Page 56 of Whiskey Neat

Salem cackles. “Holy shit.”

“They hauled all three of us into the living room to explain what was going on. Bonus, one of the security guards was a guy I’d been messing around with for a few weeks at the time. He was less than happy with me.”

Salem takes a drink from his glass, still laughing. “What happened then?”

“Oh, it gets worse.”

“How could it?”

“Everyone starts coming out of their apartments to see what’s going on, and by the time security was positive I wasn’t assaulting anyone and let me leave, well, let’s just say that was a walk of shame it took me months to live down.”

He claps his hands. “Bravo. That’s pretty damn bad.”

“It was. Three weeks later, the dude sees me in a bar and tells me they broke up, shocker, and that he’d love to finish what we started. I declined, but he practically begged to suck me off. I was like, well, a blow job is a blow job, right?”

“Why do I feel like this was a bad idea?”

“Probably because you’re smart.” I sip my whiskey. “I followed him to his car, sat in the passenger seat and let him do his thing. I knew there was no way that was his first or even second blow job. I was close, so close, and then I heard that shrieking voice.”

“Oh no. The girlfriend again?”

“Yep. She’d followed him to the bar because she was suspicious. They had not, in fact, broken up.”

“Damn. Homeboy wanted some of that Indy dick bad.”

Chuckling, I nod. “Apparently. At least this time, I was able to creep away without drawing attention to myself.”

“Hilarious.”

“The next time I saw him, I ran like I stole something.”

Salem is laughing, his pretty eyes filled with light now after the earlier heaviness, and the sight spreads warmth through my chest.

“Thank you for telling me. That was funny.”

“You’re welcome. To be fair, there’s a series of much smaller dramas along the way, but that was the big one.”

“It was a doozy.”

Our food is delivered, and the rest of the night is much easier, our topics ranging from music to movies and shows. As Salem munches on his final french fries, he focuses on my eyes.

“I thought our age difference might make it harder to have things in common outside the sex.”

I nod, sitting back in my chair and sipping on my whiskey. “You were wrong.”

He laughs softly. “Guess so. But what about?—”

“Salem. Enjoy the moment. We’re having fun, right?”

He nods, his smile softer now. “We are.”

I lean across the table. “And we had fun earlier, right?”

“Definitely.”

“And I have a few ideas for dessert, if you’re interested.”

His cheeks flush and he nods rapidly. “Yes.”

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