Love on the Rocks (Bar Tenders) (3 page)

“Clapham.”

Justin opened his mouth to quip,
I’m sorry
, but Tara stirring in her seat distracted him.

“’M goin’ to the loo,” she slurred, staggering off in the direction of the toilets.

She was so drunk. Justin knew he wouldn’t be able to leave her anywhere like that. Even if he put her on a night bus back north, she’d probably fall asleep and end up in Edgeware. Thinking quickly—considering he was drunk too—Justin made Yena an offer. “We live in Camden,” he said. “Well, Chalk Farm. Come home with us, I’ll show you a good time. My bed is
really
comfy.”

Oh, the thought of bed was so appealing. Justin longed for his bed. The thought of Yena in his bed with him was even more yummy. He watched the man’s reaction, and got more nervous every second that Yena remained silent.

When Yena smiled but shook his head, Justin’s hopes sank. Why wouldn’t he say yes?

“You’re drunk,” Yena said softly.

“I’m not
that
drunk,” Justin insisted. “Anyway, I come with a guarantee.” He smirked at his own joke.

Yena didn’t seem amused. “That’s nice, Justin. Look, you should know, I’m not into N.S.A.”

Justin blinked in confusion. “Huh?”

“N.S.A.” Yena repeated, now looking embarrassed. “No strings attached. I’m not into that. Maybe you can wait for Eric.” An edge crept into his voice. “I’m sure
he’d
be interested.”

Lost for words, Justin wasn’t sure what to do. Yena must have taken his silence a different way, as he marched off, leaving Justin alone at the bar.

What the fuck?

Justin was still trying to figure it out by the time Tara made her way back. “Justin, are we leaving now?” she asked, stifling a yawn.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Guess so.”

It took a while to locate Tara’s handbag, which she’d left back in the toilets. When Justin looked around for Yena, he couldn’t see him.

Damn.

“Taxi?” Tara asked, holding on to Justin’s arm for support. Justin felt a bit wobbly himself.

“We can’t afford a taxi, love.” Justin held the door for her. “Let’s get onto Oxford Street and find a bus.”

Outside in the small, dark street, Justin and Tara found themselves among three of the bar staff, all having cigarettes. Justin’s hopes rekindled when he spotted Yena, and Yena definitely spotted him. Want surged through Justin, and he gave in to it. Leaving Tara propped against the wall, Justin stepped up to Yena. “At least give me a hug,” he pleaded.

Surprisingly, Yena broke into a smile. “Sure.” He flicked his cigarette away and held out his arms. Justin bore down on Yena, who was a few inches shorter than him, and enveloped him in his arms. The warmth and hardness of another male body felt so good. Justin turned his head in to nuzzle Yena’s neck, and his face was tickled by the long dark curls of his hair. He smelled
amazing
.

Justin longed to kiss him. He pulled back just enough to look into Yena’s face. Dark eyes met his, glittering black. Yena didn’t move, he simply watched Justin, as if waiting for him to do something. It was then Justin realized that Yena’s hands were around his shoulders, and their bodies still pressed close.

It felt
good
, and he wanted more. “Come home with me,” he murmured.

Yena looked away, a frown knotting his brows. Was he annoyed? Justin didn’t understand, but he felt the opportunity escaping him as Yena pushed him off.

“Night, Justin,” he said, somewhat huffy.

“Er, night.” Justin retreated with his tail between his legs. He went back to Tara and linked her arm through his, and hurried them away before he could embarrass himself any further.

“S
O
!” T
AM
declared, dropping his bag onto the rehearsal room’s carpeted floor. “Who shagged who? What happened? Tell me all about it.”

Justin sat on a chair, foot up on his knee as he laced and buckled one platform boot. “Don’t get excited,” Justin said. “Nothing happened. Me and Tara went home.”

Tam raised an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”

“Nothing happened!” Justin groaned. He dropped his booted foot to the floor with a thud and went to lace up the next.

Tam stared at him. “Oh. You’re
serious
? I leave you alone with a whole bar full of hotties, and you’re telling me you didn’t shag
anyone
? I am so disappointed.”

Justin frowned at him. “I was super drunk, all right? I think….” He winced. “Okay, I
know
I annoyed him a bit. I may have been a tad pushy.”

“Who?” Tam picked up his CD case and began flicking through the music choices.

“Yena,” Justin said, still loving the way that name rolled off his tongue.

Tam chuckled. “Ah, the Marc Bolan one.”

“Oh!” Justin raised a hand as realization hit home. “
Thank
you! I’ve been trying to think why he looked so familiar. Marc Bolan.
Shit
, he does look a bit like him, doesn’t he?”

“Mmm.” Tam flashed a wicked grin and held up a T-Rex CD. “
Get It On
?”

Justin gave him a withering look. “I thought you wanted to rehearse the Goldfrapp song?”

“Spoilsport.” Tam leafed through more CDs. “Let’s get this right, then. I want to debut it on Friday at Glam Slam.”

“Friday?” Justin asked, panicking at how soon that was. “But, Tam—”

“We’ll be fine.” Tam marched to the stereo and put the CD on. “You’ve been listening to it, right?”

“Yes, of course. But we haven’t figured out the routine yet,” Justin complained. “And I thought it was getting mixed into the rest of our set?”

“It will.” Tam had already pulled off his trainers, replacing them with platform boots as the song
Ooh La La
started. Justin did his stretches while he waited for Tam to buckle up.

The room they used wasn’t exactly a dance studio; it was a beer-stained function room above an old pub. The concessions were that there was a reasonably large mirror on the main wall, enough for them to see themselves, the stereo worked, and the room was cheap. That was all they needed.

“Right, watch me.” Tam had put the song on loop and waited for it to start again as he got into place. “Usual starting positions.”

The song started, and Justin watched Tam work through the routine he’d devised. It never failed to amaze him how quickly Tam could come up with ideas; all Justin had to do was follow along, which he found easy enough. Because of the tight, flamboyant costumes they’d be wearing and the fact they often sang along, there wasn’t too much movement involved. Mostly it was about moving in time, hip thrusts, and pointing dramatically. Justin was a pro at that.

Tam put Justin through his paces and, after several rounds of
Ooh La La’
s, was satisfied they could include the song in their set for Friday, at their regular cabaret slot. “I’ve been working on the costumes,” Tam said excitedly during a break. “I’ve made white and silver neck ruffles. We’re going to look fucking amazing.”

“Thought we were doing white and blue?” Justin asked.

Tam shook his head in response and took a long swig from his water bottle. Obviously, he’d changed his mind, but as he was the creative force behind the act, Justin let him get on with it.

His mind wandered, and once again Justin found himself thinking about Yena. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize it at the time,” he said, more to himself.

“Hm?”

“That he looked like Marc Bolan.”

“Oh, him again.” Tam smirked, then got to his feet. “Why don’t we book ourselves into their cabaret schedule? Then you can shake your thing in front of him.”

Justin couldn’t help a laugh. “I don’t know, mate. What if he hates cabaret? He seemed quite… shy, don’t you think?”

“If he’s a secret ABBA hater, then you want nothing to do with him!” Tam declared.

Justin shook his head. “You’re still not over that one date who didn’t want to listen to ABBA?”

“No!” Tam laughed. “But how can you hate ABBA? If they hate ABBA, they’ve got no soul.”

“Yeah, well.” Justin laughed along too. “Not everyone
gets
disco.”

Tam repeated, “No soul, Justin!”

They did the rehearsal, although Tam did have to snap at Justin a few times to command his attention. Justin couldn’t help it; Tam had put images in his mind—first, of a glammed-up Yena with glitter on his cheeks, wearing a feather boa and playing a guitar. Yes, he’d make a beautiful glam boy. Second, now Justin was fantasizing about rocking up to Foxy’s in his stage gear, dressed to the nines, and this time when he asked Yena to come home with him, he’d get a definite
yes
.

That would be good. Better than good. Justin didn’t want to admit to anyone that he’d dreamt about it, booze-laden dreams full of heavy kissing and passionate fucking. Seemed his mind had been determined to make up for the fact that Justin’s body hadn’t gotten laid that night.

Was it worth another go? Sure, he’d been turned down before, and normally he’d be feeling the urge to move on to someone new by now. Instead he was daydreaming over the bartender from Saturday night.

Which was ridiculous.

Justin moved in the wrong direction and knocked into Tam. “Justin!” Tam grabbed his shoulders and swiveled him around. “Left, Justin!
Left
, for fuck’s sake!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Justin hurried stage left.

Maybe he should just forget about it altogether, forget about Yena.

Chapter Three

J
USTIN
BRACED
himself. He stood at the top of the small street in Soho that led down to Foxy’s cocktail bar. He was beginning to feel like a fool. Since meeting Yena on that Saturday nearly two weeks ago, he’d already been back to Foxy’s once, last Thursday night, as he hadn’t been working.

Neither had Yena; his absence from the bar had been incredibly annoying. Eric hadn’t been there either, so Justin had had one drink by himself, asking a member of staff for details of the venue upstairs, as a way to pretend he wasn’t really just stalking one of their bar staff.

So
embarrassing.

Now he was back again, ready for another round of embarrassment, served hot. His better sense demanded that he call it a night and go home, spend his night off rehearsing the routine Tam had worked so hard on. They hadn’t been able to debut
Ooh La La
last week because Justin couldn’t concentrate. Tam wanted to try for the coming weekend instead.

Go home and rehearse, Justin.
This is beyond ridiculous
.

His feet walked him to Foxy’s.
Oh, well. Here we go
. Justin’s heart picked up as he rounded the corner.
Almost there
.

As Foxy’s loomed into view, he took a deep breath, telling himself he could do this, he could. Justin went to open the door and almost smacked into it. The heavy, glass-plated door was locked.

Oh
.

Justin definitely felt like a fool. He checked his watch. Nearly four o’clock. What time did they open?

The sound of keys being turned in the lock and the door opening was his answer. Justin moved aside, but whoever opened it was aware he was on the other side, and opened it carefully. Yena stood there, looking lovely in his form-fitting black shirt, open low at the collar. In the daylight, Justin saw his skin was indeed a rich tan, making him look even more delicious than Justin remembered.

An amused smile was on his lips. “Justin, right? Did you want a job, or something? No one’s this eager to get in before we open.”

“Hah!” Justin barely held back his nervous laugh. “I’m good for a job, thanks all the same.”

“Just eager for cocktails?”

“Er, yeah.”

The smile stayed on Yena’s face as he opened the other door. “Well, do me a favor while you’re here. Hook that door back, please?”

“Sure thing.” Justin helped secure the doors and followed Yena inside. The place was empty and music pulsed quietly through the venue. “Er, am I the first person in?”

“Yes.” Yena smiled again before escaping behind his bar, putting an obstacle between them, Justin noted. “It’ll fill up soon. Did you want a drink?”

“Umm, well….” Justin’s heart began thudding. If they were alone, now was a perfect time to do this. He didn’t want to hang around, especially if Yena’s colleagues would be appearing soon. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh?”

Yena stood in front of him, but far enough away that Justin felt the need to step closer to the bar. He tapped his fingers on the polished wood and addressed the bar mats as he said, “Umm, I… that is,
sober
Justin would like to ask you on a date… er, of your choice. I mean, you would pick what we do, or where we go. So….” His face was rapidly heating, so Justin added quickly, “Say yes, ’cause I don’t do this very often.” He risked a glance up, nervous because Yena was staring at him like he’d grown a second head. “Er, shall I take your silence as yes, or…?”

Yena seemed to snap out of his shock, and he let out a brief laugh. He didn’t sound particularly
amused
. “Why?” he asked. “You know I won’t sleep with you on the first date, right?”

In his nervous state, Justin instinctively tried for charm, flashing a winning smile. “How many dates will it take, then?”

An incredulous look passed over Yena’s pretty face, and then he shook his head and made to turn away. “You don’t get it,” he said quietly, picking up a tray of glasses. “There’s no guarantee. It doesn’t work like that.”

He walked away, but Justin followed him along the bar. “I’m… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. It was just a joke.”

The look Yena flashed him prompted Justin’s next question.

“Are you actually single?”

Yena laughed and stooped to deliver his tray to a glass washer. He slammed the door shut and kept his back to Justin as he started the machine. “I’m sure you’re rolling in offers, Justin. Why don’t you ask someone else out?”

Justin pressed on, leaning over the bar. “If you’re single, come on a date with me. I get it, I do. I was only kidding before. Let’s just hang out. No guarantees, no expectations. Just a date. I promise you’ll enjoy it.”