Page 53 of Fire & Ice

When he chances to glance over at him again, Tripp is still scowling, but he doesn’t look quite so miserable, and Leander recognizes that the night might yet be salvaged. If not, then the hell with it,hewill stay sober and drive the damn car home. He’ll do anything to stop this whining.

“Fine,” Tripp grumbles eventually. “I’ll find her when we get there, make sure she’s cool with that.”

“She’ll be the one buried beneath the largest pile of ladies, of that I am sure,” Leander replies mildly before turning his attention back to the passing scenery.

As they’re pulling into the club’s parking lot, Tripp suddenly clears his throat, his tone taking on the particular hesitant twang that only appears when he knows he’s about to say something Leander won’t like. Well, when he knows he’s about to say something Leander won’t likeandhe’s not excited about it. Let’s face it, sometimes Tripp is an asshole.

Luckily for Tripp, this is not one of those times.

“You do know that this is my ex’s club, right?”

“Suzy works here?” Leander’s slightly surprised, but not overly put out. Tripp’s past is his own business, it’s not as if either of them thought the other was a pristine, blushing virgin when they started hooking up.

“Yeah, well.” Tripp pulls the key out of the ignition and fiddles with it in one hand before shrugging. “Not a lot of choice around here. Pretty sure this is the only club within fifty mileswhere you aren’t risking some kind of disease just by walking in.”

That, Leander can’t argue with. He knows of at least two additional strip joints—one in the depths of the city and one on the outskirts—but both have a reputation for unsavory activities occurring on the premises. Leander himself has taken several overdoses out of the bathrooms in both places, and responded to at least one stabbing. To be fair, that was in the parking lot.

Regardless, Suzy being present tonight doesn’t bother him. If anything, he’s much more surprised by this venue’s proximity to the BDSM social club he’s visited on rare occasion, and is busy wondering if there’s any overlap in clientele. The idea that Tripp is nervous because hewantsto flirt with Suzy or because he’s concerned about Suzy flirting with him—those possibilities hardly register, never mind faze Leander in the least, but then again, he’s perhaps overly practical in that way.

If Tripp wanted to be with Suzy, he would undoubtedly still be with her. If he wanted boring, vanilla sex with a hot female stripper, he wouldn’t have thrown it away when he had it grinding in his lap. What is there to be jealousof?For Leander, it’s easy as anything to shrug Tripp’s warning off and head inside to get on with the night.

Somehow, none of those very common-sense-infused, verylogicalthoughts translate when Leander actuallyseesSuzy, mostly naked and with her ass raised high as heaven in her stiletto heels, straddling Tripp where he’s sprawled in a chair next to Beau.

It’s less than an hour into the party at this point, and Beau, drunk and happy as he is, was already completely over Leander and Tripp’s fashionably late entrance by the time they arrived. Tucked back into the booth beside Tripp’s chair, Bri is perched on Beau's lap, their friends scattered around them, all laughingand talking and oblivious to Leander plotting the murder of a stripper at the bar.

He only even cameoverhere to surprise Tripp with a glass of expensive whiskey, and now he’s regretting it. Leander supposes he’ll never know what would have happened had he been sitting next to Tripp, perhaps with their ankles intertwined beneath the table, whenSuzycame over to say hello. Would Tripp have introduced him as his…his what? They aren’t boyfriends. Leander scratches his head, completely aware that he’s being unfair and petulant, and all of the many things he regularly scolds Tripp for being.

Instead of acting the part of a well-adjusted adult, he gulps the thirty-five dollar glass of whiskey in front of him like it’s a two dollar shot and pulls the remote free from his pocket. The club is dark but relatively airy and cool, not overly sticky or hot or smelly. Leander’s glad for that as he tries his best to melt into the shadows off to the side of the bar, hoping that none ofSuzy’sprobable sticky-sweet perfume or her glittery sweat will cling to Tripp once she’s gone.

Across the room, ‘Candy’—Suzy’s stage name, Leander is…sixty percent sure—undulates her hips in Tripp’s lap, her arms wrapping lazily over his shoulders and around his neck. She’s breaking the no-touching rule so casually, sointimately, like it’s nothing. Like Tripp is something specialto her,so he’s an exception.

A semi-drunk Leander sees red, especially when Tripp’s head tips back slightly,seductively,to make eye contact with his ex and smile, his hand brushing the small of her back.

With a roll of his eyes, Leander switches the remote in his hand to “on,” cranks the voltage up, and watches with barely-concealed glee as Tripp jerks violently in his chair and sendsChastity-Cinnamon-whatever-her-name-is tumbling down onto the ground.

Feeling merciful, Leander dials back the intensity on the vibrating butt plug as Tripp doubles over, struggling to wheeze out an apology and simultaneously help Tiffani Amber Annoying back to her feet. As Leander cocks his head to the side and swivels on his stool in amusement, Tripp sends the dazed stripper on her way before whipping his head around the room until his eyes land on their target, narrowing dangerously.

Busted.

Before Leander can so much as grin back at him, a redheaded blur appears in front of his face, forcing his eyes to blink and refocus. It takes him several seconds to do so, his vision not quite as clear as it was when he and Tripp walked into the bar. Whether that’s from jealousy, whiskey, or a lethal combination of the two, Leander can’t be entirely certain.

“Hiya!” Marley says brightly, fixing him with a knowing look and bouncing her eyebrows as she gestures to the remote. Leander glances down at it guiltily, having failed to conceal the device swiftly enough in his pocket to escape her keen notice. “Petty revenge? One step away from a public claiming, there. Hmm, you never seemed like the jealous type to me, but it’s always the quiet ones.”

“I don’t know what you’re—”

“Psh, save it, Leander,” Marley interrupts in a huff as she slides onto the stool next to him and waves down the bartender. “Two of whatever the fruitiest, most ridiculous thing on the menu is, please,” she orders before turning her attention back on to him. “Listen. There’s not a thing about battery-operated sex toys your girl doesn’t know about. For both of our sakes, let’s assume I’m telling the truth and leave it at that.”

“Fair enough,” Leander agrees with a nod, flipping the remote to its lowest setting and tucking it away. Once again, he finds himself grateful for the low lighting, hoping it’s enough to mask his rising blush at being called out.

“So?” Marley persists, and as much as he could use an ear, she’s Tripp’s friend too, so Leander decides to play dumb.

“It’s just a game,” he deflects. “You know Tripp and I…” He trails off as the bartender produces two enormous hurricane glasses filled with blue liquid swirled in purple,pluswhat appears to be a sampling of every fruit the bar has on offer, and then some. Each monstrosity is delicately-topped with a colorful little umbrella.

“Oh, Iknow,” Marley assures him, rolling her own eyes and patting the bar with her open palm. “Hey, I gotta get back. Ro's keeping my seat by the stage warm, and there’s a really hot girl dancing next. She came by the table earlier, flirted likecrazywith Tripp.”

“Oh?” Leander replies, doing his best to sound casual, keeping his eyes focused on the neon alcohol in front of him and the way it shimmers as he plunges the accompanying straw further into the glass.I don’t care,he tells himself.

“Mmhmm,” Marley says, punctuating with a nod before continuing. “Right after you two came in. Not that Tripp had any clue, or even noticed her at all. He was busy watching some oblivious, tall, dark, and dreamy dude apologizing to Bri halfway across the room.” Startled, Leander’s head snaps up to find Marley beaming at him. She sighs, all pretend-exasperation before ruffling his hair and hopping down off of her bar stool. “Yes,you, doofus. God, if you two weren’t so deliciously perfect together, I swear I’d wash my hands of you both. The angst!”

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