The King's Club is near Denver's main boulevard. I turn the wheel and go into the big parking lot. I leave the keys in the valet and head for the entrance.

For some strange reason, I feel uncomfortable; it's like I'm scared or something. Why?

I'm scanning the club to track down Marinell. She sees me and raises her hand. I'm getting closer. She gets up off Ridge's feet and hugs me.

Why do I feel hypocrisy about all this?

"Come sit down. I've ordered you a liqueur because you're stuffy, you don't drink anything else!" Marinell says in a mood to tease me.

"Good Evening, Ridge, Good Evening, Stephan," I say to the rest.

Marinell sinks back into Ridge's arms, and she looks alternately with a cunning look at Stephan and me.

What's she trying to do now? She knows I'm with Dorian.

Are you? A voice yells from inside me.

My drink comes and I quickly drink two big sips.

"Βinge drinker," Stephan admires me.

I raise my eyebrows in response by stating the obvious.

"Yeah, don't you see?" Marinell mocks.

As much as I love her, sometimes her irony of irrelevant things irritates me. She keeps looking at me with that familiar look that says, 'Forget the other guy, he's for you,' meaning Stephan.

I have nothing against Stephan, and I never said I don't like him. He's a great guy, but my every sense right now is screaming for Dorian. Just thinking about him, I flushed up.

'When you don't see me, I want you to feel me,' I remember his words. Right now I don't see him, but I feel him. Dorian did that without much effort.

"How's work?" Stephan asks me.

"Fine," I say.

Yeah, I know I'm not very talkative, but I can't pretend to be. On the other hand, I feel guilty because Stephan is not responsible for anything right now.

"You? How are you doing with the casino job?" I take the liberty of asking to remove him from the awkward position I put him in.

"It's a lot of hours, but the money is good," Stephan says.

He's shy and low-key. If you saw him on the street, you wouldn't think he was a casino bouncer.

Marinell's plan is going great so far, I'm quietly mocking her. She wanted to give us a chance to talk, and she did it. She's literally in Ridge's arms, and we can't even see her face that's sunk into his throat.

Stephan's a normal guy so far. He's not talking to me about his childhood or his teenage exploits like most people would right now. On the contrary, he doesn't display himself and manages to be so subtle in his questions, as in his answers.

The music is loud enough, and the dance floor is filled with various people rocking to the rhythm. I drink the second drink and I order the third.

"I'll go get it because it's hellish here," Stephan says.

By making the move stand up, we see the waitress leave a series of drinks at our table.

"On the house," the waitress says.

The four of us look at each other to see which one of us is.

"Bring the usual for me, thank you, Claudine!" there's a voice behind her.

As she leaves, appears behind her the figure of... Dorian.

You understand what's happening to me now, right? My heart is beating like a drum, around my neck and back, I feel the sweat burning and my stomach tightening.

Not even a schoolgirl!

"Sir, good evening! Have a seat!" Ridge stands up.

"Come on, Ridge, don't get all formal, you're not at work," Dorian scolds him.

Unlike Ridge, Stephan gives a wave of greeting and sits quietly in his seat holding his drink.

What do I do now? Kiss him? Can I? Will he want it?

I'm trading a look with Stefan who keeps looking at me right now, and I'm going a little further down the leather sofa, giving Dorian a seat.

"Cheers, Dorian!" Marinell says, and they all raise their glasses.

Dorian nods affirmatively.

"We will continue another time what we were saying before, Stephan," I say in a serious tone.

I'm trying to get him out of trouble after Dorian's appearance.

Dorian has turned his back on me completely and is chatting with Stefan, who is watching him closely.

Wait, what's going on here now? Did Dorian come to talk to Stephan? I can feel my cell phone vibrating in my pocket.

Marinell: *I don't know how he got here. We didn't invite him.*

She stuck her hands in Ridge's jacket and texted me. Because if she did it in front of everybody, Dorian would know right away that we were talking about him. He's smart, but that kind of thing is not enough for Marinell. She's got everybody wrapped around her fingers if she wants to.

I put my phone back in my pocket and waved to the waitress. I'm ordering another drink. Oddly enough, they all turn around and look at me.

"You haven't finished yours yet," I say in an apology stand.

"You're drinking too much tonight," Stephan tells me, completely ignoring the fact that he interrupted the conversation with Dorian.

"Isn't that why we went out?" I ask comfortably.

Marinell gets up off Ridge's feet and comes up next to me, grabbing her drink. We're lighting a cigarette.

"Why did he come now, he spoiled us", she whispers with a sour face in my ear.

"Either way, someone must have told him we'd be here," I say suspiciously.

"None of us," she says sure.

"Where were you earlier when I called you?" I ask.

She's scratching her neck. "I got troubled with some emails about the job," she says with indifference.

Why I don't believe her? The way she talks, and I don't want to play psychic, I feel like she didn't do what she says.

"Anyway, now, tell me... What were you talking about with Stephan?" she asks cunningly.

"We were just talking, Marinell," I look at her seriously, so she can pull out of her head the idea that something's going on with Stephan and me.

There's only Dorian. Period!

"Well, go get the papers and take them to my office in the casino," Dorian tells Stephan, and he disappears fully nervous.

Marinell looks at Dorian with frowned lips, while he looks at her with total apathy.

I feel that by their looks they have exchanged words, but they are not heard. Marinell slowly gets up from next to me and goes back next to Ridge as if she got a secret order.

Something's happening...