Incubus Dreams   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

But I didn’t have to find Ronnie, I damn near tripped over her leg when it shot out from underneath a drape. I thought I knew the leg, but I was sure of the voice. “I fell down, God, I’m drunk.” A man’s voice murmured, and I think he was helping her to her feet.

I fought the urge to knock and said, “Ronnie, is that you?” Though I knew it was, sometimes you just have to say the stupid shit.

Giggling was the only answer she offered. I took a deep breath and pulled the drape aside.

Ronnie was on her knees in the back of the booth. There was a flash of pale breasts, her shirt was up, and there was no bra in sight. A man was leaning over her breasts like he owned them. The dancers are allowed to touch, but not that much. If the management found out, he’d be booted out, or at least that was the theory.

“I’ll wait down the hallway,” Micah said.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Nathaniel took Owen by the arm and said, “I’ll look after Micah.”

I was left alone with my friend and her friend.

Ronnie giggled and drew him up for a kiss. I don’t think she realized that the curtain was open. If she’d been sober, I’d have turned on my heel and left her to it. She’s over twenty-one, but she was drunk and depressed and confused and my friend. So I moved a little into the booth, close enough that she could see me over his shoulder.

She smiled up at me. “Anita, why are you here?”

“You called me to give you a ride home, remember?”

She frowned up at me, as if to say, no, she didn’t remember.

The man who was on his knees in front of her turned and looked up at me. “You want to join us? I won’t charge extra.”

“I’ll just bet you won’t. Come on, Ronnie, let’s go home.”

“I don’t want to go home. Not yet. I just found Dallas. We’re having a private dance.”

“I see that,” I said, “but if you’d planned on doing private dancing, you shouldn’t have called me. I need to get to bed, and so do you.”

“But isn’t he cute?” She put her hands on either side of his face and turned him to face me again. Truthfully, he was okay, but the face wasn’t the show. He had the first body I’d seen since we got to the place that looked like a man’s body and not that of a preadolescent boy. He had broad shoulders, nice waist, hips, muscles in his arms and legs that showed he lifted weights. The tattoo on his arm was a Marine tattoo. What was an ex marine doing in a place like this?

“Yeah, he’s cute, now let’s go.” I reached for her arm.