Effortless (Less Is More Book 3) Read online

  I grab a glass from underneath the counter and add some ice to it. I add a small cherry to the glass once it’s mixed and slide the glass over to him. He lifts it up to his mouth, tips it back, and sets the glass back down on the counter of the bar.

  He nods his head at me and says, “Yeah, good shit. I like you.” He points at me as he backs away and turns around; walking back towards the table he was sitting at. I look at the price sheet and ring up the total on the register.

  “How do tips work here?” I ask Jess.

  “You put all your tips in this beauty.” She lifts up a small bucket and shakes it back and forth. “You might think you’ll get cheated, but really you don’t. We get a lot more business than Bruce realizes and this thing piles up pretty quick. You also get a small percentage of the server’s tip if they get any drinks off of you.”

  “This is the first place I’ve worked at where they serve food.”

  She raises her eyebrows at me and sets the bucket back down. “Are you from here, or did you just move to the city?”

  “I just moved here a week ago,” I tell her. “Ex-boyfriend drama.”

  “Ah,” she smiles. “I thought you were a bit too pretty to play for my team. Where’d you move from?”

  “Just outside the city about a half hour.”

  She leans her ear towards a woman that comes up to the bar and grabs a shaker from underneath the counter.

  “Well,” she says, “I’m glad you’re here. I don’t have any gay friends, and I’ve been wanting one for awhile now.”

  I laugh and step out of her way. She grabs a straw, slips it into the drink, and hands it over to the woman. I look over the woman’s shoulder and watch as three guys walk in. All three of them are gorgeous, and the one in the middle, specifically, makes me lick my bottom lip a little in thought. He has dirty-blonde hair that is slicked back out of his face, and his eyes are a deep green color.

  “Those three are regulars,” Jess says behind me. “The two on the left and right are taken, but I think the middle one is free. His name’s Sam.”

  I watch his ass move from side to side as he walks back towards a table, and I smile. I look away and shake my head from side to side, focusing back on the people sitting at the bar.

  “I don’t need anything like that right now,” I say.

  She leans beside me and looks down towards their table. “Your loss. That boy is fine as fuck.”

  Chapter Three

  Sam

  I SIT DOWN IN THE SEAT that’s opposite Ethan and Elliot and rest my hands on the table. Gregor’s is pretty tame tonight, and I’m thrilled because work was exhausting.

  I took over Elizabeth’s position today, and it has been ridiculous. The work is not hard, but she has messed so many things up that my first few weeks are going to be nothing but catching up. It’s nothing I can’t handle, but all I can think about is how big of a bitch she is.

  “Did you guys see that new bartender when we walked in?” Ethan says.

  I shake my head and look back towards the entrance. I lock eyes on the guy that Ethan is talking about, and my jaw slightly drops.

  His brown hair is spiked up and parted to the side, and his chest is practically busting out of his shirt. He’s the same size as me, but I can only imagine how toned he is under his clothes.

  “He’s cute,” I say, bringing my attention back to the table.

  “You should go introduce yourself, Samuel.” Ethan raises his eyebrows at me, and I look over at Elliot who is laughing.

  “I’m with him,” Elliot says.

  “I’m good.”

  “So, how was work?” Elliot asks me.

  “Exhausting.”

  Our waitress brings us our beers, and I tip the bottle back. I close my eyes as I imagine the alcohol making it’s way down into my stomach, and I smile when the thought of getting a nice buzz crosses my mind.

  “It’s nothing I can’t handle, but I just have so much stuff to catch up on, and I don’t think any of them realized how shitty of a job the woman before me had been doing.”

  “Is this going to give you any other opportunities?” Ethan asks me.

  “I hope so, but I don’t know for sure.”

  I twist in my chair to the side and stretch. I look at the bar-area again and notice the new bartender looking back towards me. Well, not me exactly, but he’s looking back this way and it looks like he’s looking at me. I see him smile, and I instantly smile back. I twist back around quickly and laugh.

  “What?” Elliot says.

  “That new bartender probably thinks I’m weird now. He was looking back this way, and I saw him smile, so I smiled back, but if he wasn’t looking at me then I guess he wouldn’t have noticed.”

  Was he looking at me? I didn’t even notice him when I walked in the door, but he could’ve seen me. And now, he probably thinks I’m weird as hell if he wasn’t looking at me.

  “Go talk to him and find out,” Ethan says.

  “How’s the house furnishing going?” I ask Ethan, changing the subject.

  He laughs and tips his beer back. “Fine. Cody discovered what was really in those boxes, though.”

  “Oh shit,” I say.

  He shrugs his shoulders and runs his thumb around the rim of his bottle. “It’s probably a good thing because I don’t need that shit anyway. I’d be way more fucked up if it weren’t for Cody. One dash of hoarder mixed in with emotional issues and crazy exes.”

  “You’re pretty normal now,” Elliot says.

  “Basically,” I add. “Thank God for Cody.” Elliot laughs, and I smile at Ethan. “I’ve missed seeing just you two. Now that you both have lovers I never get to see you anymore. I haven’t seen Hadley in months.”

  “I haven’t seen here either,” Ethan says. “She’s always up Ian’s ass.” He tips his bottle back and finishes it off. “Which is fine, but she could at least make time for her own brother.”

  “We miss you too, Sam,” Elliot says. “If it wasn’t for work, I’d have a lot more time to hang out. It’s starting to slow down to a steady pace, though, so soon I’ll be able to do more. Me and Will don’t do a whole lot besides lounge around.”

  “Cody wants to go camping next weekend,” Ethan says. “I’d invite you guys, but we have amazing sex when we go camping.”

  I raise my eyebrows and say, “Of course you do.”

  “You could, too.” Ethan nods his head towards the bar and smiles as I look at the bartender again. He’s talking to the girl working with him and they’re both laughing.

  “He looks like he’s having a good time with her,” I say, turning my attention back to the table. “He probably isn’t even gay.”

  “He’s gay,” Elliot says. “His hair screams gay. That and he’s looking back this way again.”

  Ethan gets up off his chair and starts making his way towards the bar.

  “What are you doing?” I ask him.

  He smiles and continues walking to the bar.

  I turn my body and watch as he talks to the bartender, and I suddenly feel nervous for no reason whatsoever.

  “He’s not going to stop until he finds you someone,” Elliot says. He laughs and finishes off his beer. “I’m gonna go use the bathroom.”

  He gets up off his seat and makes his way towards the bathroom. I watch him turn the corner and then focus my attention back to Ethan who is now making his way back over to the table.

  “Really?” I say.

  He passes me over a piece of paper with a name and number on it.

  “His name is Oliver,” he says. “He just moved to the city, and he’s looking to make some new friends if you know anyone who’s interested.”

  “I can’t believe you went over there.” I laugh and focus in on the paper.

  “At least now we know what he was looking at,” he says.

  ***

  “I better get going,” Elliot says.

  It’s about an hour away from closing time at Gregor’s, and we’re all
feeling decent enough to end the night. I’m, also, feeling decent enough to talk to that bartender.

  “Me, too,” Ethan adds. “Cody gets off work soon.

  “I think I’m going to go talk to that bartender before I leave.”

  Ethan pats me on the shoulder as him and Elliot walk past me towards the entrance. I meet the bartender’s eyes as I sit down directly in front of him at the bar.

  He plants his palms on the side of the bar and smiles at me. “What can I get ya?”

  “A water,” I say.

  “You’re a bartender’s worst nightmare.”

  I laugh. “I’ll still tip you pretty well, I promise.”

  He sets a glass of water down in front of me while I look from side to side and notice that the only other people here are a couple that is sitting four seats down.

  “I’m sorry about my friend earlier.”

  He shrugs. “What are you sorry for?”

  “I’m sure it was weird. Him just coming up and talking to you about me, I mean. I saw you looking back our way, and I know you probably weren’t even looking at me, but—“

  “I was.” He smirks and polishes a glass under the counter. “I’m glad he came up.”

  “Oh?” I run my fingers down the glass and slowly move my eyes up to his.

  “I saw you come in and I thought you were cute. That’s why I kept looking back there like a creeper.”

  “Your name’s Oliver, right?” I ask him. I put my hand up to my mouth as the taste of beer comes up through my throat. I make a sour face and take a drink of water. “I’m Sam. My name is Sam.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Sam.” He holds out his hand, and I shake it with the hand that wasn’t by my mouth. I feel a weird rush of comfort as my skin touches his and when I pull away, I instantly want to grab his hand again.

  “Ethan said you just moved here?”

  “A week ago,” he says. “I like it so far.”

  “It’s a nice city.” I take another drink of water and wipe my mouth. “You picked a really good place to work.”

  “The workers seem nice so far.”

  “This is the only place I come to drink,” I say.

  “Good,” he says. “Assuming you drink a lot, I’ll be making a lot of money.”

  I laugh and rest my hands behind my head. “I’m here at least twice a week.”

  He laughs and leans against the counter of the bar. He crosses his arms and leans his head back.

  “What brought you here, anyway?” I ask him.

  “Ex-boyfriend drama,” he says. “That and my roommate just got a book deal, so we decided to move to the city on a whim. It worked out well.”

  “That’s exciting.”

  “I’m happy for her.” He looks down at the floor and shrugs. “She’s probably going to end up never being home, though, if she makes it big.”

  “Then you better make you some new friends, Olli.” He looks over at me and raises his eyebrows. “Sorry, was that a bad nickname?”

  “Everyone calls me Olli.” He smiles and refills my glass of water. “I’ll be right back.”

  He makes his way over to the couple, and my eyes immediately dart to his backside. I can make out the lining of his back muscles through his shirt, and his ass is perfectly rounded to the point where I can almost picture what it probably looks like outside of the pants. I can feel my dick getting harder as I give him a once over again and imagine having his ass in my face.

  Sex has never been a big deal to me. Every boyfriend I’ve had has never been super-sexual, so I’ve never experienced good sex. Either that, or the sex was good and I just didn’t really enjoy it fully, because I myself am not really that sexual. I’ve never seen someone like Oliver, though, who seems to be interested in me, too.

  “So,” Oliver says, bringing me out of my thoughts, “what do you do?”

  “I work at a video game company. I just got promoted a few weeks ago, and today was my first day.”

  “That’s awesome! I love video games. It’s about the only thing that always puts me in a good mood. Where do you work at?”

  “Sin & Civil, they mostly do—“

  “RPGs,” he says. “They’re amazing. Shit, that must be an amazing job.”

  I smile, and he leans his arms on the bar. I look down and see his muscles tighten as he shoves his weight forward.

  “What?” he says.

  I realize that ‘ex-boyfriend drama’ means that he’s, probably, not looking for anything serious right now. I’m not either, though, so there’s nothing wrong with making new friends. The only problem with Oliver is that I usually don’t want to have sex with my friends.

  “I’m just glad I decided to come to Gregor’s tonight. I, also, would love to show you around the city sometime. I’m not that great, but I’m a pretty great friend according to most people. Like everyone that knows me, basically.”

  He laughs and leans off the counter of the bar.

  “I’d like that,” he says.

  I get off the bar stool and let out an obnoxious sigh. He laughs and grabs my glass off the counter.

  “I better get going,” I say.

  He frowns and says, “Well, you have my number. And you know where I work, so let me know when we can go on that tour.”

  “Trust me, I will.”

  ***

  Oliver runs his tongue down my stomach as I lean back onto my elbows. He makes his way to my hips, and I jump when he kisses me and a rush of pleasure goes through my body.

  He sticks my dick in his mouth, and my head falls back as he pounds away at the tip of it. I stick my hands in his hair as he motions up and down, the pleasure unrelenting. I feel myself closer to cuming and look over to my desk in the corner of the room where a character from a video game I’m working on is sitting and touching himself.

  “What the fuck?” I say, looking back over to Oliver who is no longer Oliver, but that same video game character.

  I shoot up in bed and realize that I had been dreaming. I lean back on my palms, and I look down to see my dick hard as a rock. I lift the sheet up and see my stomach covered in pre-cum. I lie back and bring a pillow over my face, wishing I was still in the dream and that it wouldn’t had been infiltrated by stupid fucking video game characters.

  ***

  “You got home late last night.” Kelsey sits down beside me on the couch and props her feet up onto the coffee table. It’s almost noon, and we both have no desire to do anything on this lovely Saturday.

  “We had dinner and then I stayed and talked to the new bartender for a little bit.”

  “Oh?” she says. She turns her body sideways and raises her eyebrows at me. “Was this a male bartender?”

  “Yes,” I say. “He just moved here, and he seems like a nice guy.”

  “As nice as your other friends?”

  “Kelsey,” I say, glaring at her.

  “Are you going to see him again?”

  “Probably.” I get off the couch and make my way into the kitchen. We have no food, so I can’t make anything, but I don’t want to go anywhere, either. “I told him I’d show him around the city.”

  “How nice of you.” She gets off the couch and makes her way towards me. “We have no food, big brother.”

  “I know. We need to go grocery shopping.”

  “I’ll go,” she says, grabbing her shoes. She sits down at the table and puts them on.

  “Do you need a list or something?”

  She shakes her head from side to side and lays her palm out. “Some money would be nice, though.”

  I grab my wallet and get some cash out of it. I hand it to her, and she smiles, turning on her heel and walking towards the door.

  “Oh,” she says when she opens it. Ethan is standing there with his hand in the air.

  “I was just about to knock,” he says. “Sorry.” He steps out of Kelsey’s way and she slides past him.

  “She’s going to get some groceries,” I say. I cross my arms and lean bac
k against the refrigerator. “What’s up?”

  “I came to see how last night went once we left.”

  “I didn’t leave the pub with him, if that’s what you mean.”

  He laughs and sits down at the table. “Well, of course not, you’re Samuel Erickson. A dick will never make its way into you with a proper sit down and background check.”

  “He seems like a really nice guy, though,” I say. “I told him I’d show him around the city since he just moved here.”

  “You’re telling me that no part of you wants to jump that guy’s bones?”

  “I didn’t say that.” I lean off the fridge and sit down at the table across from him. I lean back in the chair and put my hands behind my head. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea to think about that. He told that he just got out of a relationship. It wouldn’t be a good time for that, anyway.”

  “You don’t have to date him, Sam. All I know is, he thought you were cute, too. He would not have looked back at you a million times if he wasn’t interested.”

  “I, actually, had a dream about him last night.” I roll my eyes and laugh. “It was nice until a character from a game I’m working on popped up and became Oliver.”

  “That’s just… weird,” he says. “That’s a sign that you need to stop working so hard. There’s more to life than working. Work is, literally, the least important part of life, I think.”

  “That’s because your job is just a job to you. I’m passionate about mine.”

  “You’re passionate about not getting hurt again.” He gets up out of the chair and takes a few steps towards the door. “I just stopped by real quick to see if anything happened. I’m meeting Cody for lunch at the hospital. Just, maybe give the idea a chance? You don’t have to marry the guy, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a little fun.”

  Chapter Four

  Oliver

  S ADIE AND I MAKE OUR WAY down the street in the heart of the city. Brenson & Brackett is the publishing house that picked up Sadie’s novel, and they are smack dab in the middle of the city where the traffic is ridiculous and people push past you like you’re nothing.