
Before I could respond with something he’d only deny, deny, deny, Donovan stopped abruptly ahead of us, holding his arm out for us to halt. The lobby of Baker Hall was empty, save the lone security guard.
Beside him, East cursed. “Guess we’re gonna have to do this the hard way.” He glanced at me over his shoulder. “It’s not George working tonight. We could’ve paid him off, but that’s a new guy.”
“Guess you’ll have to work that charm, then, won’t you?” I replied, then turned to Travis. “You’ve got the cameras once East is in?”
He nodded, holding up the handheld camera jammer. “Be in and out in five minutes so we have enough juice to get his ass back in later.”
Donovan snorted. “We’ll be back in three.”
I shot a message to the rest of the guys waiting in the van, and then nodded at East. “Let’s do it.”
East straightened the lapels of his jacket and sauntered inside, and once he had the guard’s attention, Travis triggered the jammer, scrambling the cameras.
Since Donovan had been the last of us to sneak into Baker Hall for a late-night visit, he led the way. Elevators were too loud and obvious, so we’d have to make our way into the stairwell once East managed to turn the guard’s back to the entrance.
Whatever sweet-talking magic he had didn’t take long, and we darted inside as quietly as possible, making sure the door behind us didn’t click shut. East was showing the guy something on his phone, playing it loud enough that it covered the sound of our breaking into the stairwell. Once we were inside, we raced up to the second floor and down to the end of the hall.
Thank fuck he hadn’t scored a room on the tenth. Donovan’s ass might’ve been in shape for that, but I preferred sex as a workout.
He let me take the lead as we stopped in front of 2H, and I leaned casually on the wall and knocked on JT’s door.
It opened a few seconds later, and the wide-eyed look JT wore told me he hadn’t expected me to actually show up.
“Such faith,” I said with a smirk before running my eyes over him. At least he was still dressed, not sporting a pair of sweatpants or whatever golden boys wore to bed. “Did you really underestimate me? Again?”
JT shook his head before turning to head back inside. “I should’ve known,” he said, grabbing his wallet and phone off the table and shoving them in his jeans pockets. His eyes slid past me, and I realized I’d forgotten my manners.
“This is Donovan. Donovan, meet JT.”
“A pleasure,” Donovan said, kicking his chin up. “Let’s get the hell outta here. I need a drink.”
JT grinned. “I’m down. Lead the way.”
Instead of going back to the front stairwell, we took the one closest to JT’s room. There was no way to get in from the outside, but it made for an easier exit.
Once we burst out into the alley, I looked to the left to see the Sprinter idling half a block away.
“That’s us.” I winked at JT, and then we all broke into a jog as the van door slid open to greet us.
East and Travis were already inside, and along with the rest of the guys, it was a full house.
As JT climbed into the seat beside me, I could feel the nervous tension radiating off him. No doubt this was an intimidating group, and we sure as shit didn’t make it easy on outsiders. I had no doubt they’d all be on their worst behavior, especially once the drinks started flowing. Which, judging by the bottle they shoved Donovan’s way, they’d already started without us.
The lights dimmed as we began to move, but the bar light and the dimmable LED lights—currently purple—along the ceiling of the van illuminated everyone just enough that I could start the introductions.
“All right, I guess you should meet these fuckers.” I pointed to the back row of the van. “The one with the permanent scowl is Daire. He doesn’t hate you; he just doesn’t like anyone. Beside him, because he’s the most tolerant of the group, is Gavin. And before you ask, yes, his hair really is that color.” It was so white-blond it seemed unnatural, and it bugged him to no end when people questioned it.
Gavin gave JT a wave, while Daire narrowed his eyes before looking out the window.
I nodded toward Donovan. “You’ve already met Donovan, but we call him Van. He makes us go to all his runway shows and shit.”
“Makes you?” Donovan flipped me off and went back to pouring himself a glass of Jack on the rocks.
“The shows aren’t that bad,” I said, lowering my voice so I wouldn’t give myself away to Donovan. “You might even like ’em.” I cleared my throat and pointed at the dark-headed guy holding tight to a girl in his lap with long blonde hair. “Preston and his girlfriend Serena. Don’t be surprised if you see them running for office one day. His dad’s a senator.”
They lifted their champagne flutes toward JT, who nodded back.
I kicked at Travis’s boot and grinned when he raised a brow. “This sexy fucker is Travis. Gives a great lap dance.”
He rolled his eyes and kicked my foot away. “There’s a reason I don’t do Goldschläger. Stop begging for a turn.”
Laughing, I turned to see a grin on JT’s face, the anxiety starting to melt away.
“And I’m East,” my brazen best friend said before I could introduce him, leaning across the aisle to shake JT’s hand. “James Easton, but for the love of fuck, don’t call me that.”
“John Thomas, but I prefer JT, so I get it.”
I noticed the way East’s eyes trailed down over JT’s casual shirt, jacket, and jeans before he pursed his lips. “Nice jeans—they Tom Ford?”
JT chuckled and looked down at the worn denim covering his legs. “Uh, no, the Gap.”
East’s brow arched as he looked around the van, nodding. “They must’ve upped their game since I…last looked.”
Travis busted out a laugh at the thought of East ever visiting the Gap, and I kicked his foot again, much harder this time.
“Yeah, sort of suits me, you know,” JT said, shocking me as he chuckled and pointed to East’s famous ascot. “Plus, I don’t think I could pull off that look. The scarf would feel like it was strangling me.”
A boom of laughter left me as I remembered my comment about being stuck with East in an elevator. When my eyes slid to JT, the sneaky grin there told me that was exactly what he’d intended.
“It’s nice to meet you all,” JT said. So polite, though once he got to know them he’d be adding on “fuckers” to the end of that sentence.
“Don’t worry,” I said, throwing my arm over the back of his seat but careful not to touch him—yet. “You’re not required to remember any of them.”
“No, I think I got it.” Starting with Daire, he went around the van, nailing each of the guys—and Serena—along with “the one with the scowl” and “the model” descriptors I’d given them.
Impressive. I wondered how much he’d retain once he got a little alcohol in him. Speaking of…
“Can I get you a drink before we get there?”
“Uh, sure.”
“Anything in particular?”
JT looked over at the bottles at the bar and lifted a shoulder. “Whatever you’re having.”
“I’ve got it,” Preston said. Serena grabbed a couple of glasses while he scooped a little ice and poured some bourbon in each. “This’ll have to do, since we don’t have all that bourbon sour fancy shit.”
Serena stood up and passed out drinks before shooting JT a wink. “Here you go, handsome.”
“Thank you,” he said, glancing at me before taking a sip. He made a face, but just as quickly it was gone and he swallowed it down.
“We’ll get you something better at the bar. This one’s just to loosen up a bit.”
JT nodded, lifting the glass to his lips again as I grinned and tipped my own back, ready for whatever the night had in store.
