Blake had been busy since she’d walked into Reed’s. There had evidently been some kind of softball championship for grown men earlier in the day, and they’d all decided Reed’s was the perfect place to end their failed attempt at recapturing their youths. Blake was never more thankful to have a bar between her and the crowd since she only came up to mid-gut on most of the softball players. And the more pitchers of beer they had, the more they leered at her.

She really hoped she didn’t have to junk-punch anyone before the night was over.

As she filled an order of Bud Light pitchers and shots of tequila, her eyes snagged on Gavin, who was sliding onto a stool at the bar with Simon. She held up a finger to them and carried the drinks over to the cocktail waitress to deliver.

“It’s packed in here,” Gavin said when she reached them.

“It’s been like this all night. I’m about to pull the fire alarm to clear some of them out.”

Gavin laughed. “That’d only clear some of them?”

“Yeah, the regulars know better than to give up their seats unless they hear sirens.” Even though Gavin was laughing, Blake wasn’t kidding. Joe Reed, the owner of the bar, had actually installed a fake fire alarm that didn’t alert first responders in case a fight broke out or some other emergency. Blake was sure it was illegal as hell, but it served its purpose. “What can I get you guys?”

“What do you have on tap?” Simon asked.

Blake ran through the five beers and then recited the twelve more they offered in bottles. Both guys ordered lagers in a bottle, which was easy enough for Blake.

“Can you start us a tab?” Gavin asked.

“I could if I didn’t plan on collecting payment in sexual favors later,” Blake replied.

Simon nearly choked on his beer as he attempted to prevent himself from spitting it everywhere.

Shit, Blake thought. Maybe Gavin didn’t want Simon to know they were having sex. “Sorry. I was just…kidding?” she said as she looked at Gavin for some guidance on how to handle her big mouth.

Gavin smiled and took a sip of his beer before saying, “If you were kidding, I’m going to be disappointed.”

A huge wave of relief swept through her at his words. While she would’ve understood if Gavin had wanted to keep their arrangement private, it made her feel good that he didn’t mind if his friend knew.

“But really,” Gavin said, his smile gone. “Start us a tab. We don’t want you to get into trouble.”

The reality was, Joe was cool with his bartenders giving out some free drinks to their friends as long as they didn’t abuse the privilege and the friends didn’t order top-shelf shit. But she didn’t want to argue with him, so if Gavin wanted a tab, she’d start him one.

Simon’s eyes ping-ponged between them as if he was trying to figure them out. Since it wasn’t Blake’s place to fill him in on any more than she already accidentally had, she excused herself to tend to some other patrons.

She was restocking the beer cooler when she heard someone say, “Jesus Christ, what does a thirsty broad gotta do to get a drink around here?”

“Walk into the men’s room and get on her knees,” Blake replied without looking up at the voice she knew so well.

Celeste chuckled. “The crew in here tonight looks like they couldn’t find their dicks with an extra hand and a map.”

“Guess you’ll have to help them then,” Blake said as she made room for the last bottle, and looked up at Celeste and Emily. “Can I get you anything, Em?”

Celeste squawked. “What about me?”

“I know what you want, lush.” Celeste rarely ordered anything other than a margarita when she went out unless she was celebrating or depressed.

“I’ll have a cosmo,” Emily said.

“’Kay. I’ll deliver them over there.” She pointed to where Gavin and Simon were sitting.

“Ooh, you didn’t tell me Simon the Pizza Man was going to be here,” Celeste drawled.

“Who?” Emily asked.

“Ya had to be there,” Blake said to Emily. “And I said Gavin was bringing a friend,” she added to Celeste.

“But you didn’t tell me it was hot Simon. Hmm…” Celeste tapped her lips with her finger. “I wonder if he’ll let me scream a different name in bed.”

“I feel like you’re skipping a lot of steps,” Blake said, eyeing Celeste as Celeste eyed Simon.

“What steps?” Celeste asked absently.

“Like him remembering who you are.”

Celeste waved her off. “Such unimportant details.”

Emily and Blake shared a look before amused smiles spread across their faces. It was hard not to be entertained by Celeste.

“Go say hi while I make your drinks,” Blake said. She watched the two women approach Gavin and Simon and then set about mixing their cocktails. When she plopped them down on the bar in front of her friends, she said, “Has everyone met Emily?” She gestured toward her red-haired friend as she spoke.

“We have now. I was just thanking her for inviting us to crash that party,” Gavin said with a smirk.

Sexy bastard.

Celeste’s affronted face tore her attention from Gavin. “You went to the party without me?”

“Yeah. You couldn’t go.”

“That means you can’t go either.”

Blake eyed her friend. “That’s clearly not what it means since I went.”

“You’re a terrible friend,” Celeste said as she pouted.

“Speaking of bad friends,” Simon cut in, “I watched that Teen Mom show you were talking about. Why does Simon want to be friends with Farrah so much? She’s an awful human being.”

Celeste blinked at him for a few seconds before putting her elbow on the table and resting her chin on her hand. “I think you’re my soul mate.”

Simon looked stunned for a second before a shy smile crept over his face that he tried to hide by taking a sip of his beer.

“Blake!”

She turned at the sound of her name being yelled to see the other bartender Steve holding his hands up with an exasperated look on his face. “I need to get back to work before Steve goes postal. I’ll stop back in a bit.”

Returning to work kept her busy, but it didn’t stop her from sneaking glances over at her friends repeatedly throughout the night. They looked like they were having a great time, and it made her a little jealous that she couldn’t be having fun with them. Celeste seemed to be hanging on Simon’s every word—an action that seemed to be mutual. And Emily and Gavin were gabbing with a few people sitting near them. Finally, around midnight, the crowd thinned out a little, and she got to spend a little more time talking to them.

Her friends had just taken another round of shots when Celeste stood up. “Okay, this girl’s had enough. Simon, your place or mine?”

Celeste’s words made Blake remember a time she’d uttered the same phrase to Gavin. The memory turned her on a little.

Simon looked gobsmacked as his head shot around to look at all of them before returning his gaze to Celeste. “Um, I have a roommate.”

“Heavy sleeper?”

Nodding, Simon responded, “Total stoner.”

“Your place it is then. One of my roommates stays up late drawing chalk pentagrams on our floors.”

Celeste dropped two twenties on the bar and then grabbed Simon’s hand to pull him toward the door. It caused Simon to frantically pull cash out of his wallet before stuttering out quick goodbyes to the rest of them.

“This is too much,” Blake called after them.

“It’s for getting me laid,” Celeste called back, making a bunch of the customers turn to stare at them.

“She’s…forceful,” Gavin said with a laugh.

“You have no idea,” Blake replied. She looked at Gavin, and their eyes caught, holding one another’s stare as if in a trance.

“I think that’s my cue to leave too. I have to work brunch tomorrow.” Emily rolled her eyes as she spoke.

“Want me to call you a cab?” Blake offered.

“To drive me two blocks?” Emily countered.

“You’re not walking by yourself,” Blake said, her tone serious and unbending.

“I’ll walk her,” Gavin said as he drained his beer. “Then I’ll come back and keep you company until you can leave.”

Blake looked at her watch. “That’s still an hour and a half from now,” she warned him.

He shrugged. “I got nothing else to do.”

Emily asked how much was still owed on their tab, and Blake replied, “You know I only ever charge you girls twenty each. Celeste took care of your portion.”

Fishing a bill out of her purse, Emily handed it over. “Nah, that was her payment to her pimp.” Emily laughed at Blake’s groan.

“Can I settle up when I get back?” Gavin asked.

“When we get home, you mean?”

Gavin looked at her with impatience she was pretty sure was an act.

“Stop being difficult. I can hold your tab for you,” Blake said instead of teasing Gavin further. She’d only rung up every other drink, so the thirty dollars Simon had absently thrown down covered it anyway, but part of her knew that having a tab open guaranteed Gavin would come back. Not that she doubted his word, but she’d learned early on in life that it was always good to have a little insurance.

Emily gave her a small wave as Gavin shot her a quick smile. She stood there and watched them walk out, wondering how she’d managed to snag such a decent guy as her roommate. She was sure fate would eventually intervene and fuck it all up for her, because that was how her life went. But for now, Blake was going to enjoy having a good man sharing her apartment, who also fucked like a stallion.

She turned back to the other customers, silently acknowledging that this was probably the happiest she’d been in her entire life. And that fact simultaneously thrilled and scared the fuck out of her.

* * *

Gavin walked slowly back to the bar, enjoying the crispness of the evening. He and Emily had exchanged some small talk on the way to her apartment—a walk that took less than ten minutes—and she thanked Gavin profusely for accompanying her. Not a single part of Gavin had minded walking with her. It prevented him from sitting at the bar by himself for quite as long while he waited for Blake to finish up.

He knew he didn’t have to wait for her. Blake managed to get herself home every night she worked. But there was something appealing about walking home to their apartment together. Maybe he could turn it into some kind of extended foreplay. The thought made his dick pulse with arousal.

When he arrived back at Reed’s, he noticed the crowd had lessened even more since he’d been gone.

“Hey. I saved your seat,” Blake said when she saw him.

Gavin slid onto the barstool and looked at the glass of water Blake had set there, presumably to save his spot. “Thanks.”

“The walk go okay?”

“Other than the mugging and gang war we got caught in, yeah, it was fine.”

Blake shook her head. “Such a smartass. You want another beer?”

“Nah, I’ll drink the water.”

“Okay. I need to start cleaning up so we can get out of here.”

Gavin nodded before looking around. “Where’d the other bartender go?”

“He was first off. Since it slowed down, Joe sent him home. Joe’s in his office if we need him.”

“Gotcha.”

“You really don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”

“I want to.”

Blake smiled at him. He couldn’t help the feeling that they were shamelessly flirting, even though neither had said anything remotely provocative. Score one for foreplay.

He watched her move effortlessly around the bar, wiping things down, straightening bottles, washing glasses, and all the other things that went into shutting the place down. There were still a few stragglers at the bar—regulars, Gavin would guess by the way the staff joked around with them. There was also a fairly large group by the pool tables that kept ordering drinks from the cocktail waitress, who Blake had introduced as Dana.

“These assholes keep ordering one drink at a time,” Gavin overheard Dana say to Blake.

“Okay, take them this one, and then I’ll call it.”

Dana nodded and took the Captain and Coke to the group. Once it was delivered, Blake yelled, “Last call, everybody.”

“We still got half an hour,” one of the guys yelled.

“Yup, half an hour to nurse one more drink,” Blake called back as she continued to do what she needed behind the bar.

“That’s bullshit. We’re not ready to go home yet.”

“Didn’t say you had to go home. Plenty of after-hours places in the city,” Blake returned, still keeping her attention away from the pool table.

“Forget her, Al. We’ll leave when we’re good and ready to go,” one of the others said.

Gavin gripped his glass a little tighter. These guys were pissing him the fuck off.

“Where’s that waitress? I want another drink,” rang out from the direction of the pool table.

Gavin saw Dana deflate and start in their direction, but Blake waved her off. “I got it.”

His eyes widened as he watched Blake round the bar and make her way over to the guys. She had to pass him on the way, and Gavin reached out and tugged on her wrist. “You want me to go over with you?”

A slow smirk overtook her face. “Not unless you want to piss them off.”

“Well, no, I don’t want that. Not that I care if they’re pissed off, but I don’t want—”

“Gavin,” Blake interrupted.

“Yeah?”

“I got this. But you’re cute when you’re worried.”

Gavin scoffed. “I’m cute all the time.”

“Very true. I’ll be right back.”

Trying to watch Blake out of his periphery without appearing like he was staring at the group of dickheads was a little difficult, but Gavin managed.

The sound of balls clacking together, followed by one rolling down a pocket, filled the room. “What do we have here? A pool shark?” Blake asked.

“Yeah, he wishes,” someone joked.

“Don’t we all. Then I wouldn’t have to have a group of guys trying to make my life difficult,” Blake responded.

“Aw, darling, we’re not trying to do that. We’re just having a good time.”

“Well, good. I’m glad you guys had a nice night. Why don’t you tell me what else you want to drink, and then I’ll have Dana close out your check?”

“You trying to get rid of us?” one of the guys said with a teasing lilt in his voice.

“Yes,” Blake replied, which made all the guys laugh.

“Okay, sweetie, we’ll close out.”

“Thanks, guys.”

Blake returned to the bar and picked right back up with what she’d been doing. Quite a few scenarios had played out in Gavin’s mind for how he thought that interaction was going to go, and all of them ended with the police being called. He couldn’t believe the guys had backed down as soon as Blake had gone over. Though the more he thought about it, the more he understood.

Blake had an air about her. A confident you’re-not-going-to-get-one-over-on-me-so-don’t-bother-trying air. She was somehow charismatic and intimidating. Those guys had probably been drawn to her while all the same being unwilling to tick her off.

It wasn’t more than ten minutes later that the group abandoned the pool table and headed for the exit. One guy, a fairly tall guy in a dark green Henley, detoured over to the bar and leaned his forearms on it.

Blake looked over at him. “You need something?”

“Yeah, I was hoping to get your phone number. Maybe take you out sometime?”

Blake smiled, but Gavin was happy to note that it didn’t reach her eyes. “Sorry, but I’m already someone’s sugar mama.”

Gavin’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Only Blake would say some shit like that.

Green Henley guy laughed. “Guess it’s my loss then.”

“Guess so.”

The guy knocked on the bar with his fist once before making his way to the door.

“All right, you two. That’s your cue to leave,” Blake said to the remaining guys at the bar.

“What about him?” one of them asked as he tilted his head in Gavin’s direction.

“He’s my bodyguard for the evening,” Blake replied. When neither man made any attempt to move, she sighed loudly. “He’s my roommate. He stuck around to walk me home. Now go away so I can lock up.”

Both men quickly rose and grabbed their jackets from the backs of their chairs. “You know we gotta watch out for our favorite bartender.”

“Yeah, yeah, you just say that to get free drinks,” she teased.

“You know it,” one said with a laugh before they both waved goodbye and left. Blake followed them and locked the door behind them.

“That’s Ned and Carl,” she explained when she came back. “They always wait with me until all the customers are gone. Not sure what they think they’re going to do if something happens. I’m pretty sure my boobs weigh more than either of them.”

Gavin laughed. “That’s nice of them though.”

“Yeah, it is,” Blake said softly. She emptied her tip bucket, counted it quickly, and yelled for Joe.

The older man popped out of the back a minute later. “How much?” he asked with his hand outstretched.

“One fifty,” Blake said as she handed her tips over.

Joe went and opened up the register. “Everything okay tonight?”

“Yup.”

“Good.” Joe put the smaller bills in the register, and then pulled out a stack of bills and counted some off. When he was done, he closed the register and handed the money to Blake. “Be safe.”

“Always,” she said with a smile. She slipped the bills into her purse before looking at Gavin. “Ready?” she asked.

“Whenever you are.”

“Let’s go then. Have a good night, Joe.”

“You too,” he replied before he went back behind the bar.

Gavin followed Blake out into the night. It seemed a lot darker than when Gavin had returned after dropping Emily off. He looked up and saw that it was cloudier than it had been earlier. “Oh shit,” he said as he stopped dead in his tracks.

“What?” Blake asked.

“I forgot to settle up my tab.”

Blake grabbed his sleeve and yanked. “Simon left more than enough. Don’t worry about it.”

“I need to tip you at least.”

“Oh, you’re going to give me a tip all right.”

A laugh burst out of Gavin. “You’re such a pervert.”

“Totally,” she said with a small laugh of her own.

At that moment, Gavin felt a large drop of water hit his head. “Don’t even tell me,” he muttered. Seconds later, the skies opened up, and Blake and Gavin found themselves caught in a downpour. “Should we try to get a cab?” Gavin asked over the torrent.

“Are you crazy? We’re only three blocks away. Let’s make a run for it.” Blake grabbed his hand and threaded their fingers together as they began to run down the sidewalk.

Gavin easily kept pace with her shorter stride, though his breath was still choppy due to the simple fact that neither of them could stop laughing. They reached their building breathless, drenched, and smiling.

Blake unlocked the outer door and threw it open so they could dive inside. Their laughter filled the quiet hallway as they dripped puddles on the floor. Gavin ran his hands through his hair, squeezing the excess moisture from it. He looked over at Blake, who was wringing out her shirt. Their gazes locked, and the laughter slowly died down. It was replaced by a searing heat despite the fact they were both freezing. Before he even had time to think about it, Gavin was on her, pushing her back against the wall and devouring her mouth.

When he trailed kisses down her neck, she gasped, “You do the hottest shit.” She gripped his hair and forced his head up so they could kiss again.

Gavin lowered his hands to her ass and hoisted her up, which prompted her to wrap her legs around his waist. He ground his hard cock into her as she gyrated against him.

“Upstairs,” she panted. “Gonna…get…arrested.”

Gavin gave her one more deep kiss before dropping her legs and giving her a swat on the ass. “After you.”

“The hottest shit,” she muttered as she started up the steps.

Gavin followed close behind, but was careful not to touch her. When he got his hands on her again, there was no way he’d be able to take them off until they were both breathless on whatever surface she wanted him to fuck her on.

Opening the door tested Gavin’s patience since Blake dropped the keys twice before finally unlocking it. Gavin kicked it closed behind him as his hands reached for Blake. Their lips fused together as they ripped wet clothes from one another’s bodies and let them thwap onto the floor. Tracking water through the apartment wasn’t a concern at the moment.

“My room,” Blake said, and that was all the direction Gavin needed. He backed her that way as he divested her of any remaining clothing and began groping and kneading her flesh in a way that demonstrated his rabid desire.

She plopped back on the bed and he quickly lowered himself on top of her. There was no waiting, no buildup. Gavin needed to be inside of her like he needed his next breath. He settled between her thighs and pushed into her in one long, smooth thrust that left her moaning beneath him.

“Harder. Fuck, please, harder,” she begged.

Gavin sat back on his heels and lifted her legs, pressing them toward her chest before he set a rougher rhythm, pushing and withdrawing from her quickly and fluidly.

Her one hand reached for her pillow, and she grasped it tightly as she groaned in pleasure. The other caressed her breast and tweaked her nipple. There was nothing sexier than Blake touching herself while she rocked with his thrusts. The sight was almost too much. “I’m close,” he warned.

“Me too,” she whispered.

He pumped his hips even faster, hoping to get her to crest the peak before he did. Seconds later, she was yelling out her orgasm, her nails raking down his abdomen. He rode her through it before his pace stuttered, and he pushed into her as deeply as he could as his own release shot out of him.

He rocked into her gently until his cock was milked dry. Slowly slipping out of her, he let his body fall forward, though he was careful to brace himself on his elbows to keep from crushing her.

After a few moments, Blake smiled up at him. “That was quite a tip,” she teased.

“I’ve never gotten any complaints,” he replied before he lazily kissed a laughing Blake.