Page 54 of Arrogant Puck

“Emma!” she calls out, presumably to someone nearby. “What’s this place called?”

I hear a muffled response through the noise, “Rainbow’s End!”

I hang up and I’m in my car before my brain even processes the decision. The GPS on my phone shows Rainbow’s End is clear across town—a twenty-minute drive that I plan to make in ten.

Rainbow’s End is exactly what I expected… neon lights, rainbow flags, and a line of people dressed in everything from leather harnesses to sequined dresses. The bouncer at the door is a mountain of a man wearing glittery eyeshadow, and he looks me up and down with obvious skepticism.

“First time?” he asks with a smirk.

“Looking for someone,” I mutter, pushing past him into the chaos.

The music is even louder inside, the bass vibrating through my chest as I scan the crowd. The main floor is packed with bodies moving to the rhythm, but I don’t see Sage anywhere in the sea of dancers.

Then I spot the stairs leading to a second level. My eyes scan the entire place, looking for my girl.

Got her.

I take the steps three at a time, my eyes sweeping the upper level until I find her. She’s backed against the railing, and there’s a woman pressed close to her—too close. The woman has short purple hair and is wearing leather shorts with her ass sticking out at the bottom.

What the actual fuck?

I see Sage lean back, one hand covering her mouth in a gesture that looks more panicked than playful. That’s all I need to see.

I storm across the crowded balcony, shouldering through groups of people until I reach them. My hand closes around the woman’s arm, and I pull her away from Sage with more force than necessary.

“Fuck off,” I tell her, my voice deadly quiet despite the noise around us.

The woman stumbles backward, her eyes going wide as she takes in my size. But instead of backing down, she gets right in my face.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she shouts over the music. “We were just talking!”

But I’m not looking at her. Sage has gone completely white, her hand still pressed over her mouth. The look in her eyes is the same one I saw in the office today. Pure panic.

And then she runs.

She pushes through the crowd like her life depends on it, heading for what I assume are the stairs. I start after her immediately, but Purple Hair grabs my arm.

“Hey, asshole! You can’t just—”

I shake her off without even looking back. Whatever lecture she wants to give me can wait. Right now, I need to find Sage before she disappears into the night and does something stupid.

Or before someone else tries to take advantage of whatever state she’s in.

Chapter 19

My hand is still pressed against my mouth, but not because I’m going to be sick. It’s because I can’t believe what just happened. Emma—Emma—my fucking roommate who I thought was just being friendly, just being a kind person by letting me live in her place for so cheap, was trying to kiss me.

That one time she brought that girl home and hooked up with her on the living room couch when she knew what time I’d get home. All those nights she pressured me to go out, to drink more, to “loosen up.” The cheap rent that seemed too good to be true.

It was too good to be true. Because it came with strings I never saw coming.

Tears spill over before I can stop them. I rejected her, which means I’m homeless. In a city where I know no one, with a jobthat’s barely paying enough to cover student loans, let alone first month’s rent and security deposits somewhere else.

I can’t believe this is happening.

Strong arms wrap around me from behind, and for a split second I panic—until I realize the person who saved me from Emma upstairs wasn’t some random club patron.

It’s Slater.

---