The pulsing beat of the club shook Caiden’s spine. His breastbone carries the beat making his heart feel funny. He’s not sure if that’s normal or not.. Maybe he should go home? He could look it up on his phone to see if that’s normal or not.

“Hey, good looking.”

Caiden scrunches his face as some stranger gets too close to him. His lungs seize not wanting to breathe in any air this man exhales. He can’t afford to get sick, not now when he just started his new job at Lilly’s Little Bakery. He’s the replacement for a baker named Ozark. He’s still not really sure where the guy went because the story everyone tells him is just too damn crazy.

“You wanna dance, sugar?”

The man currently taking up Caiden’s personal space smells like alcohol and vomit. He leans away almost across the bar to get away from this guy. “No thanks.” He ducks away and weaves his way through the dance crowd to the other side of the room. His water bottle clutched desperately in his hand crunches under the pressure.

Caiden’s hazel gold eyes scan the dark room looking for his friends who brought him here. Well, he guesses they’re friends. Al and Brand are twins from the bakery and they invited him out tonight. Normally he doesn’t do things like this but his therapist encouraged him to get out more.

Next time he sees his therapist he’s going to give her a piece of his mind cause this shit isn’t fun. It’s nerve wracking and insane. Besides, what if someone roofies him and he wakes up in a dumpster or something? Worse, what if he wakes up dead?! Wait, you can’t wake up dead, can you?

Oh man…

Caiden darts to his left along the wall and through a door labeled “Employees Only” but he doesn’t care. What’s the odds someone is actually in there anyways? The place out there is packed to the brim.

Locking the door behind him, Caiden leans against it breathing heavily. Why did he let the brothers talk him into coming out tonight? Just why?

“You’re not an employee because I’d definitely remember you.”

Caiden jumps at the unknown voice. His heart racing and his hand squeezing his poor water bottle to death might give away his anxiety.

“Which means you’re a patron and breaking the rules.”

He just knew someone was in here… Caiden swallows as a man rises from a chair in the corner. The room only half lit due to one out lightbulb out makes it hard for Caiden to see this man.

One lightbulb out has to be some kind of hazard or against some regulation somewhere. It has to be.

“Are you lost?” The man steps into the light and his brown hair shines.

Caiden shakes his head no. He knows exactly where he is. He just shouldn’t be where he is, is all.

The man chuckles. “Caleb, Caleb Cresh.” Caleb holds his hand out to Caiden.

Is it wrong Caiden immediately thought GERMS when Caleb offered to shake hands? It is, isn’t it? The offered hand seems like a snake about to bite him and leave behind some kind of infection or something.

Caleb pockets his hands with a smile. “Do you have some aversion to touching?”

Caiden blinks a few times. “Sort of.” Holding his bottle tighter, Caiden takes a deep breath to hopefully get his nerves under control.

“Then what are you doing here?” The stranger steps closer to Caiden making him feel a little uneasy.

“Two guys I work with brought me.” Caiden tries to back up as Caleb steps closer but the whole back to door thing makes it impossible.

Caleb hums. “Do you like music?”

“I like cake.” What in the actual hell? Caiden mentally kicks himself in the nuts for that one.

“Me too.”

“I make it. Well I bake it. At a bakery, that is. Not at my house. I mean I could at my house but I don’t get paid to do it at my house. I mean I guess I could but then my kitchen would be dirty.”

Caleb’s soft chuckle send little tingles down Caiden’s back. “Do I make you nervous?”

“Everyone does.” When Caleb’s face fell a bit Caiden hurried to continue. “But you especially do.” Which is the truth. Everyone makes Caiden nervous, even his own parents, which is weird, but these nerves regarding Caleb are different.

“Does nerves mean you’d like to go on a date with me? I promise no touching unless you let me.”

Does he have GAY written across his forehead in bright neon-glow-in-the-dark letters? “Okay. I’m Caiden Creafer.”

Caleb checks the time with a smile. “Well Caiden Creafer I’m due out there but if you stay till closing we can talk more. Stay back here if it makes you more comfortable.”

Caiden nods and his grip on the water bottle almost turns deadly for the bottle.

Caleb steps closer and indicates with a nod. “You’re standing at the only door.”

“Oh!” Caiden jumps away to let Caleb through.

Caleb steps out and for some reason Caiden follows. He stops short when Caleb steps on stage and the announcer introduces Caleb as Sonnet Cresher. Caleb steps up to a booth, puts on some expensive looking headphones, and the entire club drops down into a low heavy sexy beat and the club goers cheer their approval. Caleb holds his hand out to the crowd and everyone cheers. A Lilly rivets across the backdrop spinning off into multifaceted colors and patterns.

Caiden can’t believe it. Sonnet Cresher is one of the biggest names in the DJ circuit in Houston. Sonnet Cresher was the featured opening act for several big names including Emotio more than once. Rumor has it he’s featured on the next Emotio album but it’s only rumor at this point and he just agreed to a date with this man.

Holy fucking hell.

“Hello, hello, hello, hello EVERYONE!” The room roars in greeting and the bodies move to the beat. “Guess what, ya’ll? I just got myself a date tonight.” The room cheers. “If I see anyone talking to Caiden Creafer you’ll hear this.” A screech interrupts the music swiftly followed by womp womp womp and ‘Rejected’ in a deep no no voice.

The room laughs in its own weird bazaar way but Caiden likes it.

“And if you touch him,” Caleb continues, “you’ll hear this.” A bomb explosion followed by a crazy whacky voice saying ‘Fire’ sounds and the room laughs again. “No touchy!” Caleb plays a sound clip from Emperor’s New Groove of Kuzco yelling ‘no touchy.’

Caiden looks up and catches the eye of Caleb who winks at him. Tonight started off horrible but now Caiden can’t wait to thank his coworkers for dragging his antisocial ass out for the night.