Page 8 of Promised Secret (Promises, Promises #3)

Chapter Five

DAN

“You boys heading out for a good time and didn’t even bother to invite me?”

Rosa glanced between Frederick and me. We’d both changed out of our work scrubs.

“You’re welcome to join the debauchery tonight if you can stand leaving your husband for a few hours,” I teased.

Rosa barked out a laugh. “Whatever you two have planned, I’d better get a full debrief tomorrow.”

She eyed my tight jeans and dress shirt that left nothing to the imagination. They emphasized the muscles I’d spent hours gaining in the gym with Clay.

“Damn, I didn’t know you polished up so good,” she commented, looking Frederick up and down.

He let out a tiny huff of air and crossed his beefy arms as if to hide himself from Rosa’s leering.

I couldn’t blame her.

Frederick normally dressed in casual clothes, but tonight, he went all out. His sapphire-blue shirt emphasized his pale blue eyes, and he left the top few buttons undone to reveal the splattering of tattoos across his chest.

Even with his usual stern expression, I doubted anyone would be scared off tonight. They’d surround him like bees attracted to their favorite flower.

“You boys are trouble,” Rosa said with a shake of her head. She packed up her things into her oversized purse and threw the bag over her shoulder.

Passing us, she smirked and said, “Be good now, you hear?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll cause all the trouble,” I called to her back.

She shook her head and chuckled as she left through the front door.

I turned to Frederick. “Should we head out too?”

“I’m still unsure if this is a good idea or not,” he grumbled.

I laughed and hooked an arm over his giant shoulders and guided us to my minivan.

When we got inside, I turned to him and said, “You told me running away hasn’t helped with your crush, and I don’t have that option. So, we can only try something else: finding a new love.”

“And you really think we’re going to find that at a shady club?” he asked, clearly doubting my stellar plan.

I gave him a smirk and shifted the car into Drive. “Well, we’re about to find out, aren’t we?”

I’d dated a lot—and I mean a lot—of people. Men, women, I wasn’t picky. But I never really tried to fall in love with any of them. It was horrible of me, but I simply used them as a means to an end.

That changed now. I was going to open my heart up to possibilities. I’d let a new love in and let go of the old one.

My confidence soared the entire ride out of Kither Springs, but it quickly evaporated when we parked outside the closest club located just outside the city limits.

It’d been a while since I last came here, and I remembered why that was. The place was packed. The parking lot was full. It was barely dinnertime, and groups of drunken people were already crowded together, laughing so loud I could hear them from inside the minivan.

It was a lot.

Frederick turned to me, his thoughts clear on his face. He didn’t even have to say anything for me to know this wasn’t his kind of scene. It wasn’t mine either, but maybe what we both needed was to get out of our comfort zones.

“We’re doing this,” I told him, and exited the driver’s seat before Frederick could argue.

The air felt hotter here, like the haze of booze and smoke from the patrons lingering outside suffocated the surrounding area.

I didn’t back down and strode toward the entrance. “I guess we’re really doing this,” Frederick muttered, not too far behind me.

“What’s the worst that can happen? We don’t find love and find a hook-up for the night instead? I don’t know about you, but I could definitely use a night to let loose.”

I vaguely heard him mutter under his breath, something about us ending up in a ditch, but I firmly chose to ignore that. We were both big dudes. We could take care of ourselves.

And, fine, the guy trying to push pills into our hands by the front door wasn’t the best start to the night, but I had confidence things would only look up from here.

It seemed the world was out to prove me wrong tonight, because as soon as we made it to the dance area, dozens of eyes landed on us.

“Why do I feel like I’m a piece of meat throwing myself at a pack of wolves?” Frederick leaned close to my ear and whisper-yelled. The music was so loud, yelling was the only way to communicate around here.

“You’re imagining it,” I called back and forced a smile, despite feeling exactly the same way.

Growing up in a small town, and even during college, I didn’t go to clubs often, so I couldn’t tell if these hungry, predatory gazes on us were normal.

I was used to looks of appreciation, but that wasn’t what this was. These men and women looked at us like we were shiny new objects, and they wanted to be the first ones to claim us.

I could practically feel their gaze following us to the bar, where we ordered some beers. Nothing too strong, because getting shit-faced tonight was not the plan. It was the middle of the week, and we both had work tomorrow.

“One hour, then we can call it a bust,” I called over my beer bottle.

“An hour’s way too generous. Thirty minutes tops,” he countered and chugged his beer, basically draining it in one gulp.

I did the same, wiped my lip with the back of my hand, and tossed the bottle back on the bar counter.

“Fine, but we’re dancing.” I grabbed his empty beer and placed it on the bar, too, before dragging him straight onto the dance floor.

His reluctance was made clear by the way he dragged his feet the entire way there. Let me tell you, trying to force a giant to move took a lot more effort than I wanted to admit.

“I don’t know how to dance,” Frederick yelled when I finally managed to drag him to the middle of the dance floor.

His voice was almost drowned out by the loud music that seemed amplified here.

The crowd split into a wave to let us through, the dozens of eyes still all locked in on us like they were waiting for the first person to make a move.

I tried to ignore them and pulled Frederick against me. My hands slithered around his hips. “Just do what feels natural.”

He frowned but tried to sway his hips to the beat of the music. His moves were all awkward thrusts and no rhythm, but he looked adorable in his attempts.

I swayed along with him for a few minutes, and more people joined us on the dance floor. I could tell Frederick was starting to loosen up. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as I led him into a spin.

“Can I have this dance?” a voice called out to Frederick when he’d stopped spinning.

The man was tiny—probably the same size as my friend Wren. His eyes flicked toward Frederick, red heating his cheeks as their eyes met, before he looked away.

He looked like the shy type, which surprised me that he’d come to a place like this, much less worked up the courage to ask Frederick for a dance.

My friend’s eyes bore into the twink’s body, and I saw a hint of something there. Appreciation, maybe? Whatever it was, Frederick was definitely interested in a dance, but something was stopping him.

He glanced at me, and I got a hint of what was holding him back. I beamed at him and handed his hand to the stranger.

“Have fun,” I told them and waved them off.

The smaller man seemed to have a boost in confidence from having his offer accepted and showed off his dance moves to Frederick, leading him around the dance floor. At first, Frederick seemed at a loss, but he managed to follow along, and dare I say, he looked like he was having fun, too.

It didn’t take long for someone to slide up against my back.

He didn’t have the manners to actually ask me to dance, but I was trying to keep an open mind.

Maybe the dude who was currently rubbing his hands all over my chest was actually a nice guy deep inside.

A bit forward, yes? But he could have a good heart.

And then he slid his hand down my chest, past my abs, and…nope. We were done here. I was all for a good time, but trying to grab my privates without consent was a hard limit.

I twisted around before the stranger could get his hands on my junk. He used the chance to grab my ass instead.

Go figure.

Before I could give the asshole a piece of my mind, the man who was trying to feel me up suddenly let out a groan, his hand pulled away from me.

“What the hell, man!” he shouted toward the person who’d grabbed his hand. And by the twisted expression on the stranger’s face, whoever came to my rescue had him in a death grip.

Sucks for him, but it worked out for me.

I spun around to thank my hero, only to be met with the one person I was not expecting to be there.

“Clay? What are you doing here?”