Picture Perfect (2 page)

Excitement flitted across her eyes and she smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

After she left, I picked at my grilled cheese sandwich. It dawned on me then that Erik wasn’t saying anything. He was studying me with his head cocked to one side.

“What?” I finally asked.

Erik leaned forward and casually folded his arms on the table. “I think it’s safe to say that I’ve known you long enough to be able to tell when something’s on your mind.”

I
sat up and crossed my arms across my chest. I stared at the poster of Marilyn Monroe hanging on the wall inside our booth. I’d secretly dubbed her “Marilyn Muse,” but lately she hadn’t done much for me.

“Has your old man been on you again?” Erik asked quietly.

My jaw clenched at the mention of Mr. Thompson, and my body quivered with that uncomfortable, nervous feeling I always got when talking about ‘me’ to anyone. “No. We haven’t spoken in a few months.”

“Did you and Darcy have another fight?”

If I thought thinking of my father was bad, conjuring memories of Darcy was like summoning a black hole in the center of my soul.

Erik waited patiently for me to answer. With a sigh, I stopped picking at the chips in the lacquered table surface and looked at him. My voice stuck in my throat, my body not wanting to acknowledge the truth. “You know I was shooting the picture of the clock tower earlier because I wanted to give it as an anniversary present to Darcy, right?”

He nodded.

“Well, while shooting it I ran into Darcy. She was with my brother.”

“So?”

I
sat there, not saying anything and giving him a look.

After a few long seconds, Erik’s jaw dropped. “
Oh
. Damn. Wow.”

“Yeah. Wow.”

“How are you feeling?”

“What do you think?”

“Dumb question.” Erik gave me a sheepish glance. “Darcy’s not exactly a saint, but I never thought she’d do this to you.”

I chuckled darkly. “That makes two of us.”

“Here you go,” Mandy said, depositing my drink in front of me. “Sorry that took so long. We’re a little short-staffed tonight.”

“Think nothing of it,” I said, smiling.

Mandy’s cheeks reddened. “Um, do you two need anything else?”

“No, I think we’re good.”

“Okay,” she said a little breathlessly, then spun on her heel and practically glided back to the bar.

Erik watched her leave with an amused half smile. “I think someone’s got the hots for you.”

I shrugged and reached for my whiskey, gulping it down as quickly as I could. Talking about Darcy had opened up a few sloppy stitches on my heart, which threatened to come completely open any second now.

Erik took a swig of his Blue Moon. “What happened?”

Damn. The glass was empty again. I looked around for Mandy but didn’t see her anywhere. The whiskey hit my stomach with a kick, and the first traces of numbness began seeping into my limbs. There, that was better.

I relayed the confrontation to Erik, whose face tightened with every detail. He whistled when I was done.

“I swear to God, the next time I see Brayden’s punk ass on the ice, he’s getting a mouthful of hockey puck,” he seethed.

Erik was one of our school team’s enforcers. He was built like a tank, with the heart of a teddy bear. Not many people screwed with him
in the arena.

I tried to tell him to back down, that I would handle it, but I couldn’t deny the small comfort it gave me to know somebody had my back. This time, I couldn’t be the better man. Brayden deserved everything coming to him.

My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten anything today, and I grabbed my now cold sandwich and took a bite.

“It know it sucks now,” Erik said, “but I can tell you from experience it will get better with time. Remember Rachel?”

I swallowed. “I told you she was a man-eater. But you wouldn’t listen.”

“People in love rarely do.”

I shook my head, devouring the sandwich like a caveman. “I never thought this would happen. I mean, Darcy was my rock.”

Erik’s lips pressed together.

Swallowing the remnants of my grilled cheese, I wiped the grease from my fingers onto my napkin before balling it up and tossing it in the basket. “What’s that look for?”

“Do you think she did this because of what happened last spring?” Erik said reluctantly.

Regret slammed into me, followed by a tidal wave of guilt to wash it down my suddenly dry throat. “Maybe,” I said. “But I thought I had paid enough for that. I made a mistake.”

Erik’s eyes softened. “You know what you need? A distraction. There’s this club downtown called
The Fox Hunt
that opened up a few months ago.”

I groaned. “Not this again. You know I don’t do strip clubs.”

“Oh, believe me, man, you’ll want to do this one. The girls are
fine
. And with your fortune, they’ll be all over you.”

The prospect of being
grinded on by half-naked women I didn’t know did little to excite me. The only girl I could think about was Darcy, the smell of her shampoo, the way her lip gloss tasted like strawberries, and how she’d always get colored smudges on her cheeks when she worked with pastels.

“I don’t know,” I muttered.

Erik shrugged. “If you don’t want to go, then don’t go. I’m just saying it might take your mind off things, that’s all.”

Take my mind off things. It sounded too good to be true.

“Yeah, fine. I’ll go.”

Erik grinned. “I promise you, man, we’ll have a good time. By the end of the night, you’ll be saying ‘Darcy who?’”

I doubt that.

We went to the bar to close out our tabs and pay. “You ready for the match with Crawford next week?” Erik asked as we shrugged on our coats and walked toward the door.

I almost winced. “Is that next week? I thought it was in three weeks.”

“Yeah, it was - two weeks ago.”

“Smartass.”

“Whoa, I’m just saying you haven’t exactly been completely in the game at practice. I wondered if you had forgotten about it.”

“I’ve had a lot on my mind.” Which was a huge understatement.

Something shifted in Erik’s eyes, an understanding that was hard to find in other people. “I know.”

“Hey.”

We turned to find a s
harply dressed woman with short blond hair standing right next to the bar. Her face was attractive for an older woman - I definitely would have remembered her. I was about to answer when something flashed from her lapel, and my eyes dropped to find a glossy security badge. Mindy Michaelson, Reporter, Sanhope
Times
.

Out of instinct, my muscles coiled and I froze.

Her eyes widened as she scrutinized me. “It’s you, isn’t it? The Thompson boy. Your hair’s darker, but… wow, I can’t believe this. No one’s seen you in over a year, and now I know why. You changed your appearance.”

Roughly, I cleared my throat. “Sorry, ma’am, you must be mistaken.”

She started to get up, but Erik stepped in front of me, cutting her off. “He said you must be mistaken,” he said sternly.

The reporter hesitated but didn’t back down. Her eyes flashed to my face once more, but I looked away before she could get another good look in.

“Let’s go, man,” Erik said grimly, ushering me out. He shot the woman a warning look, telling her to back off, but of course she didn’t. Reporters, the eager ones anyway, were like dogs - they liked to give chase.

I heard Erik arguing with her, trying to hold her off while I made a break for it, running for my car and the past I couldn’t seem to escape from.

CHAPTER 2

Devin

“
CAN I SEE YOUR membership card and ID please?”

Erik already had them in his hand.

The bouncer took the cards, examining them before handing them back to Erik. “Who’s this?” He gestured toward me.

“A referral,” I answered, forcing my lips into a wooden smile.

The bouncer crossed his arms. “It’s a thirty dollar cover without membership.”

I looked at Erik. “Even though I’m with him?”

He shrugged.

Muttering curses under my breath, I was about to tell the bouncer to forget it when Erik produced two green strips of cash. “Keep the change,” he said, then proceeded to drag me, incredulous, inside the smoky darkness of
The Fox Hunt
.

“Why did you do that?” I said to Erik, following him down a hallway lined with portraits of gorgeous naked women and into a spacious l
ounge. “That was a complete rip off!”

“I forgot about the cover, man,” Erik said over his shoulder. “It slipped my mind since I have membership.”

“Here,” I said, pulling thirty dollars from my wallet. “I owe you.”

Erik waved it away. “Keep your money. It was my fault. I thought they might let referrals in for free, but I guess nothing’s a courtesy anymore, especially when there’s a buck to be made.”

“No shit,” I muttered.

The place was done
up to look expensive and sophisticated. Sleek black, circular couches sat around vibrant red tables, spotlighted by single yellow lights. Poles made from clear glass stuck straight up to the ceiling from the tables, which fitted around the poles in oversized arcs. The waitresses were all attractive, young women clad in little more than see-through lingerie and bow ties. The atmosphere was quiet. Speakers hung from ideal points throughout the room, though no music blared from them. The soft, romantic melody of a piano glided through the air. A brunette sat on the bench, wearing a sparkling red sequin dress with the lowest neckline I’d ever seen. She seemed completely lost to the music flowing from her fingers.

The whole decor screamed overpriced and cheap, in a poor attempt to make men feel like the
y were somewhere really classy. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

“Here we are,” Erik said, sliding into a booth
directly in front of the stage, which was planted in the middle of the room. A catwalk protruded from it, dotted with silver poles every few feet.

As I sank into the plu
sh leather, I unbuttoned my peacoat and looked around. “Where are the dancers?”

“Oh, that comes later,” Erik said with a grin and a wink. “They put on one show a night.”

“Show?”

“You’ll see.”

“Mr. Daniels,” said a pretty blonde as she floated up to our table, a tray resting atop her splayed, painted fingertips. “So good to see you again.”

Like most of the girls, she was toned but didn’t look particularly athletic. A royal blue corset laced up the front
of her body, making her breasts bunch up high on her chest, threatening to plunge out. Black, shiny hose and six-inch heels completed her attire. I studied her curling-iron-perfect curls. The blond hue was almost too bright, like she had bleached her hair out. I caught myself before I had a chance to wrinkle my nose.

“Thanks, Sapphire,” Erik said as she filled two wineglasses with ice water and
set them down. His arm draped across the back of the couch as he smoothed out his voice, notching it down an octave.

I nearly choked on a laugh as I practically inhaled my sip of water.

Sapphire’s smile tightened. “Who is your companion?”

“This here is Dev.”

Sapphire’s baby doll eyes flicked down and back up again, as if she were cataloging me through sight. “Welcome to The Fox Hunt, Dev. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Thanks,” I said, keeping my voice polite but neutral.

An awkward silence followed as Sapphire tried to figure out how to process my less than enthusiastic response. “I’ll be back with drink menus,” she said quickly, more to Erik than to me. Her eyes darkened when her gaze ran over me before she teetered away on her sky-high heels.

Erik clucked his tongue and shook his head. “We’ve been here less than five minutes, and already you’re pissing off the Foxes.”

“The what?”

He pointed to the girls. “They’re called Foxes.”

I opted to sip my water rather than tell him how lame that sounded. Erik was obviously one of those guys whose dick grew a few inches just by being here.

“Don’t they, I don’t know, have trouble with being groped all night? The, er, ‘uniforms’ kind of invite it.” Unexpectedly, I thought about Darcy and her conservative, pastel-themed attire, bringing on the sting of betrayal to my chest. I sipped more water in an effort to hide my wince.

“Tch.” Erik blew out a breath. “Please, these girls are treated like royalty. That’s one of the rules: Look but don’t touch - unless you’re willing to pay for a private dance.”

I thought of sitting in a curtained off room while some girl I didn’t know fantasy-fucked me sideways. As vivid an imagination I had, it did nothing to turn me on, which depressed the hell out of me. Maybe I would never feel
like that again with any woman.