Page 16 of A Hard Sell

Luka smiled, ignoring the way Kazio’s scowl deepened. “Thanks. Could I get a shot—” He paused and looked at Thomas. “Two? Two shots of Brawler, please.”

“One minute,” Kazio snapped.

“He does seem to hate you a bit,” Thomas mumbled once Kazio stalked off. “What did you do to him?”

“I think it’s mostly just that I exist.” Luka laughed.Am I too loud? And why am I so close to his lips again?

“Hmm.” Thomas looked at him, and Luka could swear his eyes flicked down to Luka’s mouth. His tongue slipped out to moisten his lower lip.What if we kissed right now?What? No!He scolded himself for being ridiculous, not to mention unprofessional, and turned to watch Kazio at work. The silence stretched out as Kazio took his sweet time lining up the shot glasses.

“Sooo.” Luka glanced back at Thomas. “Why do they call you the ‘Big Bad Wolf’? I mean…big”—he waved a hand at Thomas’ size—“I can guess.” Then he realized that ‘big’ might refer to something much more specific than his overall size. He flushed and cleared his throat, determined to blunder on. “Badgley, bad, makes sense. But why wolf?”

Thomas raised one shoulder, face blank. “I don’t know.”

The buzz Luka had going was quite pleasant. “Come on! You must have some idea!”

Thomas frowned at his hands on the edge of the bar. “Something about…um, a lone wolf, slipping in silently, then gone again.” He avoided Luka’s eyes.

A sadness settled over Luka. “Oh.” It would be a hard life, moving from office to office, town to town, never getting comfortable in any one place. He cleared his throat and searched for something else to say. “I thought maybe it was because of the way you move, sort of like prowling.”

“Prowling?” Thomas quirked his eyebrow.

Shit, that’s weird.“Err, you’re just…graceful.”Fuck, that’s even worse.Luka flushed.

He was rescued by Finn appearing and throwing an arm around Luka. “We challenge you, Big Bad Wolf!” he bellowed, waving his beer at Thomas. He’d had a few as well.

“We challenge him to what, darling?” Luka leaned away from Finn’s beer breath.

“Pool!” Finn announced with glee. He pointed his beer at the new pool table in the back room. New for the bar, that was. It had seen better days. “Me and you versus Thomas and Rory! We’ll crush them.”

Luka was not much of a player. He laughed. “If you say so.” He looked at Thomas, who appeared skeptical. “What do you say, Thomas?”

Thomas frowned. “Probably not a good idea.”

Luka deflated. He was already picturing it in his head. The laughing, teasing, casual brushes of their shoulders as they moved around the table…

“Why not?” Finn squinted at him.

“I don’t want to listen to you whining when you lose,” Thomas said, face stone-cold.

Finn blinked at him then burst out laughing. “Loser buys the next round, pretty boy.”

“Deal.”

Kazio dropped off their drinks with a sneer while Finn went to round up Rory and a pitcher.

Luka handed Thomas his shot, their fingers brushing together. They tapped glasses and tossed them back. Thomas swallowed, his tongue darting out to lick a stray drop off a plump lip.

“Are you any good?” Luka asked. “At pool, I mean.” They made their way over to the table.

Thomas shrugged, straight-faced, but Luka could swear there was a twinkle in his eye as he chose a cue. “Guess you’re about to find out.”

“Oh hoho, is that how it is?” Luka grinned, taking one for himself.

Thomas just cocked an eyebrow and chalked his cue. “Rack ’em.”

“You guys can break,” Finn said, pouring himself a glass while Luka racked up the balls.

“Go ahead.” Thomas gestured to Rory when the table was ready.

---