Chapter 1 #2
You might expect a playboy bartender with barely a care in Vegas to come from a hard childhood, but nothing could be further from the truth.
I grew up on the outskirts of Salem, Massachusetts with wonderful parents who retired to Florida a few years ago.
Sure, I gave them hell, but what teenager doesn’t?
I wasn’t necessarily bad, but I’d always been the type to dodge the trouble others found themselves in, and in turn I’d learned not to take things too seriously.
Like that night on the water tower. Did I stop to think that we might get into trouble?
Not at all. My friends showed up with a bottle of Maker’s and we had nothing better to do than climb the tower after a few shots.
Drunk, noisy teenagers tended to draw a bit of attention though, and it wasn’t long before we were caught.
I thought I did really well passing my tears off as being fake—it was the only way we got out of having our parents called.
By the time I turned eighteen, I itched to escape the quiet life my parents adored.
College seemed like such a long road back then, and not the kind I was dying to use to run away.
I applied, and I was accepted, but the closer admissions got, the more I despaired that I was chaining myself to a life I didn’t want.
In the end, I didn’t go. I worked some odd jobs for a few years, saving every penny I made.
When I turned twenty-two, I got in my car, pointed it west, and didn’t stop until I saw the lights of the Las Vegas strip.
At first, I didn’t plan to stay long. A few days of fun turned into a job offer and a bartending class at what was now The Devil’s Hopyard. Thirteen years later, I’d never looked back. I never returned to Salem, nor did I have any desire to do so. Vegas was my home.
I slid another Vampire’s Kiss across the bar, a collective groan overpowering the music as Raleigh announced last call.
We were pushing three a.m. already? It was only then that the full weight of a twelve-hour shift pressed down on me.
I stretched, anticipating the last rush as customers swarmed the bar.
I didn’t come up for air again until Raleigh ushered the last few stragglers out the door and locked it behind them.
Angel and I rested against the bar while Raleigh killed the music.
The big man joined us, Angel fitting into his husband’s arms as if they were made for him, his head falling back against the brick wall of Raleigh’s chest.
Raleigh extended his arm toward me. “There’s plenty of room, Ryder,” he teased.
Angel snatched his husband’s hand and snapped it back to his own waist. He switched to sign language. “No, there’s not. Go find your own.”
Up until they fell head over heels for each other, Angel had been selectively mute following some trauma when they were kids that neither of them talked about.
I actually hadn’t heard him utter a single word until after he and Raleigh got married.
So when they became my bosses, I started teaching myself ASL to better communicate with him.
On a busy night with music blaring through the speakers and a hundred different voices around us, it paid off in more ways than one.
Raleigh nuzzled his husband’s neck. Angel giggled, which only made Raleigh’s smile grow. “I’ll never get over the sound of you,” he rumbled.
I pushed off the bar. That was my cue to leave. “You two are so adorable it’s nauseating.” I unbuttoned my vest and shrugged it off my shoulders.
“All of this could be yours.” Raleigh dropped Angel’s hands and gestured to the man in front of him.
Angel rolled his eyes and signed, “Doesn’t that go against Ryder’s cardinal rule of double dipping? I’m going to the restroom.”
“Seriously,” Raleigh said when Angel was out of earshot. “The way you’re looking at us, it might be time to think about settling down.”
“That’s rich coming from you,” I smirked. “It hasn’t even been a year since we—”
“No need to bring that up!”
“That” being the time Raleigh pulled me into the bathroom after a busy shift and dropped to his knees.
It was just weeks later that he and Angel confessed they’d always been in love with each other, then eloped a few days after that.
I knew Raleigh had come clean to Angel about what happened, and Angel’s jealousy erred on the playful side, but I still didn’t like to bring it up in front of him.
We were able to keep things professional.
Even I was able to see how head over heels they were for each other.
“Have you ever thought about it?” Raleigh asked, stepping closer to me.
“Thought about what? That night? Because actually—”
“Ryder,” he said, cutting me off. “I know you don’t like emotion or anything too serious.”
I fixed my eyes on the floor. Though he was five years younger than me, Raleigh had “boss” written all over him, and his stare could reduce a grown man to tremors.
I admit it wasn’t my favorite side of Raleigh. My job worked better for me when I was able to flirt and goof off.
I finally looked up when he jabbed an elbow into my arm.
“Well, have you?” Raleigh pressed with a raised brow.
I cursed. He hadn’t expected me to hesitate, and I’d shown him my hand. My throat tight, I said hoarsely, “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t.” I pushed off the bar and started to clean up, desperate for anything to do other than have this conversation.
Raleigh, however, couldn’t take a hint—or, refused to. The man was stubborn as a bull. “You could if you wanted to.”
I dropped my voice as Angel re-entered the room. “Not all of us meet our soulmate when we’re twelve, Raleigh.”
Raleigh turned and shrugged. “You might meet them when you’re thirty-five. It’s not too late.”
I brushed off the entire conversation. I busied myself cleaning up while ignoring my bosses sneaking kisses and touches when they thought I wasn’t looking.
Somewhere deep inside, I did wonder what it would be like.
A relationship, rather than a night. But I liked being single.
Vegas was perfect, because if there’s one thing you could count on, it was that you never knew what was going to happen next.
I didn’t like structure, or feeling tied down.
If things got too routine, I started to feel trapped.
Raleigh looked at me over his husband’s shoulder. With the way Angel clung to him, the look said, “You okay alone?” I nodded, and as I watched them retreat to the staircase leading up to their apartment, I thought… maybe.
Maybe I could do it.