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“No more for you, greedy girl,” he teased as he stepped away. “What do you think of your first round?”
I glanced down at the shots, trying to keep an objective eye as I took in the different layers of red, white, and blue. But it was the large puddle of mixed liquors that had me wincing.
“Do you think we get points taken off for how sloppy we are? There’s no way to pour these shots perfectly in just a minute.”
“You’ll have me to help clean up after you, and we place them on a tray for the judges,” he admitted. “So, you’d do the work, I’d clean it up and place them on top, grab your ingredients, be the support. Teamwork sweetheart. We’ve got this.”
“Oh good,” I said. Honestly, having someone do the small stuff would make it ten times easier.
“But,” he started, stopping me before I could get too confident. “Every time the cameras panned over the contestants, their stations always looked clean in the cuts.”
“Okay, so let’s try it again. The same one. And keep your hands off me,” I ordered, giving him a fake glare. He put the island between us and reset the time, waiting for me to give the all clear before hitting the button.
This time, I was much more focused, once again knocking them out just as the timer went off. The fact I ended without a puddle underneath meant I was already improving.
Zath came around to inspect. Just like last time, his brows furrowed as he studied them and I held my breath, waiting for the verdict.
“I think you got a bit overzealous on this shot,” he said, tapping it. My shoulders sagged at the sight of more red than any of the others.
“I guess I don’t get anything for this round, huh?” I cursed. It was a simple mistake but one that could cost me the competition. I’d have to find a ritual to get out of my head before each round if I wanted any hope of kicking Bandit’s Taphouse’s ass.
“Nope,” he sang out. “We’ll just move on to the next round. But first, I think we need a bit of liquid motivation.” He picked up one of the shots and handed me the other. We clinked them together before knocking them back. The sweet and fruity taste was perfect, even if I’d messed one up. That made me feel a whole lot better. From the smirk on my raven mate’s face, this was intentional.
Even if I was going in prepared and confident, the competition was a whole different world. Staying out of my head would be the biggest hurdle. Having a whole panel of judges and an audience watching my every move would be insanely unnerving. And that’s not considering the rest of the world as well, since they’d be live streaming parts of it.
I’ve always been a private person, and someone who was trying to keep a low profile after Lance ghosted me, in case he tried to reach out. Now, I was, evidently, throwing it all away for this competition. There would definitely be interviews and cameos, our information splattered all over the coverage from the event.
It’s for the business.
That would be my personal mantra, otherwise I’d likely chicken out and stay home.
My horse grunted in annoyance at the mere thought of it. Hiding was beneath her… and, apparently, me. A twinge of guilt hit me. I’d put my poor mare through hell the last year as I tried to get my shit together. Before the failed wedding I’d never let anyone make me feel like less. Even Lance’s protests of running a bar fell on deaf ears. I knew it wasn’t something to be looked down on and I loved the idea of late nights and the lifestyle.
Though, I was seriously reconsidering it at the moment.
“Okay,” Zath said as he rubbed his hands together. “Let’s do the rainbow shots. You might have to practice this one but out of the last five years of competition videos, it popped up three times. You definitely need to know it. It’s a ‘layer in the shaker’ one that changes color as you pour it over the glasses.” He pulled up a video on his phone to show me so there was no confusion. The entire thing was a work of art but at least it was something I was familiar with.
“Oh, I’ve done this one before. Remember that bachelorette party last month?! They asked Laura, so we figured it out for them,” I said. That was one thing I loved about Soulful Brews. We made the effort to give our patrons an experience, even if that meant learning something new on the fly.
Zath let me gather the ingredients I needed before he bothered with hitting the timer. The first time I poured the ingredients after shaking it, then I realized my mistake and groaned in exasperation.
Rookie move, Nyla.
“Take two,” I said as I poured the failed drink in the sink and rinsed the shaker. He didn’t say anything as I went back to try again. Zath just leaned against the counter and watched me work. In fact, the second time he forgot to set the timer and I didn’t remind him.
This time, it went off without a hitch. I pushed the glasses close together and slowly poured out the shots so I didn’t fuck it up. The colors shifted perfectly, giving the exact rainbow effect I needed. It’s one of my favorites to do and the fact it went off seamlessly after not doing it for months was definitely a win.
“I’ll hand it to you. These are damn near perfect and you already knew it which makes this easier,” he praised me as he pushed off of the counter and went behind me again. “I guess you earn another.”
“Or you could just fuck me,” I challenged him, done with these games. The moment he added sex into this equation it cut our attention in half. If he wanted me to truly perfect these then we had to get this part out of the way. Refusing to let him keep pushing me to practice, I went to the table and pulled off the apron before bending over it, wiggling my bare ass at him.
“You play dirty,” he said in a low voice. When he didn’t move I turned around to see him stripping his clothes off. Zath was gorgeous. He was tall and lean, his body lined in perfectly honed muscles without the added bulk. His skin was unblemished and pale, with a small strip of blond hair leading down to his thick cock. I could stare at this man every day and never tire of it.
He walked forward gracefully, skimming his fingertips over my exposed back as he moved in behind me. A shiver ran through me at the soft touch, goosebumps erupting on my skin. Having sex with your mate was unlike any other sex. Every touch was amplified and each emotion was easy to read as we bared our body and souls to one another.
“Fuck me now, Zath,” I growled. All playfulness was gone. I wanted… no, needed, to come now. “Foreplay is fun and all, but a girl needs a grand finale!”
“Be a mate with a horse they said, it’d be fun they said. Yet, no one ever warns you about how damn stubborn and demanding horses are,” he teased. There was no real heat in it. Zath was far too laid back to care if I was bossy sometimes.
