Reluctantly, he pulled his head back a little to meet Tally’s eyes. “I’m still not going to sleep with you.” he said as softly as he could. Trying to lighten the blow.
To his surprise, Tally just grinned. “Yes, you will. I just need to convince you.”
The utter determination in his voice was very believable. Sam’s cock twitched, as if it was telling him to just surrender to the inevitable now. Sam sighed and prayed he was the good person he hoped he was, because Tally seemed the sort to get what he wanted.
“Tally, don’t change yourself for me or for anyone. You are enough.” He tried to explain.
The young man shouldn’t feel the need to try and mold himself into what he thought Sam might like. Tally deserved to be loved for who he was. He didn’t need to change.
But Tally just beamed at him as if Sam had just declared his undying love. Sam sighed, it truly was starting to feel like he was on the losing side of a battle.
***
That night, Tally sat quietly behind the bar on his seat. It was Felix’s night to perform, and the place was packed. Sam kept casting anxious glances Tally’s way, but the young man seemed completely enthralled by the show.
Sam grinned. The first time he had seen Felix dance, he was pretty sure his face had looked like that. Gormless and utterly enchanted. The dancer just had that effect on people.
Sam cast a quick glance at the stage. Felix was undulating around the pole, making it look easy. His waist length red hair was loose and the colorful tattoos that covered his arms gleamed in the lights. He was wearing a black lacey bra, tiny shorts and knee-high boots with killer heels.
His main show was at a high end club at the other end of town, but he lived close by and had made a deal to do a show one night a week in exchange for being able to use the bar as his personal rehearsal space during the day. Apparently, the other dancers annoyed him and he liked the peace and quiet of practicing alone.
Sam thanked the stars above for that. He’d never be able to afford an artist of Felix’s caliber otherwise. And the bar was always packed on show nights. It was brilliant for business.
It also seemed like it was brilliant for keeping Tally too distracted to cause any trouble. Sam chuckled to himself. If only he could come up with distractions for every night, things would go a lot more smoothly.
Tally continued to behave himself long after Felix’s performance had finished, much to Sam’s relief. Maybe having Tally around would not cause as much drama and headaches as he had initially thought. Sam liked that idea. The thought of just enjoying all the lovely things about Tally’s company gave him a warm, tingling feeling.
Much later that night, Sam dropped into bed with a contented sigh and reached out and pulled Tally close to him.
“Are you going to have sex with me now?” asked Tally eagerly.
“No, go to sleep.” muttered Sam without opening his eyes.
Tally grumbled something under his breath, but he wriggled closer instead of pulling away. Seemingly accepting Sam’s decision for now.
As Sam fell asleep, he wondered why they had fallen into sharing the one bed in his apartment so easily.
Chapter 10
Samscrambledoutofthe Uber far too quickly. He was desperate to get home. The stupid meeting with the suppliers had dragged on for ages and then the traffic had been horrendous.
He had missed opening time at the bar, but it was still early evening, so Sam knew they wouldn’t be busy yet. Deirdre was more than capable of managing things. He didn’t need to panic.
He certainly didn’t need to worry about leaving Tally for so long. His regret at not letting Tally tag along to the business meeting was foolish. Sam didn’t know what had come over him. He was being ridiculous.
None of that stopped him from barreling through the door in an anxious haste. He saw Tally leaning against the bar, on the customer side, talking to Deirdre who was behind it. Sam breathed a sigh of relief. He was so unbelievably happy to see Tally. Then he saw that Tally had a cocktail in his hand.
Sam frowned and strode over. Tally turned his head to look at him and the young man beamed, his blue eyes sparkling and slightly unfocused.
“Sam!” he gushed, putting his drink down with too much force, causing it to slosh. Tally staggered the two steps to Sam and threw himself into his arms.
“You got him drunk?” asked Sam, glaring at Deirdre.
She saw his expression and frowned. “I was showing him how to make cocktails, he wanted to try them.”
Sam shook his head in disgust, trying to quell his anger. Deirdre didn’t know, it wasn’t her fault. He should have told her, but it hadn’t crossed his mind.
“He is an adult, Sam,” said Deirdre.
