Chapter 2

An ache spread in his chest. He’d missed him. A lot

Lukas had pulled away, and Stacy had glared every time Kace had dropped by their house, so he’d stopped doing it. He suspected she was giving Lukas shit for him showing up unannounced.

Luke sighed. “Not today.”

Fair enough. “I’m off to work in a while.”

“Without clothes?”

Kace looked down at himself and scratched the hair on his chest. “No, I was about to jump into the shower.”

“I can scrub your back.” Luke wiggled his eyebrows, then looked as if he was going to be sick.

“Are you going to puke? I don’t want vomit all over my place.”

Luke stumbled again and put a hand against the wall in the narrow hallway. “No. Got a little dizzy, is all.”

“Yeah?” Kace grabbed his shoulders and steered him toward the kitchen. He pushed him down on a chair, poured a big glass of water, then a cup of coffee, and placed both on the table in front of Lukas.

He sipped on his cooling coffee with a grimace, placed the cup in the sink, and grabbed a bucket out of the cleaning slash linen closet and put by Luke’s feet. “If you’re going to be sick, use that.” He pointed at it. “I’m going to shower.”

“Can I come with you to work?” Luke eyed the coffee Kace had given him.

“I think it’s best you stay here. Put on a movie and relax on the sofa. Don’t touch my booze, and in a couple of hours you should try to eat something.”

Luke deflated before his eyes. “Will you be gone for long?” He avoided eye contact, and Kace frowned. What was going on?

“No, it’s Monday. We close at one.”

“It’s not four yet. One is long.”

Normally, they were open till three, so one was an early night for Kace.

* * * *

“What’s up with you today?” Kayla, one of his younger co-workers, gave him a narrow-eyed look.

Kace poured a drink for a guy he’d never seen before, handed it over, and took his payment before he turned to Kayla. “Nothing. Lukas, a friend, showed up on my doorstep, drunk as a skunk, right before I left.”

“Oh, Luke is back?” Angel, a swishy man who’d worked there almost as long as Kace had, leaned against the bar.

Back? “He’s most likely passed out on my sofa right now.”

Angel grinned. “Too bad, I was hoping he’d show.”

He was? “Why?”

“It’s always fun to watch.” Angel grinned, grabbed a tray with drinks Kayla had prepared and walked over to a table. His ass swayed suggestively in tight black pants.

Kace grinned. Angel was fully aware of what he was doing, and while Kace would never have an affair at his workplace, he could still look.

“That man is such a tease.” Kayla groaned and reached for a glass underneath the bar top. Kace chuckled.

It took almost half an hour before Angel had time to stop to talk again. “So when will Luke come to visit us?”

Kace shook his head. “I have no idea.”

“It’s been ages since he was here. You’d think he didn’t like us anymore.”

Pouring a beer for Caleb, the owner of the restaurant across the street, Kace hid his face. Lukas used to drop by, he’d known the names of everyone Kace worked with, but he hadn’t been around in a long time. People had left and new ones had arrived. Angel, Logan, and Megan remained, Kace suspected they always would. Like him, they’d been here for years and liked what they did. Logan owned the club, so he doubted he’d go anywhere, but the students came and went. They worked extra while studying or took a year off before they went back to studying again.

“Trouble?” Caleb gave him a steady look as he accepted the glass.

“Nah. A friend showed up right as I was getting ready to come here.”

“Luke, yeah, I heard.” He nodded at Angel.

Right, Caleb knew who Lukas was. “Yeah.” Kace sighed. Caleb always had a calming effect on him. They were much alike—calm and quiet, and while Kace enjoyed chatting with Angel and the others, it was freeing to talk to someone who showed little reaction. “He’s been fighting with Stacy.” And had kissed him.

“The girlfriend who hates you?”

“She doesn’t.” Did she?Hate was a strong word.

“No? The girlfriend who stole Luke, then?”

Kace shrugged. In the beginning, he’d been happy Luke had found someone. Happy he would stay in the city. There had been a few years when Lukas had lived in Mont. It had almost killed Kace.