Chapter Fifteen

Blaze

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“Heads.”

I glanced up in time to see the beer Cody tossed me and caught it before using the mounted opener next to me to pop the top. At the same time I slid one of our promotional beer steins across the bar top to him so he could fill it with a local draught.

When Cody was done we slid the drinks back to each other and handed them to our waiting customers.

We were fucking swamped. Friday nights were always busy, but tonight was packed. We had two bachelorette parties, which wasn’t unusual since a lot of women felt safer coming to a gay-friendly bar when they were out in groups. And some sort of group meet-up for a gay dating service that had booked the back area in advance.

Cody and I were behind the bar while Rhys was playing waiter to the groups, and Zander was rushing around picking up glasses and plates and trying to keep the place clean. Evan had come in early because of the groups, and he’d called in Tristan to help him manage the kitchen and run food out.

It was nice in the sense that the tips were flowing. The first bachelorette party had tipped the bar two hundred dollars in advance and the meet-up group had given us three hundred. It was true we were all splitting it, but five hundred bucks split five ways was pretty sweet. Add that to the individual tips that were coming in, this looked like it would be my best tip night in months.

“Why do the bachelorette parties always order fucking cocktails,” Cody muttered as he squeezed behind me to grab some more lemons. “I swear I’m going to lose it if I have to make one more sex on the beach or Cosmo.”

I laughed and handed out the rum and colas I’d just poured out. “Don’t forget the rounds of shots.”

“Seriously.” He rolled his eyes and quickly chopped the lemons into wedges. “I know it’s party time, but there are better shots out there than slippery nipples and blow jobs.”

“True, but they don’t have sex names.”

“Yeah.” He tossed the wedges in a container and pulled in a deep breath when he saw Rhys coming up to the bar with a piece of paper in his hand. “Shoot me now.”

“Here, you take the bar and I’ll take the groups.”

“I love you.” Cody kissed my cheek and gave me a slap on the ass as he wedged into my spot.

“Tease.” I grinned and grabbed the lemons as I went to meet Rhys.

“Bachelorette one, two, or the matchmakers?” I asked as I took the paper from him.

“Bachelorette two.”

I scanned the drink list and almost rolled my eyes. “A white wine spritzer? Is this the fucking fifties?”

“That’s what the bride-to-be wanted so that’s what I wrote down.”

“At least you’ll get to finish the bottle after work if no one orders it down.” I grinned and set to making the cocktails.

“Here’s hoping the next round of shots makes her forget about it.” Rhys nodded and leaned against the bar.

“Here’s hoping.”

* * * * *

An hour before closing things were finally calm. The bachelorette parties had left for whatever their next destination was, and only one of them had gotten a little inappropriate, so that was a bonus.

Most of the time when straight women came to the bar they were there to have fun and drink, but sometimes they could get a little rowdy, and there were times when it got downright uncomfortable.

Bachelorette group one drank their drinks, danced in the little area near the stage that Evan had cleared for them, then paid their tab and left. The matchmaker group had stayed in their corner and settled up after their last member had left.

Bachelorette group two had gotten a little too drunk and had started acting inappropriately. It was awesome to have straight allies in the bar, but it was another thing to have a group of drunk women shouting about how much they love gays and wish they could be one of us gays. That wasn’t abnormal, but then one of the woman had tried to proposition Rhys into doing a strip tease for them, and when that hadn’t worked another had offered Cody and I fifty bucks to makeout with each other.

That’s when Evan had settled their tab and called cabs for them.

Now all that was left from the crowd were a few small groups sitting around the tables, and one at the other end of the bar digging into a rather huge selection from our late night menu.

“So, barkeep, tell me all your troubles.”

I glanced up at the familiar voice and couldn’t help grinning like an idiot when I saw Galen leaning against the bar in front of me.

“I thought that was my line.” I leaned down, mirroring his posture, and cocked my head to the side. “Man trouble?”

“You have no idea.” He sighed dramatically and flopped down on the stool beside him.

“Lay it out, that’s what I’m here for.” I grabbed a cloth and wiped down the counter in front of me in an exaggerated way, and saw Galen’s lips twitch as he fought not to laugh.

“So, I have this boyfriend, but he’s working right now and I’m lonely.”

I tried to ignore the tingle that went through me when Galen said ‘boyfriend’. It could just be a part of the gag, right?

“Poor thing. Well, is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” I asked, playing along.

He looked me up and down, licking his lips appreciatively. “I don’t know. I really like this guy, but you’re so fucking hot...”

My breath caught at his words. God he was sexy.

“Well, this guy is crazy if he’d rather work than be with you.”

“You think?” He leaned forward.

“I think.”

“Hmmmm. Maybe I should dump this guy and bring you home tonight.”

“I wouldn’t object.”

“Good. I’ll text him right now.”

Galen grinned as he pulled out his phone and typed in a message. When he hit send my phone buzzed in my pocket almost immediately.

“Hold on, I think my boyfriend is texting me.” I pulled out my phone, watching Galen’s reaction as I called him my boyfriend. He didn’t even flinch.

I can’t wait to get you home and fuck you. Tonight, your ass is mine.

My face flushed as I read the message, and I quickly typed one back.

Keep talking like that and you can have every part of me any time you want.

Galen read his message and looked up at me, his eyes dark with lust.

“So, it looks like my guy is too busy working to care.”

“And mine is busy doing something he thinks is more important.”

“Looks like it’s you and me.” He leaned across the bar and grabbed my shirt so he could pull me in for a kiss.

“Looks like,” I murmured against his lips.

“Okay, if you guys aren’t role playing then that was the fucking hottest pick-up I’ve ever seen.”

I leaned back and grinned at Rhys’s stunned and slightly aroused expression.

“We know each other.” I shrugged, trying to act casually.

“Hi, I’m Galen.” He extended his hand to Rhys who shook it, after giving me a sly look.

“Rhys. I didn’t realize Blaze was dating anyone.”

“It’s new, but yeah. We’re together.” Galen grinned at me and I felt my face flush.

“Tristan! Evan! Come meet Blaze’s new boyfriend!”

“Fucking Christ, Rhys. Yell that a little louder,” I muttered as Galen laughed.

“What? You’re going to have to do the intros at some point. Might as well do them now. Hey, Cody! Come here!”

Within seconds Tristan, Evan and Cody were in front of us, their eyes on Galen.

“Guys, this is Galen. Galen, this is Evan, Tristan, and Cody,” I introduced.

Galen shook everyone’s hand and exchanged pleasantries.

I was amazed by how comfortable he seemed to be. His smile and posture was relaxed, and he kept shooting me little looks as he talked with my friends.

“How about a drink?” Evan offered.

“Thank you,” Galen accepted.

“Great, it’ll give us a chance to talk.”

“Evan—”

“It’s okay.” Galen patted my hand and gave me a secret smile.

As I watched him and Evan head to one of the tables near the wall I was tempted to walk over and get their drink orders just so I’d have an excuse to eavesdrop for a second, but Cody was on to me.

“What does your man drink?”

“Scotch neat.” I sighed.

“You know he’s going to grill him like an overprotective dad.” Cody chuckled as he poured out a whiskey and cola for Evan and then grabbed the best bottle of scotch we carried.

“And that’s what I’m afraid of.”

“I didn’t know you were dating him. I mean, I saw you leave here with him that night, but you never mentioned anything.”

Cody handed the drinks to Rhys who ran them over to Evan and Galen. At least they were laughing about something. That had to be a good sign.

“We never really put a label on it. We agreed we were together, but never defined it.”

“Well, he didn’t correct Rhys when he called him your boyfriend.”

“Yeah, but he might have just been being polite.”

“He called you his boyfriend in that little bit you did, which was both hot and adorable, by the way.”

I couldn’t stop the smile from tugging up the corners of my mouth as I shook my head. “It was a gag. He probably didn’t even think about it.”

“Well, by the way you guys looked at each other, there’s something there.”

“You think?”

“I could almost feel the heat between you.” He nodded and handed me some glasses to rinse out.

“That’s one area we have no trouble in.”

“So what’s holding you back?”

“He’s a lawyer.”

“So?” Cody looked at me like I was crazy. “Lawyers can’t have boyfriends?”

“Not ones who used to peddle their ass on the street and drink and shoot their problems away.”

“You think your past is the deciding factor in if you deserve to be with someone?”

“It should be.”

“No, it shouldn’t. If that’s true than I’m even more undeserving of having someone in my life than you.”

“Shit, Cody, I didn’t mean—”

“I know you didn’t,” he cut me off. “I’m just pointing out how stupid that logic is. So what if you lived different lives. That doesn’t mean you can’t find common ground now.”

“I guess.” I glanced over at Evan and Galen, they were smiling as they talked about something.

“Just don’t fuck things up because you think you’re not good enough for him. Okay?”

“Okay. Thanks, man.”

“No problem. You know he’s going to have to meet Layla at some point too, right?”

I groaned as Cody gave me a devilish grin. “Don’t remind me. I’m almost more afraid of her than Evan.”

“She is a momma bear when it comes to us.” He clapped me on the back and laughed. “Good luck with that.”

“Yeah, well, it’ll be your turn soon enough.”

Cody was still smiling, but I caught the hint of sadness that flashed in his eyes at my words. I wish there was something I could say to make him feel better, but I knew there were no words that would help right now.

* * * * *

By the time we were closing up I was feeling better about everything. When Evan and Galen had come up to the bar after their little chat, Evan had called Galen my boyfriend, and Galen had just smiled.

Since there were so many of us on it didn’t take long to clean up and Evan let Cody, Tristan and I cut out while Rhys stayed back as Evan counted the till and did the last minute administrative stuff.

“Your friends are pretty cool.” Galen took my hand in his as we headed out of the bar.

“I like ‘em.” I grinned and gave his hand a squeeze. “It’s nice you stopped by.”

“I was bored at home, counting down to closing.” He winked. “I finally couldn’t take it anymore so I came down early.”

“Were we hanging out tonight?” I didn’t remember us firming anything up.

“Not officially, but I figured it would be harder for you to say no to me in person.”

“Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t have said no.”

Not giving a shit that we were out in public, at night, I pulled him to me for a quick kiss.

“Good to know,” Galen said softly before giving me another kiss. “Want to come to my place?”

“Yeah. It’s nicer than mine.”

“I don’t mind going to yours if that’s what you want.”

“No, I was just making a joke. Your place is good.”

“Want to stay for the weekend?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I know you’re working tomorrow afternoon, but I have some work I need to catch up on so I won’t be bored like tonight. Then we can do a lazy Sunday.”

“Is that where we spend the day in bed pretending to watch movies while we fuck until we’re exhausted?”

“That’s it exactly.” He nodded as we reached his car.

“Then yeah. I definitely want that.”

We climbed in and he started it up. “I should probably grab some clothes and my toothbrush and stuff from my place if I’m going to be gone all weekend.”

“Good idea.”

Galen drove us to my house and then waited in the car while I ran up to get some clothes and personal things, and grabbed my phone charger. He’d offered to come up with me but I’d figured it would be a better idea for him to wait for me. I couldn’t guarantee that I wouldn’t jump on him the moment we were alone, and I wanted to actually get to his place before we fucked.

As we’d been on our way to his place, I broached a subject that had been on my mind ever since I’d talked with Cody.

“So, when Rhys called you my boyfriend, you didn’t say anything...”

“What should I have said?” he asked, giving me a questioning look. “Yeah, I’m Blaze’s boyfriend?”

“So that’s what we are?”

Galen sighed and gave me a sidelong look. “I know it was me who didn’t want to label things, but I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t want to just date you casually, and I would be lying to both of us if I kept you in that category. I want to be boyfriends, if you do.”

“I do.” I nodded, trying not to let it show just how much I wanted that.

“Good, then that’s settled. Now we have a label.”

“All we need is one of those stupid nicknames.”

“Like the ones where they merge people’s names together?” He laughed. “We’d be Gaze, or Balen.”

“Ugh, those are terrible.” I laughed with him. “We should stick to Blaze and Galen.”

“I agree.” He reached across the center console and took my hand. “I kinda like having a boyfriend.”

“Yeah. Me too.”