Page 31 of Body Check

“Yeah, you’re fine,” Dakota said, still voice equally quiet, relaxing a little more against him.

Danny said something from the backseat to Thad, and Leah joined in, the three of them discussing some basketball gameGavin hadn’t watched. Gavin let the voices wash over him, mind drifting as he enjoyed the feeling of a warm body pressed to his.

God, he was hard up, wasn’t he? Enjoying the touch of a man he worked with?

A feeling of self-pity washed over Gavin, but he immediately pushed it away. What did he have to feel sorry for himself about? He was well-off, handsome, successful … he owned an incredible condo, got to travel all the time … had a dream life, really.

But tonight would be good. He’d have a drink, he’d dance a little, he’d go off where no one could see and find a guy for a quick hookup. It would clear his head and burn off this tension and stress. Get rid of that ridiculous feeling of self-pity …

Fuck! He belatedly realized he hadn’t done his stretching yet today. Dakota would be disappointed. He turned to Dakota to confess his sins, when the SUV pulled over to the curb.

“Here you are,” the driver called out.

Gavin glanced over to see an industrial building with a line snaking around the side.

“Ugh,” he said as he peeled himself out of the SUV and joined the group of guys gathering on the sidewalk. He loved going clubbing but he’d forgotten about having to deal with the damn lines. Especially in a place like Los Angeles.

But rather than go to the back of the line, Jesse sauntered toward the bouncer checking IDs at the door. With a shrug, Connor followed, motioning for the rest of them to join him and Jesse.

There was some more back and forth as the bouncer eyed everyone in their group, but eventually he nodded, ushering them in ahead of the line.

“How’d you pullthatoff?” Gavin asked appreciatively as they all moved toward the bar on one side of the room.

Jesse grinned. “I have my ways.”

Gavin slanted a look at Connor. “Doyouknow how he did it?”

Connor shrugged. “He knows a guy who knows a guy?”

Jesse laughed. “Don’t make it sound so mysterious. I know a couple of guys who play for LA. One of them knows the owner and did me a favor getting us in tonight.”

“Ahh.” Somehow, that didn’t surprise Gavin.

“Handy,” Dakota murmured.

“C’mon,” Jesse said. “I’ll show you all around.”

“You’ve been here before then, I take it?” Gavin asked.

“Oh, yeah. A bunch of times. My parents live out here in LA now, so I checked out a ton of places around here last summer.”

Connor got that constipated look on his face again.

Jesse gave them a quick tour of the club. The bottom floor was a lounge, with a large bar and lots of seating in vibrant colors that somehow managed to look both modern and granny-chic.

The top floor was where the dancing took place, and there was a bar, high-top tables and more of the seating Gavin had seen downstairs. The dance floor was pretty much like every other club Gavin had ever been to, with flashing lights, pounding music, and a sea of sweaty, writhing bodies.

Jesse, Connor, Kady, Tanner, Graham, Danny, and Leah immediately went to dance—well, Connor was more or lessdragged off by Jesse, but that counted—which left Gavin standing there awkwardly with Dakota and his brother.

“Well, I’m going to go grab a drink,” Thad said, “Dakota, if you want to actually have some fun tonight, come find me,” and disappeared into the crowd with a wink before either of them could respond.

“So that was weird, right?” Dakota said when he was gone.

Gavin released a strangled laugh. “Thad is … Thad.”

“Mmm,” Dakota said. “Sure.”

“C’mon,” Gavin said with a sigh. “I’ll buy you a drink and try to explain a little about my relationship with my twin brother.”

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