Chapter 7
STEVIE
“I’ll take one of your delicious hot holes please.”
I stared at the customer in line at Sugar Britches. “You did not just—”
“Yes, ma’am,” Nico cut me off, pushing me behind him toward the kitchen. “Did you want the egg or oatmeal one?”
A bowl. Oh shit. She wanted one of our new breakfast bowls.
God, what was my problem? Nico had already chewed me out once this morning for giving a customer a large iced tea instead of a small black coffee.
The man had stood there blinking between the icy drink cup in his hand and the small coffee cup I’d handed to a preteen girl right next to him (who’d ordered a donut with no drink).
Luckily, the customer hadn’t had enough caffeine yet to form the words needed to gripe at me about the mistake.
Nico simply grabbed the drinks out of both their hands, gave the coffee to the guy, the tea to the older lady far back in the line who must have been a regular, and asked the girl what kind of donut she’d wanted again while nudging me back into the kitchen with his hip.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Evan. Getting sucked off by Evan. Receiving fellatio from Chief Paige of the Hobie Fire and Rescue Services brigade. OMG, like, seriously?
Evan Paige gave me head.
I looked around furtively to make sure no one heard my brain squeal that last part.
The only other person in the kitchen was Rooster, the tattoo artist Nico had recently hired for the shop upstairs.
Well, his name was probably Patrick or something equally boring, but I was convinced he looked more like a Rooster, so that’s what I called him.
He lifted an eyebrow at me. “You losing your shit, little buddy?”
I shot him a look for the overly familiar use of a condescending pet name. “Sure am, tiny cock. Why are you down here and not upstairs?”
He stood his giant self up from the poor little wooden stool that had been struggling to hold his weight. The man was eleven thousand feet of leather, ink, and beard hair. His hands went straight for his belt buckle.
“I’ll show you a little cock,” he muttered.
“Bury your pipe, big daddy. Ain’t nobody in here want a piece of that,” I snapped back. I was in no mood today. None.
“That’s not what you told me last week,” he said with a slow grin before taking a seat back on the stool. I was pretty sure I heard it squeak out a whimper of complaint at the burden.
“Last week I was on Vicodin,” I reminded him. “And I only said that because I had a broken tooth, and I wanted to see what kind of mark it would make on tender skin.”
Rooster chuckled softly under all that beard hair. He was a very laid-back guy, which meant he was mostly quiet compared to the rest of us. “That reminds me. Chelsea told me to tell you she didn’t appreciate you hitting on her man.”
“You tell that skanky ho I wouldn’t touch her man if—”
“What the hell is wrong with you today?” Nico asked in exasperation while chucking an empty tray in the general direction of the sink of dirty dishes. “You are completely off your game. You even asked Sassy if she wanted a pecan bar.”
My heart shot into my throat as I gasped. “She’s allergic to nuts!”
“I know. That’s my point. Your head is in the clouds. Did something happen? Is it the night job? Are you even sleeping at all?”
I thought about my shift the night before. The entire eight hours had been spent with my head in the clouds remembering my time in the fire chief’s bed.
In the fire chief’s mouth.
My dick got hard for the thousandth time in the past twenty-four hours. “I need you to tell me everything you know about sucking cock,” I blurted.
The kitchen went completely silent. Even the refrigerator gasped in shock. At least I imagined it did since everyone else in the room had.
“Say what now?” Nico asked at the same time Rooster asked, “Is there a right way?”
I ignored the heat slithering up my neck and pressed on. “Giving head. I need to know all the best tricks. C’mon. Spill.”
Nico’s jaw had dropped, and Rooster’s mouth was in some kind of grin I couldn’t quite see beneath the beardy bush.
I rolled my eyes. “Stop with the dramatics.”
Nico turned to Rooster. “Did he… did Stevie just ask me to stop with the dramatics? Is today Opposite Day?”
Rooster snickered. Fuck this, I didn’t have time to delay.
I had plans to see Evan again the very next day for my stripping lesson.
Paint stripping. I grabbed a banana, making sure it was the biggest of the bunch.
A man had to assume certain things when the object of his lust was large and in charge in both height and muscle mass.
“Here. Show me on this.”
“A banana?” Nico asked. “Really?”
“I don’t have an eggplant, so do the best you can.”
I wandered over to take the stool next to Rooster.
The two of us focused on Nico as if he was about to teach us the secret to the universe.
And if there was a goddess, he was. Because I’d been avoiding Evan’s calls and texts out of sheer terror since he’d dropped me off at work the night before, but there was no way I could avoid the Saturday “stripping lesson” we had planned.
And I wanted to be ready for anything.
Nico frowned. “Why are you even asking me this? Surely you’re better at it than I am.”
I blinked at him. “Me? I’ve never sucked anyone off before. How the hell would I know what to do?”
Nico and Rooster howled with laughter. “Yeah, right,” Nico said through tears. “You had me going there for a minute.”
I felt my jaw tick. “It’s true. Stop laughing at me.” If I wanted him to teach me the good stuff, I needed to not murder the motherfucker right now. My hands clenched so tightly, the nails dug into my palms.
“Stevie, surely you know your reputation around town?” Rooster asked. “You hook up with everyone. You’re Hobie’s biggest flirt.”
“I may be Hobie’s biggest flirt, but I’m not Hobie’s biggest ho. It’s all for show.” My poetry skills were on point, but I kept that knowledge to myself so as not to derail the conversation.
“Wait,” Nico said, sobering up from his laugh-athon. “You’re saying you haven’t really hooked up with all the guys you go out with?”
“I don’t kiss and tell,” I spat. “That would be rude.”
Nico exchanged a glance with Rooster before looking back at me. “But how in the fuck have you been a gay man going out on dates with a ton of different guys and not gotten sexual experience? Are you sure you’re not pulling our legs?”
“Am I sure I’ve never had sex? Why, yes, Nico. I’m pretty sure I’d remember that. I know I’ve gotten pretty drunk a few times, but from what I’ve heard, a sore ass might have clued me in the next day had I done something stupid the night before.”
Nico held out his hands to calm me down. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just really… surprised. That’s all. Not even oral? Really?”
This time, I gave him my best eat-shit-and-die look until he sighed.
“Okay. I’ll show you a few things, but not in front of Norman.”
Who the hell was Norman?
Rooster stood up and ruffled my hair like a jackass before wishing me good luck and wandering up the back stairs to the tattoo shop. Huh.
What followed was a scene I would like to forever scrub from my memory. Let’s just say there were plums involved. And an oddly-shaped carrot. And spurts of frosting, which… let’s be honest, really shouldn’t have been red for the purposes of this demonstration.
But Valentine’s Day was coming up, and it was all we had on hand.
After the Friday lunch rush which was made ten times crazier since Nico had been too busy in the tattoo shop to help in the bakery, I caught wind of an animal emergency brewing in the town square.
Charlie’s dog, Mama, was missing in action.
I spent the better part of an hour helping look for her before we found her curled up in the display window of the antique store down from Charlie’s pub.
By the time the adoring crowd dispersed, I realized I only had three hours to run home, shower, change, and make it to Dallas for my audition at Feathers.
I made it there with about ten seconds to spare after begging my piece-of-shit Ford Focus to squeeze into a tiny spot between a Suburban and a Hummer in the nearest parking garage to the club.
Thank Goddess it was a cool night because otherwise my hair would have defluffed and my dewy complexion would have slid into swampy territory.
Along with a healthy ten-pack of gorgeous hotties, I spent the next four hours learning what it meant to be a Feathers dancer.
Skin. It meant lots and lots of bare skin.
And penises. Those too.
There was no way in hell I could strip off my clothes for cash.
I just couldn’t do it, especially not if I had any chance of starting a relationship with Evan.
But I really needed the money. When the audition wrapped up and Darius pulled me into his office to offer me the job, I gathered up my nerves and asked if there was any way he’d consider hiring me as a bartender instead of a dancer.
His eyes had widened in surprise. “You have experience tending bar?”
“No, sir, but I worked nights as a barback in my town’s restaurant until they gave the job to the manager’s daughter six months ago.
I’ve memorized all the drinks already and am super friendly.
” I gave him my flirtiest smile in a way I hoped read more like “I’m a money-earner” and less like “I’ll give you head in exchange for a job. ”
By the time I left there after midnight, I was still officially a dancer for Feathers.
Darius had said he’d consider moving me over to work behind the bar, but he’d like me to sleep on it since he’d much rather have me as a dancer.
I’d reluctantly agreed because I needed the money either way.
I’d also broken a personal rule and allowed myself to be pressured into taking a shot of tequila with the other dancers.
Between the shot and the anxiety over managing any kind of late-night job in Dallas when I lived in Valley Cross, my nerves were getting the better of me.
I was pretty sure they were lingering around ten gazillion right about now.
So it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise when my distraction caused me to miss the fact I was out of gas.
I coasted to a stop along the edge of the quiet country road leading from the interstate to Valley Cross.
Barren fields stretched out on either side, and at this time of night, there wasn’t a single other car anywhere close.
Fuck.
I picked up my phone to call Sassy, mentally kicking myself for getting into this mess in the first place. The poor woman needed her sleep. She had plans to spend the following day on a long trail ride with her niece and two of her sisters.
When my screen lit up though, it was filled with texts and missed calls from Evan with escalating concern about whether or not he’d done something to upset me when we were together on Thursday. My heart tightened in my chest as I saw the last text.
I’ve clearly misunderstood your feelings, and for that I’m truly sorry. Please be happy and safe.
My jaw ached and eyes stung. I was such a fucking coward, and now he thought I didn’t want to be with him.
I clicked on the icon to call him. When he answered, his voice was rough and deep.
“Sweetheart, are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m okay.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “I ran out of gas out by the Lucky Diamond Ranch. Can you come get me?”
The sigh of relief came through the phone and wrapped itself around me. “Of course I can. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Will you stay on the phone with me until I get there so I can make sure you’re okay?”
I smiled at the concern in his voice. “You worried about me, Chief?”
There were a few beats of silence broken only by muffled background noises I assumed included him stomping into boots and grabbing his keys.
“You have no idea,” he finally said. “I had to hold myself back from telling you to lock your doors.”
I made sure the doors were locked. “Is that your way of telling me to lock my doors?”
The low chuckle sent shivers down my spine. “If you would be so kind. Now tell me why you were in the city so late tonight.”
It was pretty clear from my location I’d most likely been coming back from Dallas.
Especially on a Friday night, there was nothing else out this way for someone like me other than the lure of the urban clubs and bars.
But I’d be damned if I was going to tell him I’d auditioned to shake my wang at a bunch of horny strangers.
He’d go ballistic and likely wrap his truck around a tree before he even got off his own property.
“I was dancing at a club,” I said instead.
Not a lie, really. I didn’t want the man to think I’d ever lie to him outright.
But I also knew if I told him I’d gotten a job in a city a couple of hours away, he’d piss himself with worry about me on the roads late at night.
And that wasn’t even taking into consideration how he’d feel if he knew the job included my bare body parts being exposed to a bunch of horny men.
“Who were you with?” he asked. Suddenly, I wanted to laugh because he sounded like he was trying so hard to be nonchalant.
“No one. Just me. I drove down there, danced, and decided to come home early.”
I could hear the noise of his truck in the background.
“Baby, it’s almost three in the morning,” he said softly.
“I know. But I left there around midnight. I just… I didn’t pay attention to my gas gauge.” I glared at the guilty gauge as if giving it the stink eye would make it suddenly full again.
“Did you have fun dancing?”
I thought back to being the center of the group of dancers in the large practice space above the club. How special and talented I felt just being included.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “I really did.”
“Good. Maybe next time I could come with you? I’d really love to see you move.
I can only imagine all that sexy energy on the dance floor.
” The rumble of his voice was getting to me, and I reached down to palm myself despite knowing he was getting close.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted him, or anyone else for that matter, discovering me jacking off on the side of the road.
I must have let out some kind of sound because his voice dropped even lower. “Steven?”
“Yes, sir?” I breathed.
“Are you thinking about showing me some of your dance moves?”
I hadn’t been, but I was now.
“Uh-huh.”
“Will you let me bring you back to my place so I can put some music on?”
Oh dear god.
“Mm-hm.” My hand had snuck inside my open pants and was busy stroking my length and fondling my sac. “If you want.”
“Oh, I want, sweet darlin’,” he said in a deep drawl. “I want more than you can ever imagine. Now get your hand out of your pants and zip up. I’m standing outside your window.”