Page 1 of Joey

Chapter 1

Ethan

Ethan Wright studied the men surrounding him, trying to gauge which ones were gay. Usually, he had good instincts, but sometimes, he was off his game. Tonight, it looked like there wasn’t much for him to get excited about.

“No one?” Christi asked in his ear.

Ethan shook his head. “I might call it a night. I have to work early tomorrow.”

“Aww, no! You can’t come out just to go home early,” she whined. “I need my wingman.”

Ethan chuckled. “No, you don’t. You have enough guys checking you out that you have your pick. Choose one and have fun.” He pressed his lips to her cheek and hugged her before weaving through the crowd towards the door.

Before he could exit, though, a guy sitting at the bar caught his eye. He was of similar build to Ethan, which meant his long-sleeved T-shirt barely contained his muscles, and Ethan could see tattoos peeking out from above the collar. He was a sucker for tattoos. All in all, he looked edible. The question was, was he gay? There was no way to tell from that vantage point, so he slipped closer until he settled against the bar next to him.

Glancing down, he saw more tattoos covering his wrists and hands, and he bit his lip to contain his groan of delight. The guy turned the beer bottle in place, eyes glued to its movement. Ethan took a chance and stared at him, noting the generous beard hiding his lips in the same colour as his dark hair. His nose had a bump on the bridge, indicating it’d been broken at one point, and his eyebrows were scrunched as if he were in pain or deep in thought.

“Everything okay?” he murmured, leaning on his elbow and turning to face the man fully.

The guy blinked and peered at him for a second before he seemed to register the question. “Oh, yeah.” His beard moved, and Ethan assumed he was attempting a smile. “Lot going on. Thanks.”

“Can I buy you a drink?” Ethan asked.

The man opened his mouth, then closed it, the crease between his eyebrows coming back for a long second before he glanced at Ethan. “Yeah, thanks.”

Ethan thumbed at his beer. “Same again?” The guy nodded, and Ethan placed the order with the bartender. He held out his hand. “I’m Ethan.”

“Joey.” He shook his hand, and Ethan couldn’t deny the literal spark he caught from him. “Ooh, sorry. Bit of static there.”

“It must be my sparkling personality.” Ethan winked, and Joey chuckled and shook his head.

“So, what job could hold a candle to yoursparkling personality?”

Ethan stood from his lean when the bartender brought their drinks and paid for them before answering. “I’m a hotel receptionist.” He waved his hand. “I know, I know. It doesn’t fit my look, but I enjoy it, and I’m good at it.”

Joey raised his eyebrows. “I never said a word.”

Ethan huffed a laugh. “Sorry. I get that all the time and thought I would cut it off before you said it.”

“I can understand getting fed up with the stereotyping. The world would be a much better place if we all listened and talked instead of assuming.”

Joey resumed studying his new beer, though he didn’t turn the bottle this time. Ethan could sense some underlying meaning to his words, and the lost look on his face was back.

“Okay, I’m going to be forward here. I like you, and I think we could have a good time together. Maybe losing ourselves in each other for a night. Trouble is, I can’t get a read on you.” Ethan rested his elbow on the bar again, tilting his head and studying the enigma beside him.

Joey’s eyes flicked to his and held. He worked his jaw for a moment, then nodded as if coming to a decision. “I’d love that.”

“Phew! Thank fuck I didn’t try to pick up a straight guy! Far too many memories of doing that, and I don’t want to anymore.”

Joey’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, but Ethan would take what he could. “Not the best thing to do.”

“Nope. My place or yours?”

“Yours, if you’re okay with it?” Joey stood, and Ethan guessed Joey was a couple of inches taller than him. They headed for the exit once Ethan agreed.

“Do you want to follow me, or shall I drop you back here afterwards?”

“I’ll follow you. It saves you coming out again later.”

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