Page 57 of Out of Reach

“Don’t worry. You’re going to look hot as hell.”

“Right,” Dex muttered.

“You’re going to a club?” Hawk asked Dex.

“Yes, and he isn’t going to back out of it,” Tara answered for him.

“I’m going to help him dress,” Jude said, pulling another dill pickle out of the jar and biting into it.

“And you’re going with us. Right?” Dex asked nervously.

“I said I would.”

“You want to come, Hawk?” Dex looked at him.

Tara slapped his shoulder. “Be still! If I accidentally snip out a big chunk of your hair, you’re going to wind up with a buzz cut.”

“Sure. Sounds like fun,” Hawk said. He looked at his watch. “I’d better get going on all the paperwork on my desk if I’m going to make it, though.”

Grabbing an apple, he headed to the office he shared with Mal, Sean, and Colt. He hadn’t been kidding about the shit-ton of paperwork he had to do, but he was determined to go to the club. He hadn’t been interested in the club scene for a while, but the fact that Jude was going changed things. Not only did he want to see Jude dressed for clubbing, but he hoped to dance with him.

As it turned out, he had to run an errand at the last minute that took so long, he had to text the others to go ahead without him and that he’d meet them there. A quick shower later, he started throwing clothes from his closet onto the bed. He finally settled on a dark blue shirt that he unbuttoned to mid-chest and a pair of khaki dress pants. He yanked on his black boots, checked his hair in the mirror, and headed out into the humid night.

His friends had chosen to go toCockatoo, a popular gay club downtown. Hawk wasn’t surprised, since most of them fell somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum, but it made him wonder if Dex wasn’t straight. For some reason, he’d always assumed he was. When Hawk stepped inside the building, a scantily dressed girl stamped his hand with a glow-in-the-dark happy face, and he moved on into the main room, which was flashing colored lights to the beat of loud music. The crowd was hyped up and rowdy, but nothing that looked out of hand. After a few minutes of scanning the room, he finally recognized Andi’s short, bleached hair in the sea of heads and started that way. He had his ass groped more than once as he made his way to them from across the room, but he barely noticed, as his gaze had snagged on Jude, looking seriouslyhotinwhite pants and a black, shimmery midriff tank with a long, hanging fringe that gave glimpses of his sexy stomach with every movement.

Jude seemed to be feeling better since he’d started intense daily sessions with Andi’s brother. He hadn’t asked Hawk to sleep with him since the night Hawk had scared Tara in the locker room, and, slowly, the hunted look that had taken up in his eyes when he thought no one was looking had disappeared. Now, at the club, Hawk saw flickers of Jude’s old confidence.

Everyone greeted Hawk with slaps on the back or a hug.

Colt wore a white shirt with a sexy lace-up back and a pair of shiny black pants that looked like they’d be difficult to get out of after a night of dancing and sweating. Sean, who was dressed more conservatively in jeans and a tight T-shirt, shoved a beer into Hawk’s hand.

“’Bout time you got here. Thought you said ten minutes. Don’t blame me if it’s warm.”

“Traffic was shit,” Hawk said, taking the beer.

Hawk almost didn’t recognize Dex with his new haircut that Tara had ruffled expertly with product and wearing a black mesh shirt and skinny jeans. Seo-jun was dressed much like Hawk, and Andi had on dark pants, a pink muscle shirt, and a gray tie hanging loosely around her neck while Tara looked pretty in a short white dress that bared her shoulders.

“We’re going to dance,” Andi announced, leading Tara away by the hand and getting swallowed up in the crowd.

“Who else is here?” Hawk asked Jude.

“West and Logan. Sean. Kasey. Some of the others said they might stop by later.”

“You look nice,” Hawk said, his eyes roaming over Jude again.

“Thanks. So do you.”

Behind them, the crowd surged slightly, forcing Hawk forward a few steps. He had to grab hold of Jude’s waist to keep from toppling them both over, and for a few brief seconds, his nose came close to Jude’s neck—long enough to give him a whiff of the fruity cologne he wore mixed with the tangy scent of his perspiration. Hawk shivered as a ripple of lust went through him.

“Come on, Dex, let’s dance.” Colt put his drink on the table and frog-marched Dex toward the dance floor.

“Dex looks terrified,” Hawk said.

“He tried to back out of coming three times.”

“Where’s Brian?” Hawk asked after taking a long pull from his beer bottle.

Jude winced. “Just before we left, he and Colt got into a huge fight. I don’t know what it was about, but we all heard the yelling. Brian peeled out of the driveway in his car, and Colt refused to talk about it when he joined us. He’s had at least six beers since we got here an hour ago.”

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