Heights 6

Dylan passed through a red light without slowing down and said, “You did good today.”

He was driving kinda fast, making me nervous, not a whole lot, but a little. I smiled, the wind blowing in my face. “Thanks. So did you.”

Dylan shrugged nonchalantly, “I always do.” He turned and looked at me. Even in the dim light, his spellbinding eyes were noticeable. “But you impressed me. That rarely ever happens.”

Two emotions ran through me like two cars driving down parallel roads. On one side I felt exhilarated, proud of myself for going through the photo shoot and I feeling that I did really well…and the other part of me that guilty for not answering Bryan’s call. He could’ve had something important to say to me, and instead of talking to him I continued to make out with Dylan, the two of us dressed only in our underwear, until our mouths were too dry to keep going. 

It was Dylan who said we should stop and leave the building before they locked us in. If it was up to me, we would’ve still been in that changing room, pressed up against the wall, letting Dylan squeeze my hard dick through my briefs, letting his finger push into my asshole, letting him do whatever he wanted—

“Did you hear what I said?” Dylan asked, looking straight ahead.

I broke myself away from my thoughts. “No, I didn’t.”

“Do you wanna go hang out with Shane and the rest of them, or do you just wanna head back home?”

I really wasn’t in the mood to see Shane or really any of the rest of the guys, yet at the same time if I were alone with Dylan I would let myself get carried away and end up doing something I might regret the next morning. “Where are they?”

“They’re over at this club near Heights we all go to a lot. It’s called the Cube. I’m assumin’ you never been before.”

“No, I’ve never really gone to any kind of club before. I’m nineteen remember? You gotta be twenty-one to get in those places.”

Dylan just chuckled. “You forget who you’re with. Told you before, you can do anything you want when you’re with me.” He took one of his hands off the steering wheel and placed it on my knee. A warm current charged through my body. “Trust me.”

“We can do anything you want to do,” I said. I placed my hand on top of his.

“Good,” Dylan said, as he entered onto the freeway.

* * *

There must’ve been a hundred people standing in line once we got to the club There were girls, dudes, ranging from what seemed like my age to a little bit in their early thirties, most of them good-looking, all dressed attractively, all standing impatiently with this sense of self-importance. I felt kinda drab in comparison with my simple t-shirt and jeans, while Dylan looked hot of course. But he could wear anything and be hot. 

For some reason I thought Dylan was going to lead us to the very end of the long line, but I should’ve known better. He walked to the very front of the line, up where the security guard was standing before the velvet rope. I could feel eyes on me; I looked at people in the crowd and some of them gave me this look of “Who’s he and why does he think he can cut us?” I was beginning to feel really self-conscious. “Dylan, shouldn’t we stand in line with everyone else?” I asked.

Dylan just looked at me like I said the most unbelievably weirdest thing a person could say. “Line? I’ve never waited in a line my whole life. Come on.” He walked up to the burly, bald security guard and said something to him that I couldn’t hear. The guard looked at me, his face very expressionless, and said something back to Dylan. The exchange went on for about a few more seconds and then the guard nodded and stepped aside. Dylan turned and looked at me, “Told you.” I followed Dylan within the doors and they closed behind us.

“What did you say to him?” I asked.

“I’ll tell you later.”

I followed Dylan down a long red corridor. Loud R&B music was pulsating from the walls, vibrating underneath my feet. People were lined up on each side of the wall, drinks in hand, talking and touching each other. I felt like I had stepped into a Britney Spears video. 

We stepped into the main room which was about the size of a two airline hangars put together and about a million people in there. The room was so hot and ripe with body odor that I began to sweat the moment we stepped inside. I could already tell this was going to be an uncomfortable experience. I started to regret suggesting that we come here instead of going back to the apartment.

Dylan took my hand and led me through the herds of people. The music continued to blare blasting in my ears, making them hurt a little. Laser lights were flashing everywhere and people kept bumping up against me and touching me. It took us about five minutes to get to the other side of the room and up the staircase to the second level of the club which was even more congested than below. I was barely able to hear Dylan when he said that Shane and Gabe would probably be up here.

More eyes were on me. Guys were looking at me and so were girls too. I couldn’t tell if they were looking at me because they thought something was wrong with me, or because they thought something was right with me.

“You okay?” Dylan asked into my ear.

“Yeah, it’s just kinda…loud.”

“We can go if you want to,” Dylan replied, his bottom lip grazing against my earlobe.

I wanted to say “Yeah, I want to go,” but I didn’t want it to seem like I wasn’t even going to give the place a try before deciding I didn’t like it. I was about to respond to Dylan when someone from behind grabbed my ass and squeezed really hard. I spun around and saw Shane standing behind me, grinning like an idiot and looking really drunk.

“What took the two of you so fuckin’ long to get here?” Shane asked. “That bitch-ass Gabe got tired of waitin’ and left me here all by myself.” Shane put his large hand on my shoulder. “So how did things go on the set after we left? Did he fuck you yet?” He burst out laughing really hard and loud. I was surprised I was able to hear him very clearly over the music. 

“Dude, it’s not even fuckin’ midnight yet and you’re already drunk as fuck,” Dylan said.
“Don’t be a dumb-ass, Shane.”

“Don’t tell me what the fuck to do, pretty boy,” Shane said. He was wobbling around like he was going to pass out any second or so. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

“I think we should take him home,” I suggested. “I think he’s had enough for tonight.”

“Fuck that shit,” Shane yelled. “I’m just gettin’ started.” He reached over and grabbed some pretty girl’s ass that was passing by. She yelled in anger and shock and the guy who was with her stepped up to Shane as if he were about to go off on him. Dylan had to yank Shane away from the guy before he got seriously hurt.

“You do this shit every time, dude,” Dylan said angrily. “One of these days I’m not gonna be here and you’re gonna get fucked up.”

Shane just rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Who the fuck cares? I can do what I want.”

Dylan sighed. It was one of the very few times I had ever seen him really look upset. “Let’s go,” he said to me.

“You just got here,” Shane complained. “The shit hasn’t even got started yet.”

“Bring your drunk ass on,” Dylan replied, “you’re comin’ with us.”

“I’m not goin’-“

Dylan grabbed Shane roughly by the arm and started to pull him in the direction of the staircase. 

“Dude, get the fuck off me,” Shane yelled over the loud music. “You’re not my fuckin’ dad.”

“Tonight I am,” Dylan responded and dragged him through the noisy, sweaty, grinding crowd. I followed behind, feeling completely claustrophobic and uncomfortable. Once we were outside, Dylan finally let go of Shane, who spun around in a furious rage as if he were about to attack Dylan.

“I’m fuckin’ tired of you man, always tryin’ to tell me what the fuck to do.” His words came out slurry and ugly. 

“I’m trying to help your dumb ass,” Dylan responded. It’s not even midnight yet and you’re already completely fucked up.”

Shane turned around and walked away toward the lot where Dylan parked his car. Dylan looked at me and shook his head. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. I don’t really care,” I responded.

“I’ll make it up to you, later,” Dylan said.

I smiled and so did he. And then we heard Shane shout “Hurry the fuck up!” and that simple moment between us was broken. 

Together Dylan and I headed back to his car, the warm night getting colder by the second.

* * *

“Let’s go to Jack in The Box or something,” Shane slurred from the backseat. “I’m horny as fuck.”

“You mean, ‘hungry’ right?” I asked

“Yeah, that too,” Shane laughed. “Ay, yo, Dyl, you just passed the Jack in the Box right up. Turn around.”

“We’re not stopping anywhere,” Dylan said. “I’m taking you straight home and you’re going to bed.”

Shane shoved his head in between the open space between both our seats. He reeked of beer and sweat. He looked at me and said, “He loves telling me what to do. It gets him off more than anything else.”
“Shut-up, Shane,” Dylan said through clenched-teeth, his eyes focused completely on the road.

“But it’s true, Dyl.” Shane leaned in closer to me. “You know what I mean, Josh. You like it when he tells you what to do, don’t you? It gets you all hot.”

My heartbeat started to quicken. Though it was dark inside the car, I didn’t want Shane to see how nervous he was making me become. 

“I mean, you two have been spendin’ a whole lot of time together,” Shane said. “Today at the shoot, the two of you were gone half the time.” Shane leaned in closer to me, his beer-stained breath tickling my earlobe. “Did he fuck you yet?” The way he asked me that made my bones cringe.

“Shane, if you don’t shut the fuck up, I’ll stop this car and throw you out of it,” Dylan warned.

“Why so damn glum, Dyl? You know, every since Josh showed up, you’ve been treating me like the shit under your shoe. Wasn’t like that a couple of weeks ago.”

Dylan said nothing. For once, I actually wanted to hear what Shane had to say.

“I remember when I was new here, at the agency, I couldn’t keep this dude off me,” Shane continued. “We would go everywhere. Do everything.” He really emphasized the word, ‘everything.’ I mean, you wouldn’t believe the things this dude would do to me—“

I was listening to Shane but my focus was on Dylan. His hands were firmly cemented on the steering wheel. If he were to squeeze it any harder, it would break off in his hands.

“I mean, this dude had me with my ankles pointing up to heaven the second day of me being at Heights, and just about every day after that…until you came along—”

Dylan violently veered the car to the right and shut off the engine. “Get out,” he ordered.

“Come on, Dylan. I’m just playing.”

“Get the fuck out, right now. I’ll fucking drag you out of this car myself.” I’d never heard Dylan sound so angry. I didn’t know he could be so angry. It was a bit disturbing in a way.

Shane just started laughing.

“Let’s just go, Dylan,” I told him, really wanting this night to be over already. What had began as a really exciting day at my first ever real photo shoot had quickly become awkward and upsetting. Dylan listened to me and continued to drive. Surprisingly, Shane didn’t make too much noise after that. We rode the rest of the way home in silence.