AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gamble grinned through it all. He didn't too much like attention on him, and he'd preferred to observe in the background. It didn't mean he couldn't do it, but the idea of being the center of attention to countless people all night made him break out in hives.
"Thank you, but I'm hardly as good as the hosts are." Gamble got each of their drink orders before he headed toward the bar, and he caught sight of the new guy the moment he got close.
Broad shoulders filled out a black button-up, and red hair was tied up in a messy bun. But what made him pause was when the stranger turned around, and the most electric green eyes landed on him before Gamble could even announce himself. Most people looked right past him. Not this man.
"Need something?" The new guys' voice was deep and gravely; it did funny things to Gamble that he didn't quite understand.This place was getting to him.
"Uh yeah, here is the list of drinks I need." Gamble passed over the small list he'd made. The last thing he needed was to show up to the booth with a fucked order.
The new guy's thick auburn brows dipped, and his lips that were slightly hidden under his facial hair fell.
"You don't know what you're doing?" Gamble guessed.
A growl rumbled out of his muscular chest, and Gamble wasn't even scared instead, his body had a strange reaction to him. Pinpricks of heat dotted up his spine.
"Hey don't get all growly on me," Gamble said, holding his hands up.
"Some of these drinks I haven't even heard of."
Gamble sighed and made his way around the bar. "Go help them down there." He attempted to shoo the new guy away, but he didn't budge an inch. "Or stay right there. Whatever."
A growl was all the answer he got. Gamble rolled his eyes now that he wasn't entertaining customers. "You can growl all you want, but everyone around here growls if you haven't noticed. You aren't special."
He grabbed the ingredients he needed to make the first drink. He hadn't been behind the bar at all, but in his spare time, Gamble may have found a strange hobby in watching a particular dragon as he mixed drinks and perfected his craft. Patrons came for the hosts, but plenty of loyal customers came for Arden's drinks alone.
"Why would that go together?" The gravelly voice was even closer.
Gamble fought back the shiver and glanced over his shoulder. "Because they do." The stranger's eyes followed every single one of his movements, and Gamble wanted to hide away.Did he scream look at me tonight?He needed a smoke break, and he'd be taking one the moment he got a second to himself.
"That isn't an answer."
"Aren't you supposed to be serving customers?" Gamble asked.
"I heard there was no other bartender besides Arden and me," the man said, ignoring Gamble.
"Can I get a dragon twist?" a customer said, waving a hand at them.
Gamble gave the new guy a pointed look. He growled, but he moved away from Gamble and started working on the drink. He kept glancing at some sheets as he made the drink.
He finished, and it looked right to Gamble, so why had the man been so pressed about making the drinks Gamble requested?
"The list only has four of the drinks. Arden was supposed to be working back here with me. I have to perfect these first."
Gamble nodded and went back to work. Ice, shake, pour. One by one he was tearing through the order.
"You're another bartender?" the man asked.
"No. I'm security." A thought occurred to him, and he took in the man fully. He was tall and filled out; he was intimidating but Gamble had long ago grown used to everyone being bigger than him.
"You're the other new guy to help with security you will be switching off with—" Gamble tilted his head, but he couldn't remember the woman's name for the life of him. He wasn't so great with them, and it took him an entire month before he learned Zeek's name.
"I'm Bash," the burly man said.
"Gamble." He went back to making the drink and finished it off with a lime before making the next one. "Hey where is Arden?"
After the whole fiasco, Gamble had lost track of Arden, and there was no way he was going to follow after the dragon, not unless he had a death wish, and Gamble for sure didn't have one of those.
"I don't know, the vampire came over and told him he had a call, and then he disappeared. It's my first day here." Bash grumbled the last part, and Gamble understood the frustration.
