“Aspiring,” I chuckled. “And then I ended up in escort work and realized I was making good money, so why not devote more time to it and see just how much I could really make? It never occurred to me it would be the sort of job that would become...difficult to maintain as the years went on.”
“You get so close to expressing something that might be workable, and then you draw back,” Luka said with a laugh.
I glanced at him. “I’ve never been good at expressing certain things about myself.”
“Oh, no, that’s fine,” he said with a shake of his head. “We just met. I don’t expect to hear your life’s story or have you spillyour heart to me. I shouldn’t make comparisons between you and the last guy I was a Guide to, but you’re...different. Getting him to talk at first was like trying to pull teeth from a cranky boar. Of course, there were a few things I had to learn about him at the very end of his stay, but?—”
I glanced at him. “Is there a point in asking for more details?”
He grinned. “Probably not. It got really complicated by the time all was said and done, and really? Does it matter how it went? In the end, I was surprised to learn that not only did his stay here help him, but so did I.”
“You questioned that.”
“Oh boy, did I.”
I chuckled. “I can’t imagine this job is free of stress and worry. Even if you are supposed to be a ‘buddy’ to me, there’s still the expectation that you’re best suited to guide and help me. It’s not quite the same as a therapist or even a life coach, but perhaps that lack of strict roles actually makes your job worse. That has to be a frustrating balancing act.”
“Well,” he said, looking surprised. “It’s not all bad. I mean, this is a chance for me to help people, so I can’t complain.”
“Anyone can complain about anything,” I said with a laugh, turning when I heard conversation nearby and looking for the source. “Whether they should is a different story.”
“Sounds like there’s some late dinner people if you feel like being social,” Luka offered.
I considered it for a moment before shrugging. “I suppose I have time to meet people, but it wouldn’t hurt to get started early and get some talking in.”
“Alright,” he said brightly, gesturing for me to follow him. “Then let’s go see who the first people you meet will be, other than the standard welcoming crew.”
“Let’s not make this first interaction with my peers symbolic of how the rest of my time here is going to be,” I said with a laugh.
“Superstitious?” he asked with a grin as I followed him toward a cafeteria-style area, with round tables and built-in seats.
“I try not to get too caught up in superstitions, but the brain does what the brain does, and sometimes it sees something and screams in terror that you might be cursing things. So maybe it does or doesn’t work, but hey, it never hurts to play it safe occasionally.”
“Alright, alright,” he said as we rounded the corner into a large open room with more tables. There was also a large buffet along one wall, with a drink station at the end. I knew the food was included along with most other things the place offered as amenities. There were only a couple of people left in the cafeteria, and I looked between them before Luka said anything.
One of them was...quite handsome, actually, but a big part of it was the goofy smile that made him look boyish and enhanced his rugged looks. Under his shorts, I could see that one of his legs was an intricate prosthetic that softly thunked against the ground and the bar of the table when he shifted to look at us. His expression was one of open curiosity, and he raised his hand to greet us. He seemed relaxed, taking in a new face with ease, but clearly recognizing Luka, and unafraid to greet him with open fondness.
The other one? Oh, he was dangerous; I could feel that at a glance. Blond hair that was darker than Luka’s by a lot, and pretty blue eyes, I could see clearly even from a distance. Like his buddy, he was built big but not nearly as bulky as the redhead next to him. The worst, for me anyway, was the way his smile could only be called wicked when he looked at us, speaking of an easy confidence that probably flared into arrogance with theease of flicking a switch. His body language, unlike his friend’s, was more alert and attentive. I snorted when I saw his eyes slide over me, going from my head to my feet and back up with a measured slowness that told me just what he was thinking.
Oh yeah, I was a sucker for nice guys, but I was going to have to be careful because I could be powerless in the face of a cocky one.
“Oh shit, brace for impact,” Luka muttered as we walked up, and he gestured to the friendly redhead and then to the blond. “This is Cade, and this is Clay.”
“Ah, I saw ya earlier,” Cade said, standing quickly to take my hand and shaking it with more force than was necessary, which I immediately attributed to enthusiasm. He didn’t strike me as the sort to pull some power play and was genuinely enthused to have gotten to meet me. “I thought ya might be a new guy comin’ in.”
“Hi there,” the other man, Clay, said as he waited until my hand had been freed from Cade’s iron grip, took it, and shook it smoothly. His fingers lingered a shade too long to be friendly before he slipped back. “A pleasure.”
“A pleasure to meet, or a pleasure to look at?” I wondered and smirked when he blinked, momentarily taken off guard.
He was clearly not one to be deterred easily, though, and the grin slid back into place as he leaned his elbows on the table to look me over more openly. “What, it can’t be both?”
“Jesus, yes, thank you, Clay,” Luka said with a weary sigh.
Cade winked at me. “Don’t mind Clay. He can be a horn dog. Alright, well, heisa horn dog, but he’s harmless...mostly.”
“Oh, trust me, I know a bed-hopping player when I see one,” I said with a laugh, smirking when Clay frowned.
“Hey now, I haven’t done anything but said hi,” Clay grumbled. “We don’t all need to take turns beating on me.”
