Page 28 of Come in with the Rain
“But look,” Dani says, “Adam is quite literally the best guy I know.”
I finally see a true softness in her eyes, but now I’m pretty sure she has the wrong idea. “Adam and I aren’t—”
Just then, the lights in the building dim, and a cheer spreads through the room like a gentle ocean wave. A spotlight appears above the ring, and the crowd seems to shift, everyone taking a step closer.
“Come on.” Dani grabs my hand again, and I try not to slosh my drink as we move back to the other side of the bar and push our way to the front of the crowd. “Stay here!” Dani shouts in my ear and then vanishes before Ford swings himself between the ropes and into the ring.
The cheer this time is shrill. Ford grins out at everyone, so very clearly loving the attention. After a moment where he’s just standing there, smiling with his perfect teeth and his hair pulled back into a low bun, he puts his hands up to calm the crowd.
“Hello, everyone, and thank you so much for joining us tonight. I’m Ford. Welcome to my home, the apple of my eye, the epitome of my soul, Berserkr Gym.” There’s another round of applause, and I awkwardly attempt to clap with my drink still in my hand.
When the applause dies down, Ford goes on. “When I left the marines, I thought I had nothing to offer the world. I thought I had nothing left inside me at all. And then someone reminded me that I had something valuable to share. I had an extensive knowledge on how to be strong, how to fight, how to defend myself, and I didn’t know how much this corner of Baltimore needed that. If everyone could give my buddy, Adam, a round of applause, please.”
I can’t see Adam, only know he’s there by the way Ford gestures down at the ground by his side. Even on my tiptoes, he’s blocked by a corner of the boxing ring.
“And, of course, I am only half of this operation. My better half, my business partner, Danika, organized this event, so you have her to thank for what you’re about to be a part of.”
Another round of applause.
“Now, before we begin, I’d like to affirm that this auction is all in good fun. If you win an evening out with one of these lucky men, it doesn’t give you any ownership over them. I expect everyone involved to be kind and consenting.”
There’s a small laugh, but only because Ford pulls a silly face before hopping out of the ring. From somewhere in the distance, Dani’s voice sounds through a speaker system. “Is everyone ready for the fun to begin?” There’s a very long and loud cheer. “For our very first specimen: please give it up for Julian Howard!” Without warning, a broad-chested man climbs up into the ring, almost as tall as Ford and just as massive.
“Julian Howard,” Dani goes on in that sultry voice of hers, “is a volunteer firefighter for the Baltimore Fire Department.”
Julian cups his hands around his mouth and shouts, “Station Fourteen!”
Someone in the crowd shouts back, “Station Fourteen!”
Dani’s breathy laugh covers the room. “Julian has two cats, two dogs, and two ex-wives. You gotta love a man who’s consistent. He loves sushi, stouts, and his grandmother, Lois. The bidding will begin at one hundred dollars!”
There are immediate shouts from the crowd, the bidding quickly climbing up to four hundred dollars with Dani’s stealthy guidance.
I watch as another man is brought up, who Dani introduces as Clark. He is an impressively built veterinarian with an adorably crooked smile, and by the time a very enthusiastic woman has paid six hundred fifty dollars for the chance to buy him dinner and win over his gentle heart, I’ve run out of drink and have headed back to the bar for another. Only, once I get there, I realize an Old Fashioned won’t be enough, and I order a double of bourbon instead. Another man is brought into the ring.
The bartender barely glances at me as he drops my drink in front of me. I’m not as captivating as Danika, it would seem.
“How much?” I shout over Dani’s voice introducing the new man.
The bartender finally stops and regards me. After looking at so many of these large, muscled men, he seems sort ofaverage.Maybe that’s why Dani didn’t look twice at him. “You’re with Dani, right?”
I nod. I mean, I guess so? I’m with Adam, which means I’m basically with Ford and Dani, too.
“On the house.” He’s moving before I have a chance to ask him if he’s serious. Isn’t it bad enough that I’m taking up space when I don’t have money to donate to the gym? Now I’m not even paying for drinks?
I take my bourbon and have swallowed half of it by the time I hear Dani say into the microphone, “Our next man for bid is our very own best friend, Adam Lake!”
I spin around in time to watch Adam bend between the ropes and straighten inside the ring. Even with his shirt on, I can see the shape of every one of his chest muscles. I take another long swallow of my bourbon.
“Adam Lake is an ex-Marine. He owns his own home repair business, he can bench press three hundred pounds, and he has a heart of gold. Not to mention, he’s single.”
Wolf whistles abound, and my stomach tightens. I feel like the room has shifted slightly, tilting up at an angle that has me losing my feet. I suddenly remember the smell of his sheets, the feel of his bare chest under my hands, the curve of his lips around the head of a bottle, and I’m flooded with heat, from my cheeks all the way down to my knees.
I reach back and grip the bar, and as Dani starts the bidding, Adam’s gaze moves across the room, and I wonder if he can see faces with that light in his eyes, a question that’s immediately answered when his gaze stops on me. I feel his gaze like lightning through my gut. Everything in my body goes tight, and in the ring, Adam’s hands clench into fists.
Holy shit.
Since I met Adam, he’s been a small flame, like something at the tip of a candle wick. But now, it’s like someone set my house on fire, and Iwanthim, ferociously.
