Chapter 4
FOUR
CASEY
If I thought I was tired after my last double shift, it was nothing compared to the way I felt now. Every part of me ached, every muscle was sore, and I thought I might fall asleep standing up. But there was still a kitchen to clean, and no way was I leaving it less than perfect.
Nights like this reminded me how easy it was for me to burn myself out, trying to prove I belonged anywhere.
“Hey, Travis, I’m gonna tell Myla the kitchen’s officially closed since we’ve gone through every single serving we had available,” I said with a tired grin.
“I can’t believe everything’s gone. I’m sorry we couldn’t prep more for tonight. If we’d had a little more of a head start, we might’ve made it through,” Casey said, shaking his head like he had something to feel bad about.
I hated how fast I went to apologizing, like messing up was something people expected from me.
“What are you talking about? We did amazing. And by we, I mean you. You jumped in here and saved my ass. We’re not going out there to tell Myla. You want me to grab a beer for you?”
“Should I be drinking on the job?”
“I think it’s allowed when your boss offers it to you.”
“I’ll wait till I’m off the clock.”
“No problem. Can I get you something else? Water? A soda?”
“If you could grab me a bottle of water, that’d be great.”
As good as the beer sounded, I knew myself too well. I had zero tolerance, and the last thing I needed was to get a little tipsy and start flirting with my boss. Or worse, admit I had the tiniest crush on him. I doubted he’d let me stick around the bar much longer after that.
“One bottle of water coming up. Then I’ll be back to help clean this mess. I’ll grab one of the bussers too. We’ll get this place wrapped up.”
While Travis was gone, I took a quick moment of quiet to steady my breathing.
It had been torture all night, trying to focus on the food while knowing he was only two steps away.
He let me be the boss tonight, but it still felt strange giving him orders.
He never argued though. He just did what I said and did it fast.
Being this close to him all night made every nerve in me spark, no matter how hard I tried to play it cool.
The quiet gave me space to indulge in my favorite fantasy, other than the ones I’d been having about Travis: putting a food truck somewhere.
The beer-garden setup at his place was perfect for it.
Sure, there was the main bar, but out back was a classic Pacific Northwest setup with covered benches, fairy lights, and a big pine tree in the corner.
The dream always sat just under my ribs, too fragile to name out loud but too stubborn to die.
Since most of it was covered, people used it year-round as long as the heaters were running.
They’d redone the flooring, too, so it never got muddy or messy.
I didn’t know what it had looked like before, but I could tell they’d put in a ton of work to make the place better than it had been.
There was even a little side spot with a water spigot and an electrical panel, ready for someone to hook right in. But that person wouldn’t be me.
Cooking and being around people? Dream big, Casey Boy.
Travis returned, as promised, with a bottle of water and an extra pair of hands.
Between the three of us, we were able to clean up the kitchen pretty quickly.
It wasn’t my place to talk shit about Gerry, but his cleaning wasn’t where I’d expected it to be.
It must have also bugged Travis because he grumbled the whole time about grease traps and fires.
It took longer than expected, but within an hour, we were done and I was wiped.
Unfortunately, I still had at least three hours left on my shift when you factored in bar cleanup.
“Ray, thanks for your help. You can take your dinner break before you go back out front.” With a nod, Ray headed out to the alley to smoke through the break while I internally groaned in jealousy.
I wanted a damn break too, and I was starving.
Except, foolish me, I’d forgotten to save a plate, and I’d be damned if I wanted to mess up the kitchen to make anything.
Breaks always felt like something other people got, not me, not when I was still trying to earn my keep everywhere I went.
“You ready for a dinner break too?” Travis asked the question like he was invested in my answer.
He’d used a tone I’d already come to recognize from him.
It was the one that meant he was concerned about the answer, but he already suspected it was one he wouldn’t like.
I’d heard the same exact one the other night when the discussion of how I was getting home happened.
It made my stomach flutter because it sounded like he already cared too much.
“I can grab something on my way home.”
“You didn’t save a plate?”
“Nah, we were too busy. It’s fine. I’m not that hungry anyway.”
Travis contemplated me with an impassive expression. I hated it because it provided no clue at all about his thoughts.
“Casey, please don’t lie to me. Big or small.”
Something in me tightened at that because being seen that clearly was both terrifying and addictive.
“Lie?”
“You’ve worked your ass off tonight, you haven’t had two seconds to think since you walked in the door, you’ve been sweating over a hot stove for hours, and I don’t believe for one damn minute you aren’t starving. I’d even bet money you didn’t have a Thanksgiving meal today, did you?”
Technically, he was wrong because my frozen dinner had been turkey, but I knew he’d never agree with me. How I knew that wasn’t exactly clear, but it was a fact all the same. Silence and a shrug were my answers.
“Yeah, okay. That must mean I’m right.”
Travis crossed the room and laid a hand on my shoulder. The warmth of it made my stomach flip-flop. It was pure willpower, and a little luck, that I kept my breathing even enough for him not to notice my lungs were still.
“C’mon, you’re going to my office,” Travis said.
His voice was firm, but kind, and my bones, with one exception, melted. It felt Daddy-esque. It was like he knew all the best parts of being one and then wrapped them into a boss-sized package. I wanted to ask why he wanted me to go with him or maybe even argue, but I was tired. And hungry.
His hand slipped slightly to my shoulder, but the warmth remained.
His hand stayed there until we reached the hallway, and then he only moved it so he could step slightly ahead of me to push open his office door.
I made a beeline for the comfy couch and tried my best to collapse in a way that didn’t show my actual exhaustion.
“Oh good, I didn’t have to tell you to sit down,” Travis said.
On the couch, I squirmed a little at his word choice. As tired as I was, it didn’t stop my cock from chubbing at the idea of him getting a little bossy with me.
“I just wanted to make the first claim on it before you could do it.”
Travis laughed the way I’d hoped he would and made his way across the room to a small refrigerator against the back wall. He rummaged inside until he pulled out a covered plate. He wrapped it in a paper towel and popped it into the microwave on top of the counter.
It seemed a little odd that he’d asked if I was hungry and then invited me back to his office to watch him eat dinner, but I stayed quiet.
Everyone thought I was loud and outgoing, but if I wasn’t sure what was going on, I was more likely to sit back and watch until I figured it out.
And there was a lot about Travis I wanted to figure out.
Last shift, it had almost felt like he was flirting, but never quite enough for me to be sure.
It was confusing, but not so unsettling that I wanted it to stop. Hell, I wished he’d go further.
Every part of him confused me in the best way, like he was offering pieces of something steady I didn’t know how to accept.
The ding of the microwave pulled me back to the present.
“Lucky for you, I stopped by a friend’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, and they insisted on sending me home with leftovers.”
“But if I eat your dinner, what are you going to eat?”
“Don’t worry about that. You need to eat because I know you’re starving.”
“I don’t think that’s fair. You worked just as hard.”
“See, that’s where we disagree. All I did was follow orders. You were the one who had to figure out a menu on the fly with five minutes’ notice. Brainpower makes you hungry.”
When I still hadn’t started eating, Travis added, “It would make me happy if you ate, so I can stop worrying about it.”
“Can we share it?”
“Yeah, we can.”
The quiet sincerity in his voice made me pause.
Rather than argue, I nodded, grabbed the fork he offered with the plate, and dug in.
After the first bite—delicious—I devoured the food.
It was gone in less than five minutes, and I could’ve eaten three more plates.
Most likely, I took more than my fair share, but once I’d started, there was no slowing me down.
“Now I’m a happy man,” Travis said with a grin.
Once again, my inconveniently hard cock tried to make an appearance. I shifted on the couch, trying to hide the bulge pushing against my jeans. Travis glanced at his watch and pushed himself out of his chair.
“You’ve still got your dinner break, so why don’t you just relax in here, okay?”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to kick you out of your office. And I’ve only got a few minutes left on it anyway.”
“You’ve got the full thirty, and yeah, I’m sure. It’s fine. I need to go out front anyway. After all that commotion in the kitchen, it might be nice for you to have a quiet place to sit instead of the breakroom.”
I nodded and settled back against the couch. Travis didn’t say anything more as he let himself out, the latch on the door clicking softly behind him.