Looking At Forever (The Rock Gods Book 4) Read Free Page B

“And, since it was one hundred percent my fault, I’m willing to pay for everything.”
    Rooster set his arm on Wheland’s shoulder and laughed. “Come inside with me,” he suggested. “We’ll have a beer and catch up.”
    Wheland walked into the bar with Rooster and removed his sunglasses. The sudden change in light had Wheland stopping for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the darkened space. The room was long and narrow with a wooden bar occupying most of one wall and booths positioned against the opposite side. Old black and white linoleum squares were patterned on the floor and Tuesday’s Gone by Lynyrd Skynyrd pumped from a jukebox in the far corner.
    Wheland instinctively headed toward the empty seats at the bar where he’d sat a few other times, but Rooster grabbed his elbow and directed him to a booth at the back of the room. Rooster slid onto a bench seat behind a beat-up table and waited for Wheland to do the same across from him.
    “If it’s all right with you, I’d rather not be bothered at the bar,” Rooster said.
    Wheland shrugged. “This is fine,” he said. “I’m usually by myself when I come here so I sit at the bar.”
    Wheland’s eyes darted around the place. It was fairly crowded for a late Thursday afternoon, he thought, then his gaze came back to Rooster. The guy’s tanned good looks were difficult for Wheland to study without focusing on his mouth or those hypnotic eyes that seemed to burn holes into him without even trying. Wheland’s groin began to react and he glanced away before he made his attraction obvious to Rooster. He needed something else to concentrate on besides Rooster’s sexy mouth and what he’d like to slide into it. He spotted a pudgy waitress making her way to their table wearing leopard print Spandex leggings and a halter top.
    Perfect boner killer!
    “Don’t you get recognized when you sit at the bar?” Rooster asked.
    “Sometimes,” Wheland answered. “But people are pretty cool about not pissing me off when they recognize me.”
    “Are you still living up near Alex?” Rooster asked.
    The waitress stopped at the end of their table and snapped her gum in her mouth before offering Wheland a heated smile. He did his best to ignore her short, spiked, bleach blond hair, bright red lipstick, and overdone eyes. In fact, everything about this woman was overdone.
    “I’m Candy,” she said. “What can I get you boys?”
    “No doubt it’s Candy with an ‘I’,” Wheland imagined and rolled his eyes.
    “I’ll take a draft beer and a shot of Jack,” Wheland said.
    Rooster smiled at the woman and winked. “I’ll take the same, darling.”
    Wheland held back the look of disgust that threatened to wash over his face at Rooster’s wink. Darling? Really? Did Rooster think this woman was hot? His repulsion quickly turned to shock when he saw Rooster watching the retreating form of the waitress leaving their table.
    “You want a piece of that?” Wheland asked.
    Rooster laughed. “Not on my worst day or even after consuming all the booze in this shit hole,” he said and paused. “But, if you treat her right, she’ll keep the beer coming.”
    “Judging by the way you were reacting, I thought maybe you were hoping she’d keep you coming even more than the beer,” Wheland said with a snicker.
    Rooster’s eyes turned back to Wheland and the smile fell from his face. Wheland felt his breath catch in his throat and his cheeks heat. He suddenly wished they were sitting on the bar stools so he didn’t have to look into Rooster eyes like this.
    Jesus fucking Christ!
    Wheland reached for his phone and aimlessly stared at the screen, partly hoping for something really important to keep him distracted. His mind began sifting through the old memories he had of Rooster back in the early days of both their bands. There were months on the road when their bands toured together, countless parties, and time simply spent in one another’s company. Wheland felt he