Night Shift: A Gay Lovers Romance (The Neon Glass Club Book 2) Read online

  Kaleidoscope Presents

  Night Shift

  A Gay Lovers Romance

  By

  Alex Roberts

  Join the Kaleidoscope Newsletter for New Releases and Sales

  Copyright 2018 Steamy eReads

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  I rotated the beer bottle between my thighs. My ass was half propped onto the bar stool, my back turned to the counter as I watched the star of the show. Darrik spun circles around that pole like a pro. He knew how to strip. He knew how to twist and bend. He knew all the right angles to present that body of his. He was a hot little package, but God bless him, he just wasn’t what I was looking for in a man.

  Didn’t mean watching him wasn’t fun. He melted off the pole and onto the ground to finish off his set with a cock teasing floor routine. The man was flexible. But, it was that slight frame that made him so nimble. Me? I was more into the owner of the club. Josiah. Big, strong, a little dangerous, but Josiah was off the market now, and I really didn’t need to get into another relationship with a guy like that again. Last time I went after my taste of men – that hint of danger in Andrew’s eyes had turned out to actually be dangerous.

  Darrick’s set finished with a roar of masculine appreciation. I swished the lukewarm remnants of my beer before upending it. I turned and placed it with two careful fingers on the bar top. Josiah was right there, ready. “Another?”

  “Please.”

  “Coming right up, Brandon.”

  The guy turned and bent down to the minifridge that housed the domestics. I’m pretty sure his boyfriend wouldn’t mind me checking him out from a distance, so I took in those tree trunk legs. God, it’d been too long since I’d been with a man. I averted my eyes to my palms when Josiah stood and popped the top for me. A flood of drink orders came in with the ending of Darrik’s routine, and Josiah set to work behind the bar.

  A light touch on my shoulder made me turn. I lit up right away. Something about Darrik always made me smile. “You’re looking good tonight. Can I buy you drink?”

  A bar stool opened up for him – guys were always happy to give up their seat to him. “Promise to try and take advantage of me this time?”

  I signaled to Josiah and then spread my hands and gave Darrik a little shrug. “I thought you enjoyed having at least one guy here not hitting on you.”

  Darrik leaned in and gave me a hug over my shoulder. “That’s why I love you, hot stuff. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. At least a couple months.”

  “It’s a long drive. More so in the winter. Roads aren’t that good between here and Sommersville this time of the year.”

  “How about you stay at my place tonight? You can drink up, and we can get a cab. You can go all hell kitten on this place.”

  “That actually sounds great. I could really afford to let loose a bit tonight.” I sent him a sideways grin. “But I hope you’re not trying to seduce me.”

  Josiah delivered a shot glass, and Darrik seized it before giving me a saucy look. “Only if you’re up for a foursome with that handsome couple.”

  I turned to see where he was pointing. Lord, The Neon Glass Club drew an eclectic crowd. The two looked corporate, and one was a woman. She was actually up my alley when it came to ladies. I’d been sticking more to the female persuasion since Andrew. I just didn’t feel comfortable with men yet. But I’d never been into hooking up with more than one at a time. Darrik, on the other hand, he was all over the charts.

  “No thanks. I’m good. I’ll be on the couch.”

  “Honey, you’ll be happier than a puppy in paradise if you get yourself sandwiched between a pussy and a cock.”

  He knew how to make a full-grown man blush. “Really, I’m good. I like taking my genitalia one at a time.”

  Darrik downed his shot and held onto the empty glass as he eyed me. “Tell me you’ve gotten laid recently, honey.”

  I chocked on my beer. “God, Darrik.”

  “I’m serious. You don’t look happy.”

  “That has nothing to do with my sex life. I dropped my classes today.”

  Darrik signaled to Josiah for another. “Sweet thing. Again?”

  Lord, I couldn’t escape it even from my favorite flaming bisexual stripper. “What? I can’t sit there for hours when I’m not even a little interested. If I can’t stand going to class one more day, how am I supposed to get a job for the rest of my life doing that shit?” In need of a quick misdirects, I lifted my eyebrows. “Maybe I can come work here.”

  Darrik wagged a finger at me. “Oh, hell no, sweet thing. I have seen you dance. That shit flies when you’re drunk, now when you’re putting on a show.”

  “I know someone who can give me lessons.”

  “No. I’m serious, honey, you need to get yourself fucked by a man with a big, fat cock. Clears all the cobwebs. Helps you figure your shit out.”

  “I don’t think it works like that.”

  “Of course, it does. Just fuck it out.”

  “Really, Darrik, I’m not the fuck it out sort.”

  He slapped me on the shoulder. “Stop. Everyone’s the fuck it out sort.”

  “I haven’t been with a guy since Andrew.”

  “Even better reason to get laid. That asshole can’t be your last memory of cock. Come on. You have to have at least one candidate.”

  “Eh, maybe.”

  Darrik seized on it. He grabbed my bicep and came closer. “See, now! Tell me. Does he have a big package?”

  “God, it’s not like I’ve seen him naked.”

  “Honey, you don’t need to see a man naked to know he’s got royal sized family jewels.”

  “Well, he’s a big dude. Kinda like Josiah.”

  “Mmmm. I already like him. More. Details. Come on, honey.”

  I hadn’t actually talked to the delivery guy from work much. He usually didn’t come on my shift. I’d only seen him a handful of times, but I liked what I saw. “I guess he’s not quite as big as Josiah, but you can tell he’s muscular, and he has tattoo’s you can see coming out of his shirt at the neckline and bicep. Deep voice. Kinda cocky.”

  I stopped myself, spinning my bottle on the bar top. Darrick put his hand on my thigh. “So, why haven’t jumped those bones already?”

  “I’m not even sure he’s gay.”

  “Sweetie, those men are the best kind.”

  “Darrik.” Josiah’s commanding voice startled us both. “Stop trying to get the clientele laid and get back to work. Wayne needs his music loaded for his routine.”

  “You bet your sweet ass, honey.” Darrik threw back his second shot and rose. “Keep the beers coming to Brandon, here. He’s crashing at my place tonight.”

  “Right,” Josiah said. He held out a big palm. “You know the price for unlimited alcohol here.”

  I fished my keys out of my pocket and handed them over. It was kinda nice to be taken care of for once. “Thanks. Keep my tab open.”

  “You got it.” Josiah tossed the keys into a basket next to the register. “You gunna show off some of your moves tonight?”

  I studied how much beer was left in my bottle. “I might need a couple of these, first.”

  I dug my phone out and opened up the messages. Just fuck it out, he says. I could use a little bit of that right about now. Roaming from
job to job and dropping classes was okay when I was first out of high school, but it’d been five years, and I was still doing the same crap. Five more years, and I’d be knocking on thirty without a thing to show for it. Fuck it out, he says.

  I selected my way into the texts I’d swapped with my boss earlier today. She wanted me to cover the delivery this week. In general, I wasn’t the overtime type, but those tattoo’s and deep voice were looking pretty good at the moment. I took a couple long swigs and studied the screen.

  Carly really wants Wednesday off. Do me a solid and cover the shift?

  I hadn’t replied. That was five hours ago. More beer. I downed the rest of my bottle, and my fingers hoovered over the touch pad. Just fuck it out, he says.

  Fine.

  Sign me up. I’ll do it.

  Chapter One

  Blowing snow flickered in front of the headlights, piling up on the hood and ground below. I shut off my lights, and the side of the building went dark. The flurries appeared as little ghost flakes falling around the car.

  It was going to be a long night. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard, waiting for eleven so I could start my shift. Working graveyards at a truck stop in the middle of nowhere sucked. Truckers kept driving 24/7, so we stayed open for them. The store with its four pumps was right in the middle of County Route 47’s shortcut between the freeways which intersected Nebraska. Besides a few small towns, which didn’t have gas stations for these big rigs, there was nowhere the flannel decked, potbellied guys could stop for fifty miles either way.

  There were nights we’d get busy, mainly weekends when local sports teams crisscrossed the same space between freeways. But, mostly it was the truckers and a variety of travelers and drunks who wanted to stay off the main roads. But, early weekdays were the pits. Tuesday and Wednesday nights were normally dead. I had no idea why. The truckers ran the same schedule all week long – nonstop. Here I was, Tuesday night. It got worse still in late January when it was snowing and the roads were slick. The plow trucks ran over and salted the freeways at a steady pace but left County Route 47 as an afterthought.

  Driving here in what was already coming down had been a chore. Sommersville’s roads had been fairly clear, but the further I drove into the woods leading to the state route, the heavier the snow got. The white snow rushing past my windshield made it look like I had gone into warp speed in the dark night. I had to slow down to thirty-five just to see far enough in front of me to be sure I wouldn’t hit anything. And, it was bound to get worse.

  Eleven o’clock. I pulled my jacket tight and threw open the door. The wind threatened to seep through my sleeves, straight to the newly inked Celtic sun tattoo on my forearm. I’d been so careful with it, applying fresh lotion and a gauze strip just like the artist said.

  He’d babied me a bit. It was kinda annoying, to be honest. I didn’t exactly look like your typical tattoo collector, so I had felt out of place in the parlor. I was probably a good six inches shorter and hundred pounds lighter than most of the guy’s clients. The big dude at the counter had actually checked my ID to make sure I was eighteen. Maybe it was the polo. Who knows, but once he was satisfied that I was, in fact, old enough to drink as well, he continued on to advise me that getting tattoo’s hurt. If the guy wasn’t big enough to crush my skull, I may have considered replying with sarcasm, but I don’t have a death wish.

  It wasn’t easy for me to come up with a few hundred bucks to get the thing etched, but it was worth it. The lines were top notch. I was already tempted to get another. They said I’d get addicted to body art. I hadn’t believed them when I got my first, but after my second, I was starting to see how one could want more and more. It really was an art – beautiful.

  The familiar chime of the front door sounded above me, and I peeled my coat off once inside. The industrial heater on the ceiling blew hot air into my face and brushed away my hair. Time for a haircut. That heater making my hair tickle the top of my ears was always my first clue.

  Carly smiled from behind the counter. She looked bored. “Just in time, Brandon, like always.” She snickered. “Get your ass back here. I wanna go home.”

  “Careful out there. It’s getting bad,” I said, heading to the back counter. I threw my coat over the edge of the backroom door and folded up my long sleeves. “Plows will be busy on the freeways all night. Doubt they’ll get to us until morning.”

  “I figured. You’ll have to put some salt down.” She motioned to the five-gallon bucket underneath the counter full of driveway salt. “We’re also waiting on the delivery truck. He’s hitting the weather and running late.”

  “They’re trying to keep up with deliveries in this blizzard?”

  Carly grabbed her coat. “Don’t be dramatic. It’s not a blizzard. It’s Nebraska. Driver got hung up in Jasper, but he called and said he’d be here within the hour.”

  Great. At least I would have something to do if we were dead tonight. Not that I relished unloading boxes full of mini-bags of potato chips and massive vats of mustard, but it was something to do.

  The delivery truck usually never came while I was on duty. That was an event earlier in the evening that Carly or someone else handled. The company didn’t have a lousy track record or anything. They’d only been late once before about three months ago, and I remembered needing to take inventory at midnight while we got hit by a local volleyball team all bubbly after having won some memorial tournament. I like bubbly girls, just not a dozen of them at once.

  And, damn, what a jerk that delivery guy was. Kind of the cocky bastard type. He wore his grin crooked and he had that confidence that said he knew he was hot. Thin but broad shouldered. Dark hair and a square chine with three days’ worth of stubble. Yeah, he knew he was a looker, and he knew I was looking. Most guys had the good grace to act like they didn’t notice they’d caught me checking out their ass. But not him. That cocky asshole and his crooked grin just smirked the entire time.

  I sighed and slipped the bright red store apron over my head and around my waist then secured my name tag to my chest. “Anything else?”

  “Um, no.” Carly winked. “Just don’t forget to stock the bathrooms.”

  I groaned. Carly knew that was the one thing I couldn’t stand doing around this place. Take out the trash? You betcha. Mop up that coffee spill? On top of it. Clean and stock the bathrooms a few dozen large truckers have trafficked? Rain check. It generally wasn’t even that messy, neither could I call myself a germaphobe – except when it came to bathrooms. Elbow length gloves for me, thank you.

  I grabbed my register drawer from the office and checked in while Carly disappeared into the office with her own drawer. I heard the keys jangle, the door to the safe creak open, and she was back, zipping up her coat and putting up her hood.

  “Well, have a great night.” She waved with a smile.

  “Ha ha, very funny.”

  “Hey, you never know, you might get some late-nighters coming in from the cold.”

  “Yeah, right. I’ll probably just clean all night.”

  Carly gave a thumbs up. “Sounds good. I’m sure Sue wouldn’t mind if she came in to a clean store in the morning.”

  Haha, Carly.

  I returned the most pleasant smile I could – like I really wanted to clean – and gave her a quick wave goodbye as she skipped out the front door, the bells jangling behind her.

  Damn, what was I going to do? Watch the snow fall outside the glass door? There was no way cleaning would take a whole night. Inventory would only take about half an hour — marking the boxes with dates, crossing them off the list, making sure we received what we’d ordered. Most of the computer work was our boss’ job. But, then I’d be able to dink around the store, looking for items to restock. I’d have to make coffee around three or four — not like anyone would drink it. Then, finally make my way to my nemesis – the bathrooms.

  I maneuvered around the counter to the backroom and adjusted the in-store radio. No way was I listening to cou
ntry music all night. Carly could listen to the stuff for hours on end, and Sue thought it a ‘safe’ choice for all age ranges. Besides, who would care what kind of music was playing if no one came in?

  After tuning in the metal station, I strolled back to my spot at the register and leaned back against the counter. I hung there while the gruff DJ interrupted his regular show for a rather chipper newscaster with a brief weather warning.

  “Winter storm watch which was issued for Delard County has been upgraded to a winter storm warning for heavy snow. The county will experience heavy snowfall overnight, accumulating to more than thirteen inches by five a.m., and possibly over eighteen inches in some areas. We are also issuing a winter storm warning for severe icing. Accumulation of ice may down trees and power lines. Electricity or telephone communications may be disrupted, and roads may be impassable for most vehicles. Our plows will be having a hard time keeping up with the snowfall. So, please, stay off the roads except for emergency purposes.”

  Headlights turned into the parking lot. They grew closer, passed the gas pumps, and parked out front with the beams of light shining straight in. A woman and child hurried out of the car and into the store. She wasn’t wearing a hat, and the wind blew her hair in fits as she tucked her chin into her coat.

  The woman fought to hold the door open as her little boy scuttled inside, gusts of icy wind invading the store. The invasion of cold air stung at my skin, and I backed away from the counter. She hauled the door shut behind her and shook the snow off from her coat.

  She looked at me, her eyebrows pressed together, and blew out a whistle. “Jeez, it’s horrible out there.” She was young and attractive and offered an inquisitive smile. “We’re headed west into Wyoming. Know where the nearest hotel is?”

  “In Jasper, about fifty miles down the road,” I answered.

  She kept the smile on her face, but I could hear her cussing under her breath. If it was going to be anything like the weather guy said, I felt bad. “Listen, if you up head back to 174th, that’s the quickest way to get on westbound 94 from here. It’ll take longer, but the roads should be better.”