Chapter One
"You, my friend, have got some big, sparkly balls."
Cameron Reed took a long, satisfied swallow of beer as he stared at the finger pointing straight at his face. He was seated at a four-top near the front window of The Fix on Sixth, a popular Austin bar where he worked as a bartender when he wasn't at the University or, like today, enjoying a day off.
The finger in question belonged to Nolan Wood, a local radio personality and frequent customer at The Fix.
Darryl Silver sat in the only other occupied chair. Cam's best friend since before puberty, Darryl had just arrived back in town after graduating from law school. "Someone going to tell me why we're praising my buddy's cojones?" Darryl asked.
"Duh," Cam said scooting his chair back and cupping his package. "Because they are worthy of some serious praise, didn't you know?"
Darryl snorted, then turned to look at Nolan. "How about you tell me? Our boy's ego's getting in the way of my edification."
"There he goes again, talking like a baby lawyer," Cam quipped as Darryl shot him the finger.
Nolan ignored the jibes, his attention on Darryl. "Because even though Cam didn't win the contest for Mr. February, he and his cojones definitely made a splash."
Cam grabbed a Loaded Hush Puppy out of a paper-lined plastic basket and popped it in his mouth. It might be Cam's day off, but The Fix was as much a home as his room near campus or the tiny South Austin house where he and his sister had grown up, and he'd come here to hang out, have lunch, and enjoy life in front of the bar.
A few tables over, Tiffany, one of the waitresses caught his eye. He lifted his beer to signal for another, and she gave him a nod in acknowledgment as she delivered drinks and burgers. Even though the crowds were the biggest at night, The Fix had a steady lunchtime clientele.
Cam leaned back again, mimicking Nolan's relaxed posture. "You know," he said, "I don't think I made a splash. More like a statement."
"Ha!" Nolan practically barked the word. "That's the truth. Comic relief," he said, shaking his head as if reliving a happy memory. "I mean, you gotta love it."
"Maybe you do," Darryl said, putting down his rum and Coke. "But I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Comic relief? Mr. February? What does--Oh, wait." He turned to Cameron. "This has something to do with that Calendar Guy contest, doesn't it? Mina told me a little about that."
At the mention of Darryl's twin sister, Cam felt the familiar tightening in his gut, as well as parts further south. He'd had a crush on Mina Silver for half his life, and he'd known her longer than that. She was his best friend's twin sister, after all, so she'd been a constant presence. The girl they teased, the pest they shooed away.
Or she had been, until Cam had begun to notice her sweet smile, her quirky sense of humor. Until he realized that half the time when he went to Darryl's house during summer break, his motive was less about playing video games with his buddy and more about catching a glimpse of Mina.
And then one day, he'd seen her at the mall making out with Tony Renfroe, a high school quarterback whose picture was all over the local paper.
That's when the monster had stirred inside Cameron. A wild, craving beast that had wanted to lash out and knock Tony right off his pedestal--and out of Mina's arms.
Except he hadn't given in to that monster. Not then. Not later.
And Mina had dated Tony. Then Alex. Then Roger. And God only knew who else.
Never Cam, though. And over the years his crush had ramped up, escalating past the warm, gooey thoughts he'd had as a teenager to the current line-up of full-color, X-rated dreams that had him waking up twined in his sheets with the kind of painful boner that even a cold shower couldn't tame.
"Yeah," Nolan said, in response to Dar
ryl's question. "The Mr. February contest was this past Wednesday. I gotta say, The Fix has only had two contests so far, but I'm already hearing a lot of buzz around town. I think they really have something here."
Darryl opened his mouth, apparently to point out that he still wasn't entirely up to speed, but Cam jumped in first, explaining about the contest and the other changes being implemented at The Fix, all designed to up the bar's revenue.
As a bartender, Cam only knew the high points that Tyree, the bar's owner, had told him. The bottom line being that The Fix had run into some financial trouble--mostly because of competing corporate chain bars that had moved in, offering discounted drinks and scantily clad waitresses.
The bottom line? If the bar's revenue didn't increase significantly by the end of the calendar year, then The Fix would have to close its doors.
That situation had been spelled out to Cam and the other employees at a staff meeting, along with the fact that Tyree had partnered with Reece Walker, Brent Sinclair, and Jenna Montgomery to make it happen.
Reece, the bar's manager, had been Cam's immediate boss since he'd signed on. A former cop, Brent was in charge of all the security. Jenna hadn't been an employee before coming on board, but she had a marketing background and had implemented a whole slew of changes and promotions designed to increase revenue, the customer base, and the bar's overall reputation around town.
From Cam's perspective, the biggest coup for the bar was the fact that it was home base for The Business Plan, a remodeling reality show that was focusing solely on scaling up The Fix on Sixth. Not only did Cam think that was a freaking brilliant way to get free publicity, but the very existence of the program meant that Mina, who'd wheedled her way into an internship on the show, was in the bar almost every day, her bright smile and just-tight-enough jeans right there in front of his eyes.
The show hadn't aired yet--it was stockpiling episodes before the six-episode run launched. But one of the reasons that the producers had been keen on The Fix was the chance to include the calendar contest as a kind of backdrop to the ongoing renovation project. And, frankly, the contest had been going over like gangbusters with the regulars.
Not only were several of the male customers signing up to compete, but local fitness gurus, actors, and models were jumping on the bandwagon, too. And for the first two contests, the women had come in droves to fill the tables, drink, and cheer on the contestants.
In fact, the contest was so popular that there'd been a line around the block, and Cam had never worked so hard at his job than when he'd been behind the bar on both those Wednesdays. Honestly, he was tempted to make another more serious go at the contest, just because last Wednesday's run got him away from the bar for a solid hour during the actual competition.
"You really did that?" The shock in Darryl's voice was genuine. Prancing shirtless across a stage might be in Darryl's repertoire, but until last Wednesday, Cam had never thought it was in his. "You?" Darryl repeated. He cleared his throat, then continued in a low, booming voice. "Cameron Reed. Mild-mannered librarian by day. Internet porn star by night."