“What shit? Try to have a relationship instead of endless one-night stands like you normally do? I don’t think it’s pathetic.”
Vahin nearly pointed out that he hadn’t had a hookup in months, but that wasn’t really the point, was it? “Well, it is. So, yeah, I’m distracted. Pathetic and distracted. Happy?”
Steven started to reply, but Vahin cut him off, hating the whiny sound he’d had in his voice.
“Sorry.” He took Steven’s hand, and their fingers interlocked. “I’m being a whiny bitch, and I know it. Thanks for checking on me. I’ll get my head back in the bartender game and do a better job.”
Steven rolled his eyes. “That wasn’t my point.”
Vahin gave Steven’s hand a squeeze before letting go. “I know. And thank you for that too.” A thought hit him, and he couldn’t suppress a laugh. “You know, I’m acting like a teenage girl here, and don’t they normally talk to their moms about this stuff?”
“How the hell should I know?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure, in this case, you’re kinda like my mom.”
Steven smacked his shoulder. “You little bitch. I am not your mom. I’m not that much older than you. And I’m pretty sure I’ve got better tits than your mom.”
Vahin flinched. Thinking about his mother made him hurt in other ways. “Hey, you’ve never seen my mom. You have no idea how her ti….” His words trailed off as he realized what he’d been about to say.
Steven burst out laughing.
“I hate you.” Vahin glowered at him.
“Oh, I know. You’re supposed to hate your boss. I’m heading out in a bit. You going to be okay the rest of the night?”
Vahin narrowed his eyes at him. “I’m not that big of a mess that I can’t handle my bar.”
“Just checking.” Steven leaned forward, kissed Vahin on the cheek, then put his mouth to Vahin’s ear. “By the way, in case you’ve forgotten, we slept together about a billion years ago. So basically, you’ve fucked your mother.”
Vahin’s mouth dropped open, and he shuddered involuntarily.
Steven smacked the cheek he’d kissed and gave a wink. “You’re welcome.”
Vahin watched him walk away, a mix of emotions rushing through him. A mix of gratefulness for his Mary’s family and revulsion at the mental image Steven had forced on him. But for the first time that day, worry over Marlon wasn’t in the picture.
Though he fell back into the bartending rhythm quickly enough, Vahin never really hit his stride. He checked his phone a couple more times before turning it off and putting it back in the office so he wasn’t tempted to turn it back on and check some more. That helped, but despite himself, his brain kept returning to his short time with Marlon.
He couldn’t have been making it up. At least not entirely.
He’d felt like he was discovering sex and kissing for the first time. Like he was tasting love for the first time. Utter rubbish, he knew, but still, that was exactly how it had felt. With Marlon’s lips trailing up Vahin’s stomach and chest to claim his mouth. The pounding of his heart when their palms met and fingers clinched. The sense of rightness as he’d slid inside Marlon.
Such things wouldn’t have been felt if they’d all been one-sided. Surely.
Maybe it had been too much. Too much, too fast, and Marlon simply freaked out and decided he couldn’t do it. Or, maybe, possibly, Marlon needed to take a step back and breathe before he really dived in.
Of course, it might be there was nothing wrong at all, and Vahin was acting insane and clingy when it was totally normal to not spend a third or fourth night in a row together after having just met.
God, hookups were so much easier.
Alex had taken over the long side of the bar that faced the stage and dining room and served most of the customers. Vahin was impressed with the kid. Showed leadership without even needing Vahin to tell him to take control.
And that showed how caught up in his own shit he really was. This was his bar. His Mary’s. His, his, his. He didn’t let someone else take the lead behindhisbar. But maybe it was okay for one night.
As he walked to the kitchen to grab a steak salad order, he noticed the ginger at the end of Alex’s section again. The guy was hot, totally. Vahin passed him without too much other thought, then looked back. There was something familiar about him.
He’d delivered the salad to the woman at the bar and gotten another couple of drinks before it hit him.
Vahin glanced back, but the guy was gone.
