I closed the door behind me and dropped my keys in the bowl on the dresser in the small hallway. I was exhausted and ready to go to bed. I sat down at the foot of it and pulled my shirt over my head. I checked my phone, only to find I had gotten a text. I opened it and my eyes widened a bit.

Thank you for rescuing me.

- D

I couldn't help but smile a little. It was always nicer when you had good friends at work. I had Oliver and Strawberry, of course. We'd sometimes get a drink after work too. It was nice. Maybe we could add another person to our little group.

I didn't know what to reply. Would you're welcome be too cheesy? And it's not like I wasn't just doing my job. I was. He didn't have to thank me like this.

I put my phone on the bedside table and dumped down on my back. I looked up at the ceiling and sighed deeply. It had been a fine night. I was just tired. And weird.

I rolled onto my side and grabbed my phone again, looking at the text. Why was I always such a freak?

I turned the phone off again and put it back on the table. It didn't matter what I replied. He wasn't a normal guy. And I wasn't a normal guy.

I put my arm across my face, determined to go to sleep. And ignore my phone.

"How was your shift?" Strawberry asked and pulled her shirt over her head.

"It was alright. Nothing dramatic happened, so that was nice." I corrected my collar on the white dress shirt. "How was yours?"

"Boring. I didn't get a single customer."

"Huh. Why?"

"Because Ares doesn't come back for seconds and there were hardly any other patrons left. So annoying. And apparently Apollo was only in the mood for one worker yesterday."

"Dion?"

"No, come on, Arlo. You know how he likes to play games. There's only Nikon in his world. One day he'll straight up just buy him and own him."

"You're just jealous," Nikon laughed as he entered the locker room. "Apollo just paid the down payment for my new car."

"And I'm late on my rent again," Strawberry groaned and slammed her locker closed. "Honestly, I might just quit and get a regular job. This isn't paying."

I stayed out of this conversation. I had nothing to add. Being a guard was a well-paying job. Especially when you're me. And being of Cerberus litter didn't hurt me either.

I closed my locker and checked myself in the mirror one last time.

"You look pretty, Arlo, now get out so we can get changed, yeah?" Nikon said and started pushing me out. I took a hint pretty quickly. Get changed. Yeah sure, they were going to get changed.

I hurried out, nonetheless. And made my way to the bar.

And in the bar, I found Dion. He was sipping some drink, looking a lot more serious than the night before. He glanced at me as I sat down beside him and waved at Oliver. Oliver gave me a soda but hurried to scurry off again.

"I texted you," Dion said without looking at me. He took a sip of his drink.

"I didn't give you my number," I murmured.

"I got your number from your bartender friend. I needed it."

"For what?" I glanced at him and he glanced back.

"I'm take-away too. So I'll need a driver. Do you drive?"

"Sure."

"I'll speak to the boss then. About the plans for our evenings. And some days." He finished his drink and was about to rise but stopped. "I can't wait to get to know you better, Arlo."

He patted my shoulder and disappeared. I exhaled slowly. I hadn't made a complete arse out of myself this time and that was awesome already. Oliver came back and took Dion's glass.

He cast a glance at me but didn't say anything.

I didn't need him to say anything to get exactly what he felt about this. It was getting dangerous for sure. And I wasn't even doing anything. There was nothing actually happening. Except shit in my head.
I needed to get a grip and be logical and realistic and not make up things that didn't actually happen. I made things way bigger than they needed to be. I obsessed over tiny details no one would ever think about.

And I was doing it right now. I always did this with new people.

Oliver made another round before he stopped in front of me. "You hanging in there?"

"Uh..." I didn't know what to say.

"You have that look in your eyes again, Arlo. Come back down to earth again."

I ran my hand through my hair and nodded. "I know. I'm just..."

"You're obsessing and you should stop."

I nodded and rose to my feet. "Yeah, I... I'll go make some rounds. That usually helps."

Oliver didn't say anything, he was just polishing a glass in his hands, looking a little worried.

I clenched my hands around the steering wheel, making the rubber crack a little. I was a mess. I had been a mess ever since I started working here. Something just kept feeling all wrong and I didn't like it.

I took a deep breath and leaned further back into the leather seat of the company car. I wished there were pills for this that didn't make me so sleepy. But they made me nauseous and tired, so I didn't take them.

The door opened to the passenger side and Dion sat down in the seat next to me.

"Hey, thanks for doing this."

"You don't have to thank me. Just doing my job." I shrugged and swung out from the club and into the street.

"It was still nice of you to say yes." He shrugged too and leaned against the window, looking out at the city flying past us. "Do you have the address?"

"Yeah. I get them on my phone." I pointed to the phone sitting on the dashboard, showing me the route.

"Smart. Do you come up with me or...?"

"I can if you want."

"I'd like that. I don't like going to people's houses without a friend."

"I'll stay close then. I can also check every twenty minutes, to make sure you're okay. Or," I hesitated and looked through my pockets. I found what I was looking for and handed it to Dion. "Press that button every twenty minutes. It sends a text to my phone, telling me you're okay. If you miss the time limit, I'll come into the room."

Dion looked down at it and pressed the button. My phone beeped and he looked up at the screen before stuffing the little device into his pocket.

"High tech."

I nodded and shifted gear. I kept my hand on the gear stick as I slowed down and stopped for a red light.

"So, what do you do for fun?" he asked without looking at me.

"I read."

"Read what?"

"Fiction mostly."

"Dirty romances?"

I glanced over at him, finding him smirking at me. I snorted and shook my head.

"No. Thrillers."

"Hey, don't snort at romances. Especially the erotic ones. They're hot." He winked at me and I shook my head again.

"I'm surrounded by sex all the time during work hours. Sometimes it's nice to just not... Think about it."

"Is that so?" His voice sounded a little odd and it made me glance at him again. He was looking very intently at me. "So, you never indulge?"

"In what?"

"The merchandise."

"It's not allowed. It'd be compromising my objectivity."

Dion groaned but then stopped and leaned towards me. "So, you're saying you've wanted to?"
I swallowed hard and that's when my phone decided to bail me out. It dinged loudly and announced we had made it to our destination. I more or less bolted out of the car, almost leaving my phone behind. Dion was a lot slower but very gracefully stepped out of the car, smoothing his hair behind his horns and ears.

I motioned him to follow me inside the hotel. I had gotten all the details and knew exactly where to get the key and where to find the room. After picking up the key card in the reception, we stepped into the elevator.

"I'll be in charge of getting the money," I instructed. "I'll wait in the living room of the suite and I'll hold on to the money for you. We get the money before you do anything."

Dion just nodded, distracted by looking at his phone.

"You listening?"

"Yeppers. I heard you. This isn't my first time."

"It's your first time with me. Remember to press the button every twenty minutes."

"Yeah, okay."

The elevator doors opened, and I led the way to the suite. I opened the door and found the patron waiting for us in the little living room.

His eyes widened at the sight of me and then he looked a little relieved when Dion stepped out from behind me.

"I'm here as a courtesy," I explained. "The payment?"

"Uh, yeah. It's over there." The patron pointed to the dresser and I picked up the envelope, quickly counting the money. I gave Dion a nod and he smiled at the patron. His shoulders relaxed and it was like his entire body changed posture.

"Hey, let's move to the bedroom," he said, his voice thick. He held his hand out to the patron and he hurried to get up from the sofa, following Dion to the bedroom.

I settled on the sofa instead, hunkering down for the next four hours with my book. It was hard to concentrate after a while though. Loud moaning sounds were coming from the bedroom and they were definitely coming from Dion.

At one point it just started sounding ridiculous. I couldn't help but chuckle at some especially crude words uttered. How in the hell was he able to say all that with a straight face? I'd be laughing my ass off.

My phone beeped. All good in there.

I returned to my book and got a little swept up in it. It wasn't until my phone beeped again, I realised how much time had passed. I really needed to pay better attention.

The door to the bedroom opened and the patron came out. He closed the last button on his shirt, offered me a nod and then left the suite. Which was odd. The guy had at least 3 hours left. I rose from the sofa and stopped in the door to the bedroom, knocking on the frame of it.

"Everything alright?"

"Sure, come on in." Dion was on the bed, watching TV. He looked up and smiled at me. "I tired out the old guy. Wanna hang out here for the rest of the night? I don't have any other appointments."

"How about we get out of here instead? Get some food?"

Dion perked up and smiled. He nodded very enthusiastically and jumped out of the bed, grabbing his jacket from a chair. He hurried after me out of the room and down to the car again.

"Where would you like to eat?" he asked, seemingly unable to sit still in the seat.

It was quite adorable.

"I know this one place. It's quite good."

"I'll trust your judgement, big guy. Someone like you has got to know where you get good food in this town."

I chuckled but didn't reply to that. I knew my food, for sure.