Daniel wanted to talk to him. He asked about his day and actually listened and commented as Jensen droned on about traffic and inconsistent temperatures on the airplane and his mother’s cooking. He was spending more of his time with Jensen, even if they were miles away. And for a blinding moment, Jensen thought maybe they could do it.
Maybe long distance wouldn’t be that torturous or dividing. Of course, they were far off from being in a relationship, but resting against the pillows of his childhood bed, aimlessly wandering through an importantly insignificant conversation with Daniel, Jensen could see it taking shape. They could talk every day, send texts, and video chat on lunch breaks. Jensen could leverage his many accomplishments to work remotely to visit Daniel for a week or two at a time. He might even convince Daniel to fly out to meet his parents and spend a few days in California.
It might not be perfect or all that conventional, but Jensen knew from the bottom of his heart it would make him happy. That it was the way he wanted to live.
10
“I’msurprised you’re still working the bar,” Melanie commented as they walked out of the hotel and toward the parking structure.
Daniel was surprised about it too. When his boss had first asked him to take over for Tyler, he expected to be there for a week tops. That was two and a half weeks ago. Recovery hadn’t been great for his coworker, and he’d developed a slight infection that left him too weak to serve drinks for hours on end.
That had only been the beginning of Daniel’s bad luck. Ricardo had returned from leave and put in his notice. His grandmother wasn’t doing well, and he planned to live with her until she passed away. He was kind enough to stay until Tyler got back or Lucinda hired another employee so Daniel wasn’t working the lunch and night shift every day of the week. But Daniel’s time behind the bar didn’t have an end date yet. That didn’t upset him, which was more surprising than the appointment itself.
He had missed the money he made from following clients back to their rooms, but he didn’t miss the job. If he didn’t think about his bank account, he went through each day with less stress than he’d experienced in years. Now he didn’t dread driving to the hotel or have a heavy weight settle on hisshoulders when he got ready for work. He felt freer and lighter, like he’d scrubbed flakes of dried cum off his body and gotten a new lease on life.
The last time he’d felt this way was when he got the job fucking civvies in the first place. In the beginning, he was making money that not even his father had reached after decades of career jumps in their small town, and it excited him to no end. He’d come to Sevier with no money, no friends, no valuable work on his résumé, and more debt than a person his age should be able to accrue. Stepping through the doors of the Lillian the first time had given him hope, something that was foreign in his life.
Years later, the idea of pulling out his douching kit and getting under strangers on the squeaky mattresses had his skin crawling. He didn’t want to do it anymore. His saving grace had become his grave.
Daniel reached his car and slotted his key into the door. “Me too. Sorry you didn’t get anything tonight,” he said to Melanie, who was unlocking her car across from him.
She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Wednesdays are always a hit or miss. I have a nooner scheduled tomorrow, so no worries.”
“Get home safe.”
“You too.” Melanie closed the door behind her and started her engine.
Locking himself in his own car, Daniel turned the key in the ignition, trying it twice before it rolled over. He’d been resolutely ignoring all the lights on his dashboard, but it was getting harder to start his car. There was also the weird noise and rumbling that occurred whenever he went over forty miles an hour, but he dealt with that by not going on the freeways and keeping his music turned up high.
Streets passed by in a blur as he drove home on autopilot, making quick work of the miles as one of the only cars on theroad. He barely had the car in park before he was ripping the keys out and hustling inside.
He wanted nothing more than to fall into his bed and call Jensen, but he had to shower first. In the weeks since Jensen left, Daniel had probably hit a world record for how fast a person could breeze through getting clean. It was amazing what men could do with the right motivation, and there was nothing more motivating than the opportunity to call his not quite boyfriend.
At the end of every day, Daniel would dial his number and they’d say good night. On evenings he didn’t work, they’d spend as long as they could on the phone, sometimes hours, until one of them began to fall asleep. On nights he did work, it was a quick call, since Jensen was already in bed and it was after midnight. They also took to texting or video chatting during the day.
They were essentially in constant contact with each other, and Daniel couldn’t remember ever talking to someone so much. The longest they’d gone was twelve hours when Daniel overslept, and even then, he had several messages on his phone from Jensen when he woke up. The attention was intoxicating.
Pulling the covers over his legs, he unlocked his phone and dialed Jensen’s number.
“How was work?” Jensen asked as he picked up the phone.
Daniel loved his sleepy tone, how his voice got raspy and quiet during the night. Daniel’s heart seemed to beat more heavily as Jensen kept up his side of the conversation and fought sleep he no doubt needed. Not once had he complained about Daniel disrupting his slumber when he had to wake up early for work every day. In fact, it was often Daniel that called it a night and hung up. If he was a sadist, he would let them continue talking until Jensen ended the call, just to see how much sleep the man was willing to lose to talk to him.
“Slow. It was really slow tonight. I mostly stood around and talked to Melanie.” Clarke had scored a decently unattractive man, and Amber had been pulled upstairs by a couple that looked like fun. There were other patrons that had entered the bar, but they were only interested in chatting and getting a drink. It was unfortunate for Melanie, but Daniel got a pocketful of tips for the night.
“Did anyone ask you to make more of those sea-foam drinks?”
“Hah, no. The worst order was two espresso martinis, which was a pain in the ass but not too bad.”
Rustling came from the other side of the line. “You like a good pain in the ass though,” Jensen said quietly.
The other surprising development from the past few weeks was Jensen opening up. It wasn’t uncommon that he shyly flirted. Sometimes, he even teased, and God, did it delight Daniel to no end. There was nothing like unlocking a new layer of Jensen. It made Daniel feel giddy and accomplished knowing only he got to hear Jensen tentatively tease and flirt.
“Oh, baby, I don’t like pain, but I do like you in my ass. You should know.”
Jensen loudly let out a breath. “Describe your bedsheets for me.”
“My bedsheets?” Daniel asked with a laugh.
