Page 29 of Shaken and Stirred (Bottle Service Boys #1)

ALEX

“Dude, where the hell are you?”

Sparkly teal fingernails snapped in front of my eyes, making me blink. “What?”

Trevor scowled. “Okay, I know it can’t possibly be me because my company is stellar, so what is up with you today?”

Shit. I’d zoned out on him for the third time in the twenty minutes since we sat down for lunch at our favorite café on campus. “Sorry, Trev. It’s definitely not you.”

He smirked. “I know. I already said that.” Today, he’d gone with a black fitted turtleneck sweater and designer denim flares that Parker had given him for his last birthday.

He’d rimmed his eyes with a dark pencil and glossed his lips with a light pink sheen.

He looked gorgeous, but then Trevor always looked good.

He was the epitome of a clothes horse and prided himself on always looking perfect.

“So what is it?”

I set down my spoon and pushed the tray with a bowl of tortilla chicken soup away from me. “It’s noth—”

“Nope!” Trevor pointed his fork at me. “Do not tell me it’s nothing. You’ve barely paid me two seconds of attention since we sat down, and you know that doesn’t fly with me. Spill so we can solve your problem, then get back to more important topics, mainly me.” He winked.

No one would deny that Trevor was high maintenance.

Hell, he called himself a diva on a good day, but much of his over-the-top personality was a shield to hide the wounds at his core.

One night, after way too many shots, he’d opened up to me about his horrific past. After promising I’d never repeat a word of his story, he’d also made me promise we’d never discuss it again.

I’d honored the agreement but hadn’t forgotten the awful things he’d confided in me. It made me view Trevor in a new light.

He was a good guy who’d fought tooth and nail for every sliver of happiness he had.

I shook my head as I leaned back in my chair. “Fine. I did something stupid, that’s all. I’m just having a hard time shaking it out of my head.”

Trevor snorted. The café was crowded during lunch, and the noise drew curious looks from neighboring tables. “You, Mr. Responsible, did something stupid? What was it… you missed trash day or something?” He snorted again, then reached for his iced tea.

“Funny,” I said as he took a sip of his drink. “No, I… uh…” I lowered my voice, leaning across the small table. Christ, I couldn’t believe I was about to say this out loud. “I sucked Ryder off. And he returned the favor.”

Trevor’s eyes widened as he inhaled a sharp breath and immediately began to choke on his drink. He set down his cup, coughing so loud a woman ran over from a nearby table.

“Is he okay?” she asked as she whacked his back.

Trevor held up a hand, waving her away as he continued to cough. His eyes watered, and he wiped at them with his sleeve.

“He’s fine,” I told the concerned patron. “Just iced tea down the wrong pipe.”

She nodded and back-walked to her table, still watching my former friend, Trevor.

My face burned like I’d poured my freshly made coffee all over it. Not only had I confessed my ugly secret, we now had the whole damn restaurant gawking at us.

Trevor’s coughing finally waned. He took a sip of his tea, swallowing with care this time. “Okay,” he said after wiping his eyes again. His voice sounded hoarse from the hacking spectacle. “You’re gonna have to repeat that one for me.”

“No way.” I gave him my nastiest glare, which had less than zero effect on him. “There is no way in hell I’m telling you again after the dramatic display you just performed.”

He sniffed, then cleared his throat. “Well, pardon me for being shocked, but I did not have Alex-slurps-his-sworn-enemy’s-dick on my Bingo card for today.”

“Keep your voice down, for fuck’s sake,” I whisper-yelled across the table as I glanced around the café. Thankfully, most customers appeared to have lost interest in us and returned to their meals.

He didn’t respond but pursed his shiny lips and stared at me through shrewd eyes as though he could see beneath my skin to the turmoil swirling below.

“What? You want details? You want to know how it happened?” I squirmed in my seat. If he didn’t stop looking at me like he knew more than I wanted him to, I was going to walk out.

“Ha,” he said with a grunt. “I know how it happened.” He shrugged as though it was a foregone conclusion. “Hatred is a passion just like desire… very easy to get it jumbled up. There’s a reason hate-fucking is a term.”

Fine, maybe he did know.

His damn all-seeing eyes twinkled with mischief.

“You’re enjoying this,” I muttered as I glanced at a table a few rows over where a chubby toddler was trying to stick her hands in her mother’s soup.

“You’re right about that,” Trevor said with a laugh. “I’m enjoying the fuck outta this. It’s not every day I get to see you ruffled over a guy. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you ruffled over a guy.”

“I’m not ruffled over anyone. What the hell does that even mean?”

“It means you liked it. It means you liked having his delicious man meat in your mouth and—”

“Seriously? Are you twelve?”

Trevor cracked up, once again drawing the notice of others. I was starting to think he did it on purpose. He’d always been a damn attention whore.

“All right,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I’ll stop teasing you. Why do you think this has you all spun up?”

Shit, the psychological analysis was worse than being made fun of. I scowled. “Go back to the teasing.”

He raised his hands in surrender. “All I’m saying is that maybe you don’t hate him as much as… what? What’s wrong?”

The back of my neck prickled, and for whatever supernatural reason, I glanced over at the café’s entrance, freezing in place as Ryder walked in with another man I didn’t recognize.

He scanned the restaurant until his gaze landed on me.

And stuck.

The temperature in the room shot up ten degrees, and my heart rate climbed with it.

One peek at him, and I was back in Top Shelf, watching him reach into my sweats and fist my cock.

The cock that was rapidly remembering exactly how good it felt and how much it liked to feel that good.

Thank God the table hid the evidence, or Trevor would not have been merciful in his attack.

“What the hell are you… oh,” he said as he glanced over his shoulder toward the entrance where Ryder still stood staring at me. “Look who we have here.”

Ryder’s buddy realized he was halfway to the counter alone and turned back. He called and waved to Ryder, who didn’t react.

Because his whole focus remained on me.

And I liked it.

“This is ridiculous,” Trevor muttered. “We’re doing this shit my way.”

I blinked. “What do you mean? Trevor, no!” I whispered as he stood and waved both arms above his head like Ryder didn’t know exactly where we sat.

“Yoo-hoo!” he shouted in a high-pitched tone over the lunch noise. “Ryder! Over here. Come sit. We have plenty of room.”

My heart lodged in my throat. If I could, I’d have slunk down in my seat, slithered under the table, then crawled to the exit, but Trevor would probably jump on my back and beat the shit out of me. The man might be small, but he was scrappy as hell and slightly terrifying when pissed.

Ryder’s gaze shifted to Trevor. His lips curled in a smile that had my stomach swooping with discomfort, of course.

What else would it be? I didn’t want to sit through a super awkward lunch with the man I blew and the other man who knew I’d blown him.

The flutter in my chest had nothing to do with excitement and everything to do with dread.

“Yay.” Trevor beamed as he sat back down and faced me. “He’s on his way over.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

“Good Lord, Ally, fix your face.” Trevor rolled his eyes.

Did I have something on me? I ran a hand over my mouth, but it came back clean. “What’s wrong with my face?”

“You have this pinched expression like you’re about to have a root canal, not have lunch with the dude you’re smitten with.”

It was my turn to choke, but I hadn’t consumed anything, so my throat clogged with air. “I am not smitten with anyone,” I grumbled. The closer Ryder came, the more my insides vibrated. “This is nothing, Trevor. It was a stupid mistake.”

“ Suuure it was.”

Ryder and his friend went to the counter, placed their orders, then made their way to us once they had their food.

“You’re staring,” Trevor muttered, then hummed the tune to Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love.”

“I hate you,” I whispered as Ryder drew so close I could see the green fleck in his left eye. Couldn’t he have the decency to wear sunglasses so I didn’t have to see it?

Trevor blew me a kiss. “Oh, Ally, you love me, and you know it. Hey, Ryder!” His demeanor transformed from ball-busting to welcoming in the blink of an eye. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Hey, guys. This is my buddy, Corvin. Corvin, this is Trevor and Alex. We all work together at a nightclub.”

“Hey,” I said because I had a real way with words.

“Sit, sit.” Trevor gestured to the two empty chairs opposite each other at our small square table. I sat there like an idiot. The connection between my brain and tongue seemed to have vanished.

“Thanks. Nice to meet you guys.” Corvin seemed nice enough.

He had light features like Ryder, but that’s where the similarities ended.

His blond hair was so pale I’d almost call it white, and where Ryder had ocean-blue eyes, Corvin’s were light gray.

He was tall and thin, almost waifish, and walked with grace and elegance.

“You look familiar,” Trevor said to Corvin as he sat. He propped his chin on his hand, studying the newcomer. “You ever get a VIP table at Top Shelf?”

Chuckling, Corvin shook his head. “I wish. That place is way above my budget. I don’t know if you follow dance at all, but I’m a ballet dancer in the program here on campus.”