Reservations

Levi cringed slightly as he thought of Julian’s flippant remark about guys’ grabbing his butt. The butt-touch thing would be a problem. He didn’t like to be touched or to parade around almost naked.

Normally, he wouldn’t even consider the idea, but he could really use the money. That less-is-more theory hadn’t been in any way true throughout his whole life. He wanted more for his brothers. They were his responsibility now.

Levi lifted his shirt and looked down at his stomach. He was cut and he’d been proud of that, but that was nothing new. When he’d gotten the job at the physical therapy clinic, he’d taken advantage of all that kickass workout equipment between patient appointments and during lunch.

Maybe he could wait tables one or two nights a week. Parading around in skimpy clothes wasn’t prostitution. Julian had promised he’d be serving cocktails not cock. No different than serving coffee really. The bells chimed, drawing his attention to a group of teenagers coming through the door.

“Great,” he whispered under his breath as he abandoned the partially cleaned table and walked toward the register.

~~~

Thane walked through the construction zone that had once been his corporate offices located on historic Main Street in Ellicott City, Maryland. The street ran downhill and was lined with store after store for as far as the eye could see. Last year, on a rainy July evening, his beloved adopted hometown had been swept away. Flood waters had rushed in unexpectedly, destroying every Main Street business in what had been referred to as an “off the charts, thousand-year rainfall event.”

The flood should have been enough to have him moving to a more corporate-friendly environment. The historic district in Ellicott City was filled with small, diverse one-off restaurants and eclectic little stores. His growing office didn’t fit well. The parking alone was a complete nightmare, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t bring himself to leave. His heart was here as well as most of his friends, and that wasn’t always something he’d had a lot of.

As he looked over the remodel, Thane’s phone began rattling like crazy. He palmed the device while starting out the front doors. Instead of his gaze going down to the phone in his hand, it went up as a shadow covered from above. Ominous dark clouds began rolling in.

Shit, the cold front was early.

He didn’t need to read his messages, the sky told the tale: his flight would be delayed. Instead of dwelling on the irritation of everything he’d have to reschedule, he took off out of the building, jogging toward the carved granite stairwell that led high up the side of the hill and ended directly at his rented townhome several stories above Main Street.

At the first droplet of water, Thane, only halfway up, started taking the steps two at a time, huffing as he pushed through his front door and ran for the open windows of his townhome. They’d had an unseasonably warm winter, the fresh air had been crisp and clean, but all that was about to change with the incoming cold front. By tomorrow, they’d be covered in snow.

As he locked the last window clasp in place, Thane took the moment, looking out as far as the eye could see at the sudden frenzy of treetops dancing in the strong wind. From this angle, at one of the highest points in the area, he could also look directly down over the historic beauty of the quaint town he’d just left. This view topped the reasons Ellicott City held such a special place in his heart.

He finally looked down at the cell phone still in his hand. Great. As suspected, his flight had been delayed, so far only by three hours. Thane pulled up his email application. He sent his assistant, Jenna, a quick email, asking her to reschedule his driver as well as take a close look at his itinerary, notifying anyone affected by this delay.

“Hey, you,” Erin said, popping her head through his open patio door. “I’ve got the heater going, and I’m waiting for my storm-watching buddy to come outside.”

“I’m on my way. They just delayed my flight.” Thane didn’t hesitate. He grabbed his lightweight jacket off the coatrack by the patio door and followed her outside. A brightly colored awning covered a large section of their shared garden patio, so they could watch the rain pour without getting wet. The wind added an extra thrill to the storm, whipping so hard at times that some of the water droplets landed within a foot of their chairs.

He and Erin had spent many hours under this covered patio, especially during storms. He loved sitting right there, looking out over the entire town, watching the thunderstorms rolling in from just about any direction. The storms somehow seemed symbolic of the constant internal struggles in his life and always calmed him in ways he couldn’t explain.