Chapter 15 #2
“Yes,” Joshua said. “Put on loud music.”
With an eye-roll at Joshua and a curious look at Van, Lincoln led his thoroughly embarrassed boyfriend across the living room. They disappeared into the hallway. Moments later, a door shut and then heavy bass filled the downstairs.
“So,” Van said. “After I leave, how hard will they interrogate you guys over why I’m here?”
“Shouldn’t be too bad,” Joshua replied. “They know about you helping us get back together, and they saw us hanging out at Emmett’s party. Mostly they’ll assume we’re friends. Unless you think they saw you guys kissing.”
Benji groaned and sagged against the cushions. Van squeezed his wrist. “If this thing between us goes someplace, people are going to find out.”
“I know,” Benji said. “But anyone finding out while we’re still figuring it out might make everything more complicated. How can we explain it to other people if we aren’t sure what we’re doing?”
“We know what we’re doing,” Joshua said. He got up and then plunked himself down on Benji’s other side, squeezing close in the small space. “We’re exploring mutual attractions, and so far, we’re all having fun doing so. Am I right?”
Benji leaned into him, a comfortably warm weight on Joshua’s chest. “You’re right. But the rest of the band could come back any time, so we probably shouldn’t keep fooling around on the couch.”
“Actually, I should go,” Van said. Joshua’s heart sank. “And not because we nearly got caught. I hadn’t anticipated being here for so long when I accepted Benji’s invitation, and I’ve got some errands to run before work.”
“Will it be awkward for you if we stopped by?” Benji asked. “I haven’t been to Off Beat in ages.”
“Three whole months is ages?”
“Yes.”
Van laughed. “No, it won’t be awkward. Watching you two dance will probably give me a boner, but I’ll live. I’ve worked with wood before.”
They stood as a unit. At the door, Van glanced through the curtain, and then pulled Benji in for a kiss.
Slow and sensual and oh-so steamy. Then Van did the same with Joshua, except the hard thrust of his tongue and crash of his mouth was different.
Harsher, more demanding, and exactly what had turned Joshua’s crank so hard earlier.
Van already understood the differences between the two men who both wanted to keep seeing him.
Preferably naked again, as soon as possible.
Joshua was panting by the time Van released him. Van groped at Joshua’s erection, which had jumped back to full mast during the kiss. “If you two happen to take care of this in private, the idea will give me something to jerk off to before work.”
And then he left.
Benji slid his arms around Joshua’s waist from behind, pulling him back until Benji’s wood was pressing into the crease of Joshua’s ass. A chin rested on Joshua’s shoulder. All he could smell was Benji. “What do you say?” Benji asked. “Wanna get off, hot stuff?”
“Hell yes.” He turned around, so he could thrust his erection against Benji’s. “What do you want?”
“This is good.” Benji grabbed Joshua’s ass and rocked. “Except in bed, with fewer clothes.”
Rubbing off together sounded like heaven, especially since Benji hadn’t come earlier. He deserved a lot of extra attention for that, so Joshua grabbed his hand and dragged him into the bedroom.
Van anticipated Beatrice cornering him before they opened.
He’d spent all afternoon in the best of moods with a silly grin on his face, even when facing down Saturday beach traffic to get his errands done.
Walking into Off Beat for work only heightened his emotional high because he truly loved working there.
“So did this complicated guy uncomplicated himself or something?” she asked while he stowed his phone in a break room locker. “Because forgive me for using a really old saying, but you look like the cat that ate the cream.”
“Or something,” he replied. “The threesome happened. Kind of. And we all want it to happen again.”
Beatrice’s eyes widened. “Really? You’re wading into a three-way relationship?”
“I think so. I mean, yes, we are. I feel something when I’m with these guys, Bea, and it’s so unique and precious, and I’m scared not to try. What if complicated is actually what will make me happy, and I don’t take a chance on it?”
“Follow your heart, honey.” She frowned. “Wait a minute, the threesome happened when?”
“Today. Fading Daze is on vacation for a week, so Benji invited me over to the house. I thought he was going to ream me out over kissing Joshua, but instead he said he wanted to even things out by kissing me. Things kind of exploded from there.”
“Huh. Do you think the band will stop by tonight?” Already her mind was shifting from his love life to the business, and he was okay with that.
“I know Benji and Joshua are. Dunno about the rest of the band.”
“Well, we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
“So you can pester them onstage again?”
“I didn’t pester. They went quite willingly, as I recall.”
Except Benji had stayed behind to flirt with Van, and Trey had filled in on male vocals. The original Fading Daze was now reunited. Van had never mentioned it to his former co-worker, but he kind of preferred the current lineup of singers.
Van went out to make sure his station was set to his perfectionist liking.
Emmett had been terrified of the almost militant way Van demanded that fruit be cut and bottles be put into the wells, but he’d adjusted quickly.
The system had worked for years, so why mess with perfection?
Everything at the bar looked good. He waited for the first customers to descend into the bar.
As they eased into colder months, the first few hours were slower, even on weekends.
But by nine, when the opening act took the stage, the house was three-quarters full.
Time flew by in a flurry of making drinks and flirting.
Flirting with less intent than usual, since Van wasn’t looking anymore.
He’d somehow found two amazing guys who both seemed to want him.
Around nine-thirty a few hoots rose from the crowd, and Van didn’t have to strain to tell that Fading Daze had arrived, with Melody, Adrian, Lincoln, and Joshua attached to the group.
Van caught Joshua’s gaze first. The wicked gleam in his dark eyes did funny things to Van’s belly.
Benji was shorter than all of the other guys in the group, so it took a moment to find him sandwiched between Andy and Bobby.
They went to roost at one of the counter-height square tables in the rear. It didn’t surprise him at all when Benji and Joshua came to his side of the bar to wait for drinks, probably ordering for the group.
Van flew through the handful of customers in between him and his guys.
My guys? When did that start?
The moment you stuck your dick in Joshua, and then tried to swallow Benji’s tongue.
Such thoughts were not helping said dick behave.
“Miss me already?” Van asked when it was finally their turn.
“Missed you the moment you left,” Joshua said, barely loud enough to hear.
“You guys finish things up to satisfaction?”
Even in the dim light, he saw Benji’s blush. His enthusiastic nod made Van want to haul him over the bar and kiss him silly. Instead, he asked, “What are you guys drinking? Melody want her usual?”
“Yup,” Benji said. He held up his phone and started listing the order. “Put the tab under my name. We’ll settle with each other later.”
Van ran the drinks through in his head, then started preparing them in the most efficient way possible—not because he wanted to shoo his guys away, but because they were packed, and there were only two bartenders.
Emmett paused to say hi on his way through with fresh-stemmed cherries for Sasha’s station.
“Fuck, I wish I was as good with my hands as you,” Joshua said while Van was mid-pour with a bottle of vodka.
He nearly fumbled the damned bottle, too. “I was trained in this, you know,” he drawled. “I was also raised on a farm, so I’d better be good with my hands.”
Now why the fuck did you let that slip out?
They were both watching him with identical surprised expressions, which made Van feel like some sort of science fair exhibit that suddenly went from interesting to enthralling. He’d have to explain himself at some point, but not across the bar.
Joshua carried four finished drinks back to their group, while Van completed the order.
Benji watched him work like he was studying for a test later, observing precise movements and pours and garnishes Van knew by heart.
Occasionally he had to look up a drink, but he’d spent a lot of long, lonely nights his first year bartending studying two different recipe books. Very few stumped him anymore.
“You really love this job, don’t you,” Benji said, more a statement than a question. “It shows in how you work.”
“I do.” Van added a cherry to Melody’s sour. “There are rules to the drinks, but I’m still creating something like art every time I put down a glass. Not unlike music, I suppose. You’re limited by what the instrument can do, but you can still make it beautiful every single time.”
Benji’s endearing smile sent a funny spark down Van’s spine. “I like that comparison.”
“I don’t always metaphor well, but when I do . . .” He floundered for a good ending.
His failure to finish the thought made Benji cackle. “You’re cute when you can’t speak in full sentences.”
“That’s the only time I’m cute?”
“Yes.”
Van chuckled and finished a pair of mojitos.
Final drinks. Joshua was back, and he helped Benji gather the four drinks.
Everyone had alcohol the first round, so either someone was going to stop later, or they’d all walked.
Bartender instinct kicked in, even though he expected the friends would all look out for each other.
His attention drifted to the pair many times over the next couple of hours, especially when the dance music was up.
The club didn’t have a large dance floor, mostly a twelve-by-twelve open area near the stage.
Bodies were jammed together, and the friends danced as a group, but once in a while Van would catch Benji and Joshua grinding on each other.
Beatrice demanded an open-minded staff and clientele, but Van understood the need to be careful in mixed company.
Everyone had indulged in multiple rounds by the time Beatrice enticed Fading Daze on stage for a few numbers.
Benji was flushed and bouncing on his toes through all three songs, and Van could barely stop watching long enough to make drinks.
Benji came alive on stage. Van found himself desperate to capture the moment, but knew a photograph wouldn’t do its beauty justice.
Benji moved and sang and fucking lived his music under those lights.
I used to love it too, once upon a time.
Until the very idea of touching a guitar again made him sick to his stomach, and he stopped thinking about it at all.
Van paused mixing long enough to join the applause when Fading Daze left the stage.
He spotted Beatrice off to the side, recording on her phone.
The videos would be a great addition to the club’s website, maybe draw some new patrons, eager to check out the place where a favorite band did a pop-up performance.
Off Beat’s bread-and-butter came from the locals, but they’d never turn down good tourism money.
They piped more music until the eleven o’clock act was ready.
Benji came over to settle the tab on multiple credit cards, which took a little bit of time to sort out.
Van returned with various slips that Benji took with a subtle brush of his fingers.
Van mixed two Blue Lagoons and had them rung up before Joshua returned with the receipts.
Joshua leaned across the bar, a very intent smile on his face. “Tell me if this is moving too fast, but I’d like to see you tomorrow. We would like to see you.”
Van returned the smile with a saucy grin of his own. “Would we now?”
“Yes.”
“I sleep late and then work again at six.”
“Plenty of time. Text me when you get up and we’ll figure something out.”
Joshua put so much subtext into those final few words that Van had no strength to say no. Not that he particularly wanted to say no. A chance to spend a few more hours with two men he was beginning to care a great deal about? Yes, please.
“Sounds like a plan,” Van said. “How bad will Benji blush tomorrow if I ask him for details of your afternoon together?”
“Pretty red. Maybe one day he’ll be bold enough to show you what we did in person.” With a wink, Joshua returned to the group that was hovering near the stairs, waiting to leave.
Van caught Benji’s gaze and grinned. He held on tight to the smile Benji threw back—full of so much affection and tenderness, and a hint of the devil, too. No one had ever smiled at him like that—
One guy did. A long, long time ago.
He shoved aside the ghosts of the past and got back to work.