Chapter One

Cody

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“I’m fucking bored.” I leaned against the counter and sighed audibly.

“You’re always bored.” Blaze looked up from where he was chopping up lemon slices and grinned. “Seriously, dude. You have the attention span of a toddler.”

“And you’re so interested in those lemons you’re not bored?” I shot back.

“Trust me when I say it’s not the lemons I’m thinking about.” Blaze waggled his eyebrows at me and I couldn’t help laughing.

“Yeah, well not all of us have super hot boyfriends to think about.”

Blaze didn’t answer, he just winked and pushed his tray of cut lemon wedges toward me.

“So things are good?” I dumped the wedges in a container and checked to see how much mint we had on hand. For some reason mint juleps were the in drink and people were ordering them like crazy.

“They’re good.” He nodded.

“Has his family come around?” I asked softly.

A few months ago Blaze and his boyfriend Galen had gone to a party at Galen’s parent’s house. It had been a coming out of sorts for Galen, and the first time Blaze had met anyone in his family.

Outwardly the only person who seemed to object to their relationship had been Galen’s older brother, but then halfway through the party Galen’s dad had taken Blaze aside while his mother had distracted Galen. His father had offered Blaze forty thousand dollars to disappear from Galen’s life, because he didn’t accept his son being gay. When Blaze had told him to fuck off, Galen’s dad had Blaze escorted from the property by armed men and Galen hadn’t realized what had happened for a few hours.

For most people that would have been annoying and humiliating, but for Blaze it had cut deep since he’d been kicked out at fifteen. His ultra-religious parents hadn’t been able to accept that he was gay.

The real kicker was that Blaze had undergone two rounds of conversion therapy at the insistence of his parents. It had basically been a cover for the ‘therapists’ to use sexual and physical abuse to try and pray the gay out of him. When Galen’s father had rejected him so harshly it had brought back a lot of painful memories, and Blaze had almost relapsed on two years of sobriety and started drinking again.

He’d been messed up for weeks and I’d managed to talk him into going back to Open Arms, the LGBT shelter we’d both spent some time at, to talk to a counselor who understood specifically what he’d gone through. It seemed to have helped, and he’d gone for almost a month before he’d felt he was ready to put it all behind him and focus on the future.

“No, they haven’t.”

“And Galen’s still okay?”

“Yeah, he’s doing good with everything. He’s never really felt like a part of them anyway, so it’s not that big of a change for him.”

“So, have you officially moved in with him yet?” I asked, and the grin on Blaze’s face told me everything. “When?”

“I gave my notice for the end of last month, so about a week now.”

“You didn’t tell me.” I tossed a rag at him. “You’re supposed to tell me these things.”

“It’s not a big deal.” He threw the rag back at me and I caught it out of the air. “I was basically living there anyway. Now it’s just official.”

“Yes, it is a big deal,” I insisted. “I need to live vicariously through you and your domestic happiness.”

“What about you?” he asked as he knelt in front of the cooler to do inventory of what was stocked. “You moved out of Layla’s.”

“Yeah, but I moved out alone.”

“I’m happy for you, Cody.” Blaze looked up from the cooler and smiled. “Really, it’s awesome.”

I flushed at his words and tried to think of something to say that wasn’t completely mushy or stupid.

Out of all the guys who worked at The Den, I was closest with Blaze. I didn’t know if it was because we were only a few years apart in age, or if it was our similar histories, but I was able to relate to him in a way I couldn’t relate to the other guys at the bar.

They were all awesome, including our boss Evan, and I’d take a bullet for them no questions asked, but I still felt a little removed from them.

I was the youngest at the bar, and at twenty-one it sometimes felt like everyone thought of me as a kid. It didn’t help that I was only five-foot-nine while everyone else topped six feet. I was also slender so I looked like I was still in high school. I’d been working at the bar for over a year, but had only started bartending on my birthday because I hadn’t been legal.

Layla was our day manager, and she’d taken to me and Blaze right away, and mothered us like no one else. She was an amazing woman and she’d done so much to help me, including letting me rent out her spare bedroom for almost a year while I learned how to be independent, and until I’d felt ready to be on my own.

I’d only been in my little bachelor apartment for a few weeks, but I loved the freedom. Everything in there was mine. I’d bought it with money I’d earned, and I finally felt like I had a place to escape to.

It wasn’t much, just a one bedroom basement apartment in a decent area not too far from work, but it was my place, and I felt safe there.

“What time is it?” I asked when Blaze stood.

“Half an hour left, man.” He winked and nodded to the storeroom. “Want to grab a case of coolers, we’re running low.”

“Not especially.”

Blaze rolled his eyes and laughed. “And you were the one complaining about being bored, but you don’t want do any work to pass the time.”

“That sounds like a Blaze problem, if you ask me.”

Blaze rolled his eyes again and squeezed past me, giving me a quick slap on the ass as he headed to the storeroom.

“Getting fresh at work I see. Isn’t that a no-no?”

I looked up at the familiar voice, and couldn’t stop the grin that spread over my face when I saw my best friend Isaac sliding into the seat across from me.

“Tell that to grabby hands over there,” I called after Blaze and he gave me the finger over his shoulder.

“Busy night?” Isaac asked as he looked around the bar. It was almost completely dead.

“It’s always slow on Tuesday.” I shrugged. “Beer?”

“Thanks.”

I poured him his favorite draught and pushed the stein toward him.

As Isaac took a long drink from the glass, I couldn’t help staring at him, and my eyes were drawn to his throat as he swallowed his beer. 

Isaac was gorgeous. He was five-eleven, so while he was taller than me he didn’t tower over me like a lot of guys did, and he was lean but still muscular. He’d been a swimmer in high school, and worked in construction so he had no trouble maintaining his physique. His dark brown hair was a little longer on the top than on the sides, and his warm brown eyes reminded me of melted chocolate.

He was also sweet, funny, caring, sharp, compassionate and sexy as hell, and I’d been in love with him for as long as we’d been friends.

“Want to hang out tonight?” he asked, jarring me out of my thoughts.

“I thought you were working tomorrow?”

Isaac’s days could start as early as five a.m., while I tended to work a lot of mid and closing shifts, so we didn’t spend a lot of time together when he was on a job.

“Nah, the site got closed down. Something about the pipes needing to be replaced before we could continue, so I’ve got a few days off.

“I’m off tomorrow,” I said, hoping he’d want to spend a little extra time together.

“Sounds good. Movie night?”

“Movie night.” I grinned. “My pick.”

“No fucking way. We’ll end up watching some stupid arts movie with subtitles I can’t follow.” He shook his head emphatically. “Horror night.”

“You know that shit freaks me out.”

“That’s the best part.”

“You’re an ass.”

“And you love it.”

I bit my tongue before I could tell him just how true that statement was.

“Your place? Noah’s home tonight.”

Noah was Isaac’s identical twin brother, and the boys were as different as could be. Isaac was bubbly and outgoing and could charm anyone, male or female, while Noah was introverted and withdrawn. We were friendly, but considering how close Isaac and I were, I didn’t really know his brother. Another big difference was that Isaac was gay while Noah was straight.

“How’s he doing?”

“Not bad. He’s between jobs right now so he’s a bit bummed.”

“We can do my place then, give him some space.”

“You got beer at home?” he asked, draining what was left in his glass.

“You cleaned me out over the weekend,” I teased.

“You helped.”

“True, but you drank more.”

Isaac rolled his eyes and pushed his empty glass toward me. “Fine, we’ll pick some up on the way. Maybe order pizza?”

“Awesome.”

“Hey, Isaac.” Blaze came around the bar with a box of coolers resting on his shoulder and looking way too hot.

Blaze was pretty much the opposite of my type, but he was still sexy as hell. He wore his sandy brown hair so long it fell below his shoulders, but with his broad shoulders, lean muscles and powerful legs there was nothing feminine about him. His green eyes were always bright with laughter and his ruggedly handsome features usually sported a smile. To finish the look he had a three quarter tribal tattoo sleeve on his right arm, and I’d seen the other tats that dotted his chest and sides, as well as his nipple rings.

“Blaze, what’s up? How’s your sexy lawyer man?” Isaac asked with a grin, referring to Galen.

“He’s good.” He chuckled and shifted the box of coolers to the counter. “How have you been?”

“Working hard or hardly working, you know how it goes.”

“The life of a seasonal worker.” Blaze nodded and leaned against the counter. “So which are you doing right now?”

“Hardly working.”

“Sucks.”

“It does.” Isaac nodded. “But at least I have this one to keep me company.” He grinned and nodded to me, and I hoped the dim lighting at the bar would cover up the fact that my face was flushed.

Blaze was the only person who knew I had feelings for Isaac, and he only knew because I’d gotten drunk one night and blurted it out to him. He’d been cool and promised not to tell anyone, but I could tell he felt sorry for me.

“Okay, one of you leave now,” Zander, our night manager came up to the bar and glanced between Blaze and I. “I’m feeling generous and it’s dead.”

“Go.” Blaze looked at me. “I still have another hour and Galen’s at some meetings so...”

I grinned and put my hand out for a fist bump. “Thanks.”

“No worries.” Blaze bumped his fist with mine and nodded.

“Thanks.” I turned to Zander and gave him my best smile.

Zander was a great guy, and he was also super hot. I’d had a massive crush on him when I’d first started working at the bar, but now he was like a big brother to me. Zander was classically handsome with his stylish, chestnut brown hair, steel gray eyes, and a body any gym rat would be jealous of. He wasn’t bulky, but he was lean and strong and fucking ripped. He was also a nice guy and super protective of all of us, but he seemed especially invested in me. Maybe it was the fact that I was so young, but it was nice to have him in my corner.

“Ready?” Isaac waited as I grabbed my bag and came around the bar.

“All good.” I nodded “Later fellas.”

Blaze and Zander said their goodbyes, and Isaac and I headed out of the bar.

“You drive?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m just down the street.”

We walked in silence, and that was one of the things I liked most about hanging with Isaac. Usually silence made me uncomfortable and I’d start babbling to fill the gaps, but with Isaac I never had that urge.

We’d met on my third shift at The Den. It had been his and Noah’s twenty-fourth birthday and they’d come in for a drink together. For a moment I’d thought I was seeing double, but after clearing their glasses I’d been able to see the subtle differences that set the boys apart.

Isaac had struck up a conversation with me, and I’d ended up staying for a few hours after my shift to hang out with him and Noah. We’d exchanged numbers and fallen into an easy friendship.

Now he and Noah were twenty-five, and I was finally old enough to be behind the bar. We still had the easy friendship, only it was complicated by the fact that I’d fallen for him while he thought of me as a best friend.