Page 16 of Allured
“Alek.” One word, one shining smile from those lips, and I’m in heaven.
“You stayed.”
“I did, but I didn’t know If I was going to see you after the show. I wouldn’t have expected your interest in speaking to me, not after I’ve done the terribly discourteous act of ignoring you for a week,” Ezekiel replies with slight hitches in his words and a frown takes over his gorgeous face.
Just then, the bathroom door opens to reveal one of the women in the party he was with during the show.
“Oh hi! You were so good on stage, Alek!” she praises, taking the purse from Ezekiel’s hands and putting it back around her shoulder.
“Alek this is my friend, Tati.” Polite as ever, Ezekiel gives us an introduction.
“Thank you,” I reply to her with my signature smirk and wink.
“Oh, and you guys were awesome too!” Tati hops and waves down the hallway.
With my full attention on Ezekiel, I didn’t notice some of the other dancers coming out from backstage. Benny and Laz are walking side by side and stop to talk to Tati for a moment.
If Ezekiel and I were really going to talk it over, we would need a quiet space without all the interruptions of the club. By looking at him, I could see he was uneasy and needed a little space for this too.
“Hey Ben, Laz?” I interrupt the pleasant conversation between the three.
“You guys mind escorting Tati back to her group while I talk with Ez for a second?” They’re great guys and I know Ezekiel’s party is going to be in good hands with them and with Emma behind the bar tonight.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Got it, boss.”
They begin to walk over a very happy Tati, who immediately took up their offer to loop her arms with theirs.
“They’re in good hands, Ez.” I point down the hallway where we can see a glimpse of his party light up once they see their friend bringing over the two biggest dancers.
“Thank you,” Ezekiel breathes.
I can tell this night has been overwhelming for him for a lot of reasons.
“C’mere,” I say, taking his hand in mine and leading him into my sister’s costume closet down the hallway. It’s a small space, no bigger than a tiny bedroom, but it drowns out the noise and lights from the club.
I flick the lights on, the room illuminates from a few neon signs as we walk in and close the door behind us. Ezekiel looks around the space. I’ve noticed he likes observing and taking in all the information in his surroundings.
“It’s the costume room,” I say and he nods. Ezekiel’s quiet demeanor is more calming than I thought it would be. I usuallyyap away but I’m in no rush to fill the space with words when I’m with him.
“I want to apologize.” Ezekiel begins to nervously pace around the room, a hand on his chin as his thumb toys with his lip in thought.
“Ez—” I begin trying to tell him that it wasn’t that big of a deal.
“Please, Alek. There truly was no reason for me to not have at least texted you after our encounter last weekend and I am sorry for that. I know it’s impolite to leave people waiting and wondering, and I should not have done that to you.”
The way he is apologizing is so determined and intentional, I can’t help but keep hearing him out.
“I’ve— I’ve never experienced such an immediateconnectionwith anyone, much less with any men, you see, and I—” Ezekiel is looking at me now, paused right in front of me as he takes a deep, centering breath.
Oh.It all clicks. Ezekiel has never been with a man? No wonder the guy was everywhere with his body language earlier tonight. It also explains why he was hesitating to initiate anything. Now I know I’m the one that needs to make the first step.
“I like you too, Ez.” With a shuffle of my feet, I’m standing right in front of him and speaking my own truth.
“You do?” His eyes look up into mine, full of hope and relief.
“Why do you think I gave you my number?”
