Page 21 of Revived

“What? No… no, I’m not mad. It’s just…” he stutters, fidgeting in place, his eyes still bouncing up and down my body. “Never mind. Uh, have a good night.” He steps around me, headed back towards Grayson’s room where he’s getting dressed after his bath.

“I’m closing, so I’ll be home late,” I call after him.

Twisting to see me, he nods and then waves me off. “Be safe,” he says before walking through the doorway and leaving me thoroughly confused, but not giving me enough time to process it as my shift starts in twenty minutes.

Tony’s is exceptionally busy for a Wednesday, and I don’t usually close, so I know I’ll be paying for it tomorrow when Grayson rises at his usual six am wake-up time. But I make the most of it—conversing with the locals, enjoying the casual flirtations of young men who give me their attention throughout the night. The issue is—none of them are Luke, further cementing the problem I have with developing feelings for my boss.

I should be open to seeing someone, establishing a life even more in this town that I’ve grown to love. There are plenty of single, available men who would see me as a catch—educated, well-mannered, strong-willed, and hardworking. I would make any man proud to introduce me to his family. But the young boy who’s become my partner in crime and his surly, closed off dad are the only two men I seem to be interested in. Maybe this speed dating event with Jess on Saturday is the perfect way to snap me back to reality, remind me that there are other fish in the sea.

When I quietly unlock the door to the house just after one in the morning, I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Smelling of fried food and booze, I know I should take a shower, but I relent to the exhaustion and decide to take one in the morning instead. I fall into my bed, passing out almost immediately after my head hits the pillow and waking up in a pool of drool just after six. The quiet of the house is unsettling, knowing that usually Grayson and Luke are both up by this time.

I shrug it off and walk to the bathroom, hopping in the shower and basking in the hot water cascading down my body, washing away the stench of the bar from last night and offering me a clean slate for the day. I usually shower in the evenings, so feeling this refreshed in the morning is a new feeling, one I didn’t realize I would enjoy so much.

But never did I imagine that my change in routine would result in Luke walking in on me in the bathroom—freshly showered, standing on the rug, and butt-ass naked.

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