“Go pop some more pills, asshole.”
He clipped Cade with his shoulder as he passed and snarled, “Enjoy the lousy lay, man.”
“Son of a—”
I inhaled and curled my hands into fists. I went after him, but Cade’s arms wrapped around my middle and took me captive. He held me back until Mace was long gone and my breathing was under control. As angry as I was, and as much as I wanted to follow Mace down the stairs and give him a swift kick to the junk, part of me was also thankful. I felt like a bird loosed from a cage.
I faced Cade, and he looked even more enraged than I had been.
That guy had the self-control of a saint.
I smiled and said, “How about you show me those dance moves after all?”
I was free. Time to fly.
25
Cade
I was torn.
Part of me wanted to tell her it wasn’t a good idea, that she should take the night to cool off and think. Another part of me was already thinking of how she would look on the dance floor. And then in the back of my mind was the tempting thought that I should take her into her apartment and prove that she was anything but boring.
As usual, the responsible choice won out.
“Max . . . it’s been a long day. Are you sure you don’t want to do something a little less—”
She cut me off. “I want to dance, Golden Boy. I can do that with or without you.” She turned that killer pout on me and added, “Though being alone really isn’t the safest option.” She batted her eyes and smiled. She already knew she’d won.
“When I blow your mind with my dance moves, I expect an apology.”
She grabbed my hand and pulled me down the stairs after her. “We’ll see who blows whose mind.”
We hailed a cab and headed north, into my area of the city. We pulled up outside what looked like an abandoned warehouse in a less than stellar neighborhood. I should know because it was mine. I’d passed by this place numerous times and just figured it was probably abandoned and filled with homeless people.
I asked her, “Did you want to dance or get murdered?”
I paid the cabbie and slid out of the car. Max grabbed my hand and started tugging me toward the warehouse.
“Relax, Golden Boy. I think you’ll like this place.”
I liked her. Too much for my own good.
I could feel the vibrations from the music before we even entered the building. It didn’t look like your typical club. There were couches and artwork painted onto the walls that made it feel like a cross between a friend’s apartment and a graffitied street corner. A lot of buildings around the city were covered in murals that spanned multiple stories. There was similar art on the walls here, but it was smaller, and up close you could see all the detail work.
Max said, “Welcome to the Garage.”
This place pulsed with the same vibrancy that bled from Max’s every word and movement. It matched her. So yeah, she was right. I liked it.
It didn’t feel like normal clubs that were packed tight and reeked of sweat with modern, upscale fixtures. This place had a heartbeat all its own. It had soul.
I turned my eyes back to one of the murals on the wall. It was all black and white and showed people singing and others dancing. It was simple, no color, no frills. But it was beautiful.
Max leaned up to my ear. “My boss at the tattoo parlor did that back when this place opened. He’s also the one that did this.”
Tattoo parlor. That explained the abundance of art on her body.
She pulled the neck of her shirt down to reveal smooth skin, tattooed branches, and enough cleavage to make my mouth go dry.
“Lucky guy.”
Someone shouted Max’s name, and I turned to see her jogging over to one of the bartenders. When I caught up he was saying, “Sorry I missed the show tonight, but . . .” He held up the drink he was mixing and shrugged.
“It was a good one,” I said,
Max beamed, and the bartender looked between us like he didn’t quite understand how we fit together.
His eyebrows were still halfway up his forehead when he said, “I’ll try and make the next one. You kids have a good night.” He poured us two shots on the house, and then turned to the people next to us for their order. Max used her elbows to heft herself up on the bar and gave him a smacking kiss on his cheek. She didn’t look like a girl who’d just broken up with her boyfriend.
At the moment though, her long legs had my full attention. She looked over her shoulder and caught me staring. As she slid down off the bar, she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, her smile only widened.
“You ready to be amazed, Angry Girl?”