I point at the plant.
“Ah, yeah, it’s a long and weird story,” he says, looking at the plant and shaking his head. “Can I get whatever you have on tap?”
“Sure.” I throw him a glance while I pour beer into a cold glass.
He looks around as if it’s the first time he’s been here.
I’m not ashamed to admit I use the time to have a good look at him. He has a very inquisitive expression, like he’s storing the memories for later. It’s something I recognize in myself, and somehow, even though I don’t know who he is, I already feel like we could be friends.
With his mop of unruly brown hair and hazel eyes, the guy is striking, but there’s more to him. I try to figure out what it is when beer starts pouring over my hand.
“Shit,” I say between gritted teeth as I release the tap.
“You all right there?” the guy asks, and I detect a hint of amusement.
“Yup.” I put the glass down and wipe my hands before I pour the drink into a clean glass to make sure it has a proper head. I avoid making eye contact because my thoughts are taking unexpected turns, and I’m not sure the guy will appreciate my…appreciation.
“So, why are you growing dicks?” I say after placing the beer in front of him on the beer mat. “Not judging. More like intrigued.”
“Ever since I came out, I’ve wanted to grow my own dicks. You know, being self-sufficient is all the rage these days.”
His teasing smile brings out these lines on his cheeks. Not quite dimples, but deep enough that my next thought is about running my tongue over them.
Well, that clears up that question then. He’s gay. Or, at least, not straight.
“I definitely missed out as a teenager. I’d have gotten in a lot less trouble if I had my own homegrown dicks.”
He tilts his head, his smile wider and deepening those damned lines. “Somehow, I think you were the kind of teenager who’d get in trouble regardless of how many dicks he had at his disposal.”
He keeps his eyes on me as he raises his glass to his lips, and I swear my dick twitches in my jeans.
A cough from the other side of the bar reminds me I’m working, so I leave Mr. Intriguing and head over to my customer.
“So it’s really you,” the woman says.
“Excuse me?”
“They said you were back in town, but I had to come check for myself.”
She has straight shoulder-length blonde hair and light-blue eyes. Her makeup is so masterfully done that if she wasn’t talking to me, I’d have thought she was a doll.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean. Do I know you?”
“No, but we went to the same high school. I was there when everything went down with Jayden Martin. For what it’s worth, I always thought he lied to get you in trouble.”
And there it was. The one concern I had about coming back to Stillwater. People have long memories and even longer tongues.
“Is there anything I can help you with? We have a new cocktail on the menu today,” I say with as little annoyance as I can muster.
“Oh…um, no, thanks. We already have our drinks. I just wanted to check if it was you. You’re looking good.” She looks at me in a way that makes me feel dirty and then goes back to her table.
All her friends look my way and then turn to each other in hushed voices.
“Skanks,” Penny says, sidling up to me.
“I don’t even know who they are.” I wet a rag under the water tap and clean some of the beer that didn't make it into the drip tray. “I expect it from people I knew back then, but after all this time, I thought the rumor mill would’ve dried up some.”
Penny lets out a dry laugh. “What? In Stillwater? Why do you think Asher hasn’t gone public about us?”
