Auryn breathed out, almost a small laugh as his eyes rose again, over Nathan’s shoulder.
“I would, Nathan, but all those people in the window are putting me off a bit.”
Nathan glanced round to see his Rainbow’s colleagues pressed against the window, smirking at them. Rolling his eyes, he faced Auryn again. “Ignore them.”
“Am I allowed to come in? If you’re busy I can—” A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 102
“No, no,” Nathan insisted. “It’s fine; we’re not busy yet.
Just, um….”
“Yes?”
“Er, well, they’ll probably talk you.” Auryn almost frowned in confusion. “Okay… isn’t that a good thing?”
“No, I mean….” Nathan struggled to put his insecurities into words. While he loved the idea of Auryn keeping him company at work, he wasn't so keen on the prospect of competition in the form of his colleagues. Not only were all of them very good-looking, but soon there would be a whole horde of gay men in the bar to contend with. And they just loved fresh meat.
Way too much competition.
“Um, what I mean is, they’ll probably come onto you.” Realization dawned on Auryn’s face. “Oh, right. Well, what are the house rules? I’m allowed to say no, aren’t I?” Nathan’s lips opened to respond, but then he saw Auryn was joking.
“Yeah, you better,” Nathan teased, smiling to hide the fact that he was deadly serious.
The look Auryn gave him in return was so intense Nathan felt all the blood rush around his body.
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Chapter 5
“YOU jammy git, Nath,” Stuart hissed, immediately after Auryn had excused himself to go to the gent’s.
Nathan grinned wickedly. “Moi?”
“When you said he played computer games I expecting some geeky minger.”
“Hah! Well, that’s where preconceptions will get you.” Nathan had been feeling smug since Auryn had taken off his jacket and sat down at the bar. So much for Stuart’s flabby belly prediction! Under the man’s clinging T-shirt they had all noticed a flat stomach, not to mention a well-toned chest and shoulders pulling the fabric taut. Nathan felt all flushed as he’d practically tripped over his goggling colleagues to get the man a drink. It seemed none of them could quite believe Nathan’s good luck.
“The proof is certainly in the pudding,” Mathew commented now.
“Mmm, pudding is right.” Justin smirked. “He's very dishy.”
“I know that,” Nathan said. He glanced across the venue to check Auryn wasn’t returning yet. As soon as he’d been out of earshot, Stuart and Mathew had pounced on Nathan to gossip. They’d also had to physically restrain Justin from following Auryn into the toilets.
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“I say well done, you,” Mathew told him.
Nathan beamed. “Cheers, boss.”
“What about me?” grumbled Stuart. “No hotties around for weeks, and Nathan goes and bags the hottest one I’ve seen for months when he’s only been single for one bleedin’
day!”
“There’s plenty more fish,” Mathew said absently, but he was already walking away to get on with his work.
“And what about me?” Justin gave Nathan his come-hither look again. “Let’s have a threesome. I’d love to do you both.”
“Shut up.” Nathan shushed him with a light slap across the chest. Auryn had reappeared and was making his way back through the growing number of customers in the bar.
Nathan noticed more than a couple of heads turn as he walked past, but either Auryn didn’t seem to notice or he was trying not to. Nathan began to really panic. What would Auryn do when one of those guys tried it on? Would he welcome it? What if he went off with someone better looking, or more suited to him? There were plenty of them about….
Nathan could feel his hackles rise at the mere thought of it.
“I’m going for a fag!” he announced, scrabbling for his cigarettes and lighter.
“Hah!” Justin chuckled. “Which one?”
Nathan ignored him and darted out from behind the bar. He grabbed Auryn’s hand and kept walking. “I’ve got a date with a Marlboro, and you’re coming with me!”
“Oh right,” Auryn said easily and followed him outside.
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Nathan said a brief hello to the doormen, Lewis and Neil, who were both on shift now. The evening was cool but not too windy, which made a welcome change. Nathan was only in his T-shirt, as was Auryn, but he wasn’t worried about that for now. The only thing on his mind was him being with Auryn in full view of the bar through the glass windows. He wanted everyone to know that this man was off limits. Nathan led them into a quiet space and sparked up his cigarette. After his first drag he held out the packet, offering a cigarette to Auryn.
“Oh.” He shook his head. “No, thank you.” Nathan regarded him carefully as he took a second drag.
“I bet you don’t smoke, do you?”
“Er, no.” Auryn smiled. “I used to, though.” Great, Nathan thought. He quickly flicked away his cigarette and blew out the last of his smoke.
“You don’t have to stop,” Auryn tried to say, but Nathan had already ground the cigarette flat with his foot.
“Don’t worry, I’m not that bothered.” Nathan forced a smile. “Although, I don’t have any gum. Sorry if I smell of smoke.”
“Um, that’s all right. I like the smell. Actually, I miss it.” Nathan’s nervous smile transformed into a full-fledged grin. “Really? Oh my God!”
“Yeah, I know.” Auryn looked away. “Sad, right?”
“No, no.” Nathan attempted to keep a straight face. “Not at all. It’s just… well, why’d you give it up, then?” A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 106
“I went on a bit of a health kick last year, thought I’d give the gym a go instead.”
Perfect answer.
“Yeah, I was gonna say.” Nathan reached out a hand and poked at one of the man’s robust upper arms. “You’d have to play a lot of computer games to get guns like that.” Auryn looked back at him and smiled. “If only that worked! That would be amazing. I like the gym though. It’s good for me, gets out the stress from work.”
“Relieves the tension?”
“That's right.”
“Hmm.” Nathan’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “I prefer a different sort of exercise… if you know what I mean.” After a moment of looking torn over how to respond, Auryn said, “I like you, Nathan… um, even if you do leave me a little lost for words sometimes.”
Playing it cool had to battle with the butterflies in Nathan’s stomach fluttering with joy. He held it together and said evenly, “You’d better kiss me then.” Almost surprised, Nathan found himself wrapped up in the man’s arms and pulled against a warm, solid chest. He held on tight and met Auryn’s lips, kissing him hard and feeling elated as his kiss was returned just as fiercely.
Filtering out from the venue and filling his ears was a Kylie Minogue song about being in love. Even though Nathan wasn’t a fan, it seemed to fit the moment perfectly.
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BY 9 P.M., the night’s entertainment had hit the stage. Miss Anthropic, a local drag queen, literally dazzled in rhinestones under the lights of the bar. A far cry away from her arrival earlier as Dave, who’d bustled into the venue late as usual in street casuals, clutching enormous bags that bulged with costumes and wigs. But fully made up, Miss Anthropic was a sparkling force to be reckoned with. She took up the microphone on the small platform stage at the far end of the venue and started the evening with a medley of songs ranging from Cabaret to The Rocky Horror Show. Mathew sat near the stage at his mini sound-desk to adjust the belting vocals.
The bar was packed out with punters, and they all jostled toward the stage end of the bar to get a good view.
&
nbsp; Nathan, Justin, and Stuart were on manic bar duty. There would be spates of busy ordering, then a welcome reprieve as customers took a few minutes to give their full attention to Miss Anthropic’s audience participation.
Auryn sat at the end of the bar with his drink and looked around with quiet curiosity. Nathan tried to stay nearby and talk to him when he could, mostly to give off the clear message to anyone else that this man was his.
It wasn’t easy. Nathan near bristled with tension any time someone came near Auryn, which of course did happen.
Nathan’s quick eyes didn’t miss a thing. But what could he do? Throw a drink over anyone who tried to talk to him?
“Would it be socially acceptable,” Nathan whispered to Stuart when they had a moment, “to pee on the floor and mark my territory?”
“Watersports?” Stuart smirked.
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“No,” Nathan grumbled. “Like, not piss on him, just all around him so no one else talks to him.” Stuart raised an eyebrow. “Nath, you need to chill. We’re in a bar, a busy bar. We can’t stop people talking to each other.”
“I know but—”
“Look, don’t worry about it,” Stuart insisted. “Try not to turn into a bunny boiler just yet.”
Nathan grabbed up a bar cloth and tried to flick Stuart with it. “Oh shut up!”
He was right, though; Nathan knew he was. Don’t worry about it, he repeated to himself over and over again. Yeah, easy for him to say!
Nathan’s beady eye caught movement from a guy who was standing near Auryn waiting to be served; there was a distinct body press, accidentally-on-purpose. Nathan felt his eye twitch in irritation. Justin was about to lean forward and serve the man, but Nathan almost knocked him over to get there first.
“Yes? ” he bit out.
“Oh hi, yes….” The man, whom Nathan noticed with chagrin was rather tall and handsome, ordered a round.
Nathan waited a beat then realized he had to go and make the drinks.
Shit.
Should have thought that plan through, he huffed to himself, turning away reluctantly to make the order. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining things, but he could have sworn he heard the man say, “Would you like a drink?” A Bar Tender Tale | Melanie Tushmore 109
Nathan took a sneaky look over his shoulder. It confirmed the worst-case scenario; the man was talking to Auryn! Actually, Nathan corrected himself, surely worst-case scenario would be Auryn accepting a drink….
Arrgh!
If Nathan had been a cat, he would have been spitting and bristling by now. Seeing as he was just the barman, he had to be quiet and mix the drinks. He was torn over adding a gob of spit, but he wasn’t sure whose drink was whose.
Oh well.
Nathan walloped the drinks down on the bar, pleased to interrupt the man trying to chat up Auryn. Little victories, he told himself. He couldn’t stay with them though, he had to continue working. Nathan tried not to glance over too often while he was mixing drinks. He also had to resist the urge to hold up the mixer tap and spray lime soda like a citrus waterfall all over this pushy guy.
Yeah, that’d show you.
Stuart rescued Nathan from further manic thoughts by asking for help bringing up more beer.
“Oh, by the way,” Stuart said when he and Nathan were safely in the storeroom. “He’s so into you.” Nathan was surprised. “Huh? What?”
“Your Welsh guy? I’ve been watching him. I wanted to see if he was looking at anyone else. In case he started acting like your last knob of a boyfriend.”
“Oh. And…?” Nathan struggled to lift one crate of new bottles while Stuart hefted up two at once.
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“He watches you the whole time. I’ve seen a couple of guys try to chat to him, but he’s not remotely interested. Oh, and he only smiles when you’re there in front of him.”
“Ohhh.” Nathan found a sudden surge of strength and lifted the crate. “That’s good to know.”
“Yeah, lucky bitch.” Stuart smirked at him and they hurried back to the bar.
Yes! Lucky me.
Nathan hadn’t smiled this much in as long as he could remember.
As Miss Anthropic had gotten into her full swing by now, the customers were lapping it up. Nathan wasn’t really paying attention tonight; he took every chance he could to gravitate toward Auryn. He draped his hand on the bar, pretended he was just leaning. It had to be a good sign that whenever he did that, Auryn would mirror him and brush his hand against Nathan’s. The contact was supercharged and made Nathan’s whole body thud with expectation.
He felt so happy! It was a great night so far, and the most gorgeous man in the room seemed to only have eyes for him. What could go wrong?
And then, like the proverbial pin to burst his bubble, Nathan’s elusive boyfriend deigned to show up.
DANNY must have waited for the precise moment when Nathan moved out from behind the bar to collect glasses because suddenly there he was, right in Nathan’s face.
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“Hi, baby,” he purred. His body melded into Nathan’s with the easy confidence of a lover. Nathan had to force himself not to respond. With a frown, he pushed Danny off.
“Oh, still alive, are you?” he snapped. “Where the fuck were you like, four days ago?”
“I’m sorry, Nath,” Danny said, seemingly earnest. “I got caught up, y'know, had some business to take care of.”
“Oh, really?” Nathan wasn’t impressed. “By that you mean go get wrecked, right?”
Danny pouted his perfectly full lips, knowing damn well that he looked irresistible. “Don’t be mad at me, babe. I want to play with you. I’ve missed you. When do you finish work?” Nathan’s foolish, treacherous heart did a little jump, but he refused to listen to it.
“Why? What do you want?”
“I want you. ” Danny gazed at him from under those long lashes, half closed with desire.
Or more likely, barely open because he was already wasted.
Nathan snorted in answer. It was then he noticed the skinny boy with lanky hair hovering nearby, looking jittery and watching them.
A skinny boy. Waiting for Danny.
Nathan directed his glare back to Danny, suspecting what he was up to. “You want to borrow money again, don’t you?”
“Wh—no, no,” Danny protested, but Nathan could see the worried look creep into his face.
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“Who the fuck is that, then?” Nathan pointed an angry finger at the skinny boy, who quickly tried to blend in the crowd. “One of your sad little drug buddies?”
“What? Who?” Danny pretended to look around. It was bad acting.
“Oh, give it up,” Nathan told him. “I’ve got something for you right here.” He shoved his hand in his pocket.
Danny’s eyes were suddenly eager, probably hoping to sponge off Nathan’s wallet again. Nathan brought up his hand, middle finger deftly raised. “Kerr-ching! That’s all you’re getting from me.”
Before Danny could react, Nathan grabbed the glasses he’d neglected and retreated back to the bar.
Moron. That told him.
But his heart was thudding hard, and his good mood had been seriously dampened. Had he really been that blind for so long? Danny only ever seemed to show up when he wanted to borrow money. It was pathetic, but it was more pathetic that Nathan had kept allowing it.
He decided he was done making excuses for Danny. And he was done lending him money all the time. So far none of those loans had ever made it back. Well, now the bank of Nathan was officially closed. He slammed the dirties into the glass washer then wiped his hands on his jeans. Out with the old…. He glanced at Auryn, sitting at the bar and watching him. Nathan gave him a little smile, relieved when it was matched on the other man’s face. He tried to relax himself.
Everything will be all right.
“Nathan, would you grab some more empties?” Stuart called to him.
Stuart and Justin were currently getting swamped at the bar with no time to clean or restock. Nathan nodded and moved out again, scanning the nearby tables to begin collecting glasses. A very demanding presence appeared, swooped in, and caught Nathan off guard. He’d thought Danny would slither away like the little snake he was; Nathan really hadn’t expected him to appear again and keep pushing the matter.
“Don’t be mad at me, baby,” Danny breathed in his ear, winding his hands around Nathan’s slim hips. “I love you.” Nathan froze in shock. Even more so when Danny pressed against him and locked their lips together. It was very difficult not to fall into familiarity with those lush lips, that demanding touch. Until three days ago, Nathan had been pining for this… but now everything had changed. Hell, even if he hadn’t met Auryn, he still would have been pissed off with Danny.
What did he think, one kiss and all would be forgiven?
Nathan twisted his face away and tried to push Danny off him. It wasn’t easy, as they were about the same size.
“Get off me, you dickhead.”
“Nath, why are you being such a little madam?” Danny smirked at him. His hands were still pawing Nathan’s hips, pulling at the pockets of his jeans.
It was like being attacked by an octopus. Nathan attempted to wriggle free of his grasp.
“I’m working. Get lost.”
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Danny let him move away finally but still brushed a possessive hand over Nathan’s ass. “What’s your problem?”
“Don’t make me answer that,” Nathan ground out. He nudged past Danny and tried to get back to work. He needed a moment to take a deep breath and will away the flush that ran over his body. He hoped it didn’t show on his face. Damn his pale complexion. Nathan glared over his shoulder to check where Danny was, but the boy had already disappeared into the crowd.
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