Page 5 of Steady Stroke
His lips also felt a little numb from all the alcohol, so he tapped a finger against them.
Both still there.
He also found himself stupidly curious about his drinking companion. “So are you local or on vacation?” Lincoln asked.
“New transplant.” Melody had only just ordered her second vodka sour, and she stirred it with the tiny straw. At least Dom would have been matching him beer for beer. “I moved to the area about a month ago.”
“From?”
“Onley, Virginia. Tiny town on the lower shore. You?”
“Here for the summer.”
“Where do you live when it’s not summer?”
“Philadelphia.”
“I’ve never been.”
“What?” Lincoln stared at her in genuine horror. Philly was the best city within a three-hour driving radius. “Now that’s a damned shame. I’ll have to show you around sometime.”
“I guess you will now that you’ve offered.” Shetapped at her phone, then turned it around. “Give me your digits.” He did, and she immediately shot him a text. “There, now I can bug you until you do take me.”
He laughed, then finished off his beer. The alcohol gave the world a nice, fuzzy edge. All of his problems were far away, no longer haunting his every step. He liked the fuzzy.
He liked the fuzzy so much he almost missed the appearance of a new face behind the bar. Younger than Van, with a slim, almost twinkish frame and thick, dark hair. Adorable face with a serious expression. He dumped a container of lime wedges into the bin at Van’s station, head ducked in a way that said “Don’t notice me.”
Lincoln couldn’t stop noticing him. He stared so hard the guy must have felt it, because he looked up. Pale eyes met his, and something inside of Lincoln sat up and took notice. Except the object of his attention looked away fast and practically bolted from behind the bar.
Fucking sunglasses. Probably couldn’t tell I was totally cruising him.
His issue all night, he was sure of it. He couldn’t hold eye contact when guys couldn’t fucking see his eyes.
He sensed the warm body near his before the hand gently brushed his hip. Lincoln swiveled away from Melody, toward tall, blond, and stacked. The new guy leaned against the bar on his elbow, his free hand drifting to Lincoln’s knee. The bar back’s pale eyes lingered in his memory, but this guy wasn’t running like a startled deer.
“Hey,” Lincoln said.
“Hey, yourself.” That hand inched a bit higher. “Don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”
“First time in a while.” His dick started paying attention to the pressure on his leg. “Didn’t feel like staying in tonight.”
“Same here.”
Lincoln leaned in, angling his head, hoping to make his intentions clear. “I’m not opposed to calling it an early night if I have someone to take home with me.”
“You taking them home for anything in particular?”
His lips were inches from the guy’s ear when Lincoln said, “So we can fuck.”
Tonight’s talent shivered, then said, “Sounds good to me. Let’s get out of here.”
“Yes. Let’s.”
TWO
Lincoln wasn’t totallysure about bringing a hookup back to the apartment, but this was his first time since the accident and if something weird happened, he’d rather it happened at home. So he dragged Hot Blondie—who mentioned his name at some point before they made out in the car, and then again against the front door, and it might have been Tom—into the apartment.
The beers he’d consumed kept everything nice and soft, and he was glad to rid himself of the sunglasses. The fucking things got in the way of kissing, and Tom was pretty good at it.
