Page 6 of Come As You Are
“Easy there, big guy.” Toby placed his hand on my arm. “You’re going to break something if you keep slamming things around like that.”
I glanced down and realized my grip on the neck of a Macallan 18-year was so tight my knuckles had turned white. It would be just my luck to break a two-hundred-dollar bottle of whisky.
“Thanks,” I said.
“No worries. What’s got you so riled up?”
A quick look around the club told me Mal was still absent, so I turned to the bar and leaned my head close to Maria and Festus. Normally, I didn’t gossip or complain, but the bar was my area. Antonio had trusted me to run it, and Olivia had done the same. As far as I knew, I’d never given either one of them a reason to distrust my judgment when it came to either the drinks menu, maintaining the stock, or placing the orders with our distributors.
As I finished explaining what I’d seen in the stockroom that morning, what I’d reported to Olivia, and my run-in with Mal, Andrew’s voice rang out as he berated the young man for not performing a complicated dance move correctly.
“I swear, I don’t know who’s worse, this odious toad or that obsequious misanthrope,” Maria said.
“You’ve got to give the devil his due, Andrew does know his job,” Toby told her.
“Yes, but it doesn’t mean he should torment the boy. It’s clear he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
I had to agree with Maria. From what I’d seen, it was obvious Vee wasn’t a dancer. For the most part, that wasn’t going to be an issue with our crowd. Vee was beautiful to look at, and they’d eat up his Bambi-like expression. Even if he had no natural grace, they’d still want to lick him all over. But sometimes, Andrew wanted the boys to do a show, something a bit extra to pump up the crowd and raise the energy of the club.
As Toby and Maria continued to comment on Vee’s ability and Andrew’s lack of patience, I watched Andrew berate the poor young man. Vee’s gaze flicked over to me, his eyes widening as he realized I was looking at him. A blush stole across his cheeks, and he quickly looked away, nodding as if in agreement to what Andrew was saying. Strangely, I felt the loss of his attention in the pit of my stomach and a sense of disappointment that I was no longer his focus.
Festus heaved himself off his stool. “Hand me a couple of waters, Bast, would you?”
“Sure thing.” I took two bottles from the fridge and gave them to him.
Closing his big hands around the plastic bottles, Festus nodded to Toby and Maria, then ambled his way over to Andrew and Vee. “You’ll give yourself a stroke, if you don’t take a break,” he said, and held out the water to each of them. “Perhaps a moment will save you from a coronary, Andrew.”
Andrew glared at him, but took the water and nodded in Vee’s direction. “Take five,” he said and stalked off.
The moment Andrew was gone, Vee sagged against the wall. He took the water Festus held out with a shaking hand, and Festus told him to go find a seat at the bar. Vee’s quick glance my way revived the dying color on his cheeks, but he did as Festus suggested, mumbling a thanks before making his way toward us.
If I had thought the young man attractive from a distance, it was nothing compared to how he looked up close. Flawless was the word that came to mind, and I felt that same jolt when his gaze met mine and I got my first look at his stunning blue eyes. Our gazes held for a moment, but then Vee looked away, the rosé blush on his cheeks turning to merlot.
“I…uh…” I stumbled as I tried to think of an excuse to leave the bar, but I was saved by Olivia’s appearance on the stairs.
Vee
Holy shit. Sebastian wasfucking gorgeous. As much as I’d tried to follow Andrew’s instructions, every time I looked up, all I could see was Sebastian, and all thoughts except the desire to lick him all over fled my mind. Thank fuck he’d disappeared for a while and let me concentrate on what Andrew wanted me to do, but then he returned, and all that had happened while he was gone was given Andrew’s voice a breather so he could yell louder at me.
In truth, I wasn’t bothered by the yelling—my father was a world-champion yeller—but I needed the money that would come my way from both Illyria and Orsino’s club if I was to continue living in San Francisco, so distractions were dangerous. My instructions from Stormy were to figure out who Olivia had spying at the Grotto as well as let them know any issues I saw at Illyria. As I practiced the dance steps Andrewwas calling out to me while I stood on the tiny raised platform, I couldn’t see any issues to report.
I’d only been there for a matter of hours, to be fair, and I wasn’t in a position to see everything nor talk to anyone who worked here, but from what I could see, Illyria was perfect. Especially when compared to the dingy space the Grotto inhabited. The dance floor was huge and ringed by a number of small cocktail tables and high tops. The bar where Sebastian worked looked like it held every kind of alcohol in existence, all displayed beautifully on glass shelves that reached to the ceiling. I’d be the first to admit, I didn’t know a lot about alcohol or bartending, but Sebastian seemed to know what he was doing. He talked easily with a couple of coworkers while doing his tasks with an easy grace that came from having full confidence in your abilities. And once again, I was lost in the sheer perfection of his body and the beauty of his smile when he laughed at something Maria said.
“No, no, no!” Andrew screamed at me again, and I realized I’d missed another instruction.
I murmured my apologies at the same time Andrew’s name rang through the club. Olivia had come down the stairs from her office. Illyria’s owner was stunning. I’d never encountered anyone like her before, especially not growing up in Idaho. I assumed she was trans, though I knew enough not to make assumptions or ask the question. Her gender was her business, not mine, but I’ll admit to being curious. Regardless, Olivia was stunning with flawless, rich olive skin, dark hair that she wore cropped on the sides, and an impious tilt to her chin. Her makeup was perfectly applied, though done with a deceptively light touch to highlight her cheekbones and dark eyes. She was tall—nearly as tall as me—but slim through the hips, and carried herself with an ease and elegance my mother would have called regal. Though she wore higher heels than I’d ever seen in mylife, she walked without a wobble, her stride imperious as she crossed the room toward Andrew and me. I didn’t know much about fashion, but I could tell her clothing and jewelry were an extension of herself, and not just something she put on to avoid going naked for the day like the rest of us.
At the thought of Olivia naked, my cheeks heated, and I looked away as she stopped in front of me. The light touch of her fingers under my chin as she lifted and turned my head toward her made my skin tingle. I swallowed hard. “Like this,” she said. “Chin parallel to the ground, and lift your body from here.” She placed a hand on my abdomen. “It opens your shoulders like you’re presenting yourself to the crowd. Treat yourself like the gift that you are for them and they will fall in love with you.” Her voice was low in timber, but rich and almost melodic.
When I gained enough courage to look her in the eye, I was shocked by the amusement and kindness in them. Her glossed lips curled up at the corners, the barest hint of a smile playing on them. She was close enough to me, I smelled her perfume, an intoxicating mix that reminded me of my mother’s kitchen when she baked and my father when he sat on the porch smoking a pipe after a day’s work on our farm.
I did as she told me, tightened my abs, squared my shoulders, and raised my chin away from her confusing touch, and was rewarded with a full smile that brought a light to her eyes.
“There,” she said, then stepped away from me. “Andrew, perhaps you should let our new young man take a break. You’ve been at him for the past hour without giving him a chance to breathe. And I need to speak with you upstairs.”
Without waiting for an answer, Olivia turned on one of her impossibly thin heels and walked back toward the stairs. “Maria,” she called out without turning. “Show him the dressing room and let him practice what Andrew has been teaching himin the mirror. After you give him a chance to catch his breath and something to drink.”
I looked to Andew, who rolled his eyes and shook his head. “She’s the boss,” he said. “Take…I have no idea. Fifteen? If I’m not back by then, I’ll find you.” With a curt nod, Andrew stalked after Olivia and disappeared up the stairs.
