The Home Court Advantage (13 page)

The cab pulled up to a big, plain, industrial-looking building. There was no outside line like at other clubs but there was a sign pointing toward the back. We went through a pair of heavy steel doors and immediately saw that everything was hidden behind the facade of what looked like an old abandoned factory.

We followed along a winding hallway with bare brick walls. Videos were being projected in various places — newsreels with reports about Elvis sightings, Lone Gunmen, and aliens. There were framed editions of papers like
News of the World
and the
National Enquirer
hung on the walls and various Masonic symbols and hieroglyphics painted or scrawled here and there as well. This joint was really well done. We approached two large men dressed all in black of course. (Men in Black? Get it?) They had ear pieces in and held clipboards. I gave them our names and they directed us to what looked like an elevator from a sci-fi movie to our left. Apparently the VIP area was on the second floor.

When the doors slid open again with a whoosh, I saw people mingling about, a bank of TVs on a wall, all showing UFO footage, and another set of doors straight ahead just beyond a sign for restrooms. Jess said that she had to make a pit stop and Lily decided to go with her. I told them that I would go in and let the guys know we were here. I let another set of men in black have my name and they directed me through the doors. I walked down a hallway that turned around a bend. Up ahead I could see a large room with several sofas and low tables scattered around. The bare brick walls were lit only by the ominous glow of recessed green neon lights but I could still make out the details of the room and what was going on inside. I figured that this must be the VIP lounge lobby.

There were arches on the left and on the right that looked like they led into the actual VIP lounge and club area. Like everywhere else in the building so far, the décor was industrial with a sort of
Metropolis
feel. There were people sitting on the sofas and others standing in groups chatting, including our gang of guys.

I paused to take it all in. Leaning against a wall, tall, blonde and beautiful, Braden stood in the middle, wearing a white linen shirt rolled up at the sleeves, and a pair of tan pants. Adam, with his dark hair and eyes looked sexy dressed all in black. As usual Mark looked funky, dressed in a black jacket over a white T-shirt. And then there was Cam, stylish as always, in what looked to me like Armani. Drew looked just like a younger version of Braden, but I saw that he had his own style – a horizontally striped baby blue and white shirt that showed off his blonde good looks in a summer beach boy way. There was something for everyone.

I watched them as they talked and laughed looking all masculine and confident. Occasionally a club chick would pass by wearing a dress that was too short, too tight and too revealing, and one or more of them would check her out. Braden didn’t look interested, though, which made me very happy. It was only a couple of minutes but it was enough time to see what kind of impact they made on their surroundings. Suffice it to say, by the looks they were getting from the other women who saw them, I didn’t think any of them would want for partners to help them
unwind
.

I started walking in their direction. Just then Drew looked up and I saw him mouth the words, “holy shit.” I almost stopped in my tracks. I looked quickly behind me in case I was about to be mugged or something. There was nobody there, though. Was one of my boobs hanging out? They all looked up then and by the looks on their faces I realized that it was probably just that the sexy designer dress and shoes had been a good choice. I did glance down to make sure it wasn’t the boob, though.

A few things happened in the next couple of seconds. Braden’s eyes glazed over; Adam’s eyes fixed on my six inch heels, and Mark’s eyes just got wider. Cam and Drew immediately started a conversation between the two of them that included a lot of eye contact. I figured it was because they were Braden’s relatives and likely assumed that they were in the most possible danger if caught ogling, so they were taking precautionary measures.

“Hey guys,” I said with a smile. Braden continued to stare openly but the other guys quickly snapped out of it and looked curiously at him. Were they waiting for him to do something? What did they expect, that he would throw me down on the carpet and share our love with the crowd? When he didn’t appear to be doing much of
anything,
they just looked anywhere but at me.

“Hi, Gabrielle,” Cam said, talking to the ceiling. There was a chorus of ‘Hi, Gabrielle’s’ addressed to various locations around the room. Braden seemed a little stunned.

“I don’t think we should stay much longer,” he said, sounding very distracted. His eyes dropped to my body and his gaze slowly traveled back and forth from my boobs to my six inch heels. Several hundred times. He looked like he had just seen a miracle performed. What, did I normally look like a bag lady or something?

“We just got here,” I reminded him. “Jess and Lily aren’t even out of the bathroom yet.”

“Right,” he mumbled. Just then I heard someone call out to him.

“Braden! Where the hell have you been?” Two tall, well-dressed, exceptionally good-looking guys who were leaving the lounge came sauntering over. They had an air of wealth and good breeding about them, just like he did. When they noticed me, they stopped in their tracks. They both checked me out, but a bit more subtly than Braden, who was
still
checking me out.

“Well, hello,” said the blonde guy who had called out. The look he was giving me practically screamed ‘player’. I figured there would be a line coming momentarily.

“Girlfriend!” Cam suddenly exclaimed, sounding like he was shouting, ‘abandon ship!’

“This is your girlfriend, Cam?” the other guy, who had dark hair, asked.

“Mine? No! She’s just my friend! I swear!” The two newcomers looked understandably confused. Cam collected himself and went on. “She’s Braden’s girlfriend!”

“Ah!” blonde guy said, and they both nodded politely as if that explained Cam’s little outburst. “Wait, his
girlfriend
?” he asked dubiously looking at Braden for confirmation. Normally, this would have been the point where Braden would have come over to drape a possessive arm around me but he was still busy making the visual journey up and down my body. I think that he might have been experiencing some kind of fugue state.

“Gabrielle, this is Kurt van Ryland and Kevin Bryce. We grew up together,” Braden said still sounding very distracted.

“Evan. Evan Bryce,” said dark haired guy who Braden had grown up with, but whose name he apparently didn’t know, while reaching out to shake my hand. “We also went to college together.”

“Yeah, they went to Howard,” Braden mumbled.

“Harvard,” Kurt corrected with a smile as he shook my hand.

“Gabrielle went to Yale,” Cam put in. “That’s where we became friends.
Just
friends!”

Kurt and Evan were looking at Braden and Cam like they thought that maybe they were high or something. Drew decided to help out at this point. So, of course, things just went downhill from there.

“Kurt, Ev, this is Gabrielle Ginsberg, who’s Braden’s actual girlfriend. She’s like the
only
woman he’s sleeping with now. And Cameron’s not sleeping with her at all anymore.” Well, I was glad he had cleared
that
up. I saw Cameron look up at the ceiling. He may have been praying. Luckily, Braden still wasn’t really completely with us.

“Any relation to Ruth Bader Ginsburg?” Evan asked, tactfully avoiding Drew’s little revelation. Kurt was looking back and forth between Braden and Cam with what looked like confused amusement.

“Uh, no, sorry. Just Ben and Judy Ginsberg,” I said with a smile.

“Not Ben Ginsberg, the CEO of Marlton Radcliff?” Kurt asked, suddenly turning his attention back to me and looking very intrigued.

“Yeah, he’s my dad,” I answered and I saw Kurt and Evan share a surprised look. Then they looked at Braden like he had just become their new hero.

“Uh, wow. It’s nice to meet you!” Evan said with what sounded like suppressed excitement. “We read about that PoliCon case in the
Wall Street Journal
. Your dad’s really a brilliant man.”

“Yeah, we’re both admirers!” Kurt explained. “I work in finance myself and Evan is a legislative aid. That case is going to lead to some interesting business reform in New York.”

“What case was that?” Mark asked.

“PoliCon,” Kurt explained. “Marlton Radcliff was considering a buyout and when the CEO, Ben Ginsberg, took a good look at everything he figured out that the company had been involved in an incredibly complex money laundering scheme. The whole business was a front for illegal activity and nobody knew.”

“He tipped off the authorities and now he’s helping them to create some new regulations and legislation to make sure nobody else can ever do something like that again,” Evan added. “It’s really groundbreaking stuff.”

“Uh oh, we were supposed to meet friends of ours ten minutes ago,” Kurt said, looking at his watch. “I guess we had better run. It was a pleasure meeting you, Gabrielle, everyone. Nice seeing you guys, especially out together.”

“Yeah, it’s about time you two buried the hatchet,” Evan added with a smile and a glance at Braden and Cam. They waved and then turned and left.

Just then Jess and Lily came walking in and Kurt and Evan gave them an admiring look as they passed. Adam had been looking off in the direction of the lounge and when he turned and caught sight of Lily, he immediately did a double take. Even though he quickly hid it, the look he gave her appeared to be filled with more attraction than dislike. So, of course, he had to compensate.

“Why Lilith,” he said. “Do they let you out at night?” His body language reeked of cockiness and disdain. What a charmer he could be! I could see why the ladies flocked to him.

“Gentlemen,” Lily said. “Adam.” She looked at him dismissively. Lily knew how to give as good as she got and she wasn’t anybody’s little groupie. No wonder they didn’t get along. Although I wasn’t his groupie either, and I gave it back to him too. Same thing with Jess and we seemed to get along with him okay. Interesting.

“Your full name is Lilith?” Jess asked, looking at Lily curiously. “I didn’t know that.”

“No. Lily is my full name, but Adam finds it amusing to call me by the name of a female demon.” She threw him a sarcastic smile.

“If the shoe fits…” he said, returning the smile. As she turned away, though, he gave her a thoughtful look like he wasn’t sure that it was really her. She didn’t look like a mousy librarian tonight, did she, Adam?

Braden
finally
seemed to be getting over being in alcohol/lust induced shock and he moved over to stand by me and pull me to his side. He looked down into my eyes, gave me a sexy smile, and ran his fingers lightly up and down my bare back, making me all shivery.

“Lily,” Jess said, “that’s Cameron Clay and that’s Drew Pierce. Guys, this is Lily Adler.” Cam and Drew greeted Lily and she looked at Cam with fairly open curiosity. He seemed puzzled by the attention.

“I know that you’ve met Mark before but have you ever met Braden?” I asked, redirecting her attention before she got too curious.

“No, I haven’t, but Gab’s told me a lot about you.” She smiled at him and her eyes seemed to involuntarily drop to his package but she quickly ripped them away and blushed. He shot me a rather irked look and I smiled innocently.

“And of course you and Adam know each other already,” I added and both she and Adam cringed at the same time.

“Well, now we’re all assembled, let’s go check it out,” Mark said.

We went through the archway where Kurt and Evan had come from. There were tables built into alcoves along two walls and a long bar stood in front of a third. There was a circular dance floor in the center of the room surrounding a round opening with a railing where people could stand to watch couples gyrate on the main dance floor below. Hanging above the opening was a huge saucer-shaped object with blinking lights that I took to be a UFO. We all slid into a long cushioned bench seat that wrapped around a table in one of the alcoves.

“Braden, Cam! It’s Derek!” Drew said suddenly. Braden and Cam immediately followed his gaze to an exceptionally handsome guy at the bar who was presently feeling up a woman in a dress the size of a bikini. I could see the family resemblance right away. He was tall and he had classic good looks. His hair was a dark blonde, somewhere between Braden and Drew’s blonde and Cameron’s light brown. He had an air of confident sexuality and he surprised me. When Cam and Braden had spoken of Cousin Derek, the Larry Flint of the Main Line, I had pictured a greasy-looking guy, not this very sexy-looking guy. But then, he was their cousin, and they were both very sexy-looking guys.

“Oh shit!” Cam said and looked at Braden with panic.

“Just ignore him,” Braden said. “He’s busy. He probably won’t even see us.” We had only looked up at Derek for a moment, and now we were busy ourselves, staring at each other hotly and holding hands.

At that moment a bleach blonde waitress with boobs like watermelons spilling out of a skimpy silver space girl outfit came over to take our drink order. She looked like a cross between Dolly Parton and Barbarella. The second her eyes fastened on Braden I knew she recognized him. She gave him a flirtatious smile and licked her lips as she leaned down low to give him a good clear view of the melon match. He didn’t avail himself of her offer though. In fact, he turned nearly sideways to face me.

“So baby, I was thinking about having another beer.”

“Okay. Did you want me to order it for you?” I wasn’t sure where he was going with this.

“No, sweetheart, that’s okay. Heineken in the bottle and whatever my girlfriend wants.” He glanced up at the barmaid and returned his attention quickly to me.

“I’ll have a white wine spritzer, thanks.” Dollarella gave me an unfriendly look and then slithered off. I didn’t know about anybody else, but I wasn’t leaving her a big tip.

“Did you know that waitress?” I asked Braden curiously.