Page 17 of Whiskey Neat

“I’m an artist, of course I need to work. I plan to be selective, but there’s money and old homes in Willow Bay. I doubt the bar will keep all six of us busy forever.”

“Good point,” Kit says. “Speaking of, I got an introduction video done and ready to launch on our socials.”

Ridley sets the papers back in the folder, and glances up. His cheeks are red and his eyes are a little blurry, but there’s a dopey smile on his face. “This is cool. We can all live together but still have our own spaces.”

Lowen squeezes his hand. “Exactly. The crew going over today is assessing the scope of work. It’s very exciting, but we’ll be living in a construction zone for quite a while.”

Ridley shrugs. “I’d rather live in a dump with you guys than a mansion alone.”

His words linger, silently falling over all of us. Being back together with these guys is exactly what I needed, and apparently I wasn’t alone.

The morning moves at a decent pace, but that doesn’t stop me from checking my watch every five minutes the closer we get to ten. When the door opens and Salem finally steps in, my stomach does a fucking flip. Seriously? Where is my chill?

He glances around until he finds me, and a smile fills his face as he struts confidently in my direction. Kit and I are discussing the design of the bar.

“Morning, guys,” Salem says as he approaches.

“Morning,” Kit says happily while I stare and try to find my voice.

All I can manage is a mumbled “morning” as I shuffle papers for no reason.

“Good weekend?” Kit asks.

Salem shrugs. “As good as being back at my parents’ house can be. I have my own apartment, but my mom is all over me right now.”

“Do you have a good relationship with them?” Kit asks.

“It’s not bad. It just wasn’t how I planned for things to go, you know?”

I nod as more questions occur to me. I want to know everything about him just so I can watch his mouth move as he speaks. Those lips of his have to be as soft as pillows.

Today he’s wearing skinny jeans and a black t-shirt that hugs his lithe chest. He smells good too—a little floral, a little sweet. I want to nuzzle his neck and see what sounds I can draw from his pretty mouth.

My cock swells at the thought and I clear my throat, shifting closer to the bar to hide my condition. Salem cocks his head to the side, his eyes wide with questions. Kit chuckles.

“I, uh, I have a training plan.”

“Fun,” Salem coos. “Where do we start, boss?”

“Call me Indy.” I glance around for the folder Lowen gave me earlier. “Paperwork. Let’s get that out of the way.”

“Okay.”

“There’s an office in the back. Come on.”

He follows me and I’m thankful for the crew making plenty of noise around us as a distraction. I open the door to Jimmy’s old office. It’s dusty and reeks of cigar smoke, but it’s all we’ve got for now.

“Sorry. It’s pretty fucking gross in here.”

“I wasn’t expecting much. It’s obviously under renovation.”

“Yeah.” I gesture to the chair. “You can sit here. It’s just the basic information so we can get it over to our payroll company.”

“Great.” He walks to the desk, choosing the route where he has to brush past me in the small space. Is he fucking with me on purpose? “Super curious, Indy. What led to you hunky boys choosing to open this place up again?”

“We told you. We went to school here.”

“Yeah, I got that.” He sits in the chair and does a little half spin so he’s waist high to me, gazing up. “But why now?”

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