Made Marian, Volume Two by Lucy Lennox
Sam
I didn’t make it to work at the club again until Thursday night. Monday and Tuesday were my days off, and then a coworker begged me for my Wednesday night shift to make up for one of his I’d covered the week before.
When I finally got settled behind the bar on Thursday night, I realized my body vibrated with a mixture of nerves and excitement. Hope that Griff would come in that night and dread that he’d hit on some strange man right in front of me if he did.
I couldn’t get him out of my mind. Since seeing him interacting with the kids at the shelter that day, I had begun to realize he wasn’t the arrogant pickup artist I’d seen at the club. I still didn’t know what he did for a living, but I could tell he was kind and well loved by his family.
Seeing Griff surrounded by people who clearly adored him made me feel grateful. When he’d told me about being kicked out by his family, my heart had broken for him. Being abandoned by the people who were supposed to take care of you was a horrible feeling.
What would have happened to him if he hadn’t found the shelter when he did? I couldn’t bear to think about it.
“Why the long face, Theo?”
My heart sped up when I saw his cute face looking back at me from a bar stool. “Hey,” I said, feeling my whole face light up like an idiot. “Why do you call me Theo?”
“Because you look like an actor named Theo. Ugly guy. Big hairy nose and warts all over. He usually plays the hunchback or ogre role. You’d recognize him if you saw him.” He smiled.
I began making a Foxy Temple without thinking, adding a second sword full of cherries. I’d noticed the last time he liked them.
“Watch yourself, Foxy. That’s my dad you’re talking about. And I’ll have you know he was just cast as Beast in the new Disney film,” I said with a straight face as I carefully wiped down the glass before sliding the drink toward him.
Griff threw back his head and laughed, eyes crinkling and dimples popping. Damn, he was something to look at.
He took a sip of his drink and followed it by sticking a plastic sword into his mouth and sliding off a cherry. I hoped to god he didn’t notice me drooling or, worse, filling out the front of my blue jeans as I watched those full lips fondle the wet cherries.
The club started to fill up and the drink orders came in one after the other. At one point Griff gestured to his glass, asking for another. I made another Foxy Temple, this time leaving out the vodka as I remembered what he’d said about the headaches.
After catching up on refills, clearing dirty glasses, and asking the barback to switch out a keg for me, I glanced back to where Griff was just in time to see him put his fake flirty smile on and point it at an attractive Nordic-looking man.
God-fucking-dammit.
I wanted to go over there and ask him what the hell he was doing, but it was none of my business. Dread coiled in my gut as I pictured the man wanting to take Griff home with him. Because of course the man would want to take Griff home with him. They all did. I was just one of many people who had fallen under his spell.
After several minutes of trying to ignore him and concentrate on my job, one of the other bartenders tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to Griff and his companion. “Those guys need refills.”
Ugh.
I made my way back down there in time to hear it.
“That’s amazing. Tell me more about yourself, cupcake,” Griff cooed. I gritted my teeth.
“What are you having?” I asked the blond man. He took his horndog gaze off Griff long enough to glance my way. He looked at Griff’s empty cocktail glass and back up at me.
“I’ll have whatever he’s having,” he said, returning his full attention to Griff. His hand rubbed Griff’s shoulder, and I wanted to smack it off.
Instead I grinned through clenched teeth. “Coming right up.”
I made the Foxy Temple with vodka and slutted it up with fucking umbrellas and shit before sliding it to him. He took one look at it and raised an eyebrow at me.
“Foxy Temple,” I said as if it was a thing. I made the virgin version again and set it down in front of Griff, trying not to look at him.
I heard him chuckle and tell the guy, “Try it and tell me what you think, hot stuff.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I said under my breath.
Griff must have heard me because he looked at me funny. I walked away and busied myself clearing dirty glasses and wiping up sweat rings from the surface of the long bar.
I pretended not to notice when the Nordic man leaned over and started nibbling on Griff’s neck. And I also pretended not to notice when Griff looked uncomfortable about it. I put my head down and kept working. None of my business.
None. Of. My. Business.
It wasn’t until they got up to dance that I started to lose my self-control. I slammed liquor bottles down too hard, I over-poured beer glasses, and almost cut myself with a corkscrew. I tried so hard not to watch the blond man grind his dick into Griff’s ass, but I finally couldn’t stand it. Why the hell was he letting this guy touch him when he clearly wasn’t into it?
When they returned to their spots at the bar, Griff asked me for an ice water while the other man asked for two vodka shots. I caught Griff’s eye and saw the slightest shake of his head. I poured one with vodka, filling the other with water without Nordic seeing me.
They clinked glasses and threw down the shots. The blond man smacked his lips and then leaned over to kiss Griff. I saw Griff pull back a hair but allow the kiss.
The blond guy said, “Come home with me.” He threw some money down on the bar and reached to pull Griff’s hand. As Griff put his hand down on the bar to climb off the stool, I put my hand over his and leaned in.
“Don’t do this,” I begged in a low voice.
Griff looked at me with eyebrows raised. “I have to,” he said.
“You don’t want to sleep with that guy, Griff. I know you don’t. Why are you doing this?”
“I don’t have time to explain myself right now,” he said. My heart pounded out of my chest. “I have to go, but I’ll be back.”
He pulled his hand out from under mine and walked out, leaving me with a crushing pressure in my chest.
I tried hard to focus on my job for the rest of the night and not think about my fox in the arms of some stranger. The feeling of possession was strange. I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt that way about anyone, and I sure as hell hadn’t felt that way about someone I didn’t even really know. Someone who must be insanely insecure if he made a habit out of picking up any random guy who sat next to him in a club.
After what seemed like fifteen hours, it was finally last call. Griff hadn’t returned. Not that I thought he would. The Nordic man had been attractive and interested.
I began hauling trash out back and didn’t see Griff come up behind me as I walked back toward the door.
“Sam?” he said softly. I whipped around and saw him standing there, eyes unsure and hands shoved in pockets.
Before I even knew what I was doing, I grabbed him, throwing my arms around him in a big hug. It was almost a kind of relief. Like seeing him there was proof of life, and I wanted to hold him to make sure he wasn’t really in some seedy motel with a stranger.
Griff’s arms came around me just as tightly and we held each other for a moment until things turned awkward. I pulled back and avoided looking in his eyes, terrified at what his reaction would be.
After a quick glance up to see his surprised face, I made another spontaneous move. Only this time it was a kiss instead of a hug. I cupped his cheeks and leaned in for a kiss.
Time seemed to slow down and every sensation was amplified. The softness of his lips. The prickle of his scruff beneath my palms. The sound of our breathing speeding up and the slight movement of the night air on my skin. Our tongues met in a light, testing touch and I was lost.
He tasted like… I didn’t even know how to describe it. He tasted like mine.
Griff’s hands clutched my hips as a moan escaped. I deepened the kiss and tried to crawl inside him to stay. I’d never wanted anyone more.
Finally, he pulled back, panting. “That was unexpected.” Griff’s mouth curled up in a sweet smile.
I staggered back as the reality of how forward I’d been him hit me full force. “I… uh… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. To your face, I mean. I shouldn’t have done that to your face.”
Griff grinned. “No, don’t you dare. Absolutely no take-backs in kissing. Especially that kind of kissing.”
“What kind of kissing do you mean?” I asked, still feeling a bit dazed.
He studied me with a smirk. “Mm, my recollection is a little fuzzy. Let me refresh my memory.” Griff strode forward and reversed our roles. He grabbed the sides of my face and brought his lips to mine. They were warm and wet and full, searching and teasing and so very delicious. My tongue joined his as I drank him in, unable to get my fill.
We kissed for what seemed like hours. My hands roamed down his muscular back and cupped his ass through his jeans. His fingers explored my scalp, bringing goosebumps to my skin with each pass.
My mouth traveled across his stubbled jaw to his earlobe and sucked it in. I fucking loved his earlobe—plump and silky soft. My teeth grabbed it gently and I hummed my approval, closing my eyes tighter trying to hold off the inevitable moment where we would no longer be physically glued together.
