Moments in Time (17 page)

I scanned the group as Dorothy kept talking, detailing how specials would be announced, how black was the only option for pants, how lateness wouldn’t be tolerated. It was a lot to take in but didn’t sound too terribly different from working at Gino’s. I was used to big crowds. I knew how to deal with customers. Besides, Tanner had said he’d show me the ropes.

“One more thing,” Dorothy said. “A few changes in the lineup. The downside of hiring Manhattan’s beautiful people to work for you is that sometimes they get better offers. Scotty and Marie will not be joining us this summer, so I’ve done some juggling. Jane, you’re going to be playing hostess three nights a week. And Tanner, you’re going to Oz.”

Shit.

Oz was the club next door to Dorothy’s. The two establishments were separated by a winding yellow brick path and a sea of flowers I was guessing were supposed to look like poppies. Tanner said Oz was one of the island’s premier hot spots and was one of the wildest clubs on the island, apart from the bars in The Pines and Cherry Grove, Fire Island’s two gay towns. He’d said we’d hang out at Oz after my birthday. He’d only been twenty-one for a month and a half, and I wouldn’t turn for another three weeks.

He shot me a glance and shrugged. I wondered what he’d be doing there. I didn’t even know if they served food.

“Collin, Jason, let’s get you settled with the menu. You’ve got a lot to learn. Questions, ask the kitchen staff. There’s a quiz in an hour—not kidding. Then one of the servers will take you around and show you how we set tables, where we bus dishes, all that good stuff.”

She snapped her fingers again and ushered me and the other new guy to a table on the side of the room. She handed us each a menu, then rattled off a list of house favorites, tapping each section with a bright orange fingertip before leaving with a swish of her dress. She headed straight for Tanner, who threw me a small wave before she sent him packing out the side exit.

“How’d you land this job?” the guy asked.

I wasn’t sure how to answer. What did I call Tanner? My roommate? My boyfriend? While my brain raced for an answer, the guy kept talking.

“My friend Ashley got me in. She’s the short blonde.” He pointed to a girl with a pixie cut who was folding napkins on the side of the room. “She’s worked here two years. I bussed tables at the Seaside Inn last summer, but my ex still works there and I didn’t really feel like dealing with seeing him every day, if you know what I mean.”

Him? His ex was a guy? I sucked in a deep breath. “My roommate, uh, boyfriend, worked here last summer. We go to school up in Connecticut. He talked to Dorothy for me. She hired me over the phone.”

“Cool.” He seemed unfazed by everything I’d babbled out. “I’m Jason, by the way.”

“Collin.” He shook my hand. I tried not to stare at the tattoos that twisted from his wrist all the way up his arm.

“So which one’s your boyfriend?” His pale gray eyes flitted around the room, then landed on mine. His gaze was open, friendly.

“The one that just left to go work at Oz.”

“Oh wow. He’ll be raking in the bucks. I hear the bartenders there clean up.”

“Bartender?”

“Yep. Before you got here, I heard Dorothy talking about how one of their bartenders quit this morning. Modeling gig at some magazine. Oz is known for their hot staff. That’s why they make so much in tips.”

Jesus. Not that that should have surprised me. If Tanner was my bartender, I’d probably hand over my paycheck to get his attention. My stomach wiggled in a way that made me wish I’d eaten less breakfast.

J
ASON WAS definitely the highlight of working at Dorothy’s. The other servers were nice, but it was clear they’d worked together before and had already formed cliques. With Jason and me as the new guys, we were left to do a lot of the grunt work. Making salad dressings, restocking the walk-in with seafood and salads, precutting the cakes, gathering up the laundry. We were earning our spot on the floor, working our way toward tables in the better sections of the restaurant. Having him to talk to made it all bearable.

Our first major task was learning the menu, which included passing the short quiz on the first day and a more elaborate one at the end of the week. Not only did Dorothy expect us to have the menu and all possible specials memorized, we needed to know what allergens they contained, how they were prepared, and what wine we should recommend with them.

I wasn’t the only one with homework either. Tanner came home from his first night at Oz with the master list of Great and Powerful Concoctions—their signature drinks, which he needed to know how to prepare for an on-site exam before his first shift behind the bar.

Luckily the house had a pretty well stocked liquor cabinet, so all we had to do was buy some juices, milk, cherries, and spices. Tanner’s goal was to have us all order off the menu, and then he’d have to see if he could remember and prepare the proper drinks. Needless to say no one balked at this except Suzanne, who whined that she couldn’t drink but perked up as soon as he offered to make her a special nonalcoholic drink instead.

Playing Tanner’s assistant was my job. I liked watching him toss the cocktail shaker around as he practiced his routine. In no time he was serving up drinks with a flourish. I had no trouble at all imagining him charming customers.

All the cocktails had goofy names that related to Oz. Ruby Slippers, Glinda’s Wand, Flying Monkey, Oil Can. I’d quizzed him every night for a week. I knew he had it all memorized—he just needed to see if he could perform under pressure.

I invited Jason over. Another warm body to try out the drinks. Plus I had the feeling he was lonely. He jumped at the chance to come to our house, which made me glad I’d asked him. No one should spend their summer feeling lonely. I was grateful I wasn’t. Besides, I thought it was possible he’d hook up with Bryan.

Bryan had a lull between gigs and had been lolling around the house for days. I’d only noticed one morning when a guy slunk out of his room and left the house. Other than that he’d either been alone or he’d taken to dating ninjas. With Bryan the latter wasn’t out of the question, but I still thought he might give Jason a shot. They were both tattooed musicians. That should have been enough for them to at least get a conversation going. God knows they were both attractive enough. Bryan with his pouty Jared Leto look and Jason a dead ringer for Adam Levine. Maggie was going to be beside herself with two gorgeous guys so close but yet so gay.

Jason walked home from work with me the night Tanner was going to do his practice run. He seemed nervous, asking if he should go home and change first, then wanting to know who was going to be there.

“So did you live with your boyfriend at school too?” he asked.

“Yeah, we were roommates for seven months before we got involved.”

“Oh wow. I assumed you were a couple first, then decided to live together.”

“Nope. I didn’t even know he was bi. He thought I was straight too. Then everything just… clicked.”

Jason nodded. “That’s cool. It’s good he was able to get you the job too. They’re not easy to come by.”

“Yeah. And I was desperate to earn as much money as possible.”

Jason’s eyebrow rose. “For school?”

I felt embarrassed admitting the reason. “When I came out to my mom, she disowned me. No contact. No more tuition dollars. So the more I earn this summer the better. Thank God it’s my last year, but let’s face it, a bachelor’s degree in social work isn’t exactly going to land me a job that pays big bucks. I’m gonna have loans coming out of my ass for the next few decades.”

Jason nodded. “I hear you. Same thing happened to me, only it was my freshman year. I’ve been on my own for the past two years.”

I’d never met anyone else who’d been kicked out. “Do you still talk to them?”

“Me? The family disgrace? No. They can’t have that. My father is a Conservative rabbi. I’m the shameful outcast. There’s nothing to talk about. As he sees it, he has no son anymore.”

“I’m sorry. That sucks.”

He shrugged. “Your mom sounds a lot like him. Let me guess, Catholic?”

I nodded. We walked in silence. He knew what it was like. The humiliation and judgment. The rejection. “Do you have brothers or sisters?”

“Only sisters, and they’re all the do-as-you’re-told type. Not one of them stood by me. It was more ‘Why are you doing this to us? Can’t you just be normal?’” Jason scrubbed his hand through his hair. “I don’t do normal. What you see is what you get.”

“Normal’s overrated in my book. You’re much better off. Hey, this is our place.” I headed up the sand-and-gravel driveway, but Jason paused. “You sure it’s okay you’re bringing me? I don’t want to be a fifth wheel or anything.”

I laughed and grabbed his arm, pulling him up onto the deck. “You’ll be fine. Trust me.” I held open the door, motioning him in. “Welcome to the Nut House.”

I
INTRODUCED Jason to Maggie, Dex, and Bryan who were hanging out in the front room. I wondered where Wendy was. Last I’d heard she was planning to catch the ferry after work. Suzanne and Bill had sent word that they were spending the weekend in Manhattan. I headed to the kitchen in search of Tanner. He was studying the recipe book more intently than I’d ever seen him study anything for school. I loved the serious look on his face.

“Time’s up,” I said. “You either know it or you don’t. Ready for me to bring everyone in?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” There was no one else in the kitchen, so I gave him a hug and then a kiss, and he seemed more relaxed.

“You’ve got this.”

“Thanks, Collin.”

And he did. No matter what we ordered, he mixed it up right. Within a half hour, everyone was on their second cocktail and having a great time. Bryan and Jason seemed to hit it off. They took charge of the music and had a steady stream of tunes blaring. I decided with all the drinking going on, people should probably eat something too, so I mixed up some dips and chips and made some quick wraps—turkey with coleslaw and cranberry mayo, and roast beef with horseradish sauce and spicy pickles.

“Let’s go eat on the beach.” Maggie suggested, packing the food into a big picnic basket. “Tanner, make a few pitchers, and we’ll take the plastic glasses out with us. Please.”

She’d given him her best puppy-dog eyes, so he’d mixed up another batch each of Ruby Slippers and Glinda’s Wands. Those were the biggest hits. I loaded ice and the plastic glasses into one of the big coolers along with the pitchers. Tanner grabbed a few blankets off the bench by the door, and we made our way out to the beach.

Bryan brought a keg speaker with him and kept the music going. It was a perfect summer night. The moon was high and bright enough, we could easily see well enough to eat and keep pouring drinks. I’d been out on the beach nearly every night since we’d arrived, but that night there seemed to be more stars out than usual.

Tanner still looked tense, so I offered to go for a walk down the beach with him. We kicked off our shoes, and he cuffed up his jeans. Then we strolled along the damp sand right at the point where the water licked at our feet every wave or two. The surf was gentle and warm from the calm weather we’d had all week.

“You nervous about your exam?” I asked.

“A little. The other bartenders are so much more experienced. I feel like a dork half the time.”

I hadn’t seen this side of him very often. I was usually the worried one. “You need to chill. People go to bars to wind down and stare at hot bartenders. You’ve got half that taken care of just by showing up and being you.”

“Thanks.” He turned and started walking backward, facing me.

“You’ll have girls all over you. And guys.” My stomach clenched at the thought.

“You’re kinda hot when you’re jealous.”

I kicked water at him, and he jumped out of the way, laughing.

“If we didn’t know each other and you came into the bar, would you stare at me?”

“Absolutely not,” I said.

He gave an indignant grunt.

I chuckled. “I’d do everything I could not to notice you at all. Then I’d go home and spend the whole night masturbating, thinking about you.”

He stopped short and I banged into him. “God, I love you.”

Hearing those words from him sent a boulder-sized lump straight to my throat. My eyes prickled, and I knew if I tried to say anything, I’d botch it completely. Instead I grabbed a handful of his shirt and yanked him close so hard, he almost tripped on the uneven sand. I kissed him long and deep, gripping my other hand against the base of his neck, possessively, fiercely. A kiss I’d have kept going all night if I hadn’t heard shrieks from in the water. Maggie and Dex had decided it would be a good idea to have a splash fight and were now wrestling around in the surf together like drunken otters.

“Do you think we should go get them? They could drown.”

Tanner shook his head, his brow tensed in a straight line. I knew what he was thinking—Wendy. She’d missed the last ferry and wasn’t coming out until the next morning. Dex and Maggie appeared to be making no effort to get out of the water. Was she on top of him? Were her legs wrapped around his waist? Wait—was that a kiss? Oh fuck.

“Dammit, Dex,” Tanner whispered, running both hands through his hair.

“Shit. Are you going to say something to Wendy?”

“I don’t know.” He sighed. “I don’t think so. The last time something like this happened and I told her, she pulled a shoot-the-messenger routine and didn’t talk to me for six months.”

“Did she not want to know?”

“No, I think in the long run she did, but at the time it was easier to be mad at me than at the guy. I don’t know. Women are weird that way.”

“So you’re not going to say anything?”

“I’ll keep an eye on it. But for now, no.”

“I suppose that means you don’t want me to say anything either?”

“I can’t tell you what to do, but I can warn you that she’ll get really pissed off at you and may not even believe you.”