Read Love on the Rocks (Bar Tenders) for Free Online Page A

to study him a moment, then asked, “What did you do at Uni?”
    “Art.” Chuckling, Justin shook his head. “I should’ve done something else, really. But my mum’s an art teacher. She just told me to get a degree, she didn’t care what subject. I think she wants me to be a teacher later on, like her.”
    “Do you want to be?”
    “Hah!” Justin laughed. “I’m not good with kids. I think they should be kept on leashes.”
    Yena grinned. “You could teach older students.”
    “Oh, I dunno.” Justin shrugged, then took a big gulp of wine. “Maybe. I’ll think about it all later. It felt like I was in education forever . Now I’m having fun.”
    The waitress swept in with their food. Justin noted that his salad was enormous, and even had bruschetta pieces in it. The extra bruschetta he’d ordered was also a generous portion. After being offered black pepper and parmesan cheese, Justin sipped his wine while he waited for the waitress to depart. Yena thanked her before she left and gave her a smile.
    He had a gorgeous smile, Justin thought. “Your parents must be a pretty hot couple,” he blurted out.
    Yena looked at him in surprise. “Excuse me?”
    Uh…. That didn’t sound right. Justin tried to explain, “I mean, they must look pretty good. You obviously inherited good genes, all dark hair, and skin, and….” The look on Yena’s face halted Justin’s words. “Er… I’m trying to say you’re hot.” He swallowed. “That probably wasn’t the best way to go about it.”
    Now his face was flaming up, and he felt light-headed. Although that could’ve been the wine.
    Yena laughed briefly, though it sounded nervous to Justin’s ears. “You don’t have to try and charm me, you know. I’d rather you didn’t, anyway.”
    “Huh?” Justin was confused. “I’m not, I….” Huh. He thinks I’m bullshitting him . “Look, Yena, I’m not trying to lay it on here, this is just how I am. I can’t help it. If I want to say something, I’ll say it. And I know I’m probably like, visually… er….” Justin winced as he fought for the right word. Damn all that wine. “Er, visually oriented, or whatever… but I was brought up to appreciate beautiful things. I think you’re super-hot. That’s all I wanted you to know.”
    Justin looked up, searching Yena’s face, but Yena looked away. He shifted in his seat like he wanted to get away. Or at least, that’s what Justin worried.
    “Why does that make you uncomfortable?”
    Yena laughed, just the briefest exhalation of breath, though the smile remained on his face. “It doesn’t. Well….” He leaned his elbow on the table and fiddled with his hair, a nervous gesture. “Okay, maybe it does.”
    “Why?”
    Yena dropped his hand, picking up his fork instead and twirling it into his spaghetti. “You work in a bar, Justin. You know what it’s like. Drunk people come on to me all the time. They don’t mean it, and I learned to tune it out.”
    Fair enough, Justin thought. Still, that stung more than he’d expected it to. “Hey,” he said lowly, intending to be taken seriously. “I’m not drunk now .”
    After knocking back at least half his glass, Yena glanced at Justin and smiled. “You’re well on your way.”
    Justin grinned. “Maybe. But that’s your fault, gorgeous. You make me nervous.”
    Yena looked surprised at that, and Justin quickly added, “I only drank to steel myself.”
    For now .
    Silence prevailed for several moments, as Justin panicked over what to say next. One moment he thought he was doing okay, the next, he worried he was messing things up. He poked at his salad with the fork.
    Then Yena asked, “I make you nervous?”
    “Umm, yeah.” Justin smiled, though his heart was pounding again. It’d been doing that a lot tonight.
    Looking away, Yena said, “I find that hard to believe.”
    “Hey, I’m confident,” Justin admitted, “but I’m not fearless. C’mon, I’m the same as you. We’re just two