Pretty Boy (Perfect Boys #1) - K.M. Neuhold Page 0,9

week.

“I was just passing through,” he answers, giving me a meaningful look. My heartbeat kicks up, and those butterflies take up residence in my belly again.

“And now?” I try to keep my tone casual. There’s no way he means it how it sounded.

“Now, I’m…seeing what happens,” he responds vaguely. “Tell me, Sterling, do you have a boyfriend?” A startled laugh bursts from my lips, and I dart a glance over to Roy, the only other customer currently taking up space at the bar. He doesn’t seem to be payin’ us no mind, but the last thing I need is for new rumors to spread around town about me.

I put my elbows on the bar and lean in closer to Barrett. A woodsy, manly scent wafts off of him. Not like he’s actually been in the woods, but like he used deodorant or soap that’s meant to make him smell that way. It makes me want to bury my nose in his armpit or against his chest to get a better whiff.

“Why would you ask me a thing like that?” I worry my bottom lip between my teeth and meet his eyes. He opens his mouth, and I’m afraid he’s about to apologize for assuming I’m interested in men, which is the last thing I want. “What kinda man would want someone who looks like me?”

He studies my face for a few beats and then drops his eyes down to my body, his gaze feeling almost like a caress the way he stares with a look that I could swear is lustful. My body tingles, and my cock presses against my zipper, the air between us feeling charged like the way it feels right before a lightning storm.

“I would,” he says, and my heart about leaps out of my chest.

I push back off the bar, taking a step back and trying to calm myself before I do something stupid like fling myself across the bar at him. “You don’t mean that. You don’t even know me.”

“So, let me get to know you,” he suggests, as if it’s that simple. “Tell me everything there is to know about you. I have all the time in the world.”

I scoff. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m working right now. I don’t exactly have time to yammer at some stranger all night long.”

Barrett gives a pointed look around the empty bar. Of course, Roy chooses that exact moment to finish his drink, standing up and seeing himself out, which leaves Barrett and me all alone.

“Fine, I don’t know what you even wanna know.”

“Let’s start with your last name,” he says.

“Davis. But if I’m going to play twenty questions with you, this goes both ways,” I insist.

“That’s fair. My last name is Russell.”

I furrow my eyebrows, that name, Barrett Russell, tickling my memory. I’m sure I’ve never met him before. He’s the kind of man I wouldn’t forget if I had.

“Where are you from?” I ask.

“Connecticut originally. I’ve been living in Las Vegas for the past ten years.” He takes a sip of his beer, and I watch the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallows, wishing I could feel the motion under my lips. Or better yet, his naked body against mine, hovering over me, weighing down on me, his grunts and moans vibrating against my lips as he fills me and fucks me. My stomach heats, and I duck my gaze, afraid he’ll somehow be able to read my filthy thoughts all over my face.

I lick my lips again and force the thoughts from my mind. “I bet Las Vegas is exciting,” I muse.

“It’s okay. Tell me about your family.”

“Just me and my mama. My gran was around when I was a kid, but she’s passed now.” I square my shoulders and prepare for his judgment out of habit, so used to everyone around here knowing that my daddy ran off as soon as I was born.

He doesn’t seem fazed by it, moving immediately to the next question, his eyes fixed on me the entire time in a way that’s as arousing as it is unsettling. I’m not used to having so much of anyone’s attention. It’s kind of…nice.

“Did you always want to be a bartender?” he asks, and I give a one shoulder shrug, absently wiping down the already clean bar.

“It’s a job, and it ain’t rocket science or nothin’.”

He studies me for a long time until I feel like I might spontaneously combust from his eyes on me. It’s weird cause