Oliver set his plate on the coffee table and glanced away from the TV. “What about you? Plans?”
Ari also pushed her plate aside and pulled her knees to her chest. She casually confessed, “Rebecca thinks Nick is going to ask me out to dinner.”
“Did he?”
Ari leaned back against the couch. “No, but I would have said no if he did. It was a long day and I’d rather be here.”
Oliver snorted. “Yeah, good try. He’s okay, though. I never heard any bad stories about him.”
Oliver and Nick had been classmates in law school, although the only thing Oliver could tell her was that Nick was a top student and good at basketball. Typical Oliver with the complete lack of details.
“I suggested getting together this weekend, but I don’t know. Even though I worked at my desk all afternoon, I’m still behind.”
They cleaned up from dinner and Oliver got out his briefcase and began working on some files in front of the television. Ari paced a bit, bored and antsy. All the drama from the day had taken its toll. No way could she get to sleep anytime soon. Half her dreams involved finding a client dead, the other, monotonous cycles of running through the courthouse trying to find the right room, afraid she was late. A year before, she and Oliver would have been out at that hour, drinking or dancing even though it was a work night. But he wanted a promotion and spent a lot of extra time working for it.
“You know, I think I may go to the gym before it gets too late,” Ari said. She’d joined the 24-hour one due to her erratic schedule.
“Now?” Oliver didn’t even look up from his paperwork.
“Yeah, I need to work off some of this stress.”
Ari went to her room and grabbed her gym bag. She stuffed it with everything she needed—combat boots, cargo pants and a black tank. She could work this stress out at the gym, or she could work it out on the dance floor.
“Be careful,” Oliver said.
“I will,” she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Don’t wait up.”
***
Ari changed in the backseat of her car in the club parking lot. Once she was inside and had a drink in her system, she immediately felt better. Glorious, a dance club deep in the industrial district, had been their favorite hangout before she and Oliver “grew up.” She still loved the way the loud, thumping music echoed against the warehouse walls, vibrating into her skin. It was just what she needed. Mind-numbing music to take the insanity of the day away.
It wasn’t the first time she’d snuck out on Oliver looking for a release. He had no idea she came here alone at night, and she was sure he’d be shocked to find out. All she wanted was some time alone with the loud music and to work up a good sweat. Better than jogging on a treadmill for an hour.
“Hey girl, wanna dance?”
“Can I buy you a drink?”
“Looking for something? Someone? Me?”
The pickup lines came and Ari skirted past them all, smiling at the guys, but kept her eyes jaded. That’s not what she came for. At least not on purpose.
The only offer she entertained was a dance. Of her choosing. They had to already be on the dance floor. Feeling the music on their own. Male or female. It didn’t matter. All she wanted was a dance partner, maybe the heat of skin next to hers.
The energy shift on the floor was fast, the hip-hop music turning decidedly rap. She looked over her shoulder and saw a guy doing a handstand, challenging gravity in some kind of breakdance move.
“What’s this?” she yelled at the girl next to her. “Break dancing?”
“Kind of,” she said. “It’s this parkour thing? Freerunning.You know, the flips and stuff?”
Ari had seen it before—on the Internet. Crazy guys leaping from rooftops and taking backflips off subway walls.
“There’s a group of guys that do it here in the city. Occasionally, they show up in clubs like this.” Both women watched as another guy joined in doing a series of choreographed back handsprings. “They’re hot right?”
Ari snorted. Hot was an understatement. The strength required to do the tricks was obvious, as were the muscles under their shirts. “Holy crap,” Ari said, seeing the tight stomach on one of the guys peeking out from under his shirt. He flipped from his back to an upright position and his dark eyes met hers.
The song ended and the guys were swallowed into the crowed. Ari tried to find them, any of them, but there were too many people clogging up the dance floor. She checked her watch and saw it was near one. She needed to go soon so she wouldn’t be a zombie at work the next day, but she’d just started to relax.