Paul couldn’t stop himself from eyeing the hot guy, Davis, who’d joined Luke’s group of friends. He seemed to be the only single one. Paul kept hoping he’d wander off by himself so he could introduce himself, but so far, the guy was plunked right in the middle of them. The others were helping him go through the dating app, telling him to ‘swipe left’ (to reject) or ‘swipe right’ (accept).

It appeared that their objections to Davis’s dating app usage did not extend to heartily offering their opinion on every guy on said app.

“No,” the cranky one, Jake, said, putting his beer down. “Absolutely not.”

“He’s a beekeeper, that’s fun and out there,” Davis replied.

“Yeah, you know what that says? Weirdo hipster. You aren’t in your twenties anymore, you can’t afford to waste time on weirdo hipsters. Those are for college. Swipe left.”

“Oh, wow, he’s hot,” Lance pointed out.

Travis growled. From what Paul could tell, those two were still new enough in their relationship that Travis was still in the ‘easily jealous’ stage.

“Yeah, but he’s an accountant,” Matthew said.

“Interesting people can have boring jobs,” Davis pointed out. “Most people would call my job boring.”

“What is your job?” Paul asked, seizing an opportunity.

“He’s a personal shopper,” Adam said.

“Head sales rep,” Davis corrected, glaring.

“You told me you helped a lady pick out an entire new wardrobe. That’s a personal shopper.”

“Okay, but that’s not all I do.” Davis looked a bit sheepish. “I like working with people. Helping them feel better.”

Paul wanted to reply, maybe say something flirtatious about how Davis could help make him feel better, but then he got a call for another round of Guinness over at the far end. When he came back, the group was avidly chanting swipe right, swipe right, swipe right and cheering when Davis did so.

Paul had a feeling the entire group was getting a little tipsy, he’d certainly been throwing a few beers their way.

He focused instead on serving the customers. There were plenty of them, of varying ages and genders. He flirted idly with all of them, because even if he wasn’t genuinely into it, flirting got him more tips.

He kept an eye on Davis, though. He was just too good-looking to ignore. A little too neat, though. Paul wanted to get his hands in his hair and on his clothes and muss him up a little.

After a time, the friend group dispersed. Luke was still helping out at the bar. Travis and Matthew had gone upstairs to play pool. Jake was off bothering somebody, and Lance had followed Travis and Matthew to, quote, “make sure nobody gets hurt this time.” Adam was sitting at the bar reading a book and letting Luke flirt with him outrageously, like they were almost strangers instead of engaged.

That left Davis all alone.

Paul sidled up to him when he saw his empty glass drink. “Can I get you another?”

“Hmm?” Davis looked up. Paul gave him a slow, smooth smile, the kind that usually left people stuttering. “Oh, thanks.”

Davis seemed unaffected by it. Huh.

“You look like you’re a regular here,” Paul noted as he exchanged Davis’s empty glass for a full one.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Davis loosened up a little, his shoulders dropping and a small, fond smile appearing on his face. “Spent every night here since I was a teenager.”

“A teen, huh? They that lax about ID?”

Davis shook his head, laughing. “Hell, no. Luke’s dad owned this place. We’d all come over and sit at one of the tables and hang out. Soda only though. That was before Luke installed all these booths and stuff.”

“It’s a great place,” Paul said. “I’m glad to be working here.” He lowered his head just a little, leaning the tiniest bit into Davis’s space. “I especially like the clientele.”

Davis looked at him for a moment, his brown eyes getting darker and his lips parting. There you are, Paul thought. If he leaned in just a little farther he’d be able to catch a whiff of Davis’s smell, see what cologne he used, maybe even begin sensing the heat of his body. That promise, of almost being close enough but just towing the line of respectability, always gave himself and the person he was flirting with a rush.

Davis leaned away a little bit, clearing his throat. “Yeah, well, you’ll run into a lot of different people here, but there are also some regulars. You might want to meet them, get to know their preferences.”

“I don’t know if Luke’ll let me,” Paul admitted, grinning in a less flirtatious and more conspiratorial way. “He’s really protective of this place. I mean, it’s great that he’s giving me a job and he said that if I do well he’s hoping he can take some nights off and let me bartend on my own.”

“Yeah, he’s got another guy he wants to add on as well,” Davis said. He seemed more relaxed now that Paul wasn’t directly flirting with him. Maybe he got nervous when someone was too forward?

That was fine. Paul could play the long game too. He had all night.

“I know Luke wants to spend more time with Adam and Seth.” Davis paused. “Seth is his younger brother, I’m not sure if he told you about him.”

“He did mention him,” Paul said. “He’s in high school, right?”

“Yeah.” Davis grinned, looking more open and relaxed. He was even more handsome now that he seemed genuinely happy about the subject matter. “Everybody kind of knows this, so don’t make a big deal out of it or anything, but Luke and Seth lost their parents a few years ago. There’s a big age gap, and we all kind of pitched in, so Seth’s like a younger brother to all of us.

“He’s in high school now, wants to go to Stanford or Harvard, so I know Luke wants to get in as much time with him as he can before he goes.”

“It’s got to be hard for him and his fiancé, too,” Paul noted, slipping into sympathetic bartender mode. “Adam’s a lawyer, right? That means he works days. But Luke works nights here.”

“Exactly.” Davis nodded. “I know I’d hate not being able to see my husband because of work.”

“You got a husband?” Paul asked, seeing the perfect opening.

Just the faintest dusting of pink appeared on Davis’s nose and cheekbones. It was kind of adorable. “Not yet.”

Ahhh. Not yet. Paul could feel himself starting to retreat but forced himself to keep the smile on his face. This guy was obviously a close friend of Luke’s and he couldn’t stop being nice to a customer just because he couldn’t flirt with them anymore.

“So, you’re one of those, huh?” Paul asked.

“One of what?” Davis replied.

“You know, someone who believes in that whole romance thing,” Paul explained.

“And you don’t?” Davis said, raising his eyebrows, his eyes widening slightly in a way that was kind of comical but also cute, although Davis probably didn’t intend for it to be.

Paul laughed. “I’ve seen enough relationships go down in flames to know that it never lasts.” From his own parents, to all of his high school friends’ relationships, to the heartbroken people he served regularly at bars.

He couldn’t count how many times he’d see a husband or wife or boyfriend or so on sitting, hunched over the bar, moodily drinking because their relationship had fallen apart. People who had been happy and thriving ended up guilt-tripping themselves, convinced they had done something wrong. Or they were bitter, angry, feeling attacked. Or they were just depressed. But no matter the particular flavor, they all ended up the same way: lonely.

That was way to live a life. Paul certainly wasn’t going to set himself up for heartbreak like that. And neither should anyone else. Why not just enjoy people while you could instead of investing all of this time and energy into unrealistic expectations and people who never lived up to your fantasies in the long-term?

Davis shook his head. “I should’ve known you were a skeptic. You guys always are.”

“You guys?” Paul quoted back at him. “And just what is that supposed to mean?”

“I grew up with Travis and Luke,” Davis replied. “Got my heart broken by Luke in high school, but that’s a whole other story. Point is, they’re players. I know how you guys operate. You guys think romance is bullshit, so you just sleep around and act like a jerk in the process.”

“Wow,” Paul said, drawing the sound out. “You barely even know me and you’re judging me.”

“So, you weren’t flirting with me just now?” Davis replied, leaning forward and propping his chin in his hand. “Trying to get me to come home with you? For the record, Luke kind of frowns upon quickies in the back office unless it’s him and Adam. But you could probably get away with using one of the pool tables upstairs if you clean it up afterwards.”

Paul didn’t know whether to burst out laughing at Davis’s matter of fact attitude or take offense at being found out so easily. Although it was really his own fault for being that obvious. Was he losing his touch?

“I’ll take all of that into consideration,” Paul said, purposefully overly serious.

Davis laughed a little. Paul wasn’t sure what to make of this guy. He was undeniably attracted to him. But he projected this hugely serious and focused air that made Paul—and probably a lot of other guys—want to run for the hills.

“Seriously though, you can’t not believe in romance,” Davis said. “What, you think all those poets and stuff were just bullshitting?”

“I think that people feel that way at first,” Paul admitted, “but usually they exaggerate. And then when it all fades they’re left disillusioned and unhappy.”

“Wow, cynic much?” Davis replied.

“And what, I suppose that you were the guy who was hoping you’d run into your true love at the coffee shop or something,” Paul said, perhaps a little too crankily.

“So what if I am?” Davis said. “It can happen to me, or you, or anyone. You just have to keep your mind open.”

“And let me guess, you’ve been in dozens of relationships,” Paul hazarded. “None of them worked out, and none of them lasted very long, but each time you were convinced that he was The One.”

“And let me guess,” Davis replied. There was a flash of anger in his eyes that looked promising. Okay, more than promising—damn attractive. “You’ve slept with so many guys you’ve lost count trying to fill the empty void in your soul. Now that you’ve moved to a new town you get to start all over. How many exes were you fleeing? Two? Five? Ten?”

“Wow, that didn’t get personal or anything,” Paul said straightening up.

“You started it,” Davis replied.

“You two sound like kindergarteners,” Jake noted. Davis jumped, apparently not having noticed his friend approaching, neither had Paul. He just hid his surprise better.

Davis waved at Paul. “Just what we needed. Another one.”

“Another what?” Jake asked.

“Well, if I’d known that you were just using me in place of the guy that broke your heart, I’d have been a bit nicer,” Paul replied.

Davis flipped him off while simultaneously saying to Jake, “Another bad boy who thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips.”

“I am all that.” Paul grinned. “Although I can’t replace a good bag of potato chips and nobody should try to.”

Davis pointed at him accusingly while still looking at Jake, as if to say, you see what I mean?

Paul found it adorable, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it when the guy was insulting him.

“He told you about his new dating app thing, huh?” Jake asked.

Davis looked betrayed.

“No, he didn’t,” Paul said, unable to keep the glee out of his voice. He planted his hands on the bar top and leaned in, trying to glimpse Davis’s phone screen. “What apps are you using? You know people just use those to hook up, right?”

Davis slid the phone away from Paul. “People use it to make genuine connections too.”

“Yeah, but comparatively, more people are using it just to hook up.” Paul grinned. “I should know, that’s why I used them when I was in NYC.”

“A shining example,” Davis said. “I bet your profile was full of pictures of you shirtless.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Jake was watching all of this with a raised eyebrow. Paul couldn’t tell if he found this whole exchange amusing or annoying. Maybe a mix of both.

Paul leaned in, resting his elbows on the bar counter “Look. I’m not saying I agree with your whole… romance thing. But c’mon. If you’re going to do it, don’t go on a damn app. You just can’t beat the face to face connection.”

Davis rolled his eyes. “Oh, I’m sure you benefit a hell of a lot from face to face connections.”

“Don’t look now,” Jake added, “but I think the bartender might actually be trying to genuinely help you, bro.”

Paul winked at Jake. “Thank you.”

“See? See?” Davis gestured. “That! That is the kind of shit that’s why I got an app in the first place! You do know that Jake has a boyfriend, right? Or do you flirt with everything that moves?”

“It was a friendly wink,” Paul said, although it had been flirtatious, and this was possibly one of the reasons why one of his exes had punched him.

Davis narrowed his eyes and Paul had the distinctly uncomfortable feeling of knowing someone was seeing right through his bullshit. “Right. I don’t suppose it’s too late to get him fired?” This last part was directed at Jake.

Jake looked alarmed and put his hands up. “Listen, you two can continue your little whatever this is in peace but leave Luke out of it, he’s been needing another pair of hands for months. Also, if you make it so Luke can’t spend evenings with Adam, I think Adam just might murder you. And he’s a lawyer so he’ll know how to get off scot free.”

“Hey, he started it,” Paul argued. “I was just trying to have a good time.”

“Pick me up, you mean,” Davis retorted.

“Oh, like all of your guys on that computer algorithm are going to be any better. At least see people face to face so you can get a feel for them.” Paul smirked. “Like when they’re bullshitting you, since apparently you’re an expert on that.”

Davis glared at him.

“Trust me, a guy will look great on your phone and then turn out to be a dick in real life.” Paul shrugged, forcing himself to be nonchalant. “At least, I’m being upfront about it.”

“Oh, yeah, thank you so much for that,” Davis replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Another customer further down the bar tried to catch Paul’s eye by waving a folded bank note. He grinned. “Ah, duty calls.”

He winked at Davis just to watch the uptight guy scowl, and then moved onto the next customer.

Damn shame that a guy that pretty had to be one of those romantic types and wound up tight like that to boot. What was wrong with being upfront about what you wanted, anyway? What was wrong with flirting and keeping it casual?

God, Paul hoped he’d never have to deal with that guy ever again. Then he groaned, inwardly.

Davis was one of Luke’s close friends.

He was going to be here almost every night.

Paul wanted to thump his head against the wall.