Page 109 of Body Shot

“Hey.” Aiden sounds like he was asleep, which makes sense since it’s after ten and we have to be up early tomorrow.

“What are you doing?” I demand, yanking on a pair of jeans.

“Sleeping? We have practice in the morning.”

“Tough shit. We’re going out.”

“We are?” He sounds confused and suspicious.

“New titty bar in town opened a few months ago and I haven’t been there. Time to rectify that.”

“Platinum Persuasion? It’s all right. Not my favorite. And why are we going to a strip club? What’s going on?”

“Apparently, I’m single again. So I’m going out. Are you coming or do I need to call Jordan?”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” He grunts. “If I let the two of you go alone, I’ll probably have to bail you out of jail before the night’s over. All right, I guess I’m the designated driver, so I’ll pick you up in twenty.”

“Great. I’ll tell Jordan to be ready in thirty.”

I disconnect before he can argue.

I can’t sit still or look at the four walls of my condo another minute.

I don’t know how things went so wrong with Claudia, but if I stay home and mope another second, I might explode. Or cry. And I don’t want to do either of those things. I need a distraction. A big one. Maybe several of them.

Jordan has no idea what’s going on, only that we’re going out, and Aiden stopped by to pick up Scotty Lukather because apparently, he and his wife have separated.

“Why are we going out on a school night?” Jordan demands as Aiden weaves through traffic on Las Olas. It’s late on a Thursday but the clubs and restaurants seem to be hopping and there are cars everywhere.

“Anders and Claudia had a fight,” Aiden says dryly.

“We didn’tfight,” I correct. “She broke up with me. Not the same thing.”

“How come?” Jordan asks.

“What’d you do?” Scotty asks at the same time.

“I didn’t do anything,” I rumble. “She met someone else.”

“Oh, come on!” Aiden starts laughing. “You know that’s not true.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I snap, my patience already thin because I hadn’t really wanted to talk about this. Not tonight anyway.

“That’s not the kind of girl she is. And according to Hana, she’s head-over-heels for you.”

“The only information I have is what she told me,” I say in a huff. “Why would she lie?”

“Did you do something that she might be upset about?” Scotty asks. “Like, she’s pre-emptively protecting herself from you dumping her?”

“No! We had plans for Thanksgiving, and she cancelled because of a work trip. Then we had plans to spend the week between Christmas and New Year’s together. I was even trying to fly her out for a weekend in December before Christmas. I made her a key to my apartment, as kind of a romantic gesture and talked to Felix about finding his own place. I didn’t tell her that yet—it was supposed to be a surprise—but I can’t think of anything I’ve done that might upset her.”

“Huh.” Aiden seems stymied.

“Andthisis why I don’t date,” Jordan says dramatically. “Women are theworst.”

“Fuck off,” I mutter.

“Women are complicated,” Scotty says. “I had no idea I’d be separated at this stage of my life. We’ve had our problems, but I thought we made progress in therapy over the summer. I guess not. She said she needs space and time to think. I don’t know what that means. So now I have to make appointments to see my kids and she’s off doing whatever it is she needs to do.” He pauses. “Maybe Claudia just needs a little time to adjust. You guys got serious after a week…and she’s young, right? Just out of college?”

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