Page 4 of Euphoria

Jumping into a decision like this was what always ended up with Hugh getting his heart hurt. That was what happened with his ex-boyfriend, Luke. He had rushed into a relationship with him, and saying that it ended badly was an understatement.

“Listen, if I overstepped, I’m sorry. I was just trying to help you out with something that really seems to be bothering you. If you want to commute, I’m sure that you can find a place one or two towns over, no problem.”

“Here’s your order, Colter,” the older woman from behind the counter said, giving him an exaggerated wink.

Colter chuckled and handed the woman a fifty. “Keep the change, Gina,” he insisted.

“You know, if you keep tipping me like this every day, you’re going to be broke within your first year of living here,” Gina chided.

“Not a chance,” Colter said. He stood with his to-go bag in hand. “Listen, just think over my offer. It doesn’t have to be forever, just until something more appropriate than a college house pops up on the market.” He pulled something out of his jean pocket and held it out to Hugh. “Here’s my information and home address. If you change your mind, just come on over. I’ll be home after six tonight.” Hugh didn’t know what to say, and that was okay because, by the time he figured it out, Colter was out the front door, walking down Main Street, back to his bar.

Gina stood behind the counter, her hands on her hips, staring him down. “You know, he’s a really nice guy,” she offered. “You could do worse.” He had done worse, but living with his boss wasn’t an option. Hugh was sure that she didn’t mean to insinuate that he wanted to date his boss. Hell, he wanted to do so much more to Colter than just date him, and that was going to be a problem.

“I know that we just met, Gina and that you don’t really know me, but I can’t live with the boss,” he insisted. “It’s just not a good idea.”

“Because he’s hot,” the older woman filled in for him. He shot her a smile and she nodded. “I might not be a spring chickenanymore, but I can tell when two people have the hots for each other. What’s your name?” she asked him.

“Oh yeah,” he said, standing and offering her his hand. “I guess it’s not fair that I know your name because of Colter, and you don’t know mine. I’m Hugh Davis,” he said. She shook his hand, and he sat back down on the barstool. “I’m going to be Colter’s new bar manager and that’s why I can’t accept his offer.”

“Among other reasons, I’m sure,” Gina challenged. “Listen, why not just use his spare room until you get a place? What can it hurt? You’ll have a place to lay your head every night and sooner or later, something will become available for you to rent.”

“How long will that take?” he grumbled.

“Oh, six months to a year,” Gina said. “Not too long.” Hugh was starting to think that even a few weeks of living with Colter might break down his resolve not to crawl into bed with the guy. Months might actually kill him. He could tell her exactly what it might hurt—everything, including his pride and his heart, but telling Gina that wasn’t something he was ready to do. Unfortunately, it was starting to look like he had no choice but to accept Colter’s offer, and Hugh hated not having choices.

Colter

Maybe offering Hugh one of his spare rooms wasn’t his best idea, but he was honestly just trying to help the guy out. It didn’t hurt that Colter thought that he was hot, or the fact that he seemed pretty easy to talk to. He had only a handful of friends since moving to town to open Abner’s and adding Hugh to that list might be a good idea if they were going to work together. The question was—would he actually take Colter up on his offer?

He spent the rest of the day at the bar, trying to put out a few small design fires that had come up, and by the time he got home, he felt about ready to drop. He pulled into his cul-de-sac and found a pickup truck sitting in his driveway, and for some crazy reason, his heart started racing. He knew that hoping it was Hugh sitting in his driveway was crazy, but he did.

As soon as Colter parked in the garage, Hugh jumped out of his truck and met him at the door. “Hey,” he breathed.

“You decided to take me up on my offer then?” Colter asked, hoping that he already knew the answer. He was on dangerous footing with his new employee, but for some reason, he just didn’t give a fuck. One thing he was certain of—he was lying tohimself when he said that he wanted Hugh as a friend since he didn’t have many in town. With the way that his body responded to his new bar manager, he wanted him for so much more than friendship and that wasn’t something that he could let happen. He needed to keep things between them as professional as possible, even while living together.

“I have, if that’s still okay with you,” Hugh admitted.

“Of course it is,” Colter agreed. “Come on in and I’ll show you around. I was about to order some dinner if you’re hungry.”

“Starving, but that’s just my constant state of being. I can’t seem to stop running long enough to eat a meal—well, until today. I guess that not finding a place to live was a good thing because I sure do like that little diner in town,” Hugh admitted.

Colter laughed, “Well, I hate to tell you this, but you would have found it eventually anyway. It’s one of the only three places in town that serve food. That’s also why I wanted to open my bar here—not much competition.”

“Let’s get the tour out of the way, and then, how does Chinese food sound?” Colter asked.

“Let me guess—it’s one of the only three places in town, right?” Hugh asked.

“Yep, and the other one is a burger place. But that’s what I ate last night, so I’m really hoping that you like Chinese food,” Colter admitted.

“Well, you’re in luck because I love Chinese food,” Hugh said.

“Great, follow me,” Colter ordered. He led the way upstairs to the bedrooms and pointed to the master. “I’m there, but you can have your pick of those two. They are the only other furnished rooms up here. I just moved in and I’m still figuring things out,” he admitted.

“No, this place is great,” Hugh said. “It must have cost you a fortune.” Colter could feel his entire body go ridged and he knew that he was going to have to face telling the truth at some point.“You know what, forget I even said that. How much your house costs isn’t my business.”

“Forgotten,” Colter said, taking the out.

“If it’s okay, I’ll take this room. It’s closer to the bathroom,” he joked.

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