Stephanie rang him up.

The total was over six hundred bucks. Six. Hundred. Dollars.

John wigged. He only had about four-

“I’ve got it,” Blay said, handing over a black card and glancing at him. “You can pay me the rest later.”

Stephanie’s eyes bugged at the sight of the plastic, then narrowed on Blay as if she were changing the price tag on him. “I’ve never seen a black AmEx before.”

“It’s no big.” Blay started poking through a bunch of necklaces.

John squeezed his friend’s arm then knocked on the counter to get Stephanie’s attention. He spread his money out, but Blay shook his head and started signing.

Pay me the rest later, okay? I know you’re good for it, and let’s face it, do you really want to come back here and pick up the shit you can’t cover? I don’t.

John frowned, finding it hard to argue with that logic. But I’m giving the rest to you, he signed after he handed his four over.

When you have it, Blay returned. Just whenever you have it.

Stephanie whipped the card through the machine, punched in the amount, and waited with her fingertips on the slip. Seconds later there was a chattering sound, and then she ripped the paper off and handed it over to Blay with a blue Bic pen.

“So… we’re closing now.”

“Are you.” Qhuinn leaned a hip against the counter. “And exactly what does that mean?”

“It’s just going to be me here. I’m a great boss. I’m letting the others go early.”

“But then you’d be all alone.”

“I would. It’s true. All by myself.”

Shit, John thought. If Blay was the buffer, Qhuinn was the king of complication.

The guy smiled. “You know, me and my boys wouldn’t feel right about leaving you here on your lonesome.”

Oh, yes-yes, they would, John thought. Your boys would feel just great about that.

Tragically, Stephanie’s slow smile sealed the deal. They were going nowhere until Qhuinn got into her cash register.

At least he worked fast. Ten minutes later, the store was empty and the chain-link security curtain had been pulled into place in the front. And he was getting pulled by the jeans chain into a lip-lock.

John held on to his two big bags while Blay got busy looking at shirts he’d already looked at.

“Let’s go into a dressing room,” the manager said against Qhuinn’s mouth.

“Perf.”

“We don’t have to go alone, by the way.” The girl looked over her shoulder, her stare landing on John. And staying. “There’s plenty of room.”

No way, John thought. NFW.

Qhuinn’s mismatched eyes sparkled with trouble, and behind the girl’s back he signed, Come with us, John. It’s time you did this.

Stephanie picked that moment to take Qhuinn’s full lower lip between her white teeth and his thigh between her legs. A guy could just imagine the things she was going to do to him. Before he did her.

John shook his head. I’m staying here.

Come on. You can watch me first. I’ll show you how it’s done.

The fact that Qhuinn was issuing the invite was not a surprise. He regularly had sex in pairs. He’d just never asked John to join in yet.

Come on, John, come back with us.

No, thanks.

A dark look came into Qhuinn’s eyes. You can’t always be on the sidelines, John.

John looked away. It would have been easier to get pissed at the guy if the same thing didn’t occur to him on a regular basis.

“Fine,” Qhuinn said. “We’ll be back in a while.”

With a lazy smile, he slid his hands onto the girl’s ass and picked her up. As he walked backward, her skirt rode up so she flashed pink panties and white cheeks.

When the pair was in a dressing room, John turned to Blay to sign something about what a man-slut Qhuinn was, only to stop his hands. Blay was staring off in the direction the two of them had gone with an odd expression on his face.

John whistled low to get his attention. You can go back, you know. If you want to be with them. I’m cool here.

Blay shook his head a little too quickly. “Nah. I’m hanging.”

Except his eyes went back to that dressing room and held steady as a moan drifted out. Going by the tenor of the sound, it was hard to know who had made it, and Blay’s expression got even tighter.

John whistled again. You okay?

“We might as well get comfortable.” Blay went behind the locked cash registers and sat on a stool. “We’re going to be here for a while.”

Right, John thought. Whatever was bumming the guy was off-limits.

John hopped up on the counter and let his legs dangle. As another moan sounded out, he started to think of Xhex and got hard.

Great. Just fab.

He was pulling his shirt out of his waistband to cover up his little problem when Blay asked, “So who’s the bracelet for?”

John signed quickly, It’s for me.

“Yeah, right. That thing wouldn’t fit your wrist.” There was a pause. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Honestly, it’s no big deal.

“Okay.” After a minute, Blay said, “So, you want to go to ZeroSum after this?”

John kept his head down while he nodded.

Blay laughed softly. “Thought you might. Just like I’ll bet if we go tomorrow night, too, you’ll be okay with it.”

I can’t tomorrow night, he signed without thinking.

“Why not?”

Shit. Just can’t. Have to stay home.

Yet another moan came out from the back, and then a muffled, rhythmic pounding started.

When the sounds stopped, Blay took a deep breath, like he’d been running intervals and had just finished the workout. John didn’t blame him. He’d just as soon leave the store, too. With the lights down low and no other people around, all the hanging clothes seemed sinister.

Plus, if they got to ZeroSum ASAP, he had a good couple of hours of Xhex sightings to look forward to, and that was…

Pathetic, really.

Minutes ticked by. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty.

“Shit,” Blay muttered. “What the hell are they doing?”

John shrugged. With their friend’s predilections, it was anyone’s guess.

“Yo, Qhuinn?” Blay called out. When there was no answer, not even a grunt, he slid off the stool. “I’m going to see what’s up.”

Blay went up to the dressing room and knocked. After a moment, he put his head in through the door. In a rush, his eyes flared and his mouth opened and he blushed from the roots of his red hair all the way to his palms.

Riiiiight. The session was evidently not finished. And whatever was doing was worth seeing, because Blay didn’t turn around right away. After a moment his head went back and forth slowly, as if he were answering a question Qhuinn had posed.

As Blay returned to the register, his head was down, his hands deep in his pockets. He stayed quiet as he eased back onto the stool, but his foot started going a mile a minute, tapping up and down.

It was obvious the guy didn’t want to hang around anymore, and John could totally get that.

Hell, they could be at ZeroSum.

Where Xhex worked.

As that happy little obsessive thought hit him, John wanted to bang his head into the counter. Man… clearly, the word pathetic had a new spelling.

And it was J-O-H-N M-A-T-T-H-E-W.