Chapter 7
I’d only just fallen into a deep sleep when a fist pounded against my door. I groaned, peeling one eye open to the early-morning sun streaming through the window. Once I’d accepted the bond, James had me up all night. I sat up, and it was as if I could still feel him inside me.
“The hell is going on?” James mumbled, cuddling in close to my side.
“Raleigh.” Because his name was answer enough.
“Ryder?” Raleigh called. “Are you awake?”
“Mm, sort of.” The door flew open and I yelped, yanking the blanket to cover up. “Hey!”
“I knocked!” He made himself right at home, leaping onto the mattress. “Morning, vampire.”
“Why are you waking us up at the ass crack of stupid?” James said in response.
“So I can start my day staring at your pretty faces.” Raleigh grimaced, picking at a loose thread on the blanket. “There’s a situation at the Hopyard. We need to get back early. ”
My heart sank. They were supposed to be in town for another week. “Is everything okay?”
“Aside from Jack being an incompetent excuse for a bartender? Yes, everything’s fine. I just need to get back and deal with it.”
I snickered. It had to be the Tanqueray delivery again—it was always the Tanqueray delivery. “Get out.”
Raleigh flinched, clutching his chest. “Damn, Clark. I at least expected a goodbye.”
I kicked the unsuspecting Raleigh to the floor. “Get out so I can get dressed. I’ll drive you to the airport.”
He collected himself, swiping his sleep-tousled hair out of his eyes. “You don’t have to do that.” The only response he got was a flat look, daring him to challenge me. He held his hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine. Thank you.”
Once Raleigh vanished, I pushed myself from the bed, pausing when James stroked my thigh.
“I can drive them if you want more sleep,” he offered.
I removed his hand from my thigh, kissing his fingertips. “It’s okay. I’ll drop them off and meet you at the bar in time to open.”
Feeling his eyes on me, I turned around before reaching the bathroom door. James’s dark gaze traveled over every inch of my naked body.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked, squirming.
James stretched, pulling the sheet away to reveal his hard cock. “You want some company in the shower?” he asked, wrapping his fist around his shaft.
My own blood rushed south, heat pooling low in my belly. “You’ve got five minutes.”
James leapt from the bed. “Challenge accepted.”
“Ryder, you know y ou have to give her back, right?”
“I don’t want to,” I complained, tucking Evie closer to my chest and ducking away from Raleigh’s outstretched arms. She curled closer, settling deeper into sleep. Oh, my heart. “See? She doesn’t want to leave her Uncle Ryder.”
We stood in the airport lobby, both Raleigh and I stalling the inevitable. Angel would never admit it, but he was lingering as well.
Angel was the one to respond. “You could always get one of your own.”
“No, thank you!” I returned Evie so fast that her eyes shot open—briefly, but long enough to glare at her daddy taking her away from me.
Raleigh was grinning. “Nice work,” he said to his husband.
As Angel juggled the baby and their luggage, I turned to Raleigh, my arms suddenly empty. I crossed them, ignoring an odd pull in my chest. “Are you sure you can’t stay?”
“Aw.” Raleigh cocked his head. “If you missed me, you can say that.” He expertly dodged the shove I aimed his way. “I wish we could. Even if it’s only to stare at your boyfriend a little longer.”
“Raleigh!” Angel scolded. He stepped over to us, stamping a kiss to my cheek. “As much as I would love to watch you two bicker in an airport lobby all day, we should go. Thank you for having us, Ryder.”
And with that, he walked away. Short, sweet, and to the point, but that’s how affection was with Angel. Strong arms jerked me forward, and I let out an unflattering “ oomph ” as I connected with Raleigh’s hard chest .
“Thanks, Ryder.” He pulled back, and his blue eyes met mine. “James is amazing. I’m really happy for you. You know you always have a place with us, right?”
“So do you. James loves you.”
Raleigh crossed his arms, giving me a onceover. “So, are congratulations in order? I heard something big happened last night. Something of the lifelong bond variety?”
My eyes slid to his husband. “Angel!”
“Can’t hear you!”
“You could have at least told me you knew,” I shouted after him. Shaking my head, I turned back to my best friend. “I guess something did happen: I accepted.”
“Look at you. I’m proud of you.”
I scoffed. “Tell me that again in six months when I haven’t fucked it up. You’ll let me know when you make it home?”
He nodded, gave my shoulder one last squeeze, and walked away. I rested against a pillar, watching them disappear behind the security barriers.
I yawned the whole drive to the bar, hoping the insanity of a weekend there would be enough to keep me awake until I got home. It was only September, but fall in Salem was an event, something people counted down to and celebrated. Halloween decorations had been up for weeks, and the tourists were beginning to flock in. New staff typically started during the week, when things were slower and they’d have more time to learn. Starting Shiloh on a Friday night during the busiest part of the year was a bold move, but I trusted James to know what he was doing. When I walked through the back entrance of the bar, Shiloh was exiting the supply room with an armful of napkins they could barely see over, and they nearly collided with me.
“Whoa!” I caught some of the bundles before they tumbled to the ground. “The hell do we need all these for? ”
“I’m nervous and I’m trying to keep busy,” they admitted.
“There’s no need to be nervous, Shi.” I smiled at their glare. “I’ll be here with you all night long.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” they mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.” Though the flush creeping over their cheeks told me otherwise.
James’s voice came from the back. “Ryder, stop terrorizing the employees.” I looked over my shoulder to see him enter the room. I couldn’t have fought the smile that curled my lips if I’d wanted to.
“There’s only one employee!”
“I was including myself.” He looked over my shoulder. “Things might get a little hectic tonight. Don’t be scared to take breaks and ask for help when you need it.”
Turns out that was the understatement of… well, James’s life.
The mid-afternoon shift crept by easily enough, but by the time the day ended, the weekend began. Shi moved around me like they’d been slinging bottles their entire life. For the most part, they held their own, but then we made the mistake of blinking, and a crowd formed out of nowhere. That’s when Shi started to stumble.
I tried to ignore it at first, knowing they might panic if they thought I was watching. But when they wound up with a group of rowdy, drunk frat boys shouting in their face, that was the end of the line for me.
I knew what a rough night behind the bar felt like. I remembered one specific shift in particular, and I might’ve walked out that night if not for my coworker—for Dani . So when I saw Shi’s frustration after fumbling a drink they were mixing, I captured their hand as they reached for a towel to clean it up .
“Can you get some more cocktail stirrers please?”
As I suspected, they looked at me in confusion. “What? You’ll drown without me. Besides, we don’t need any.”
Their hand shook in mine. I kept my voice low so the customers didn’t hear. “I’d send you for napkins, but we clearly don’t need those.” Shi flushed. “Go. Take five minutes to breathe. I’ll survive.”
Their hesitation let me know that I’d won. Using the grip I still had on their hand, I sent them toward the partition. They threw their towel onto the rail and stormed down the hallway while I tended to the crowd. I could manage it on my own—I’d dealt with much larger crowds in far worse conditions—but I wanted my vampire next to me.
I spun and grabbed a bottle of Cuervo to line up a round of shots, muttering loud enough for him to hear. “I could use a hand.”
Seconds later, James emerged from the hallway and let himself beneath the partition. “Shiloh okay?”
“They’ll be fine.”
He moved past me, his hand sliding across my lower back. I shivered. He didn’t have to pass by so closely, but I wasn’t going to complain. When I handed off the shots, I received a glare of disapproval from one of the frat boys. Less than impressed with how he spoke to Shi, his comfort was the least of my concerns. I shot him a wink and went about tending to the crowd, working in sync with James. We moved together flawlessly, knowing the other’s move before it was made.
Shiloh reappeared, red in the face but breathing a little easier. The crowd had dispersed from the bar and found seats, so James skirted past them to give us more room to work.
“Feeling okay, Shiloh?” he asked.
“Yeah, sorry—bathroom break,” they mumbled .
James gave an encouraging smile and disappeared down the hallway.
Shiloh and I tended to the stragglers wandering up to the bar for third and fourth rounds. When it seemed like everyone was taken care of for the moment, Shi turned to me.
I spoke first. “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry.”
They mopped a spill in front of them, intent on anything that didn’t require looking directly at me. “I cracked.”
“You didn’t crack. It got busy and people got rowdy. That can be a lot.”
They scoffed. “I feel like I’ve been doing this long enough to handle it.”
“How long is long enough?” I asked.
“A couple years.”
“Aw, you’re just a bartending baby, aren’t you, Shi?” I gasped. “Oh, my God: I am totally calling you Shi Baby. Don’t you love a good nickname?”
“I’ll tell you when I hear one.”
“Oh, come on, Shi Baby. Please tell me I can call you that. It works on so many levels.”
They rolled their eyes, but I saw the grin they were fighting. “Only if you tell me about a time you cracked.”
“Deal.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Okay, so I used to be this hotshot bartender in Vegas?—”
“I know who you are.” Then, realizing what they’d said, they let out a sound I could only describe as a squeak and turned the most adorable shade of red I’d ever seen.
I wasn’t about to let that go. “You looked me up?”
They swallowed and cast their eyes down. “You looked familiar, that’s all.”
“Okay, pin that—we’ll come back to it. Point is, I’m used to crowds much bigger than this.”
“This isn’t helping, Ryder. ”
“Let me finish, Shi Baby.” With a cocky smirk at their groan, I continued, “I met my ex for dinner right before my first shift here. Because she’s always had perfect timing, she handed me papers to terminate my parental rights.”
Shi gawked, but I held a hand up to stop them from interrupting.
“I was a wreck that night, to put it lightly. I was spilling drinks and dropping shakers like you wouldn’t believe. My friend gave me the same out that I gave you. So don’t feel guilty about taking it. We all need a break now and then.” I donned my heart-stopping smile yet again, and Shi’s blush deepened. “Even viral, contest-winning bartenders like me.”
They rolled their eyes and smacked me with a towel. “You’re so self-absorbed.”
“But I made you smile. So I’ll take the win.”
The conversation lulled as I took another order and began mixing drinks. Shi continued to watch, worrying their bottom lip.
“Spit it out, Shi Baby.”
“Fuck, that’s going to stick, isn’t it?” they muttered. Then, they raised their voice. “Would you tell me about them sometime?”
“Who?”
“Your kid. Your face lit up when you talked about them.” The corner of Shi’s mouth kicked up into a grin. “I’d love to know what the TikTok-famous Ryder Clark is like as a dad.”
“So you have looked me up!”
“Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want.”
It was their turn to handle a customer, and I observed as they effortlessly carried a conversation with her, mixing her a drink with newfound confidence.
“Have a drink with me one night,” I said once they had finished. “I’ll tell you everything you want to kno w.”
“As in a d-date? I thought you were?—”
“Not as a date,” I clarified. “As two new friends getting to know each other.”
“I think I’d actually like that.”
As I turned back to make drinks again, Shiloh nervously called my name. “I’m sorry, by the way.”
“What for?”
“Y-your friend. Everyone within spitting distance of Salem knows about the fire.”
I shifted uncomfortably. Right, the fire: otherwise known as the cover story for Dani’s death. Before Shiloh could see an ounce of vulnerability in my eyes, I schooled my features and gave them a sad smile. “Thanks, Shi.”
The crowd thinned further as the night wore on. It was after two when I saw the last person out and locked the door behind them. I returned to my spot behind the bar and began cleaning.
Shi let out a sigh of relief. “Thank G—oh, fuck me!” They jumped out of their skin and clasped a hand to their chest. “Where did you come from?”
James slid his arms around my waist.
“He does that a lot,” I said, wiggling in his arms as he nuzzled my neck.
“I thought I warned you about flirting with the staff,” he whispered against my sensitive skin.
“You’re doing it right now!”
“Well, I’m the boss. I can do what I want.”
Shiloh brought us out of our little bubble by brushing past us with a bucket of dishes in their hands. “You two are disgustingly cute.”
James laughed. “Hear that, love? We’re disgustingly cute.” I turned, and his hands cupped my cheeks. He swooped in, planting a passionate kiss on my lips that left me dizzy and breathless .
And then he vanished.
I was still staring at the spot he’d occupied when Shi came back into the room with cleaning supplies. They snickered. “You all right there?
I blinked. “Uh, yeah. Fine.”
“You sure? Because you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Nah, just a vampire .