Game On (22 page)

“Come on,” Johnny said, slapping Ryan on
the back. “Let’s head on up to the V.I.P. lounge. You can fill me in on what’s
happenin’ in the world of an uber-rich record exec.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “I really don’t want
a drink, John. I just came by to pick up the keys to your place, if that’s
okay? I know I said I was gonna go up on the weekend, but my plans kinda
changed. I’m thinkin’ I might head up tomorrow, check the place out.”

“Hell, it’s even better than the last time
you were there. I had the decks and dock re-built last summer. A new gazebo and
hot tub the year before. If I could make better use of it, I’d keep the place
for myself, but it seems like a waste when I can only get up there once or
twice a year, ya know?” He removed the velvet rope cordoning the elevated V.I.P.
lounge off from the rest of the club.

Ryan tried to ignore the beautiful women
giving well-dressed older men lap dances. He wasn’t a saint. He’d indulged a
time or two himself after a few too many drinks. Hell, he’d even taken a dancer
home once or twice, so who was he to judge? But tonight, with Brianna at the
forefront of his mind, this was the last place he wanted to be.

Johnny beckoned to one of the waitresses.
“Give us two J.D. on the rocks, sweetheart,” he said, giving a lascivious grin
when she bent to give him a nice view of the ample cleavage spilling out of the
skimpy uniform he had no doubt chosen. John often dated the women in his
employ, and they all seemed to accept the arrangement without question.

It made Ryan sick to think he hadn’t been
so different from his friend until a few months ago. Partying, drinking too
much, mixing it up with women who knew the rules. How had he ever convinced
himself that he was happy living that life?

Sighing, he asked, “Don’t you ever get
tired of this, John? Don’t you ever wish you had a good woman to go home to, a
nice house in the ‘burbs, a couple of kids?”

Johnny threw his head back and laughed. “A
nice
girl
wouldn’t come within ten feet of me, we both know that.”

That was the problem, Ryan thought. Brianna
was too kind, too decent to waste her time on a guy like him.

“Hey, what’s got you in such a mood
tonight?” Johnny asked, nudging his friend in the arm. “You need to get laid,
or what?”

He wondered if taking Brianna up on her
offer would have changed anything between them. He doubted it. If anything, it
would have made it harder to let her go. “Man, I’m messed up,” he said,
scraping his hands over his face. He nodded in acknowledgement when the
waitress set their drinks down on the small round table in front of them. “This
thing with Bri…”

Johnny laughed. “I knew it wouldn’t be long
before she started givin’ you grief. Man, that chick’s a ball buster.”

Ryan’s hands curled into fists. “Watch your
mouth,” Ryan said between gritted teeth. He knew starting something with the
man in his own club, where he had an army of guards to protect him, was a bad
idea, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t tempted. Physical violence may not solve
his problems, but it would help relieve some of the tension he was feeling.

Johnny raised his hands as he glanced at
Ryan’s clenched fists. “Relax, man, I meant no disrespect. She’s hotter than
hell. Why do you think I tried to get with her so many times back in the day?”

“She was and still is way the hell out of
your league. Hell, I think she’s out of my league.” It killed Ryan to admit
he’d made more mistakes than he could expect a woman like Brianna to forgive.
She chose her lovers carefully, and sex, in her mind, wasn’t something to be
taken lightly.

Johnny laughed. “She was probably the one
girl I couldn’t get my hands on. It damn near drove me crazy.”

“Why didn’t you ever say anything to me
about her?”

“I knew you guys were friends.” He
shrugged. “I didn’t know how you’d feel about it.”

“I wouldn’t have liked it.” Ryan threw the
shot back, and before he knew it, a fresh one sat on the table in front of him.
He pushed the full glass away. “I shouldn’t. I gotta drive home.”

“No, you don’t. I’ve got some rooms
upstairs.” He smiled. “You remember, for our V.I.P.s and their favorite girls.”

Ryan remembered the rooms too well, but
he’d never stayed there alone. “I don’t think so.”

“Come on, you look like you could use a few
drinks to take the edge off, man. No harm, no foul.”

Ryan was tired of over-thinking his
situation with Brianna. For just one night, he wanted a reprieve from the
obsessive thoughts circling around inside his head, tormenting him. Throwing
another drink back, he winced at the slight burn that followed. “Maybe you’re
right.”

Johnny crooked a finger at their waitress.
“Just bring the bottle over here, sweetheart. My friend’s little lady is givin’
him grief. He needs to forget his problems for a while.”

She set a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “I know
what that’s like.”

Ryan felt the alcohol begin to take effect
and he welcomed the opportunity to escape his problems for a while.

Their waitress was beautiful, but his mouth
was still infused with Brianna’s sweet flavor and he knew any other woman would
taste rancid by comparison. Not that he would even consider taking another
woman to bed. No matter how much it had hurt to face some hard truths about
their relationship tonight, he was still in love with Bri.

Johnny shot him a look out of the corner of
his eye. “So you’re gonna give up on this stupid fantasy with Bri and move on
to someone who’s more your speed, or what?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Like I said, she was the one girl I always
wanted, but could never have. A guy doesn’t want to think one of best buddies
is gettin’ the girl who should have been his.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “You didn’t have a
chance in hell of gettin’ Bri and we both know that. She’s too smart, too
classy for you.” He didn’t care that his words may have pierced his friend’s
ego. He felt it was the least he deserved for the inappropriate comments he’d
made about Brianna earlier.

“That’s ‘cause you were always talkin’ me
down to her. You made her think I was some sleazy player, only out for a good
time.”

Ryan chuckled as the waitress set the
bottle on the table. “You were, but then, so was I.”

“Are you tellin’ me you changed, just for
her?”

“Yeah.”

“What makes you think I couldn’t have
changed if she’d given me a half a chance? If you hadn’t interfered, talkin’
trash about me, maybe
we
woulda been together today.”

Ryan tried to figure out whether he was
serious, but when he concluded the alcohol had already stripped him of his
ability to reason, he poured another drink. In for a pound… His cell phone rang
and Brianna’s name flashed across the screen. “Shit, it’s her.”

Johnny raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t ya gonna
answer it?”

“I’m not sure I’m ready to talk to her.”

“Hell, I got no problem talkin’ to her.” He
grabbed for the phone before Ryan could stop him. “Hey, gorgeous,” he said
after connecting the call. “Long time, no talk.” He turned up the volume and connected
the speakerphone while Ryan glared at him.

“Who is this?” she demanded. “Where’s
Ryan?”

“I’m right here,” Ryan said, sensing his
evening was about to go from bad to worse.

“Where are you?” she asked.

Johnny snapped an imaginary whip and made a
thrashing sound as he grinned. “He’s at my place. Why don’t you come by for a
drink? I’d love to see you again, baby doll.”

“Shut up, asshole,” Ryan muttered.

“Is that you, Johnny?” She sighed. “Real
nice, Ry. We have a disagreement and the first place you think to go is a strip
joint? Maybe I was right not to trust you.”

Her lack of faith in him still stung,
especially when he’d done nothing to earn it. He’d barely glanced at the
dancers since he walked in. “I didn’t come here for the girls. I came here to
get the keys for Johnny’s place.”

“Really? It sounds to me like you’re
already half in the bag.”

Ryan couldn’t deny he was well on his way.
“What the hell’s it to you how much I have to drink?” He knew he was being
harsh, but the censor filtering his thoughts was already drowning in alcohol.
“I’m not your problem anymore.”

Johnny poured him another drink and Ryan
brought the glass to his lips.

“Ryan, we need to talk. Why don’t I stop by
and pick you up? We can come back to my place and…”

“No!” He swiped a hand across his mouth.
“I’m not interested in talkin’ about this anymore. I know where you stand.
There’s nothing more to say.” He reached for the phone and disconnected the
call. Turning it off, he slipped it into his pocket with a curse. “Just when I
thought it couldn’t get any worse.”

“Relax, she’ll cool off.”

“No, she won’t,” Ryan said, downing another
shot. He hadn’t pounded the drinks back this fast in almost a year and he knew
he’d pay for it in the morning, but tonight, he couldn’t summon the energy to
care about consequences. Not when it felt like everything that meant anything
to him was slipping through his fingers. He slammed his fist into the table
top. “Damn it, we were so close.”

“Man, you need to forget about her,” Johnny
said, curling his hand around Ryan’s shoulder. “It’s not worth the aggravation.
Why do you think I’m still single?”

“You think it’s that easy to put her out of
my mind?” He pinched the bridge of his nose and winced when his stomach roiled.
“If it was, I would’ve done it by now. It’s like she’s inside my head, under my
skin…” He knew he wasn’t making sense, but he couldn’t describe the way she
made him feel, except to say, “She’s the only woman I’ve ever wanted like this.
It’s makin’ me crazy.”

“Listen, why don’t you go upstairs and
sleep it off? In the mornin’, you can grab a shower, we’ll have some breakfast,
and you can head on up to my place. It’ll do you some good to go up there and
clear your head.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Ryan said, closing
his eyes.

“You know I am,” Johnny said, beckoning to
the waitress who’d served them earlier. “Natasha, my buddy here is gonna be crashin’
upstairs. Can you show him to the room at the end of the hall?” He put his arm
around her shoulder, drawing her closer so he could whisper something in her
ear.

A slow smile spread across her face as she
glanced at Ryan. “My pleasure, boss.”

Johnny dropped the keys into her hand.
“Remember what I said. I expect you to take good care of my friend here.” He
turned to Ryan. “You’ll thank me for this later, Ry.”

Ryan didn’t know what he was talking about,
and he didn’t care. He just wanted a bed so he could close his eyes and slip
into oblivion for a while.

Ryan staggered up the back stairs, holding
on to the railing for support. He was disappointed in himself for overindulging
in alcohol. He knew it wasn’t going to solve his problems. It wasn’t even
giving him the reprieve he’d hoped for. Brianna’s words filtered in and out of
his head, making him question the future he’d been planning with her.

“Easy,” Natasha said, laughing as she
slipped an arm around his waist and wrapped his free arm around her shoulder.
“So my boss tells me you’re Ryan Spencer, the owner of Titan Records.” She
whistled under her breath. “Very impressive.”

“One of the owners,” he muttered. He didn’t
like discussing his business interests with women. Once they learned who he was,
they pulled out all the stops, hoping to score the big prize. That was the
reason he’d always been so diligent about using protection when he was single,
because he didn’t want an unplanned pregnancy complicating his life. Hell,
after his conversation with Brianna tonight, he suspected she would insist he
was
still
single.

“So, you got a girlfriend?” Natasha asked.
She glanced at his left hand. “I don’t see a wedding ring. Of course, that
doesn’t mean anything these days.”

“Yeah, I got a girlfriend.” He leaned against
the wall, closing his eyes as she fit the key into the lock. “But we had a
fight tonight.”

“You wanna talk about it?” she asked.

Ryan opened one eye to look at her. She
looked genuinely interested, so he said, “My past is makin’ it tough for her to
trust me.” He scowled when he slurred his words. He hated feeling so helpless. He
hadn’t been in this condition in a long time, and it made him wonder how he
could have spent so many nights in this sorry state.

“Come on,” she said, reaching for his hand.
“Let me help you get settled in.”

“That’s okay,” he said, stumbling when he
tried to withdraw his hand. “I can take it from here.”

She smiled. “My boss gave me strict
instructions to take very good care of you.” She closed the door behind them
and helped him remove his jacket. “And I always follow orders.”

Ryan wanted to protest when she reached for
the buttons on his shirt, but his tongue felt thick, like his mouth was filled
with cotton.