Winter's Gamble (9 page)

“No, not. How about Cracked Corns?” It was a primarily gay club near where Neo lived. It had no shows and was mostly dance in nature.

Neo made a face.

“What?”

“They’re expensive. Have you seen their cover? And how much they charge for booze?”

Phil hadn’t. He hadn’t gone out much. He knew of clubs that catered to the homosexual crowd but had been to a grand total of two of them. And one of them he worked at.

“Not to mention all the high school wannabes hang out there. Those who haven’t found their shit yet. And the music’s as wack as the name.” He crinkled up his nose as though in disgust.

Phil couldn’t help his chuckle at the look.

“What?” Neo arched a brow then. His nose went back to normal. Still adorable even without the look.

“You looked as though you’d eaten something rotten.”

“It is rotten. I was right to make the face.” Neo reached a dip in the sidewalk and sidestepped it.

“Where do you want to go, then?” Phil stopped as they were near his badly parallel-parked car. Where he lived had a parking lot. He was out of practice parking like that. “Anywhere else, we’ll have to drive.”

“How about Saxby’s?” It was a club located more downtown and had both gay and straight clientele. Another place that Phil hadn’t been.

“Okay. Why don’t we take my car?” He gestured toward it.

Neo looked at the bumper hanging on by a zip tie and the dent in the door. “You still have the same car. It was old five years ago. Now it’s practically an antique.” He touched the door handle gingerly, as though he was afraid the handle would come off.

“It runs.” His only qualification for a vehicle. “And it’s paid for.” Another good thing.

“Wonderful.” Neo hefted his body into the car. “You’ll pay for drinks and the cover then, as mine is not paid for.” The grin that he flashed Phil was both cheesy and exaggerated. “My car isn’t even close.”

Neo drove a flashy sports car. Which suited him but was not old. “Of course I’ll pay. I invited you.”

Phil waited the requisite time so that his car would go into gear without issues. It still sputtered a little.

Neo cleared his throat. “Are you sure it runs?”

“I’m sure.” Phil started off after one last jerk. “So tell me about your last five years.”

“Not much to tell.” Neo settled back. “I started dancing to earn money and hooked up with Rose. It’s been a cash cow. I can’t complain.” He stared at Phil. Phil could feel the gaze as well as see the scrutiny when he glanced Neo’s way. “What about you?”

“Bartending school. That’s been my big accomplishment. Do you still do ballet? Try to act?” Neo had been pursuing an acting career when Phil had first met him.

“I do. I went to New York City for a year. Didn’t get any parts, and the friend I was living with bailed, plus my savings were gone. So I came back here. But I’ve done a few local commercials, and Rose keeps me going. I wasn’t ready for New York. I thought I was.”

“I’m sure Rose does keep you in cash. How weren’t you ready for New York?” Phil concentrated on driving, though it was hard with the man in the seat next to him. He felt hyperaware of the man’s presence. Not to mention he was on a date with this Greek god he never thought he’d have another shot with. Life was funny sometimes. He couldn’t afford to screw this up again. If it went up in flames, so be it, but he wasn’t going to be the cause. Or at least he hoped not.

“I…wanted it to come easily. I wasn’t ready to do the labor. It’s sort of like relationships. You have to work at it. I’m smarter now.” Neo glanced out of the window as Phil sneaked a peek or two at him.

“Rose says you have the best work ethic of any of her dancers.” Phil wasn’t blowing smoke up Neo’s ass. She did say that often. “You’re one of the few who treats it like a career.”

“Yeah. Yeah, well, it’s not my career, but I try to take everything I do seriously now. Instead of on the fly like I did before.”

“You should do more theater.” The words popped out before Phil could call them back. He wasn’t sure if he’d overstepped his bounds. After all, this was a date, not a letter to a love-advice columnist.

Neo looked over at him with a “say what?” expression. “I should?”

“Yeah. You’re a great dancer.” Phil saw the natural talent he had. Other guys fooled around onstage. Neo moved with the music. ”Great actor.”

“Pffft. You’ve never seen me act.”

“Wellllllll…”

“Get out. When have you seen me act?” Neo had an incredulous expression. “You have not seen me.”

Phil glanced at the road and didn’t look at him again. “YouTube.” No, he wasn’t a stalker…

“Huh?”

“You did a play. About a year ago. Someone’s put it on YouTube.” He gripped the steering wheel. “The one about Sherlock Holmes.”

Neo started laughing. “You’re kidding me?
That’s
up on YouTube. That thing didn’t even have a budget. It was a college project.” He continued to snicker. “I earned fifty bucks for that.”

“You did good. All the rest were saying their lines. You acted them. You were a great Sherlock.” Phil could feel the scrutiny of Neo’s stare as he parked the car. He hopped out and was over to the curb when Neo plunged out of the car. Saxby’s was down the street. And he’d gotten away without Neo asking an obvious question.

“Wait a minute.” Neo stopped on the sidewalk and turned to Phil. “How did you find that video?”

Phil didn’t answer, just took Neo’s hand and headed for the bar. His hand tingled with the smoothness of Neo’s inside his. If he got asked about holding Neo’s hand, it was because it was so crowded. But truth was, he liked the contact.

The question about how he’d found that particular video was trickier. Indeed, his whole body was one electric current from Neo picking up on that. So he knew how to Google with the best of them, even when he was drunk and lonely. He’d better remove the bookmark if he and Neo ever did get together.

A couple of people hung around the front of Saxby’s smoking. The music was pumping out the door. A sign proclaimed that it was Queer Night.

Phil pulled out his wallet with his free hand.

Neo began scrambling through his pockets.

“I told you. I got this. I invited you.” Phil paid both their covers, and they walked into the club.

“Thank you.” Neo hesitated but followed behind Phil.

The club had a bar on both sides with the middle as a dance floor that stretched to the back from the doorway. Flashing lights sometimes blinded, and a DJ booth resided at the back of the nightspot. Speakers were scattered around to make a pumping sound.

Phil raised his voice. “Dance? Or drink?” Little sentences stood more of a chance of getting heard.

“Dance.”

Phil nodded to acknowledge he heard, and out on the dance floor they went. Neo started moving to the beat before they were even all the way out. It was as if he couldn’t help himself. He heard the music and had to respond.

Phil did his best to keep up with Neo’s motions. He wasn’t the best on the dance floor. But he could bust a move when he had to.

The light bathed Neo’s face in a glow that switched from amber to rouge to cerulean. It wasn’t enough light to wash out Neo’s complexion, just give him a little sparkle.

His hips wiggled to the beat. His muscles stretched out in a dance all their own.

Several looks of admiration came from other men on the floor.

Phil didn’t blame them. Neo was a man who made anyone stop and stare for a minute. He’d heard women lamenting that Neo was gay. Rose’s show did attract a significant straight-woman crowd. They celebrated birthdays and bridal showers or came for the eye candy. Of course they thought all men in the revue were gay. Phil often enlightened them about the others who were straight.

Phil got lost in watching the man move. He was a sight to see even with all his clothes on. The tightness of the fabric reminded Phil what was under it. His gaze drifted down Neo’s entire torso to his lean pelvis. And in between those hips.

Phil’s erection burned hotly.

He shimmied up to Neo and pressed his body against the other man’s. Would he ever look at him and not desire him? Not if the past three months had been any indication. And now Phil had had him. So it wasn’t looking at what he couldn’t have to explain away the sexual heat.

Neo ground against him, letting Phil feel his heavy cock.

An erection.

He had one as well but would have definitely had one after feeling that. Neo’s demonstration that he was as horny for Phil dancing as Phil was for him was like a shot of adrenaline.

He ground against him, giving Neo everything he gave back.

“Not a bad dancer yourself.” Neo murmured the words and then pecked a light kiss on Phil’s mouth. He didn’t try to get farther away, but instead wiggled that much closer to Neo.

Phil didn’t comment. It was Neo who was the dancer, not him.

“Maybe you should put in with Rose.” It was hard to miss what Neo was saying even as he used more words than usually could be heard in the loud music. Usually single words worked best. Phil was that close. He could see the words forming and tell what they were almost before the sound came out.

Phil snorted.

“I’m serious. You got some moves.” Neo’s hips thrust against him in a move that Phil had watched Neo do onstage with a partner from the audience. It was what Phil had secretly hoped that Neo would do with him when Rose had singled him out to come onstage. It was enough to do it now. Almost better, because now Neo knew the truth about what had happened way back then. There were now no secrets between them.

“I only dance for you.” Phil whispered the words. Wasn’t even sure if Neo could hear them, only he was as close as Phil was, so presumably he could.

Neo’s hands landed on Phil’s hips and tightened. Was it in response to what Phil had said? “You dance for me alone?”

He nodded. Didn’t trust his voice to speak.

The hands tightened more. Neo looked at him with something like wonder on his face. “Maybe we should have had dinner in instead of coming to the club.” He lowered his lips to plunge his tongue into Phil’s mouth.

Phil dueled with him, letting Neo win because it was his tongue that had made the entrance. He’d thought about it but had wanted to get to know Neo outside of doing stuff in the bedroom. If they’d stayed in, he couldn’t guarantee they’d stay in the kitchen.

When Neo pulled his mouth away, they leaned into each other as they danced.

Phil’s hand tightened on Neo’s back. On one hand he was reveling in the other men’s stares, because for the moment Neo was his. On the other hand he wanted to tell them to stop looking at Neo.

Because he’s mine.

Neo wasn’t his, of course, so it was something that Phil reined in. Neo might never be his. Things could end tomorrow.

But right now they felt right.

Wonderful, in fact.

Neo’s hand tickled Phil’s hip bone, lingering as much as he could. “You thirsty?”

“Yeah. I’ll get us something to drink.”

They stood a moment, still touching each other. It was as if neither could bear to let the other go.

Neo finally ceded and released his hold on Phil.

“I’ll be right back.” He hadn’t wanted to let go. To leave Neo in this crowd of jackals who would see Phil’s absence as an opportunity. He pursed his lips and headed for the bar. Best to make this quick.

Get back to the date.

Only once he’d gotten to the bar, he realized he hadn’t asked Neo what he wanted. He wasn’t sure what to do but finally ordered a mojito for Neo. It was Neo’s favorite drink and hopefully would be good enough.

Phil stalked back over, a beer gripped in one hand and a mojito held in the other. A man was talking to Neo.

“Phil.” Neo turned toward him. “This is Jared. He recognized me from Rose’s show.”

Phil bet he had. His hand clenched around the glass.

Jared seemed to size up Phil as Phil was doing the same. “He’s a great dancer. The backbone of Rose Winter’s show. I was telling him he should dance more often.”

Neo beamed as though that made him incredibly happy. “Yeah.”

“I told him that too.” Phil grinned back at Neo, unable to help it. He also moved in closer to Neo, staking his claim. “Been telling him that awhile. He should do all of Rose’s shows.” Neo enjoyed dancing and doing the shows. It was as much a part of him as bartending was to Phil. Phil couldn’t help but be proud of what he’d done with his career, and he found himself proud of Neo too.

Neo’s head cocked to the side. “You mean that? Really mean that?” He looked as though he couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah. I told you that. You’re an awesome dancer.” Phil would have to step up his game if Neo wasn’t believing him.

Jared looked at Neo and then glanced back to Phil. “Well, it was good seeing you.” Whatever he’d seen made him want to leave.

Which was fine with Phil.

Neo mumbled, “Bye,” without even a glance toward Jared. That warmed Phil from his head to his toes, with lots of it centering in his middle.

Phil handed Neo his drink. “Here you go.”

Neo took the mojito, his fingers brushing against Phil’s with strategic force. “What is it?”

“Mojito.”

“My favorite. You remembered.”

“You haven’t drunk one of mine.” Phil pretended to pout. “Only the other bartender’s.”

Neo reached up to caress Phil’s cheek, his hand leaving fire in its wake. “Time to rectify that. And I was afraid you’d poison me or something. I haven’t exactly been gracious to you.”

“I’d never hurt you again.” Phil licked one of Neo’s fingers, causing him to jump. “I make the best in town. I’ll make one for you soon.”

It was a promise that Phil intended to keep.

Chapter Seven

Phil pulled into a spot outside of Neo’s apartment. He glided in without having to parallel park. Lucky bastard. Neo hated that part of driving, even though he could do it better than Phil.

He looked at the muscular man who held on to the steering wheel as though it were a lifeline.

Neo didn’t want the evening to end. He’d had fun getting to know and hanging out with Phil. He’d had fun, he’d laughed, and they’d danced for a long time.