“What?”
“Oh please,” Murph winks. “I was here the night you played with him and his band. You were meant to be a Rockstar, new guy. And so was your singer over there. Stage presence was through the roof.”
“He’s notmysinger.”Or he would have called.
Murph shrugs. “You know what I mean.”
He slips past me to enter the room I’ve been too busy eavesdropping from the doorway to enter myself. “Happy Thursday everyone!”
“Hey Murph,” Tanner replies and when he glances up. He sees me lurking and adds, “Ah. The guy I was looking for.”
Chase’s eyes meet mine and he gives me that same confident smile that I found so appealing the other night. I walk over to them. Chase sips the wine he was swirling, and I realize, as I come to a stop just a stool away from Chase, that Tanner is holding his own glass. He wasn’t leaning into Chase, he was leaning into his own glass that was on the bar. “Rich. Not a wine I’d drink a whole bottle of in one sitting.”
“Yeah, I said the same thing to Jax when I discovered it in a bar in Cornwall,” Tanner sips it again. “But I fully admit I’m not an expert wine guy, which is why I wanted your opinion. Do you think it would go well with a dessert from our new menu?”
Chase nods. His eyes move from the glass he’s just put down on the bar to me. Tanner turns to face me too, but his gaze is cool compared to Chase’s. “Chase popped in to talk about the potential for more band gigs.”
“Okay,” I say awkwardly. “Just let me know where you want me tonight and I’ll get out of your hair.”
“Well, actually I need you in this conversation,” Tanner replies and I wish I could be happy about that. Any chance to hang out with Chase is what I want, but it’s not what he wants or he would have called. “Chase mentioned he needs a replacement for his drummer and that you were thinking about it.”
“I was, but this job is my first priority,” I reply, and I don’t know if I should be irked by Chase telling my boss about this. I mean, he seems to be friends with Tanner, and I don’t think he did it to get me in any kind of trouble. But Tanner is frustrated enough with my blundering, maybe he’ll use this as an excuse to let me go and the band gig isn’t stable enough to provide the income I need to help with the mortgage payments.
“Yeah I don’t doubt that.” Tanner empties his wine glass into the sink and looks almost sad he didn’t finish his tasting sample, and then he looks back up at me. “But I wanted to offer to move your shifts around. I can always schedule you on weekday nights, which frees up weekends for any gig you guys might do.”
I blink, shocked at how easy going he’s being about this, but then my battered ego figures out his plan. Weeknights are considerably slower than weekends. Which means, less babysitting the problem child — AKA me — and less chance I can screw up as much. More opportunity to train me in a slower pace. Still, all of this is actually appealing to me. “We make about sixty bucks each for a gig. Sometimes more,” Chase tells me. “Last year we did a wedding and it was two-fifty each. We’re going to try and get more of those this summer.”
Why does this guy want me so badly when he clearly doesn’t want me so badly? Am I the only dude in Burlington, besides the guy who flaked on them, who can play drums? They’re both staring at me expectantly and as weird as it may end up being working with Chase after that kiss, I find myself nodding. Because it really did feel great making music again. I’ve missed it a lot. “Sure. I mean, if you’re sure you can swing it, schedule-wise, Tanner, then I can do the band stuff too.”
Chase’s grin is anything but casual now. It’s ecstatic. “Great! I’ll tell Grant and Joe. They’ll be thrilled. And don’t worry, we won’t interfere with your job. We’ve got other commitments too.”
I nod and then Murph pipes in, “Bo, can you make sure the kegs don’t need changing? And if they do, I brought an extra shirt just for you. It’s got a pink unicorn on the front.”
Tanner shakes his head, laughing. Chase just smiles, but he looks confused. I’m not about to elaborate. I just nod at Murph and shuffle off to do what he asked.
Four hours later, the rush of the after-work crowd is in full swing. Murph is great behind the bar, he’s graceful and fast and always wearing a smile. He’s not even distracted by his boyfriend, Jason, who is sitting at the bar. I figured out in the first five minutes of my first shift with Murph that he is head-over-heels in love with Jason and not afraid to show it. I haven’t had a serious relationship, at least not one I could admit to in public, and I feel like if I was as in love as Murph is, it would be hard to focus when he was in a room. Hell, I’m distracted by Chase, who hasn’t left the bar yet, and he isn’t even interested in me let alone in love with me.
“Oh, man, I have to tinkle and there’re three orders left to fill,” Murph huffs quietly to me. “Can you run and get Tanner to cover me for a second?”
I walk over and look at the drink orders. Two ciders and a gin and tonic. “I can do these.”
Murph blinks, his happy-go-lucky expression disappearing for a second before it comes back. “You’re right. It’s a few quick and easy orders. It’s fine. I can hold it.”
“Murph. Honestly,” I say my voice low so no one hears me trying to plead my case. “If you had any other bar back tonight, wouldn’t you let them cover for you?”
“Yes.” Murph says guiltily and now I feel like shit. I mean, the guy is a literal ray of sunshine and wouldn’t hurt a soul and I’m making him feel guilty when I deserve the caution he’s taking. But the thing is, Chase hasn’t moved from that spot at the end of the bar. He’s had another glass of wine and ordered a burger and is now finishing up a cider. And I want to do something other than restock glasses and cut lemon wedges. Because he’s been watching me most of the night. “Okay. I’ll be like two minutes.”
“Take three,” I say as he starts to walk away. “And wash your hands.”
“Of course!” Murph gasps at me like I just accused him of murder. I wink. He laughs. Jason, his partner sitting two seats over from Chase, just smirks at us and shakes his head.
I grab a pint glass to pour the first cider. “Should we all duck and cover?”
I glance over at Jason. Apparently Murph has shared my misadventures. “I think you’re safe, but I make no promises.”
I see Chase eavesdropping, so I turn to him. “I’ve hit some bumps my few weeks here. But I swear, I’m not a total screw-up. Normally.”
“I’ve seen you play drums, remember?” Chase says, sipping his drink. “I know that.”
