Page 68 of Their Wicked Ways
“Better.” He grabbed another cherry and twirled the stem so the fruit spun in dizzying circles. “But do you want to be their friend, or more? That’s the crux of it.”
“More.” I went to scrub my hand over my face but stopped at the last second. Probably not a good idea to rub bar rag water on my new piercing. “Maybe. I don’t know.”
“It sounds like right now isn’t the time to figure this out,” he said gently.
“It really isn’t. I barely slept last night.” I sighed. “My head was too busy.”
“That happens to me too.” Nick made a face. “I hate it.”
“It’s been like this for weeks.” I put the rag away. “I swear I’m only getting four, maybe five hours of sleep a night. I’m exhausted all the time.”
“That’s not safe. Your job is dangerous if you’re sleepy.”
“Yup. So I’m tired and stressed the fuck out because I’m scared I’m going to hurt someone or mess up and get fired.”
“Quinn’s not gonna fire you unless you do something heinous or super dangerous, so try not to stress out about that. And I’m sure he’d be extra understanding if you told him you had some personal stuff going on so he can be aware that you’re struggling. He’s not just your boss, he’s your friend. Save the stress for workplace safety issues.”
“Yes, sir.”
He grinned. “I like being the boss. It’s fun having people do what I say. But back to your stress problems. Is there something you can do to help you sleep? You’re gonna burn out if you keep going like this.”
“Not really. I’ve tried sleeping pills and stuff, but they don’t really work for me. And the things that do work aren’t things I want to get in the habit of using.”
“Booze?” he asked, understanding crossing his angelic features.
“Yup.” I grabbed a little bottle of hand sanitizer and flipped open the cap.
“Been there.” He shot me a commiserating look. “It sucks that sometimes the only thing that helps our brains are the things that hurt them.”
“Yup.” I squirted some of the sanitizer in my hand and hastily rubbed it in.
“Hey, Jett?” Dean, one of the other bartenders, said as he poked his head into the back of the bar.
“Yeah?”
“Boss said we’re good to go.”
“Thanks.” I turned back to Nick. “I guess that means you’re done too.”
Nick tossed a look over his shoulder just as the back room door banged open and Gray and the twins came spilling out.
“Yuppers.” He looked at me closely. “Is your head any less busy?”
“A little.”
“I’m glad.” He grabbed the last cherry out of the cup. “Looks like I’ll have to show off my skills next week.” He popped it in his mouth and dropped the stem back into the cup with the others. “Text me if you wanna talk things out some more. I mean it. Boss’s orders.”
“Thanks. I will.”
With another beaming smile, he slid off the stool just as Gray came up to us and slung his arm around Nick’s shoulders. “Did you forget you were going to show Dash and the twins up? We thought you got lost.”
“Nope, just distracted.” Nick stole Gray’s backward baseball cap and plunked it on his own head. “You know how my brain goes wonky after midnight.”
Gray smiled affectionately. “I do. Come on. Time to hand you over to your big, scary bodyguard.”
“Psssshhhh.” Nick made a dismissive sound. “Vlado’s a teddy bear. You just have to know how to handle him.” He looked back at me. “All good?”
I nodded.