“What were you looking for?”
In lieu of an answer, Holden let Bryce pull him into the entry of the church, which had been repurposed as a coat check and security desk. He had to give his ID and sign a release form, which felt very serious for a bar, but Bryce still hadn’t answered the question.
Once they were through the second set of doors, Holden tripped over his own feet. They were definitely in a church, or what used to be a church. At some point, it had been converted into a club and bar. There was a staircase that hugged the front wall and what looked like the old choir loft upstairs.
“What kind of club is this?” he asked.
Bryce dragged him to the bar against the back wall.
“Callum, this is Holden. Holden, this is Callum. He’s one of the bartenders here.”
“Nice to meet you,” Holden said automatically.
Callum had a nice-looking face, kind eyes, and a band around his left ring finger. “Maybe we’ll be seeing more of you if Bryce gets hired.”
“Probably,” Bryce agreed, and Holden swallowed hard.
Maybe he wasn’t the only person who’d accidentally gone all in on his feelings with a complete stranger.
“Do you want a beer?” Bryce asked.
He managed a nod and Callum served them both a basic lager in a brown bottle and left them alone. It was early and the club was fairly empty, but judging by the space, the weekends were probably pretty busy.
“How was your interview?” Holden asked.
“I think it went well.”
“Callum seems to think so.”
“Yeah.” Bryce scooted closer. “His husband is real good friends with the owner.”
Holden took a drink and turned to survey the club, the glint of movement in the loft catching his eye, a flash of bare skin.
“What kind of club is this?” he asked for hopefully the third and final time.
Bryce exhaled a soft laugh and turned in the same direction as Holden, angled his face up toward the second floor and answered, “It’s a kink club.”
CHAPTER 12
Bryce
Bryce had watcheda lot of porn in his life, so when he walked into Rapture to meet the owner and main bartender, the furniture hadn’t been unsettling. Seeing real life people spanking each other was different from seeing it on his phone, though, and he had to admit, he liked it better. Not that there was anything wrong with porn. Bryce loved porn, but the shock value of production made some of the scenes feel a little over the top. What he observed while he waited for Landon and Callum felt exceedingly intimate to watch, almost like he wasn’t supposed to be there.
The interview went well, and he realized his being asked to come during operational hours was a deliberate choice by the owner. It made sense because if you couldn’t get through a conversation without gawking at what was happening in the background, you’d never be able to make it through a shift. Bryce wanted to make it through a shift.
Landon said they’d be in touch, and then Bryce asked if he could stay and have a couple of drinks. Landon explained there was a no drinking on the clock rule, but other than that, since he wasn’t hired yet, he was welcome. There was also a nofraternization rule, but Callum told Bryce that one was much less strict than the no drinking rule. Bryce didn’t care so much about that because the only person he wanted to fraternize with was Holden.
“A kink club,” Holden repeated, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“Pretty cool, right?” he repeated.
“And you want to work here?”
“I want to work,” he said.
Holden nodded and took a drink.
“Does it bother you?”