Leaning Into Series: The Complete Box Set

by Hayes, Lane

  However, tonight wasn’t about me or a silly bet. It was about lending support to the flamboyant man beside me sucking back a blue cocktail garnished with three miniature umbrellas.

  “Slow down, Geordie. It’s not Kool-Aid. You’re going to be tanked before you-know-who gets here,” I admonished. “He’s late. Maybe he isn’t coming.”

  “He’ll be here,” he replied confidently before sighing. “I seem to remember it being more colorful in here. Has it always been this…beige?”

  I cast a brief glance around the stylish bar, noting the modern pendant lighting over the reclaimed wood bar and the high tables throughout the airy space. We’d snagged the only vacant table. I thought Geordie would appreciate our window seat location with its prime indoor and outdoor people-watching opportunities. But he was distracted and maybe even a little uncomfortable. That wasn’t like him at all. Nothing intimidated him, certainly not a boisterous hetero crowd ogling members of the opposite sex with feverish desperation. He was the first to laugh at the obvious tactics used to lure a conquest, but he didn’t look amused now.

  “Hey, are you okay?” I asked, cocking my head curiously.

  “I’m fine,” he snapped then immediately grimaced and apologized. “I’m sorry. This is harder than I thought it would be.”

  “Well, if it’s any consolation, I think we’re the only two queens here, honey,” I said in a campy tone I hoped would make him smile.

  I gave myself a mental high five when he chuckled and gestured to the rowdy group of middle-aged hipsters at the adjacent table.

  “I think the one wearing suspenders is one of us.”

  I took a clandestine peek and frowned. “What makes you think so?”

  “Call it intuition. He looks like a dad entering a mid-life crisis. He’s trying hard to stay cool but is beginning to wonder if it’s worth it.”

  I snorted with amusement. “A dad going through something, eh?”

  “Well, everyone’s going through something. For some reason, the desperation is easier for me to read in a hetero establishment because my expectations are suitably low. It’s refreshing, really.”

  “We should have gone to the Castro,” I groused playfully.

  Geordie smiled. “Another night. I actually love places like this. Mike and I used to make a game of checking out the clientele from our corner of a random bar. We’d make up possible life stories and try to guess the closet cases. They’re more prevalent than you’d think. Mike was in the closet. Did you know he—never mind. I shouldn’t talk about him.”

  “Sure, you should,” I said, setting a comforting hand over his. I panicked a moment later when tears welled in his eyes. “Oh, hey. I’m sorry. I—”

  “Shh. You didn’t do anything.” He pulled his hand away and let out a pained sound like a sob being reined in too tight. “If you really want to do me a favor, you’ll let me win the bet so I can go home.”

  “You’re not going to win, Geordie,” I assured him, shaking the ice loose in my glass.

  “Yes, I will. Danny and Lauren will be here soon and—”

  “Danny and Lauren?” I craned my neck toward the entrance before turning back to give him a befuddled look and the “What the fuck?” he deserved.

  “I had to invite Lauren. It would have been rude not to. Besides, after Danny makes goo-goo eyes at you, I don’t want to be a third wheel. You’ll thank me later.”

  I sputtered indignantly. “No, I won’t thank you. Do you really want fifty bucks that badly?” I pulled my wallet out and immediately had my hand smacked.

  “Put your money away. I’m not after your cash. I just want to win.”

  “You won’t win this one because Danny isn’t going to—”

  “Hey! Look who’s talking behind my back.” Danny squeezed my shoulder like a long, lost pal then gestured to Geordie’s drink. “No Pinot?”

  We both turned to greet our friends. I couldn’t decide if I was happy to see them now or freaked out that Geordie would say something embarrassing. I swiped my sweaty palms on my jeans and pasted a smile on my face.

  “You’re here! Hello, darlings! No wine tonight. Sit and tell us all about your day. Ryan, darling, will you flag down the waiter? Our friends need cocktails pronto. What’re you having, Lauren? I love your hair, by the way. So pretty. You know I…”

  I tuned out my suddenly loquacious friend then swiveled sideways to find a waiter. Danny accidentally brushed my knee as he slid onto the stool next to mine at the same time and my senses went into instant overdrive. I had to put some space between us, or I’d be humping his leg after my third gin and tonic kicked in.

  “Uh…it’ll be faster if I order at the bar.”

  “I’ll go with you.” Danny stood again and gestured between Lauren and Geordie. “What can we get you?”

  “A blue drink like Geordie’s, please,” Lauren said with a flirty grin.

  “Geordie, do you want another?”

  Geordie shook his head and set his hand over his glass, careful not to crush the umbrellas. “No, thank you. I don’t think I’ll need it,” he replied slyly.

  I rolled my eyes then turned to wade through the press of bodies with Danny right behind me. I found an open space at the bar in the corner and waved my hand to catch the bartender’s attention, nodding when she signaled she’d be there soon.

  “It’s packed in here,” I yelled over the din.

  “It’s Saturday. I’m not surprised. You look nice, by the way. I like your shirt.”

  “Thanks.” I glanced down to see what I was wearing. A blue and white striped oxford button-down and faded jeans. Kinda boring, but I smiled at the compliment and gave him a cursory once-over too. And immediately wished I hadn’t. Danny’s chambray shirt hugged his broad shoulders in all the right places and while I would never claim to be a fan of the denim-on-denim look, his snug-fit Levis fit him like a glove. When he cleared his throat, I blushed furiously. Way to get caught staring at a hot guy’s junk. Ugh. I needed the bartender to save me. Fast. “Um…so do you.”

  “Thank you.” Danny leaned forward and motioned for me to put my wallet away. “I got this.”

  “All right. I’ll get the next round. A gin and tonic, pl—”

  “I know what you like,” he said before turning to place our order.

  Why did I hear sexual innuendo in every word? Not good. I stared at his ass in those tight jeans and admonished myself to snap out of it.

  “So what was that about?”

  My gaze darted to back to his eyes. “Huh? I wasn’t looking at your ass,” I blurted.

  Danny’s eyebrows shot to his hairline and stayed there for a good few seconds before he busted up laughing. Okay. That was awkward.

  “Good to know, but I was talking about Geordie. He said he didn’t think he’d need another cocktail. Is he planning his getaway already?”

  “Yeah. Um…I think he’s feeling sad,” I lied.

  “Hmm. He seems okay,” Danny observed, glancing back at our table just as Geordie threw his head back and laughed at something Lauren said.

  I shrugged. “Maybe it’s you and Lauren. He was talking about Mike before you got here and…well, he’s probably tired of my cheerleader routine. I suck at it.”

  “No, you don’t. You’re a good friend, Ry. He gushed about you at work all day.”

  “Oh no.” I closed my eyes briefly and winced.

  Danny chuckled. “What part of ‘gushed’ sounds bad, weirdo?”

  “I can never be sure with Geordie. It felt funny not to work on a Saturday.” The second the words left my mouth, I knew Geordie had arranged my day off on purpose. Oh boy. I cleared my throat and added, “Was it busy today?”

  “Not really. It was steady but nothing we couldn’t handle. We had plenty of time to chat.”

  I was suddenly wary of the humor in his voice but I played it cool. Or tried to anyway. “That’s nice.”

  Danny handed my gin and tonic over then laid a few bills on the bar before picking
up the other glasses. I started toward our table but stopped in my tracks when he spoke again. “He told me about your bet.”

  Oh. My. God.

  I whirled around so quickly, gin sloshed over the rim of my glass. “He what?”

  Danny’s Cheshire cat grin grew to epic proportions. “He spilled the beans. Don’t look so freaked out. It’s pretty funny when you think about it. Come on. Let’s go. These drinks are cold.”

  I grabbed his sleeve before he escaped. “No way. Not until you tell me exactly what he said.”

  “But I have to deliver Lauren’s cocktail,” he teased.

  I inclined my head manically toward our table and gritted my teeth. “Fine, then come back and tell me everything. Hurry!”

  Danny’s eyes glinted merrily. “You got it, Ry.”

  I watched him wind his way through the crowd with my heart in my throat. This was beyond mortifying. I felt like I was back in high school. Adults didn’t act like this, did they?

  “Move closer to the bar out of eyeshot,” he said when he returned. “I told them the bartender messed up your drink and I had to come back to save her from your wrath. I think that’ll buy us some time. What did you want to know?”

  I glowered, irked at his breezy mannerism when I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “The bet, Danny. What did Geordie tell you about the bet?”

  “Ooh! The bet. Well, he said you each had fifty bucks riding on him braving the dating scene again.”

  “That’s it?” I asked, furrowing my brow.

  “Well, there was something about you and me but—” He snickered when I squeezed my eyes shut and groaned. “Hey, it was nothing bad. He um…suggested I might want to make a move on you sooner rather than later.”

  I opened my eyes and mouth in simultaneous bewilderment. No doubt I looked ridiculous but I couldn’t wrap my head around his words. They didn’t make sense. Neither did his expression. He looked amused for sure, but also…hopeful. And while I was relieved he didn’t seem freaked out, I didn’t understand the hint of desire in his gaze unless—

  “Are you gay?”

  Danny’s comical look of surprise quickly morphed into a bubble of laughter he couldn’t contain. “Real smooth, Ry. I think you killed my chances with the pretty blonde who just walked by.”

  “I’m sorry. I—”

  “I’m kidding. Geez, man, relax.”

  “I am relaxed. But I’m confused too,” I admitted, taking a fortifying sip of gin.

  “About whether or not I’m making a move on you? I thought you didn’t like me.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Liar.” He chuckled when I huffed indignantly and then put up his hand to stop my protest. “You can tell me how much you despise me later. Right now, I think we should join forces and help Geordie win that fifty bucks.”

  “What? Wait. No,” I sputtered. “First of all, that’s my fifty bucks and second, are you aware of the context of that part of the bet?”

  “Sure, I am. I’ll chip in twenty-five, cheapskate. Look at the guy”—Danny inclined his head toward our table just as Geordie threw his hands in the air in time to whatever tale he was weaving for Lauren’s entertainment—“he’s miserable.”

  “No, he isn’t.”

  “He’s putting on an act. That’s a fake smile if ever I saw one. If you really want to make his day, you’ll let him win that bet.”

  “Let me get this straight, pun intended. You’re willing to go back there and put your arm around me and kiss me in front them?” I asked in a deliberate tone.

  “Kiss? He didn’t mention…” Danny furrowed his brow. I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he mulled the wisdom of paying twenty-five dollars to lock lips with a man in public. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

  I snickered at his resolved tone and considered letting him off the hook but teasing him was way more fun. I pulled a stick of gum from my pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into my mouth. “Okay, let’s go.”

  “Whoa. Why are you chewing gum now?”

  “For minty fresh breath, silly,” I replied in a campy voice.

  Danny nodded with a faux-serious expression on his handsome face. “That’s nice of you, but I don’t want you to choke when I tongue fuck your mouth. I’m a little rusty on my Heimlich maneuver. Spit out the gum, hot stuff, and let’s do this.”

  He slapped my back hard enough to jostle my cocktail before sauntering toward our table. I watched his retreating form, wondering what he was up to. Then I wondered the same thing about me. This wasn’t smart. I should find a way to unobtrusively signal to him that I was joking. But when he took his seat and turned to raise his glass in my direction in challenge, I knew I couldn’t back down. I spit my gum into my cocktail napkin, sucked back my drink, and then stuck the wadded up paper on top of the ice and left the glass on the bar. Then I squared my shoulders and headed toward my friends. And Danny.

  “Where’s your drink?” Geordie asked. “I thought you had a cocktail mishap. That’s very unusual here. I’m surprised Kerri didn’t give you a freebie.”

  “Oh. She did but I drank it already.”

  “You’re the slowest consumer of all foods and alcohol I’ve ever met, Ryan. Since when do you do shots of G and T?” Geordie gave me a suspicious once-over complete with an arched brow.

  “Uh—”

  “I helped him,” Danny intercepted, slinking his arm over the back of my barstool.

  “Oh?” Geordie picked out one of the umbrellas in his near empty glass and twirled it as he observed us.

  The dynamic of Geordie’s eagle-eyed scrutiny, Lauren’s obvious confusion, and Danny’s cocky “I got this” attitude contrasted sharply with the swarm of butterflies fluttering in my stomach. I wanted to chide myself for the sudden bout of nerves, but who could blame me? My hot jock coworker, who until three minutes ago I would have sworn was straight, had his arm around me. Or close enough. And he was going to kiss me. At least he said he was going to. Fuck. I already needed another drink.

  “He didn’t—I mean—how do you know the bartender here? You said you hadn’t been here in ages.” It was a lame attempt at deflection, especially with someone as intuitive as Geordie.

  “Oh, please. Napa may be the wine mecca of the state, but this is still a small town and I’ve lived here for ages. I’m practically a native like Lauren,” Geordie said, turning to her with a wide smile.

  Lauren started, her gaze darting between Geordie and Danny’s roving hand, traveling up and down my arm then resting on my hip. The over-familiarity was jarring. I couldn’t believe they didn’t ask what the hell was going on. It was as though we were in the midst of an experiment testing how long humans ignored odd behavior like facing the back of an elevator or wearing winter boots in July. There was no law against it, but the strange factor was strong.

  Lauren nodded distractedly then flipped her long hair over her shoulder and turned back to us just as Danny leaned into my space. We were elbow-to-elbow, thigh-to-thigh now. Appropriately close for lovers and confidantes, not two average work buddies. Especially if one of us was supposedly straight.

  “Is something going on with you two?” she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

  “Like what?” I croaked.

  “I don’t know. You’re sitting so close.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m making a move on him. Subtlety doesn’t work with Ryan,” Danny stated matter-of-factly.

  Lauren and Geordie’s incredulous expressions no doubt mirrored mine. I freaked out. I couldn’t do this. I knew myself too well. If he kissed me in front of them, I’d do something stupid…like fall for him.

  I pushed Danny’s arm and scowled. “Are you crazy?”

  His answering smile had a boyish quality that made me want to laugh, but I wasn’t sure if the joke was on me yet.

  “Maybe. I tried to tell you how I felt at the bar, but you didn’t believe me.”

  “So you decided to blurt out, ‘I’m making a move on you,’ like a ca
veman in front of everyone? That’s so…ew!” I shoved at his elbow again and turned up the notch on my dirty look.

  I had to be out of practice. I was also confused. Danny, on the other hand, was completely unfazed.

  “Ew?” Danny repeated with a laugh. “Are you saying you don’t like me?”

  He kicked me under the table then picked up his glass to partially hide his lips when he mouthed, For Geordie.

  “I like you,” I grumbled under my breath.

  “I didn’t hear you,” he singsonged playfully.

  “Me either,” Geordie added, seemingly amused.

  “Yes, I like you. Are you happy now?” I snapped.

  Danny’s triumphant grin lit his entire face. “Ecstatic.”

  “Me too. I win!” Geordie exclaimed, hopping to his feet. “Let’s leave the lovebirds alone, Lauren.”

  “You don’t have to go anywhere. He’s not serious, Geordie.” I yelped when Danny pinched my arm.

  Danny pulled his wallet from his back pocket and tossed twenty-five dollars on the table. “Sure I am. Ryan will give you the other half tomorrow.”

  Geordie smirked as he rubbed his hands together gleefully. He picked up the cash and made a production of making sure the numbers were facing the same direction before shoving the bills into his pocket. “Fabulous. Lauren, are you ready?”

  “We just got here and he’s obviously kidding so—aren’t you?”

  “Nope.” Danny set his hand over mine and snickered when I pulled away. “Looks like I have some persuading to do though.”

  The tension was palpable or maybe only Lauren and I felt it. Geordie was giddy, and Danny seemed kinda proud of himself. Me? I felt like a deer caught in the headlights, paralyzed by uncertainty.

  “Don’t give up too easily. Ryan’s a tough cookie on the outside but melty sweet where it counts. Lauren, darling…we’re off.” Geordie hooked her purse over his shoulder and gave a prom queen-style wave before moving toward the exit.

  “Well, I don’t know what’s going on but he took my bag so…I’ll see you boys later. And I’m going to want the real story when I see you at work,” Lauren said, pointing her finger between us meaningfully.