Page 8 of Play to Win
Ethan chuckled to himself as he used a cloth to wipe the spots of the bar where nobody sat. Monday nights were pretty slow for them when it wasn’t football season. Noah Jordan, the marketing guru for Game Changers, was trying to come up with special events that would bring customers into the bar on a daily basis. The manager, Delano “Del” Greer, thought the idea was too fancy-schmancey, as he’d called it. Men wanted things simple, beer, wings and sports on television. Noah disagreed and brought up a very valid point during their monthly poker game and business meeting. His point was that menandwomen liked sports, beer and wings, but women also liked wine, salads and internet access, which was why it was a good idea to have an entertainment spot with a wide range of offerings for both sexes. Ethan agreed with Noah. After that, the poker game had turned to grumbles, accusations of cheating and more debate about men and women. It was one of the moments that Ethan felt glad to be home.
Six friends that met under less than perfect circumstances—they’d all stayed at the Grace House for Boys for one reason or another at the same time—had grown up, went their separate ways and come back together again. A year ago, Ethan would’ve never thought that would happen, but it had because as his father used to say, “shit happens”. As it had when they were teenagers and ended up at the House together, life altering events in each of their lives once again forced them to change course. Now, Del, his twin brother Delancey “Lance” Greer, Jeret McCoy, Noah Jordan, Rochester “Rock” Patterson and Ethan were back together again. Brothers, as they called each other, had come home promising that this new life was a permanent venture. Game Changers was the place for second chances and to prove a point to the people in Providence who once thought they’d amount to nothing.
“Sounds like one hell of a bachelor party,” Del said.
He was sitting a few seats away from Rod at the bar, flipping through an overstuffed spiral notebook. Ethan picked up the empty glass in front of Del and refilled it with Sprite. Del was a former DEA agent and didn’t believe in drinking alcoholic beverages while on duty—or working at the bar. He was also a workaholic, which was why at nine at night he was still here going over his notes about the marketing plan Noah had given them last week.
“It was!” Rod exclaimed, his words a little slurred. “Tell ‘em, Ethan. He was there, he saw all that action.”
At the mention of his name, Ethan slowly set Del’s glass on a new red napkin. Del lifted his gaze from his notebook to find Ethan’s in question.
“Wait, did I just hear that Ethan got some action?” Jeret, asked as he was bringing the first pot of coffee out from the kitchen.
A former Army Ranger, Jeret was tall, fit and dressed like he was on a ranch in Texas instead of just an hour away from the nation’s capital. He set the pot of coffee on the warmer and switched it on.
“I delivered the beer,” Ethan said, hoping to head off any further discussion.
Especially since what Rod had just alluded to was an all-out misrepresentation of how Ethan had actually spent his Friday night. And the rest of his weekend for that matter. As much as he’d wanted her to, Portia Merin hadn’t joined him in his bed—or hers—that night. And the next morning when he’d hit the gym just after dawn, he’d overworked himself on every machine in the place because he’d been still wishing like hell she had. By this morning, Ethan had told himself he was over it. Sleeping with her might’ve been nice, but he hadn’t, and that wasn’t the end of the world.
“You were in a place where all this sex was going on and you didn’t partake?” Jeret continued, a grin spreading quickly across his face.
Jeret didn’t smile or laugh often, not since returning to Providence, but when he did, it reminded Ethan of old times.
“Nobody was having sex,” Ethan said, a little too forcefully. “At least not that I saw. There was some kind of fetish conference going on, so there were a lot of…sexual things there.”
Including the girl that used to get teased relentlessly by the kids at school, some of whom, Ethan was ashamed that he’d called friends.
“There was even a woman there teaching people how to give good blow jobs.” Rod was determined to tell the whole story. He closed his eyes and made a moaning sound. “I sure wish I could’ve been in that room to see what tips she was giving.”
“Why?” Del’s expression was deadpan. “You wanna learn how to give good blow jobs?”
Ethan grinned.
“Not funny, Del.” A tinge of irritation marked Rod’s drunken tone and he motioned for Ethan to bring him another shot.
“Coffee time,” Ethan announced and tossed the towel he’d been using over his shoulder as he poured the cup of coffee.
He heard Rod grumbling while he set the coffee pot back onto the warmer and watched his frowning face as he carried the cup to him. When he set the cup down on the bar top Rod frowned and Ethan smirked. “Enjoy.”
The last thing he wanted to hear about was blow jobs or sex classes or anything that circled his thoughts back to seeing Portia after all these years. He walked back to where Jeret was still standing across from Del and dropped the towel he’d been using to clean onto the bar top next to him. “It’s quitting time for me.”
“Got a curfew?” Del asked without looking up from his notebook again.
Ethan shook his head. “You’re full of jokes tonight.” Even though Del wasn’t usually the jokester. Of the twins, Lance was definitely the more laid back and fun-loving one, while Del was serious morning, noon and night.
“I’ve been here since eight this morning, doing inventory until eleven when we opened,” Ethan told him. “Sunday’s and Monday’s late shift is for you, Jeret and Lance.”
“Who made that schedule?” Jeret grumbled.
“He did,” Ethan said pointing a thumb over his shoulder at Del. It was one of the many things Del kept in an orderly fashion and because it worked in his favor at the moment, he wasn’t about to complain. “See you two in the a.m.” He kept on walking toward the end of the bar closest to the door. There was a hot shower and a cold beer waiting for him at his apartment.
“Early,” Del shouted to him. “Noah heard from the PR company about advertising, so we’re gonna go over that before we open.”
“Yeah, I got the text.” Ethan pushed through one of the two glass doors that were the front entrance of the bar.
There was another set of double doors that opened directly to the parking lot, but he rarely left through them. He always parked his truck at the corner out front so he could see it from his station at the bar. They didn’t get a lot of car thefts in Providence, but there’d been a couple of occasions when patrons from the bar had too many drinks and got a little rowdy upon leaving.
He climbed into the cab of his midnight blue Expedition and checked his phone. His glided a finger over the screen to check for emails and/or text messages, there were none. Just as he was about to feel a spurt of disappointment he grinned at his own foolishness, he hadn’t given Portia his contact info the other night, so how could he be expecting her to reach out to him? That was something else he kicked himself for the last two days. He’d let her walk out of that room without trying to get any contact information from her. A few years ago, that would’ve been totally unlike Ethan’s charming way with women. A few years ago, he hadn’t been involved with Stacey either.
