Behind the Stick Read online

  After locking the door behind him again, Kyle headed through the space. His watch read four-thirty and Under wouldn’t open for another three hours, which gave him plenty of time to ready stations and straighten furniture, not to mention restock bottles and supplies that had run dry over Saturday night.

  Kyle walked past the long bar that ran the length of the room. Open shelves of rare and high-end liquors lined the wall. The lights behind the shelves were still dark, and the place seemed preternaturally silent without the buzz of voices and the pulse of house music.

  A melancholy feeling reared up in Kyle as he opened the office door. Six months ago, Jesse might have been seated at the desk, his handsome face drawn in concentration over financial statements or the marketing strategies he cooked up to keep Under’s name on people’s lips. Not that the bar needed much help—it thrived almost without Jesse or Kyle doing anything. And not that Jesse didn’t still work hard at growing the business, either, despite the time he also spent helping run his family’s growing media conglomerate. He just did it from home more often these days. Not surprising considering Jesse had a partner who made working from home extra fun.

  Walking to the closet, Kyle left his bag and yoga mat on the floor. He pulled the hanger holding his black dress shirt and trousers from the rack and tried to shake off his blue thoughts.

  During their years as friends, Jesse had been adamantly anti-relationship. A notorious playboy and flirt, he’d kept a wide number of sexual partners of both genders, many of whom, like Kyle, had become Jesse’s friends. Jesse was Kyle’s playmate in bed and his partner in crime as well as business, and they loved each other fiercely.

  Things between them had changed after Jesse’s partner, Cam, came on the scene however. While Jesse and Cam had an open relationship, Jesse’s solo overtures toward Kyle had stopped. He and Cam still arranged threesomes with Kyle, and Kyle found those evenings immensely fun and very, very hot. They also reminded him of his third wheel status.

  Kyle understood why his friendship with Jesse had changed, and he was truly happy Jesse had found love and a relationship that worked for him. Still, he missed his friend more than he’d ever have guessed.

  Kyle dressed in his blacks and re-laced his brogues. He rolled up his shirtsleeves and cast a hard look at himself, making sure his dark hair was neat. Nothing he could do about his utter lack of tan though—working inside all summer had left him even paler than usual. Kyle grimaced at the bloodshot cast to his eyes. The dose of Claritin he’d taken that morning hardly registered now, and he’d need to stock up on eyedrops or people really would think he’d started smoking weed on his breaks.

  By six-fifteen, Kyle deemed Under ready by his standards. His servers and barback were on site doing their own prep, so he shrugged on his jacket and headed out for a bite.

  “Hey, Jim,” he called out to Under’s head of security, who stood at his usual place by the bar’s entrance.

  Jim Taylor stood the same height as Kyle and shared his fair skin and dark hair, but he was built like a tank. A Boston native and unfailingly pleasant, Jim somehow managed to be polite even on the rare occasions he escorted people out of the bar. He gave Kyle a sunny smile.

  “What’s up, boss?”

  “Just going to grab some dinner. I know I could order down from the pub, but I feel the need for some Burger Barn goodness. Can I bring something back for you?”

  Jim’s brown eyes lit up. “Dude, that would be fantastic. You sure you don’t mind?”

  “Not at all. Just text me what you want, and I’ll bring it back with my order.”

  Once outside, Kyle crossed Broadway to a small, nondescript storefront on 111th Street that served some of the tastiest burgers he’d found on the West Side. Once inside, he called out a hello to Maya, who worked in front taking orders and payments while her husband, Nestor, managed the kitchen.

  “Kyle!” Maya gave him a big smile “Where have you been? We thought maybe you’d gone vegetarian!”

  “Oh, I’m not sure I’m capable of going meat free, Maya, at least not while I know you guys are over here making all this amazing food.” He beamed at Maya’s tinkling laughter.

  Maya flapped a hand at him. “What kind of amazing food can we cook for you today?”

  “I need two applewood smoked bacon cheeseburgers, one with fries and a side of the three-bean salad. Please and thank you.”

  Maya jotted the orders on a pad then raised an eyebrow at Kyle. “What about dessert? Nestor made carrot cake this morning.”

  Kyle’s mouth watered. Nestor’s desserts were outstanding. “Oh, man. I can’t. I’ll fall asleep on my feet if I eat even a small slice of that cake. But thank you anyway.”

  Maya nodded. “I’ll wrap up a couple of slices for you to eat after you finish your shift.”

  “Oh-h-h…okay.” Kyle snorted with laughter at the triumphant gleam in Maya’s eyes.

  A trio of young women walked through the door as Kyle made his way down a long hallway to the left of the counter to the men’s room. He washed his hands and wet some paper towels, folding them into a compress for his itchy eyes. He had it pressed against his face when a loud banging nose caught his attention. Puzzled, Kyle lowered the damp wad. Another loud bang startled him, followed by yelling, and he tossed the toweling into the trash as the shriek of a smoke detector rent the air.

  Kyle hauled open the door and made it most of the way back down the hall before he stopped dead in his tracks. Burger Barn was on fire. Thick black smoke poured out of the open kitchen door on the left side of the hallway, followed by flames that were already large enough to block the path to the dining area and front door. Kyle saw a girl with long dark hair pressed up against the wall a short distance from where he stood. She rose up onto her toes and coughed into her fist, craning her neck in a clear attempt to see past the fire.

  “Hey!” Kyle shouted over the alarms. The girl whirled around and her eyes went wide. “Where’d everyone go?”

  “Out the front, I think!” she called back, her voice shrill and fearful. “I saw my friends near the door when I came out of the bathroom, but I couldn’t get through! I don’t see them anymore!”

  “What about Maya and the kitchen staff?” Kyle inhaled smoke and coughed.

  “I don’t know!” the girl cried. “I didn’t see where they went!”

  Kyle nodded. “We have to use the fire exit out back!”

  He held out a hand, and the girl grabbed hold. Kyle turned around, squinting against the smog, and led her away from the kitchen door and toward the back of the building.

  Fuck, this is bad.

  Heat from the flames already filled the hallway, and Kyle could barely see its end through the thick air. He raised his arm and covered his nose and mouth as he coughed but couldn’t get enough air. Abruptly, the hallway seemed to shrink inward. The space went even hotter and darker, and Kyle swore it narrowed, as if it was squeezing down around him.

  “Get down low!” he choked out and bent at the waist in an attempt to avoid the smoke.

  An eternity seemed to pass before Kyle’s elbow met something solid. Instinct told him maybe twenty seconds had elapsed, but it was difficult to judge. He put out his hand, patting the door’s surface with his palm and searching by touch for a way to open it. He found the push bar and shoved hard, but the door didn’t budge. Kyle’s heart sank.

  Oh, no.

  “It’s jammed!” he shouted over his shoulder. “Help me figure out where!” Kyle stood straight and let go of the girl’s hand, and together they felt blindly around the doorframe, both coughing. Kyle continued shoving at the push bar, trying to get past whatever kept the door from opening, to no avail.

  “It’s no use!” the girl cried out, and they hunkered down again, searching for clean air. Sweat and soot smudged her face. “What about the bathrooms?”

  “No window in the men’s!” Kyle yelled, but the effort of speaking made him choke. A coughing fit rolled through him and he doubled over, and th
e girl grabbed his hand and squeezed hard.

  “Fire Department, call out!”

  The shout from behind them cut through the noise of the alarms. Figures appeared around Kyle and the girl, huge and hulking in the gloom. Kyle heard voices but they were muffled, as if they came from behind glass. Hands landed on his shoulders. They moved Kyle away from the door then pushed him down and even closer to the floor with startling ease.

  “Stay down! We’re gonna get you out of here!”

  Firefighters, thank God!

  Kyle squinted up at the shadowy figures bending over him. His head spun and his heart thrummed so hard he could feel it beating in his throat. He leaned back against the wall, one arm still wrapped around the bottom half of his face, and clutched the girl’s fingers again with his free hand.

  Two firefighters turned toward the fire exit. Ten seconds passed. Then twenty, and thirty and a series of loud slamming noises sounded before the fire exit flew open. Light flooded into the hallway, and relief surged through Kyle, so intense he thought he’d throw up. He turned to the girl, but the firefighters were back. They helped Kyle and the girl stand, their gloved hands surprisingly gentle.

  “Okay to walk?” A male voice came from the firefighter on Kyle’s left, and he nodded, his throat too rough and dry to answer.

  Kyle and the girl were ushered outside. Clean, wonderfully cold air washed over Kyle in a sweet rush. His knees wobbled and he drank it down in great gulps that made him cough even harder, but he couldn’t get enough. His eyes stung, and the tears that leaked onto his cheeks cast a weird haze over the scene around him. The firefighters were leading him away from the building, and he saw moving bodies and flashing lights and the long red shapes of fire trucks.

  “C’mon over here, Kyle, and we’ll get you checked out.”

  Kyle blinked at the use of his name, uttered by a deep voice he couldn’t place. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to clear his vision, and struggled to focus on the man beside him.

  “Don’t do that,” the voice scolded gently. “You’ll irritate your eyes even more.”

  Kyle glimpsed strong brows and blue eyes beneath the black fire helmet and golden dark skin. The firefighter sat Kyle down on a stretcher beside the back end of an ambulance and quickly strapped an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. He held a hand to the back of Kyle’s head and encouraged him to breathe while another set of hands placed a wet pad over his face. Kyle sucked at the air blowing through the mask and tried to stay quiet as the cool gauze soothed his eyes and face. He knew he’d failed when the firefighter rubbed his fingers over the nape of Kyle’s neck.

  “Take it easy. We’ll keep the mask on as long as you need it.”

  Kyle forced himself to relax as much as he could, and soon his frantic gasps eased. He listened to voices around him reel off details about his condition and the girl’s. Kyle heard the girl speaking, her voice muffled by what must have been her own mask, and relief pulsed through him.

  Finally, the gauze pad lifted and Kyle blinked at the change in light. He peered at the firefighter kneeling in front of him, sooty smudges on his face but his eyes bright, and Kyle’s muddled brain put the pieces together. He’d met this guy before. Inside Burger Barn, actually, and how weird was that considering what had just happened?

  “I know you,” Kyle rasped through his mask.

  He paid for the words with another explosion of coughing. This time, the firefighter let go of Kyle’s neck and pressed a drink pouch into his hand. Once the fit had passed, he helped Kyle move the mask enough to sip water through the straw and coached him to go slow and breathe.

  Kyle lowered the pouch, and the firefighter slipped the mask back in place. He forced himself to speak again, though his voice was wrecked.

  “It’s Luka, right?”

  “That’s right.” A gentle smile lit up Luka’s face and made the corners of his eyes crinkle. “I wondered if you’d remember me.”

  Chapter Two

  Luka Clarke jumped down from Engine 47, his brain still filled with images of a handsome face and soot-streaked fair skin. He’d seen that face for the first time at Burger Barn several weeks ago, and he’d been very interested then. Luka and the guy named Kyle had talked and flirted for a bit while they waited for their orders, but a call had interrupted their conversation before Luka could ask Kyle for his number. He’d been hoping to run into him since.

  “Looks like we won’t be going to Burger Barn any time in the near future,” Tom Munson groused. He shut the door of the rig and the sound pushed Kyle from Luka’s thoughts. “Fucking grease fires.”

  “What I don’t get is why they had the damned fire door deadbolted shut.” Luka shook his head. “I know they passed the last fire inspection and that’s not like Maya and Nestor at all.”

  Munson shrugged, a contemplative look crossing his face. “There’s a new kid working as a line cook. Maybe he did it?”

  “Maybe.” Luka shrugged off his turnout coat. “But they could be fucked for insurance because of that. Guess it depends on what the inspector finds.”

  “True,” Munson said. “Damn. We really won’t be getting burgers if they’ve been negligent.”

  “Not to mention Maya and Nestor losing their business.”

  “Sure, that too.” Munson grinned. Luka had known him long enough to know that overall, he was a decent guy. He made the occasional asshole comment, but Luka trusted him with his life.

  “How long have you been going to Burger Barn anyway?” Luka asked. “You were the one who introduced me to the place.”

  “Shit, a long time,” Munson said. “You’ve been here how long? Seven? Eight years?”

  “Almost nine.”

  “So, maybe eleven years? Eating at that place is a time-honored tradition at this house.” Munson bumped fists with Luka. “Hell, Nestor had hair when I started going there.”

  Luka shook his head, laughing. “Damn, that’s forever ago.” The man was balder than a cue ball now.

  Munson slapped him on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get this gear taken care of and hit the showers. Shift is almost up and I’m ready to get the fuck out of here.”

  “You and me both, man.”

  Half an hour later, Luka stood under the streaming water, soaking up the heat and pressure that loosened his shoulders. It didn’t matter how many emergency calls he went on, the tension was always an underlying factor. The reminder that any call, he could lose someone. Any call could be his last.

  Every firefighter was aware of the possibility of death, of course. The first death of a civilian always hit hard. Like Luka, whose firefighter father had been killed in the line of duty, many of them had lost family or friends.

  Luka didn’t dwell on his fears during calls. He couldn’t or he’d be too paralyzed to do his job. He’d seen that happen too, with new recruits and even veterans after a particularly bad call. But while Luka kept his worries under control, he prepared for the come-down after the adrenaline wore off and reality crept in.

  Luka rotated his shoulders, pushing away the dreary thoughts. Despite his concerns about Maya and Nestor, today had been good. Other than some smoke inhalation, no one had been injured. And, hey, he’d met Kyle again.

  With his eyes closed, Luka could feel the soft prickle of the dark hair at the nape of Kyle’s neck under his palm and see his deep brown eyes, rimmed in red, against his pale skin. From the first time he’d seen Kyle at Burger Barn, he’d been struck by the confident way Kyle carried his broad-shouldered frame.

  While Luka had hoped he’d run into Kyle at the restaurant again, or even visit the bar Kyle had mentioned working in—Luka had planned to do that during his time off—he’d never expected to see Kyle on an emergency call.

  Today, he hadn’t even recognized Kyle until he’d gotten him outside the smoke-filled building. The wave of relief that had followed had taken him by surprise, too. He and Kyle had hardly exchanged more than a few dozen sentences when they’d met last month, but Luka had like
d the way Kyle’s lips curled up on one side when he smiled and the lean strength of his forearms.

  He’d also liked the way Kyle had joked with Maya. The fact that she’d treated Kyle like she treated Luka and the guys at the firehouse told him plenty about what kind of man Kyle seemed to be—polite, friendly and open-minded.

  The brief interaction had been enough to intrigue Luka, and the eye contact and subtle flirtation in their conversation had tipped the scales in favor of Kyle being attracted to men. Luka had fully intended to follow up on that, but he’d been on duty and the call had come and, well, that was a firefighter’s life, wasn’t it?

  That life hadn’t led to many great relationships for Luka. Sure, people were all about the uniform, but once they realized it came along with a crazy work schedule, the risk of death and a hell of a lot of stress, their interest often cooled. Luka hoped Kyle wasn’t the type who chased uniforms, then bolted once the reality set in. Because Luka now felt doubly determined to visit the bar where Kyle worked and ask him out. He heard the rattle of the shower curtain rings.

  “Dude, are you in there jerking off or what? Shift is up. Let’s go.”

  “You can come in and check,” Luka called back.

  Munson made a sound of disgust. “No thanks.”

  “Give me a sec and I’ll meet you out front,” Luka said. He rinsed the soap from his body, shut off the water, then dried and dressed quickly. Fatigue had settled in and he looked forward to crashing when he got home.

  Exiting the firehouse, Luka found Munson talking with Lane Hawkins, one of the paramedics. Munson glanced up with a wide grin at Luka’s approach. “Looks like our little rescue today paid off. We just got an invitation to the club down the street.”

  “Which club?”

  “Underneath, I think,” Hawkins said, her tone doubtful. “No, Under. The bouncer gave me a card. He said the guy you rescued sent him over with them to say thank you. I guess the club is a hipster speakeasy thing. But who cares? Free drinks, my man.”

  “You in?” Munson asked.