were right. Chase had the look of someone wound tight and desperate for release. Luckily, he’d come
to the right place. “I’m not going to go over and spook him, but make sure he also knows he’s more
than welcome to find me if he has any questions.”
“Will do.”
With the initial shock out of the way, all three of us eventually managed to relax. Jayden stuck
close to Chase’s side, and I resisted the urge to check up on them like a chaperone at the school
dance.
Just friends, my ass.
4
COREY
“THIS ISN’T ANYTHING LIKE I EXPECTED.” I OVERHEARD SOMEONE SAY TO ONE OF HIS FRIENDS. THE
corner of my mouth turned up. That was a pretty common sentiment from new customers, and it was
part of why I loved The Lodge.
When Jack proclaimed it was a place where you could explore your fantasies, he wasn’t kidding.
Before life had gotten in the way, I’d checked out a few clubs within driving distance, hoping to quell
my own curiosity. Unfortunately, they were either locked down so tight you couldn’t get in
unaccompanied or they were scary as fuck. Then, I found The Lodge. I still hadn’t gone beyond casual
observation, but I knew better what I liked and what I didn’t.
The problem was, I couldn’t separate my interests from my life outside these walls. For now, that
meant I had to be content having a place I could let my guard down, even if it wasn’t enough.
“I told you it wouldn’t be,” the guy’s friend replied. “The guy who was doing all the talking, he’s
my uncle. He wouldn’t stick around if it wasn’t the best place around. What makes The Lodge
awesome is it’s like a mullet.”
A mullet? What in the actual hell?
“I already know I’m going to regret asking, but how are mullets awesome, and how can you make
that comparison for a bar?” the quieter friend asked. I wanted to shake that man’s hand for expressing
our apparent shared confusion.
“Okay, so mullets are ridiculous, but stick with me.” He held up a finger as he took a long pull off
his beer. “So, they say the upside of a mullet is that it’s business in the front and party in the back,
right?”
