Freedom (The F-Word #5) - E. Davies Page 0,1

not quite sure what had come over him. But he couldn’t stand the thought of someone talking to Spence like that when he’d been nice enough to coax Jaden out of his shell tonight. So he wouldn’t let anyone talk to this guy that way, either.

“H-Hey. He’s okay. Leave him be.”

The guys who were addressing him rolled their eyes. “Sure, stand up for him. But don’t call us when he breaks your heart,” one of them muttered. The other man caught Jaden’s eye for a moment and smiled at him. Then he said something to his straight friend and headed to the bar.

Jaden blushed at the brief eye contact, suddenly hot under the collar for more than one reason. He rolled his eyes and sat down again, still a little shaky. He could hardly believe he’d actually had the nerve to speak up there.

But if someone had spoken up when he’d most needed it…

“Thanks for that. Can I take this?” The guy he’d helped nodded at the empty chair. “I saw your, um… the other guy walking away, and you looked a little upset. Lover’s spat?”

Something about this man seemed trustworthy. He had a short beard obscuring a squared jawline, and a warm glow in his eyes. He looked sympathetic, even concerned, not oily and flirtatious. He wasn’t hitting on him.

Jaden relaxed and nodded. “Brothers. He’s my big bro. He’s straight, too. He just dragged me to this raffle.” There were five dates altogether being raffled off, and he tried to reassure himself that he wouldn’t actually win any of them.

“Oh!” The stranger cast a bemused glance between the two of them, and then smiled. “So he’s just keeping you company?”

“Yes, because he’s a great brother,” Jaden muttered, rolling his eyes. If he could get his stomach to stop jumping through itself like a game of cat’s cradle, he might even think the guy was cute. But he so wasn’t Jaden’s type. Then again, it wasn’t like Jaden had had a type for the past few years.

“To get you a date?”

“No, to audition as a go-go boy.” Oops. That came out a bit more sarcastic than he’d meant. Jaden gave him an apologetic smile. “Uh, yeah. Sorry.”

The stranger didn’t take it hard, though. “Trip,” he introduced himself. “I’m here with a coworker. Same deal. He wanted to say hi, but he was worried that your brother over there was your boyfriend. I was coming over to snoop on you.” He gave an unrepentant grin.

Jaden blinked with surprise and then shook his head. “Well, I’m not dating anyone. I’ll go on one date—if I win the date—and that’s it. Back to my apartment and peace and quiet.”

Trip coughed into his fist. “Right,” he said, his eyes glimmering with amusement. “I see your brother scored drinks. Thanks for the rescue there. Good luck tonight.”

As he walked off, Jaden tried to watch him to see if the handsome guy had come back. Not that he was interested. Just for the sake of curiosity.

“Hey! Just about to start,” Spence declared loudly in his ear, making him lose track of the big guy. Damn it.

Spence set down four drinks. When Jaden stared, he grinned. “Three guys tried to buy me a drink, and I wasn’t going to say no. One of them kissed me and his stubble exfoliated my nose. Not sure I should use the bathroom in the next hour, or I might have company. So, any idea what you want me to bid on?”

Jaden snorted with laughter. Spence’s relentless cheerfulness kept him briefly distracted. “I told you—”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t waste your money, you said. Except it all goes to charity, so it’s not a waste. Come on. Don’t make me choose a raffle box for you.”

Jaden groaned and stood up. “I’m too anxious to do this.” Any of the dates being raffled off sounded like too much for him. The Heart2Heart charity could keep his money and he’d just leave.

“Hey, man.” Spence pressed on his shoulder gently. “If you really hate it, we can go. But I think you can do this. You might not even win. If you do, it’s just one date. And if you hate it, you never have to do it again,” he added.

Jaden sighed. “Okay,” he finally murmured. “Fine. Pick something for me.”

Spence had a certain impish grin on his face. “Will do! Drink up!”

Boy, Jaden hoped he didn’t regret it.

His regrets came home to roost only two hours later.

“And moving on to our final prize! Oh, this