Vance glanced up and down the street, then shook his head and continued walking forward. Prescott was different than he remembered, but it was also more of the same. The buildings looked just like they had during his childhood years, but the names on them had changed. A few businesses remained — he spotted the little diner near the downtown core that his mother used to take him to after church, and the hardware store which was overpriced, but that everyone loved going to if only to visit the resident shop-cat, but most of the tiny businesses he’d known as a boy were long gone.

Time changed everything. It decayed what it touched and left it hollow.

Vance laughed inwardly.

He was no exception to its rule.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and made his way down the street he’d always walked as a teenager, back when he knew a guy who knew a guy who could get him into the local dive bar through the back door, even though he was underage. The dive bar had been one of the highlights of Vance’s time in Prescott. The sleepy little town was too button-perfect for him. He hadn’t exactly been a bad boy, but being squeaky-clean was boring and far too difficult to maintain.

What’s life without a little spice? Bland as fuck, that’s what.

He followed the street all the way to the end, where the dive bar used to stand. It was gone — no big surprise — but what did surprise Vance was that it wasn’t gone entirely. The building wasn’t boarded up, and it hadn’t been re-purposed into a trendy boutique or living space. A new bar stood there instead. A Stiff One.

“Well, look what we have here,” Vance murmured to himself. He stood upside the bar, head tilted upward to read the sign. “If this wasn’t Prescott, I’d think that this was a gay bar…”

He watched a few patrons leave the bar, both men, and both clearly into each other. Vance arched a brow.

Maybe I’m not so far off the mark after all.

A gay bar in tiny Prescott, Georgia seemed too good to be true. The bar looked new — maybe Prescott’s newest star had something to do with it. Vance had caught wind that some internet celebrity was filming out of Prescott, and while at first he’d been rustled that he was no longer the biggest thing to ever happen to such a small town, he didn’t mind it so much if it meant a bar like this was doing business here. If an openly gay Youtuber could shape a small town so much, he could only imagine what he’d do to it once his name blew up again… or once people realized who he was. A lot had happened since he’d left Prescott ten years ago, and not all of it was good, but Vance felt confident that he could still turn his life around. He’d been a rock star once, and he could get himself back to that level of celebrity if he tried.

Coming back home to come up with a comeback plan was a good first step. He needed to separate himself from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles and get back to his roots.

But a little taste of LA never hurt anyone.

Vance pulled the door open and stepped into the small room that separated the front door from the bar’s interior. A tall, muscular man wearing a black t-shirt and jeans stood in front of the hallway leading into the bar. He looked Vance over suspiciously when Vance entered.

“Gonna need to see some ID,” the man said.

“You got it.” Vance took his wallet from his back pocket and presented his driver’s license.

The man looked the license over, then looked at Vance and narrowed his eyes. “Los Angeles?”

“I just moved here. I’ve still got to get my license switched over and my plates changed.”

“That’s a far way to move for a town in the middle of nowhere,” the bouncer said.

Vance shrugged. “I grew up here, so I guess it’s only natural that I’d find my way back home eventually. It’s been a long time out in Los Angeles, and I’m ready to get my head on straight again.”

The bouncer laughed. “You’ve come to the wrong place, then.”

“Metaphorically speaking.” Vance laughed. “Am I good to go?”

“Yeah, you’re fine.”

“Have a good one, then.” Vance nodded in parting and stepped past the bouncer, heading deeper into the bar. He remembered how it had once been, with its dingy lights and questionable employees, and found it hard to believe it had turned into something so different. The shoddy, dried-out wooden interior had been stripped out and updated. There were purple lights behind the bar, and although the interior was still dark, Vance couldn’t describe it as dingy. A large number of the tables had been removed, and there was a dance floor now — recently installed, by the looks of it. It felt one thousand percent more Los Angeles than it did Prescott, and Vance had to wonder if he could ever escape the glitz and glam of the city in order to get back to his roots.

He shrugged it off.

One renovated bar did not a small-town make, and he was pretty sure that even though it had changed, the rest of Prescott would cling more closely to tradition. They were still a red county in a red state, and that meant there were certain things that would not change. If he was looking to shake up his life, Prescott was the solution — it was just nice that there was a tiny taste of Los Angeles in an otherwise quiet town.

Vance took up a seat at the bar. There weren’t all that many people there that night, but he figured this would change as time went on. It was still early, but he was in need of some stress-relief after his flight, and a little liquid comfort sounded like a great idea.

The bartender was a young man who barely looked legal. The top buttons of his shirt were undone, and he was rocking a haircut that either purposefully created the illusion of bedhead, or that gave him such awesome sex hair, he didn’t bother to shake it out. Vance looked him over, wondering if he might want someone younger tonight, but even as the bartender gave him bedroom eyes, he didn’t feel particularly motivated.

“What can I get you?” the bartender asked. He leaned across the counter, maintaining eye contact. He was cute as all hell, but that wasn’t going to be enough to cut it tonight. Vance had brought home enough pillow princesses to know them by sight, and he got the impression he was looking at royalty.

“What do you have on tap?”

The kid started listing off their beers until Vance stopped him and ordered a local stout he’d never heard of before. The bartender poured him a pint, and Vance produced payment. He tipped generously, and he saw the interest grow in the bartender’s eyes.

Not tonight. Sorry, kid.

“So… I haven’t see you around before,” the bartender said as he tucked his tip away. “I’m Kris. Who are you?”

“Vance.”

“That’s a cool name.”

“Thanks. It was a gift.” Vance had a naturally charming grin, and he brought it out in all its glory. The purple light behind the bar obscured color, but he was sure he saw Kris blush. “How old are you, Kris?”

“Old enough to work at the bar, but barely.” Kris returned his grin and leaned forward. He had a good smile — if he met the right people, Vance was pretty sure he could go far in whatever his passion was. Music, definitely. He had the face to front a band. “You know, if you’re planning on sticking around tonight, I could show you around after my shift ends. Prescott’s not exactly huge, but it’s big enough that you’d benefit from a tour. I’m an excellent guide, you know… and you wouldn’t have to worry about giving me a tip. Not unless you wanted to.”

The innuendo was plain in his tone. Vance chuckled. “What a generous offer.”

“I’m off at one,” Kris said. “If you want to hang around, we could totally do something.”

“Maybe.” Vance sipped at his beer. The full-bodied taste hit him hard, and he grinned. Yeah, it was good to be home. In Los Angeles, he was just another face, but here? Here, he was hot stuff. It felt damned good. “I’m thinking that I might get going sooner than that, but at least now I know where to find you. You work here often?”

“Almost every night.”

“Then it won’t be hard to look.” Vance turned up the charm another level, and Kris’ smile grew despite the rejection. “You get a lot of guys who come in here?”

“Enough. We only opened about a year ago, but word’s been spreading, and we get people from all over not just the county, but the state coming in to check us out. It’s kind of cool. You get to know a lot of faces. Weekends here are insane.”

“I’d bet.”

“But there’s never been anyone quite like you who’s come in before,” Kris said. His gaze parted from Vance’s eyes to glance down his body, then darted back up. “I’d remember.”

“This is my first time. I just moved to town.”

“Then I look forward to seeing you a lot more often.” Kris winked. “I’ve got to get back to work or my boss is going to beat my ass, but if you need anything — anything at all — you just let me know, okay?”

“That’s a dangerous thing to say to a man like me,” Vance said playfully. “You should watch yourself. You’re asking for trouble.”

“Trouble never did me wrong,” Kris replied, flirtation heavy in his voice. “I’m starting to think that inviting trouble into my life is exactly what I need.”

“Is that so, Kris?” a man asked from further down the bar. Kris jumped, and his eyes widened.

“Shit, Tony… I’m sorry. I was just getting back to inventory.”

“You’d better be, or trouble is exactly what you’re going to get.”

Kris gave Vance an apologetic look and ducked under the counter. Vance held back a laugh. Flirting was fun, but Kris wasn’t who he wanted to take home tonight. He needed someone who knew themselves a little better — who’d help him forget that he wasn’t half as famous as he’d been at the peak of his career. What he needed was a distraction.

And it just so happened that a distraction seated himself right next to Vance at the bar, his hair stunningly dark and his eyes hauntingly familiar.

“Hey,” the distraction said. Even his voice was hot — deep without being overbearing, but light enough that Vance didn’t get the impression he was an energy-suck. “I haven’t seen you here before.”

“No, you haven’t,” Vance grinned. “But if coming here means that I get to see you more often? You’ll be seeing a lot more of me soon.”