“Why do I let you talk me into these things?” I ask Sophie as she passes the line in front of the building. “Also, remind me how you have an in here, since you aren’t exactly their ideal clientele.” I smile at the men in line who are looking me up and down as I jog in heels to catch up to my friend.

“My cousin bartends. He’s putting us on the list. Plus, we need a fun night out without dealing with a bunch of assholes thinking a five-dollar drink gets them in our bed.”

“You know one of the assholes might end up being Mr. Sophie one day.”

She huffs. “From your mouth to Satan’s ears. I will not be meeting my HEA in a bar, thank you very much.”

Sophie believes she’ll meet her future husband at the supermarket as they both reach for an apple, or they’ll be seated next to one another in the last two available seats at a movie. She wants the movie romance, the perfect story that will be told to generations of great-grandchildren five hundred years from now.

She stops in front of the bouncer, who’s looking down skeptically at us. Yes, we’re the chicks who think they deserve VIP access.

“Can I help you?” the bouncer asks, muscles bulging out of his t-shirt, his jeans moulded to his strong thighs.

“Sophie Kingsman.” She rises to her tiptoes to stare down at the clipboard in his hand. The girl should be an actress, not a reporter.

The blond man stares down at us, obviously still confused to why we would be on a VIP list of the hottest gay bar in the city.

Sophie pushes out her breasts and the man definitely notices, but his face remains unreadable.

“Kingsman, huh?” he asks, his eyes not diverting away from Sophie.

“Yes. My cousin is Drew.”

Sophie can work almost any man into a frenzy and she’s pulling out all the moves tonight. Her recently whitened teeth bite down on her lower lip and her innocent eyes flutter and I can’t help but wonder why she’s trying so hard when we’re supposed to be on the list.

He glances down at his clipboard, his lips curling into a smile. “Kingsman.” He nods and reaches for the latch of the rope. “Come on.” He glances at the line where a bunch of patrons voice their displeasure about him letting a couple girls in.

“Wasted space, man,” someone yells.

Sophie saunters through, blowing a kiss to the guys in line while I follow behind.

“I’ll come find you when I’m off.” The bouncer’s big hand lands on her hip, pulling her to him. Clearly the man working the door of the gay bar does not need to be gay himself.

“I’ll be waiting.” She tilts her head, allowing her hair to brush his arm. She’s so evil.

Then we’re through the door and my eyes are met with an abundance of bare chests.

“Why is it that gay men always have the best bodies?” I say, taking in the insane number of six-packs in the place.

“Don’t you just want to touch and lick?” Sophie responds, running her hand down a guy’s sweaty chest. He winks at her playfully, enjoying the attention.

“I don’t think you’re their type,” I remind her and she laughs all the way to the bar.

The line is three deep, but Sophie’s never been one to abide by the rules, so we slide and weave through the bodies, my face heating with each step.

“Drew!” she screams.

So she does know a Drew here.

She jumps up, her hand high in the air, but in a sea of men, most well over her short stature even with heels, she’s got no chance.

“Scream for him,” she tells me. My shoulders slump.

“I’m only a few inches taller than you.”

“Then prop me on your shoulders.” She tries to turn me around.

“Not happening. Let’s just wait.” I grip my purse in front of my body.

“We’re women. Women don’t wait for drinks.” Sophie continues to hop up and down on her tiptoes.

“In this bar, we do.” I smile over to the guy beside me who’s watching us with an amused expression. He smiles back.

“Best friend?” He leans in close to ask me.

I nod, the music pounding throughout the space.

“You’re the quiet one, she’s the loud one, I’m guessing?”

The guy is shirtless with a slight gut, nothing I’d complain about, but given the washboard abs surrounding me, if I were him I’d feel self-conscious. His jeans are slung low with the waistband of his underwear peeking out. He might not be as young and good-looking as some of the other men, but if he was straight, I’d give him a second look.

“Did the fact that I’m hanging back while my friend offends everyone possible tip you off?” I chuckle.

He leans in again, the smell of cologne and sweat permeating my nose. “We’ve something in common.” He points to a guy two people away from Sophie with his hand raised, calling for Drew.

“Drew gets around,” I say over the music.

The guy wraps his arm around my shoulders and to not offend my new friend, I keep the fact his sweaty arm might be staining my dress to myself. “More than you know. I’m Jack. Let’s dance.”

“I need to wait for my friend.”

He looks in Sophie’s direction. “Cade!” he screams and the guy he pointed out earlier turns in our direction. “Watch the girl.” He points.

Cade nods and then slides past the two bodies and cozies up to Sophie. She shoos him away, probably telling him to get behind her, but right as Jack is swiveling me around, I see Sophie start laughing.

On the way to the dance floor, Jack sees someone he knows and veers off toward a table, grabbing some guy’s ass once we reach it. Not sure I blame him. It does look awfully nice in his jeans.

The man turns to find the culprit, shaking his head at Jack and pushing him gently in the chest. Then his eyes move in my direction. His gaze runs up and down my body, but not in a way that suggests that he’s checking me out, more in an is-there-a-vagina-under-that-dress-or-are-you-a-drag-queen kind of way. He points over in my direction.

“Who’s your friend?” he asks Jack, his eyes never leaving mine.

“I don’t even know, but she looked lost and you know how much of a lover I am.” Jack laughs.

“Don’t I,” the other guy says, his gaze remaining on me.

“Teegan.” I place my hand in his.

He shakes it and I catch an amused expression on his face. “Oscar. Oscar Reyes. Do you want a drink?” He grabs a bottle from the middle of the table.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you though.” I smile so I don’t offend him, but no way am I taking a drink from an open bottle, even if gay men surround me.

“Suit yourself.” He shrugs and pours more of what I think is champagne in his glass.

“Did you get stood up again?” Jack asks Oscar, reaching for the champagne and drinking straight from the bottle.

“No.” Oscar’s eyes light up. “He finally showed this time.”

“I told you. You were so worried,” Jack says and the two of them continue having a conversation, as I stand by like an outsider. Jack looks around and I want to raise my hand and say, I’m here—the woman you stole from the bar to dance with, only to have a conversation with someone as I stand here like an idiot—but he looks past me. “Wait. Where is he?”

Oscar laughs. “Had to take a phone call outside.”

Jack cringes. “I hope he comes back.” Then the DJ blends the music into a new song and Jack’s eyes light up. He grabs my hand and yanks me toward the dance floor.

“Hold up.” I dislodge from Jack’s hold. “Do you mind if I leave my purse here? I’ll be right back.”

My eyes must plead enough for me because Oscar nods. “You’re paying for the next round.” He smiles.

“Definitely.” Then Jack picks me up around the waist and his sweat soaks the back of my dress.

Hello, dry-cleaning bill.

Out on the dance floor, Jack has moves and he shoos plenty of men away in order to twirl me around the floor. His sole attention is on me and not for the purpose of trying to pick me up, but just because we’re having fun. Now I realize why Sophie wanted to come here tonight. We’re able to have fun here with no expectations.

Three songs later, I’m the one hugging Jack and allowing his sweat to ruin my outfit. It doesn’t matter because I’m probably just as bad at this point. My hair is now stringy and wet. Seriously, do they have the heat on in here? Now I understand why there’s so many bare chests in here.

“Drink!” Jack yells.

He pulls me by the hand, dragging me through the crowd until we reach the table. Thankfully, Sophie’s there, tucked in the middle of a booth with Cade, right next to Oscar’s table, the two of them laughing. I slide in next to her, finding my purse at her side.

“Oh, good, Oscar gave it to you?”

She shoots me a fleeting look, crinkling her forehead, and focuses on Cade once more.

I dig through my purse, finding a hair tie and pull my hair up off my neck, securing it up on top of my head. I’m not even sure why I did my hair to begin with.

Jack grabs a bottle of water from the table, downing half of it, and then sliding another one my way.

“Thanks.” I gasp for breath, twisting the plastic cap off and letting the cold water pour down my throat.

“You looked amazing out there,” Sophie says and wraps her arm around my shoulders.

Cade’s tongue is now halfway down Jack’s throat.

“Thanks. I needed this. Needed to get him off my mind.” I rest my head on her shoulder.

“Well, the night is young. But I’m surprised you left your purse on the table with some guy you don’t even know.”

“What can I say? I guess you’re rubbing off on me.” Truth is I always keep my ID tucked into my bra and I only brought a little bit of money, so even if it did go missing it wouldn’t have been the end of the world.

She giggles and hip-checks me to slide out of the booth. “Let’s go dance again.”

I look around. “There’s no one to watch my purse.”

“I told you not to bring it.”

I roll my eyes. She’ll be asking to borrow my lipstick later on when she’s freshening up and then she’ll be glad I brought my purse.

She giggles again. Cade and Jack are already on their way to the dance floor.

“Where’s the guy from before? Oscar?”

She looks around. “He said he was going to see if his friend got lost.”

“You go then. And as soon as he returns I’ll go. We probably don’t want to lose the booth anyway.”

Sophie looks at the wall-to-wall people in the place. “You’re right. Okay, two songs max and I’ll be back.” She chews on the inside of her cheek. “I hate to leave you alone.”

“She won’t be,” a deep voice says.

I glance past Sophie and wish the smile would leave my face because it makes him smile and he looks so damn good when he smiles. Although I shouldn’t be surprised to find him here, I wish he wasn’t.