Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30218 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30218 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
“I… think I’m going to like being friends with you,” he murmured.
I gently dropped my hand, letting it slide across the top of his thigh before pulling it back.
Fucking delicious.
And I wanted so, so much more.
The swinging door behind the bar suddenly popped open, and a burly, lumberjack-looking bartender walked out, snapping me back into reality.
“Evening, gentleman,” the bartender said, quickly walking up behind the bar and giving us each a nod. “Welcome to Jade Brewery. Can I get anything started for you? A sample of anything we have on tap?”
For a moment I wavered, looking at the tall, bearded bartender. He was around my age, too. Was Casey going to flirt with him instead, now, and forget all about me? Something about that kiss had made me feel possessive about Casey already, and even though I knew he was basically still a stranger, part of me wanted to claim him. Just for tonight.
“I think what I need right now is a cold shower,” I joked. My whole body still felt like it was on fire from that kiss. I couldn’t imagine how good it would feel to do even more with Casey. Just thinking about it made me feel like I was breaking some rule, and I wanted to break it again.
The burly bartender stared at me and blinked.
“Well, I could bring you a fresh wet towel, if you need one, sir,” he said. He didn’t seem like he took any shit from anyone.
“I was just kidding,” I reassured him. “No wet towels necessary, but thank you. I’m Rome, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”
The bartender nodded. “Sure thing. My name’s Harlan.”
“Oh, you’re Harlan?” Casey piped up. “Charlie mentioned something about you earlier.”
Harlan’s scowl only increased. He glanced over toward Charlie, one of the Fixer Brothers guys, who was sitting at the other end of the bar, giving another, younger bartender googly love-eyes.
“And what exactly was Charlie saying about me?” Harlan asked.
“Only good things,” Casey said. “Something about how cute you are with your best friend, I think.”
“Oh,” Harlan said. His scowl melted away. “He was talking about me and Sawyer.”
“Yes,” Casey said, snapping his fingers. “He said he thinks you’re going to end up in love with Sawyer. I think he said you two used to work on a farm together, right?”
“Charlie lives in a fantasy land, where everyone falls in love,” Harlan said. “But yes, Sawyer’s my best friend. And he’s supposed to get here soon with a fresh batch of lavender buds for one of our experimental hazy brews. So can I please get you two something to drink, sooner rather than later?”
“Yes. Right. Sorry,” I offered. “I think I’ll be happy with a pint of your winter IPA.”
“And I’ll take a margarita,” Casey said.
Harlan had our drinks out a minute later, and I relished the first cold, foamy sip of my IPA. Apparently Jade Brewery wasn’t just good for ambience—it was fucking great for beer, too.
I looked over at Casey, finally feeling like I was regaining some sense of sanity.
“You want to know how I knew I liked you?” I said softly, watching him take a swig of his margarita.
He swallowed. “So you like me? I thought maybe I’d turned you off when I told you my age.”
“You certainly haven’t turned me off in any way, at any point,” I said. “I don’t think that would be possible.”
There were so many things I wanted to say to him, but I knew I probably shouldn’t.
I wanted to tell him that flirting with him tonight so far had already been one of the most fun things I’d done in months.
That I wanted to lean over right about now and pull him into a kiss.
That really, if I had my way, I’d already have him pushed up against a wall in the bathroom, moaning my name.
“Because you saw me,” I said simply.
He cocked his head to one side, his eyes glinting. “What do you mean?”
I pulled in a long breath, leaning back in my chair. “Sometimes I can feel invisible, these days,” I said. “People see all of the decorations we put up, and they stop to take photos under them. If they see us installing the stuff, they usually ignore us. We’re just workers, to most people. I certainly don’t usually get young, hot guys staring at my ass.”
He smiled, but there was a sadness behind his eyes, too. “I can’t believe that’s true, though,” he said. “Who wouldn’t notice you?”
Fuck. He got me in my dick and my heart? I was screwed.
“See?” I said, clicking tongue. “That’s how I knew I liked you.”
Casey and I sipped our drinks slowly. I could tell that neither of us wanted this night to end, and with every passing minute I felt like I was drawn further into some sort of spell.