15. Chris

FIFTEEN

CHRIS

Normally, eight p.m. on a Wednesday night is boring anywhere but at Lure, but tonight the noise and the people are only getting on my nerves. I haven't felt this much anxiety in more than a decade, and I did not miss the feeling at all.

That's why I was cooped up in my office trying to focus on work, but Drake texted me to come out here. So here I am, wading through the throng of people on my way to the VIP bar where he's working tonight. We're trying to see if Quinton can handle the main bar on weekdays, so he's up here.

I'm almost at the bar when all the lights go out, as does the music.

"What the fuck?" I whisper to myself and turn around to try and see what's going on. There's no way I can, so I walk to the rail where I'll get a better view of the DJ booth. Did the power go out?

A lot of people start turning on their phone lights, so I can see the DJ's still there, and he doesn't seem to be moving frantically at all. Seriously, what is?—

Every thought disappears when one single spotlight turns on and points right to the front of the booth. Benny's there. Illuminated like he's a freaking angel or something and then?—

"The whispers in the morning."

He's singing. Oh, my God, Benny's singing fucking Celine Dion. And he sounds good . I mean he doesn't even come close to Celine, but he's not butchering "The Power Of Love."

And then his eyes shift up to me when he gets to the chorus.

"'Cause I'm your baaaaaaaby , and you are my man." I laugh at how he's changed the lyrics and can't stop smiling as he finishes the chorus. Everyone in the crowd is waving their phones with the lights on and it's so fucking corny and perfect.

But once he's done with the chorus, the spotlight shifts, and Sterling appears with a microphone of his own and keeps singing while Benny shifts away. I try to follow him with my eyes to see what he's going to do next, but I lose him. Everyone's obviously cramming against the rail to get a good look at the rock star, and I'm being shoved and pushed.

Fucking people should move their asses out of my fucking way?—

And he's in front of me. He has three huge guys around him—one of them is Bear, but I don't recognize the other two. It's not like I spend a lot of time looking at them because Benny's in front of me, and he's—fuck it.

I take hold of both of his cheeks and kiss him like it's been years instead of one day. I wrap one arm around his back so we're pressed chest-to-chest. It's surreal, feeling him in my arms while Sterling fucking serenades us with one of the most romantic songs of all time.

It's even better than a dream, mostly because I never dreamed of anything like this ever happening to me, but it seems like something out of a fucking movie.

"Baby," I whisper against his lips.

I see his wide smile and I'm about to ask how he put this together, what it means and a million more things, when once more the chorus blares through the club and he sings the words right against my mouth.

"I'm your baby, and you are my man."

"I am." I realize that very second. Of course I already knew... I did. But I didn't know . "I'm your man, baby Benny."

"Good." He nods decisively, then throws his head back as the song winds down. "The power of looooooooove ," he sings along with Sterling.

I burst out laughing, seeing now that he's a little bit drunk. I've never actually felt so much joy in one moment, at least not that I can remember. Maybe before Mom and Dad?—

"Oh, God!" His head snaps back down so fast he headbutts me.

"Ow!" I stumble back and rub my forehead.

"Tipsy Benny is very clumsy," one of the men surrounding us says in a very pronounced Russian accent. I see now that they're acting like a protective barrier around us. "You should be more aware around a tipsy Benny," he scolds me with a wince .

I laugh again, this time at the absurdity of this whole situation.

"I'm sorry!" Benny shouts and rushes over to me. "That whole thing," he says, waving an arm in the direction of the DJ booth—and slapping the side of Bear's face in the process. "Wasn't me telling you I love you." He looks mortified, and suddenly I don't feel any pain at all. "Not that I don't," he backtracks. "Oh shit, I mean I don't. That would be stupid, right?" he chuckles weakly. "I just?—"

I shut him up with a kiss to save him from himself.

"I loved the song, baby. Thank you."

"Good," he nods rapidly. "That's good, uhm." He won't meet my eyes and looks around us. "The Russian one is Santa, and you know Bear of course, heh." He laughs awkwardly. "And this is Bates!" he shouts suddenly. "You haven't met Bates."

"Bates?" I ask. "Oh," I let out a laugh. "I get it. He's Norman, right?" I offer him a hand to shake. "Nice to meet you, man." He shakes my hand with a dopey smile.

"This was all my plan," he brags.

"It was a good plan," I tell him.

"I uh," Benny pipes up. "I kind of promised the guys they could stay and party, is that okay?" I kiss his brow to make his frown disappear.

"Of course, that's okay. Let me just talk to Drake to get you guys a table up here."

"I will go save Sterling from his adoring fans now," the Russian guy—Santa—says over the music. The normal club music.

"That's a good idea." The poor guy has to be hiding behind the DJ by now. "Follow me, guys. "

"I've never been to a gay club before, this is cool," I hear Bates shout as I lead them to the bar.

I shake my head with yet another chuckle. This is all so wonderfully bizarre.

"Did you like your surprise, boss?" Drake asks me as soon as I come into hearing distance. He doesn't even look my way, keeping his focus on the drink he's making.

"Did you help?" I ask.

"I sure did, now what do you need?"

"A table up here, do we have one?"

"The far corner, you know we always keep that one free."

"I didn't know if anyone had come in." I nod. "Thanks," I tell him, looking him straight in the eyes. "Really."

"Happy to help out a friend," he says with a smile and then gets back to work. I stand staring at him for a long moment because... he said I'm his friend. I shake my head and turn around. I can't think about that right now.

I lead the guys through the VIP crowd and to the corner lounge that's always roped off. I unclip the rope and let them pass, just in time for Sterling to rush into the safety of it with a frowning Santa hurrying behind him.

"All these men are horny for Sterling," he tells me like he's explaining a new concept to me.

"Yeah, I know." I nod for him to pass, and Winter appears just then, ready to take their orders. I sit next to Benny, who cuddles close to me as soon as my butt hits the couch, and observe them all and their weird dynamics while they order.

"We are drinking Vodka, please." Santa looks up at Winter like she's going to save his life. "The best one you have." She looks worriedly at me, but I shrug at her. She knows I'm buying, so of course she's gonna worry if my guests order a thousand-dollar bottle. It's fine, I never spend any of my money on anything but necessities, so I can cover this.

"Drew, Xander, and Milkman are on their way. They're gonna want gin and tonics and Milkman can't drink." Bear snorts as he looks down at his phone. "The loser."

"Will he be able to come in, though?" Benny asks me worriedly.

"How old is he?" I demand. He didn't look like he was younger than Benny at all.

"He's twenty."

"Seriously?" I ask, baffled.

"Mm-hm," he hums and lays his head on my shoulder.

"Okay then. But to be clear, no alcohol for him. It's not worth the risk to my liquor license." I shake my head and take my phone out of my slacks. I text the bouncer that a hockey player named Milkman is coming with two guys and to let him in and have them escorted straight up here.

"I want a martini!" Benny suddenly shouts, straightening in his seat. His tipsiness is adorable, and I know I'm not the only one who thinks that when Winter smiles warmly at him and marks it down on the tablet.

"I'll have the same, kind lady," Bates tells her with a formal bow of his head. My best hostess who's normally unaffected by it all actually blushes at the attention. I guess Bates is pretty good looking. He looks kind of like that guy in that vampire TV series.

"Martini's are fancy," Benny declares, bringing my attention back to him .

"I can't believe you didn't completely butcher a Celine song," I tell him, still amazed.

"I'm an okay singer," Benny says with a blush of his own. I kiss one warm cheek just for the hell of it, just because I can. "Besides, I would never disrespect her. Celine is Canadian royalty. Well, her and Ryan Reynolds." I snort and steal a quick kiss.

Man, this day is ending way differently to how it started.

Surrounded by Benny's friends who I discover are fun as hell.

"Don't even think about sneaking away," Bear tells Sterling when he goes to stand. "Jules told me to get you drunk so you can get over all your hangups and to drive you back home myself."

Sterling falls back down on the couch with a groan then he stares daggers at me. I smile at him as brightly as I can. He looks away without a word and I can't really fault him. I'm probably the only one here who knows exactly the type of relationship he has with Jules, and in my experience, it's pretty typical for daddies to be possessive over their boys, so I don't take it personally. Especially because he helped Benny do this for me, so I know he doesn't hate me. That's all I really need to know.

The rest of the guys arrive escorted by one of the bouncers, and less than a minute later Winter's setting down the drinks and Santa's Vodka bottle. I do have to step away to do some actual work for a little while and I make a point to let Roxy and Drake know that I'm still technically working, but the night goes smoothly.

I mean sure, every patron in the VIP area is gawking at all the hockey players, and of course they can't look away from Sterling, but otherwise it's a pretty regular night.

Milkman makes a point of coming to say hello to me, which I appreciate, then he's off to the dance floor with Xander.

Xander runs over to Benny and drags him to the dance floor as well. "I'm going to show you some moves to apologize for last night," he declares, and Benny puts up zero resistance.

Next thing I know, Norman—Bates—is sitting next to me.

"Hi," I tell him warily. Honestly, I'm expecting a shovel talk, but he surprises me.

"What do you think about a dinner party that sucks way less than Bear's sucky dinner party?" he asks with a shit-eating grin.

"Watch it, Bates," Bear warns from behind him.

"Can't hear you," he sing-songs then focuses back on me. "Caroline really wants to get to know Benny better and of course I want to hear all about you since you've got my BFF all tied up in knots."

"Uhhh," I stall. I don't know what to say. Would Benny want to have a double date with them?

"I'm just asking as a courtesy. Truth is, it's happening whether you agree or not." He raises both shoulders then does the gun thing with both his hands and slides back to his seat next to Bear. I shake my head at him then stand and go to the dance floor to find Benny.

He's my baby and I'm his man and I have been wanting to dance with him again forever. I find him looking at how Xander's twerking against Milkman's crotch, and his frown doesn't hide the way he's feeling at all, so of course I go in and save him.

"Hey, baby," I whisper right by his ear and wrap one hand around his abdomen.

"Well hello, handsome." He turns and loops his arms around my neck. "Wanna dance?"

"With you?" I ask, and smirk at him in that way I know he loves.

"No one else better try to take you away from me, 'cause I know how to fight," he says in a mock growl.

I lean in and kiss him. "I'm all yours, baby Benny."

"It was so fun ," Benny slurs as I walk him up the stairs to my bedroom.

"I'm glad you had fun, baby. Now it's time for bed."

Benny was a champ and stayed with me until closing time. His friends stayed too, but I think they stayed because they were having a good time—a great boost to my ego since it's my club. Sterling got shit faced and was being guarded by Bear all night, and he even smiled at me before he left.

Santa was... sober as far as I can tell, though I don't know how that can be since he drank more than half a bottle of Vodka by himself. He and Bates were both great sports and never once complained about being hit on by about a million men. They just smiled and accepted the adoration. Unlike Sterling. He even snarled at a couple of unfortunate guys.

Benny stuck by me all night, and when he was about to pass out at three, I took him to my office so he could nap on my couch. Bates took pictures of him as evidence and "for future use," which I take to mean he's going to use them as extortion.

He also assured me that's what friends do.

I'm not so sure, but in any case, I took his phone when he wasn't looking and deleted the pictures—off the deleted pictures album too. He never noticed, but Bear did, and I got an approving nod for my troubles.

So I think the night really was a success. I'll have to find a way to make sure Jules approves of me too at some point, but for now, it's more than enough.

And now, I think as I lead Benny to sit on my bed, I have to take care of my adorably drunk... boyfriend.

We'll have that talk tomorrow for sure.

"Choke me," he says with a giggle, and I kneel between his legs to take off his shoes and shake my head, amused.

"We'll talk about that tomorrow, BB. Now we're just going to sleep."

"Okay," he says, sounding very disappointed.

"It'll be worth it," I promise and get to work on his pants. He giggles again, but he's out like a light by the time I have him down to his briefs and T-shirt. He can sleep in that, I decide, then tuck him in. I go downstairs to get him a glass of water and a bottle of painkillers then get into bed too. He turns to me in his sleep and snuggles up close, melting my heart.

I might be in real big trouble with this one.

Forever kind of trouble.