Bartender with Benefits

by Mickey Miller

  “Did you ever think maybe you just have small hands?” I say, wiggling my eyebrows.

  “You’re funny. When a girl compliments your cock, you’re not supposed to debate.”

  “You know what they say about small hands?”

  “What’s that?”

  “They do big things,” I joke.

  She laughs and tosses her hair as she gets out from under the covers and scoots her head down to my cock.

  “Oh my God, you can’t take anything seriously, can you? Just let me do this.”

  She licks the side of my shaft and I let out a groan as heat pools in my groin.

  “Fuck Clarissa, what are you doing to me?”

  She puts one hand on the base of my cock running it back and forth then she adds a second. “Yeah, this is gonna require two hands,” she says with a sexy grin. Her cheeks are rosy red and glowing.

  Pleasure shoots through me as she licks along the shaft of my steel cock.

  “Oh God, this is gonna get—Fuck, Clarissa. You’re gonna make me come so hard,” I moan.

  “Wait” she says, “I have an idea.”

  “You have an idea?” I raise an eyebrow.

  She helps me get rid of my pants off and then takes me by the hand, “Follow me.”

  For some reason I have the wherewithal to grab a condom from the pocket of my jeans before we go all the way. She leads me to the bathroom in the shower.

  “I want to finish you off here,” she says and gets in the shower still naked.

  I’m naked now too and I step into the full length shower tub with her. She squats down because it’s impossible to kneel considering how hard the porcelain tile is. She takes me all the way. She takes me into her mouth with no hands. I feel her tongue wrap around my cock.

  “Oh fuck, Clarissa this is—”

  A million words run through my head to describe what this is. My best friend’s little sister going down on me in her shower in her childhood home. This is so hot. Taboo. Wrong? It doesn’t feel wrong at all. If anything, this feels so damn right.

  She pulls her mouth away from my cock and looks up at me. I hold the strands of her hair from my hand. She looks so damn gorgeous right now.

  “This is what?” she asks as she catches her breath.

  “This is the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced,” I say, then I can’t resist leaning down and whisper in her ears, “You have no idea how many times I’ve masturbated at the thought of it from the shower.” I say.

  “You did?”

  I nod. “Yes.”

  She casts her eyes downward. “I masturbated thinking about you, too.”

  “Holy shit.” My eyes nearly pop out of their sockets at the thought of Clarissa in the shower--or in in her bed, anywhere really, touching herself. And picturing me while she did it. “What did you picture?”

  Still gripping my cock, she glances around to the wall of the shower, and then brings her eyes back to me. “Lots of things. I visualized how it would feel if you ever gave me the full benefits.”

  I run my thumb alone her cheekbone.

  “Stand up and turn around, Gorgeous. And turn on the shower nice and hot.”

  “Yes Sir, Mr. Head Bartender.”

  “I love it when you call me that.”

  She turns on the shower and backs away a little bit so we’re not directly in the stream. I find the condom and tear it open and put it on.

  “Someone came prepared,” she says.

  I shrug. “Boy Scouts.”

  I’m staring at the side of her with her hands pressed up against the tile wall, about to enter her. I could come just by the sight of her naked and waiting for me. I enter her and she groans as she clenches around me.

  I growl in a low voice. “Holy. Shit. That’s tight.”

  “Fuck, Mason,” she whimpers a little bit as I enter her.

  I take her hips and slowly grind back and forth. I run my hands along the warmth of the water or the partial stream of the water as it hits our bodies and I run my hands over her ass, her back, the side of her abs.

  Our wet flesh knocks together, and it’s not long before I can feel myself nearing release.

  “Clarissa, are you close?”

  “You’ve already made me come,” she moans. “Come on baby, I want to feel you against my hips. I want you to come all inside me.”

  “Fuck yes, baby” I say. This feels so Goddamn good as I press my hips up against her and release inside of her.

  “Oh, Goddess,” I mutter as I stick a little part of my finger in her mouth as I unleash inside of her.

  “Holy shit,” I say looking down as I pull out, breathing hard.

  What I see runs a strain of adrenaline through me.

  “I know. Holy shit is right,” she says.

  I don’t want to panic but looking down at the condom, it has a tear in it. She’s breathing hard leaning up against the wall, she doesn’t even notice.

  I lifted it up to examine and to make sure. My suspicion is correct.

  “Is everything all right?” she asks.

  “No, frankly.”

  “What’s wrong?” she says spinning around.

  “We’ve got a rip,” I say, holding out the condom.

  We make eye contact, both of us in similar state of disbelief. Neither of us has to talk about what the repercussions might be.

  “Do you know your cycle? How close you are?”

  “Oh my God, my last period?” she says

  I look at her.

  “Are you on the pill or anything?”

  “No, I’m not on a pill. It’s—”

  “Oh boy,” I say. “Are you fertile right now?”

  “Yes! I’m at the top of my ovulation,” she says

  “Okay,” I say. I rake a hand through my hair. We’ll figure this out.

  Right as we’re about to continue this now slightly awkward conversation. The door to Clarissa’s room swings open and it’s Clarissa’s mom whistling a tune.

  “Clarissa honey, are you here? Why is your towel on the ground?” she says, her voice spinning up from the first floor to the second.

  We give each other similar look of terror.

  “Well, we better get some clothes on,” she says, and we scramble from the shower back to the bedroom, picking up all of our odd clothes strewn across the floor.

  Right as we get our clothes back on, Mrs. Hanks opens the door.

  “What’s going on here?” she asks.

  We look at each other, a little guilty. I’m about to say something, but Mrs. Hanks speaks again.

  “Clarissa, I thought this was a fake thing? Just for the loan?”

  “Mom! This is none of your business. We’ll be down soon.”

  She sighs. “Fine. But this conversation is not over yet. I’m going to make some lunch. Does Italian wedding soup sound good?”

  26

  Mason

  Partners

  After Italian wedding soup, we go to the pharmacy and get Clarissa the morning after pill.

  We’re silent, we both know the implications of what a baby would mean for either of us.

  On Tuesday, I’m back at the bar for another fourteen-hour day as I sort out the weekend’s inventory.

  On Wednesday night, Clarissa comes over to my place after our shift and I make her breakfast on Thursday morning.

  We sleep together and cuddle, but there’s an unmistakable weird tension hanging in the air now.

  And as I get to the bar on Friday morning to get everything prepped, I’m confused, myself. I don’t know exactly how to feel.

  On the one hand, Clarissa’s the girl I’ve dreamed about since high school. I’d go to the ends of the earth to make her happy.

  On the other hand, if she ends up pregnant, would we really be ready for it?

  When Friday night rolls around again, I am exhausted again but not at the same time. I have to be on my game for the weekend since that was going to be the key for success. Every weekend at the beginning of the l
aunch is critical. We have to keep up the new reputation of the bar and make sure that it’s full every night.

  That’s just how bars work, if people think they’re lame, they won’t show up. But on the other hand, if the word gets around that the Firehouse is a fun, packed place, then we end on an upward spiral of popularity especially in a small town bar. We’re not Buffalo Wild Wings. We’re not running TV ads. So word of mouth means everything.

  It’s stressful, but fun and challenging in a way.

  And Clarissa possibly being pregnant adds another notch of pressure in my mind.

  For the first time in my life, I’ve got more than just my own future to worry about.

  Or maybe I shouldn’t be worrying so much about what’s going to happen to us until the test has come back. What is the birth control pill, ninety percent effective?

  And then this Friday, when Clarissa showed up for work on Friday night, she wears some short jean shorts and a tank top that accentuates her cleavage quite nicely.

  She winks as she walks in, and doesn’t say anything else.

  When I told her I made three hundred dollars in tips behind the bar last Saturday, her response was, ‘I can beat that.’

  So she’s jumping behind the bar tonight and I’m running the floor.

  But seeing the way all the guys on the staff look at her makes jealousy well up in me even more so than it has in the past, knowing that it’s a possibility right now she’s pregnant with my child.

  I do my best to play cool as I demo a couple of the drinks for the night staff before it really gets rocking.

  One of our waitstaff, Rachel, asks me a question as she hands me back the demo drink. “Did you hear that Jack Bells is coming through this town tonight?”

  My jaw drops. “Jack Bells, the creator of Celebrity Bartender Raw?”

  Rachael laughs.

  “Yeah, the Jack Bells, I mean—Mason I know you’re like 27. Do you like ever watch Bartender TV? He is like, kind of a big deal.”

  The rest of the waitstaff nods.

  “I know who Jack Bells is. I just didn’t know he came to podunk towns in the middle of nowhere, USA.”

  “Well, if he comes here it could mean, I don’t know. Who knows? I shouldn’t have brought it up. He probably won’t come here since this is a new spot. He’s doing research on small town bars according to his Instagram and he’s trying to find something unique. I tweeted and I told him to come here but who knows?”

  “Wow, well thank you for that,” I say and my gaze lingers on Clarissa. I actually lose my train of thought realizing how absolutely stunning she looks.

  I swear, she’s glowing tonight.

  “So, are we done here?” Rachael asks.

  The crowd of servers and a couple of bartenders are still waiting for my instructions.

  “Yeah, all done. Just make sure you guys know the special Fish ‘n chips and the Firehouse cocktail.” I wave my hands in the air a little bit and walk off, heading to the back of the room for a quick breather before the evening rush sets in.

  It’s not like me to be anti-social, especially on weekends and Friday night, but I’m also not used to being consumed with the thought of possibly having a son or daughter with my best friend’s sister and fake fiancée.

  And shit. After Monday, Mrs. Hanks knows we’re a real thing and that this isn’t an act any more. It’s only a matter of time until Cole finds out.

  I shut the door and before I can even sit down, there’s a knock.

  “Hey, it’s me,” comes Clarissa’s voice.

  I open it.

  “Hey,” I say raking a hand through my hair.

  “Just getting away from everything out there?” she asks.

  I look up at her with a smile.

  “Hey, this is gonna be a busy weekend and it’s a marathon, not a sprint, right? The crowd doesn’t start rolling in until seven.” I pull up the computer shot of the charts which customers came in, when they came in and how much they spend.

  She leans down in front of me, her cleavage hanging in front of the computer screen, between the screen and my eyes.

  “Yes, it looks like right between 9 and 10 when we had our peak,” she says, pointing to the chart I’ve got pulled up.

  “Lots of men buying drinks for ladies. I think that butt funnel you put in is working.”

  She giggles. “Well there is a science to social dynamics.”

  “Hey, come here,” I say and tip her chin toward me for a kiss. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m okay. I still have to wait another few days before I can take the test but I’m going to take it as soon as I can. I want you to know.”

  “Okay, that’s good to know. You still haven’t had your period?”

  “No. It wouldn’t come until next week anyways.”

  “How are you feeling about everything?”

  She takes a deep breath. “To be honest I’m trying to keep thoughts, negative or positive, out of my mind until I have a for sure answer. I get all emotional when I think about it.”

  “Yeah,” I agree. “It’s definitely on my mind, too.”

  “I can tell. It seems like you’re not your usual self out there today.”

  “Shit,” I exclaim. “It’s that noticeable?”

  “Yeah, you stared into space or something after Rachel asked you a question during the pre-shift. That’s not like you. You’re usually the life of a party.”

  She takes a seat on my lap.

  “If you need to talk, you know I’m right here for you,” she says, rubbing my shoulder.

  “Thank you Clarissa, I appreciate that.”

  “What was going through your mind out there, anyways?”

  “You really wanna know?”

  She nods.

  “All right, well I was staring at you and I was thinking if we did have a kid, how damn beautiful he would be.”

  “Or she,” Clarissa adds.

  I swear I can feel the goosebumps reverberate through her body.

  “Really?” she chokes. “That’s what you were thinking about?”

  “One hundred percent.” I say.

  “That’s kind of hot,” she says as she wiggles her butt into my lap.

  “My thoughts have been uncontrollable lately,” I add. “It’s just—I don’t know. I think sometimes about you, me and all of this. How it’s ended up. I didn’t expect it to happen. But now that it has, it feels natural.”

  She chuckles a little bit. “Yeah, all this for a silly loan, huh.”

  “Silly loan? Are you kidding me? I mean it’s more than a loan,” I say.

  “Is it?”

  “Yeah, so much more,” I continue. “I mean getting to know you throughout this process has been worth it. No matter what ends up happening, I’ll always appreciate that. And I think you got to exercise a skill set that you specialized in.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Coming up with the design for this place. Damn Clarissa, it’s phenomenal how you put everything together. I can make a good drink for sure, but I don’t have an eye for design like you do. That’s just a fact. I’m man enough to admit that. I don’t think we’d be having a successful opening week if it weren’t for you.”

  She beams, her smile spreading from ear to ear.

  “You don’t know what it means when you say that. I mean, I’ve always thought about doing more design stuff. But I just feel guilty sometimes, I feel like I’m not maximizing my potential, you know? I mean I have this Master’s degree in social work, though. I always have this feeling like I should be doing something more. Like my good friend Liz, she moved to Costa Rica to teach in a preschool and she’s working with kids. They have developmental disorders. Whereas, here--I don’t feel like I’m doing enough. I don’t know, I just feel like I should be saving the world or something.”

  Her eyes drop, and I sense a slight sadness coming from her.

  “And if you think that if you’re pregnant, these offers might not come around again? Mayb
e that’s what you’re thinking.”

  She nods.

  “That might have something to do with it.”

  “Okay, I can definitely understand that. Just look at me.” I tip her chin, forcing her to meet my gaze. “No matter what happens, we’re going to get through this, together. I guarantee you that. Okay?”

  “Yeah of course, it’s just that my mom is out of town tonight. She’s going to visit my Aunt and she’s staying there for the weekend. I feel a little bit lonely at my house.”

  “Come stay at my place” I say.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, it would be like a fun sleepover.”

  “Really? That’s what we’re gonna do? Sleep?”

  “Considering the circumstances, I think we’ll be pretty tired. Even though you do have a certain glow about you today and Goddamn, it turned me on.”

  “Okay, I will do that. I can come over after the shift.”

  “Yeah, it’s going to be another late one tonight but hopefully we can squeeze in a few hours of sleep tonight.”

  “You mean tomorrow morning,” she laughs.

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  She’s got such a pretty smile. Genuine but she’s so sexy too. That’s when I suddenly know, it’s not the baby. Baby or no baby, it doesn’t matter. I want her to be the memory that lasts for a really long time with me.

  Forever.

  Before I process what this forever thought means, there’s another knock on the door.

  Clarissa gets up off my lap and answers. It’s one of the floor managers, Roger.

  “Sorry to interrupt, but it’s important. Apparently, this guy just came in and he wants to meet you,” he says.

  “Which guy?”

  “Jack Bells, from Celebrity Bartender Raw.”

  “Yeah, I’ll be right out,” I say. Roger nods and closes the door.

  “Go on.” Clarissa says, her voice is wrapped with emotions. “I’m going to take a minute.”

  “Of course. I’ll go say hi to Jack. I’ll see you out on the floor. Partner.”

  27

  Mason

  Bartender Raw

  I head back into the bar, and from a few feet away I see Jack standing there. His camera crew is chatting with our waitstaff. He sees me as I approach.