Page 14 of Game Changer
Scott laughed too. Tommy’s English was excellent.
“I’m gonna get my stuff together,” Scott said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Tommy.”
“Goodnight.”
* * *
Kip scanned the crowded pub until he spotted Shawn sitting alone at a small table. Shawn grinned across the room at him.
“Hey, man,” Shawn said, standing and hugging Kip when he reached the table. “Glad you could make it out.”
“Been around straight people too much lately,” Kip joked, releasing Shawn and settling into the wooden chair across the table from him. It was the same pub they’d been coming to for years—the Kingfisher. It had the same worn, cozy feel of any decades-old English-style pub, with dark wood and dim lighting and beer signs on the walls. A television at the back of the room showed local sports. At a glance it didn’t look like a gay bar at all, or at least not what most straight people probably pictured a gay bar being. But the men sat a little closer, and the bartenders were, in Kip’s opinion, a little hotter. He loved this place.
“We got a cute server,” Shawn said. “You’ll like him.”
“Aw, I can’t compete with you.”
Shawn shook his head and raised his pint glass. “Too clean-cut for me. He’s all yours.”
Shawn was a complicated guy. He was handsome, all dark skin and soft eyes and a warm smile. He was also an impeccable dresser, always looking like a J.Crew catalog model.
He and Kip had fooled around a bit in college. Nothing too serious, but they had both been eager to experiment. Shawn had a thing for bad boys, though. Despite his straitlaced appearance, he had always been drawn to men with tattoos and an air of danger about them. Kip was just an eager-to-please nerd who couldn’t figure his own life out.
Their server stopped by the table, and Shawn hadn’t been kidding. Slim, athletic build and blond hair falling in his face—the guy was exactly Kip’s type.
Kip gave him a flirty smile as he ordered because he couldn’t help himself. He received one in return, and the man introduced himself as Kyle.
Shawn laughed after Kyle left. “Always so fucking smooth.”
“As if,” Kip said. “I’m a mess most of the time.”
“Nah, you’re all charm. That boy is already thinking about telling you when his shift ends.”
Kip looked over his shoulder toward the bar where Kyle was waiting, presumably for Kip’s beer. “Well...”
“But first, we have something to talk about,” Shawn said.
“What’s that?”
“I’ve been thinking about when we were out with Jimmy and Chuck last week.”
“Oh?” Kip could really use that beer.
“First of all, I feel like we maybe ganged up on you when we were—”
“Asking me what the fuck I was doing with my life?”
“Encouragingyou to pursue your dreams.”
“Right.”
Kyle, the wonderful angel, came to the table with Kip’s pint of local red ale. As he leaned to place the glass on the table, he took the opportunity to rest a hand on Kip’s shoulder. Kip felt the tips of his fingers brush the back of his neck. “Let me know if you need anything else,” Kyle said, the double meaning lost on no one.
“Look,” Kip said to Shawn, after enjoying a parting smile from Kyle, “I know you guys just—”
“I have a proposition for you,” Shawn interrupted.
Kip raised an eyebrow. “Those never ended particularly well before.”
