Page 4 of Skating to Him

“Sounds good.” Rowan held up his hand, flagging down a bartender. “What else besides the shots? Do you guys drink beer?”

“Of course we drink beer.” Throwing me a look, Myles arched a brow.

Rowan ordered our drinks. “So, you guys cruise this place?” He twisted, putting his back to the bar.

“Sometimes.” This was weird and a little awkward. I watched the bartender set our drinks down.

Rowan turned back around and paid. “You guys get the next round.” He held up his shot. “So, we didn’t play U of A today, but?—”

“Fuck U of A.” With a broad grin, Myles held up his shot, tapped it against Rowan’s, and waited.

“Fuck U of A.” I hit my shot against each of theirs, and we downed them, the sugary fruit juice and alcohol mixture gliding down my throat.

Rowan wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Fuck, that’s good, but a few of those and I might start cruising this place myself.” He chuckled.

“Right on.” Myles laughed. “I’d like to see that, eh?”

We picked up our beers and put our backs to the bar, looking out over the crowd.

Rowan leaned closer to me, his breath whispering over my cheek. “So, what sort of guys do you like?”

A shiver played over my skin.Guys like you? Can’t say that. Shrugging a shoulder, I said, “I don’t know. That guy’s hot.” I lifted my chin at a man across the bar, leaning on a pole, his wavy blond hair falling to his bare and muscled shoulders.

“Looks sort of like Rowan.” Myles cackled and drank his beer.

I winced. He was right. “Does not, Cummings. Maybe you need to get your eyes examined.”

“I did.” Leaning over Rowan, Myles said, “And they’re fine.” He straightened, keeping his eyes on the man across the bar. “He is hot though. Do you want him, or can I check him out?”

“You go ahead.” I didn’t want to leave Rowan unattended. I sipped my beer.

“Okay, your loss.” Myles sauntered to the man and struck up a conversation.

Rowan faced me, leaning his hip against the bar. “You and Myles are pretty close. Was there ever any interest?” He studied me as he held his beer to his lips.

“No, we’ve always just been friends.” My gaze dipped to his mouth and up again. “Just because two guys are gay doesn’t mean they automatically want to hook up.” I tsked. I’d heard things like that before.

“Yeah, but Myles is a good-looking guy. If I were gay…” He ticked his head to the side and drank his beer.

Heat filtered through my chest, and I wrinkled my nose. Did that mean he was attracted to Myles in some way and not me? Should I go there? “And what about me?” I popped my eyes open. Fuckin’ A, why did I have to say it out loud?

He bumped off the bar and looked me up and down, nodding and rubbing his chin. “Yeah, I’d say you’re hot.”

My cheeks warmed. He called me hot.He called me hot?“Uh, thank you.” My pulse fluttered as I downed a few gulps of beer. It didn’t mean anything, and we should talk about something else. I ran my gaze over the club, and it landed on an open high-top table tucked away in a corner. “Hey, how about we go grab that table?”

“Sure. But we should do another shot before we grab it.” He waved down the bartender and ordered another round of shots. “Ace isn’t here, and we should have a drink for him, don’t you think?”

“Guess so.” After the bartender dropped off the shots, I paid for them, and we made our way through the growing crowd and then climbed into our chairs.

The DJ took to the stand across the room with neon lips and butterflies spray painted on it, put his headphones on, and started playing louder music.

Thankfully we were far enough away we could still talk. I needed to get to know Rowan better. “So, you’re from Boston?” I picked up my shot.

“Yep, went to Boston College until this year.” He held his shot to me. “Fuck U of A.” A wide smile spread over his mouth.

“Fuck U of A.” With a soft snort, I tapped my shot against his and downed it, then hissed. “If we do more shots, it has to be something else.” All the sugar was a morning headache in the making.

“Okay, maybe we should order a Ward 8 instead of beer.” He drank the rest of his beer down.

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