Page 11 of Gin & Sin (Last Call #2)

ELEVEN

KIT

Four hours after leaving Stewart, I flip the final chair over and stack it on top of the table so we can mop the floor in the morning. Indy claps my shoulder, leaning into me.

“Where’d you run off to earlier?”

I give him some serious side-eye with a shit-eating grin on my face. “Pretty sure you know the answer to that already.”

“How do you do that?” Lowen asks, stacking receipts from the register. “Don’t you need to shower and actually relax after sex?”

I shrug. “Gotta do what you gotta do.”

Lowen scrunches his nose. “Ew.”

“Oh, come on, Low,” Bane says, grabbing Lowen’s hips from behind. “You’ve never had a quickie?”

“As a classless youth, maybe.”

Ridley cackles, sweeping up discarded peanut shells from the floor. “I can’t even imagine you having messy hair, much less walking around with dried cum in your underwear.”

Lowen visibly shudders. “Gross. It’s so itchy too. How do you deal?”

Smiling, I shrug. “It’s easy. I just remember how I got like that. Tonight was worth a few uncomfortable hours.”

“Yeah?” Salem asks, helping Florian restock liquor bottles. “You like the guy?”

“He’s sweet. Eager. Delicious.”

“Ew,” Lowen says again.

“When did you get so squeamish?” Indy asks.

“I’m not squeamish.” Lowen’s tone is clipped. “I’m a fan of cleanliness. So sue me.”

“So you’d probably hate knowing how often Indy eats my ass on the desk in the office?” Salem teases, making Indy cackle.

“Oh god. Please tell me you wipe it down after.”

Salem shrugs. “Maybe.”

Lowen visibly blanches.

“At least I leave to take care of business,” I say.

Lowen glances at me. “It’s something, I suppose.”

“Are you officially dating now, Kit?” Jerryn asks.

“Nothing like that. It’s a physical arrangement. Works fine for me.”

Wren comes out from the back carrying a bucket of clean silverware. We all gather around the bar, rolling them into paper napkins for tomorrow’s service. Wren looks exhausted, with heavy bags under his eyes.

“You okay, man?” I ask.

Wren glances up. “Yeah. Late night and early morning. I’ll be alright.”

Salem rubs Wren’s shoulder and gives him a sympathetic smile.

“Are we missing something?” Lowen asks.

Wren’s jaw ticks but he nods. “A fight with my boyfriend. It’s not affecting my job though.”

“We know,” Indy says. “We’re worried about you.”

I glance at Ridley, who looks like he’s about to crawl out of his skin.

“We could handle it, you know?” I offer, drawing Wren’s attention. “We’d be happy to have a talk with him.”

“Yeah, we would,” Ridley mumbles. “You deserve better.”

“Do I?” Wren chuckles, darkly. “Thanks, guys, but I can handle it.”

“Just remember we’re here for you,” Salem says. “We’ve got your back.”

“I appreciate it.”

We finish closing up the restaurant, and I walk with Lowen to the bank two blocks over to drop the deposit in the night box.

“Can you imagine doing this in New Onyx in the middle of the night?” I ask.

“Walking to the bank?”

“Yeah, with a pile of money.”

He laughs softly. “I don’t think we’d make it far.”

“No.”

We drop the deposit off and keep walking toward home. I’m hit with a subtle desire to go back to Stewart’s and climb into bed with him to keep him warm on this cold night, but we’re not at that level. It’s nearly three in the morning, and I’m sure he gets up early for work.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Lowen says, bumping his arm into mine.

“It’s nothing. Just kind of thinking of Stewart.”

“Yeah? What about him?”

“Honestly? I low-key feel kind of bad that I just work him over and leave, but that’s what he wants. It’s what we both want.”

“Then why do you feel low-key bad about it?”

His question makes the hair on the back of my neck prickle. “He’s nice. Too nice to be a casual thing, but he’s recently divorced and new at dating men. He wants to keep his options open, and he should. Fuck knows I’m not ready to settle down.”

Lowen nods. “Word. Or whatever they say these days to hard agree.”

“I think they say ‘hard agree.’”

Lowen laughs. “Perfect.”

“Any movement with you and Oakley?”

Lowen pulls his head back and looks at me like I’ve turned green. “No. Why would there be?”

“You said he wanted to work with you on some restoration projects.”

“It’s a business collaboration only.”

“I don’t know how you do it, man. Oakley is one hell of man. All muscles and hair and sweat. Mmm. You’re strong.”

“I don’t know if strong is the word I would use.”

I glance over at Lowen, who has a distant look on his face.

“I think I’m broken. My failed attempt at the fairy tale did me in, and not even a man who looks like Oakley can sway me from my pitiful celibate life.”

“Dude.” I wrap my arm around his shoulders, pulling him into me despite his weak protests. “Be careful. You keep talking like that and we’ll make you a project. A ‘rescue Lowen’s sex life’ project.”

He actually laughs, untangling himself from me. “Please don’t. That sounds awful. Besides, there are plenty of solo ways to tend to my needs.”

“Boring.” I turn around so I’m walking backward, facing Lowen. “There’s nothing like the feel of another person’s body on yours. Or their breath warming your face. Their sweet moans and needy whimpers. You can’t tell me you don’t miss that.”

Lowen’s face flickers with something I can’t read before he neutralizes it. “It’s just not worth it to me. Sex is nice, but it always leads to bullshit. It’s not my fault every man who beds me falls in love.”

I chuckle. “That must be some good ass.”

“The very finest.”

Lowen laughs easily, and I feel a little less worried about him.

“Is that how you feel about your guy?” he asks as we turn the corner on our street.

“Yeah. He’s a good match for me. At least for whatever this is we’re doing.”

“Which is? You’re just going over there, fucking him, and leaving?”

The harshness in Lowen’s voice twists something inside my gut. Something protective. “It’s not like that. I’m helping him.”

“Helping?” Lowen raises a perfectly groomed eyebrow. “Is that what they call it?”

I shove his arm. “He’s older and not experienced with men. He feels comfortable with me. It’s a win-win.”

“How altruistic of you. Bonus: you get laid too.”

“Yeah,” I grunt, still annoyed for some reason. “It’s not as cold as it sounds. He’s a really nice guy. It would suck if he was out there trying to hook up on the scene, you know?”

“It’s reality though. You’re going to give him a false impression.”

“I never thought of that.”

Lowen shrugs. “You’re both adults. I’m sure he knows what’s best for him.”

“Yeah.”

As we enter the house and hang up our coats, Lowen goes to the kitchen for his sleepytime tea, but I trudge up the stairs to my bedroom, lost in thoughts of Stewart. Could it get complicated? Sure. But the idea of cutting him loose to explore on his own doesn’t sit right. Besides, I’m having fun too. As long as I’m honest with him, and he is with me, we’ll be fine.

Kind of wish I could send him a text, but it’s late. I’ll do it tomorrow when I wake up. Just to make sure he’s still cool with everything.

It’s what a responsible fuck buddy would do.