“I don’t feel so good. Don’t think I’m gonna—”
My boss finished that sentence for me. “You’re not working tonight, Nick, or the next four. None of the Oregon teams are playing tonight, so we’ll be fine. March is a slow month, so stop worrying.”
I looked up into the kind eyes of my boss, Alejandro Sanchez. The thought of leaving him short-handed tonight made me feel worse.
My throbbing head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds, so I lowered it back into my hands. “I’m sorry, boss. I thought once I got here, I could make it through the night. But that hasn’t happened.”
He put his hand on my shoulder and squatted down in front of me. “Nick, you’ve probably got the flu. We’ll be fine. I’ll work behind the bar tonight. I’ll get James to help me if I get desperate. He owes me.”
James? I didn’t know a James. Had I missed a new hire?
When I rolled my head to the side to look at him with my confused expression, he laughed. “Preston. He can tend bar in a pinch. He’d be happy to help you out.”
I grunted in some kind of acknowledgment as a whole different flush of heat rolled through my body.
Preston James.
Alejandro’s best friend and college roommate.
Uncle Preston to his nineteen-year-old daughter, Anna.
The very man who’d been starring in more than one of my erotic dreams since he’d started coming in at least four nights a week after the crowds had thinned out. The sexy restaurant owner with thick dark hair and warm chocolate eyes who glowered at me to see if he could make me squirm.
If he only knew.
But I felt too bad to even think about anything like that. All I could manage to do was hold my head in my hands. I wanted to die.
“Ben, can you cover the bar while I take Nick home?”
“Sure, boss. Anything for you.” The smile in his voice was so obvious.
I tried to roll my eyes, but that hurt too much. So I just curled up and leaned over, willing myself to keep it together.
I don’t know how long I sat there, but I wished I’d just stayed home and saved Alejandro a lot of trouble. But I loved this job, and I hated to miss work. But when I got here, and the teeth-chattering chills set in, I knew I was done.
“Let’s go, buddy.” Alejandro curled his arm through mine to help me up. It was a good thing he did, because I was suddenly really weak. I could barely keep my eyes open.
“Ben,” Alejandro yelled over his shoulder. “Grab me some Gatorade out of the back cooler.”
I winced at the loud noise, making Alejandro curse. “Shit. Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Can I have your keys?”
I dug them out of my pocket as we walked towards the back door.
When I was settled in his car, I closed my eyes as my head rolled around on the headrest. Thank god the ride was only three blocks.
I have no memory of how Alejandro got me up to my apartment. I was a weak mess. But somehow, he’d managed it.
The next morning, movement in my kitchen startled me, but I was too weak to even care. I had nothing of value to steal, and if anyone came in here and tried to rough me up, I’d just breathe on them. But as it turns out, that plan was unnecessary.
It didn’t take long for me to figure out that my mom was the one in the kitchen. The familiar lilt of her voice as she spoke quietly on the phone almost made me want to cry. I was so happy she was here, because I hated being alone when I was sick.
“He slept all night. Alejandro got some ibuprofen in him before he went back to the bar.”
She must have been talking to my dad. Or Nicole, my twin sister.
“Mom?” My voice was so weak that I wasn’t sure she heard me. But when the bed shifted, and the familiar fragrance of delicate rose hit my nose, I knew it was her.
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Her cool hands on my face always brought me comfort when I had a fever.
