My Mind's Eye (Pub Fiction #1) Read online

  Levi called our mom this afternoon to check in on her recovery, and she let it slip that I was already back in town. I pretty much got an immediate text demanding I come to work to help train and supervise the new hires starting tonight.

  August and September are always crazy months for us. Every new school year brings in a few new workers to replace the ones who graduated and moved on.

  Being the good, reliable brother that I am, I grab everything I need for my shift as fast as I can before heading in. Lucky for me, it doesn’t take me long to get ready. The guys wear a simple uniform: jeans and a t-shirt with the Pub Fiction logo across the chest, unlike the servers and shooter girls who have to dress in short skirts or shorts and low V-necked shirts; not that I’m complaining at all. But it’s definitely nice knowing I’ll make good tips regardless of my clothes. I tidy up my room a bit, as well, because I know the chances are pretty good that I won’t be alone when I get back to my room later tonight.

  The idea of jumping right back into working again, after having the last month off, doesn’t exactly excite me, though. I wish I could say I was away on holidays for the last month, but actually, I’ve been living back home with our mom in Oakville, helping her while she recovers from knee surgery. It’s been some great practice for me, too. I’ve been able to use some of my skills on my mom. She played soccer for years, and went pro for a while, until her knees got too bad. I guess you could say she helped spark my interest in sports medicine. I’m the one who went home to help her out because Levi has to work and I’ve been out on summer vacation; it was a no brainer. It’s been my brother, my mom, and myself ever since my dick of a dad bailed on us five years ago. The piece of shit up and left my mom for a younger model, remarrying no more than six months after their divorce was finalized. He married a chick named Sandy, who is exactly the woman you picture when you hear her name. Yep, that one. The one with the perfectly altered face, huge fake tits, complete with a Valley Girl voice shrill enough to drive you fucking crazy.

  Levi and I don’t really spend too much time talking or visiting with our dad. We do, however, make sure we are always there for our mom. She’s the best and is undeserving of the way our asshole of a father ended things with her. The one thing I never can condone is cheating, and for that alone, I rarely speak to him.

  Shaking off the angry thoughts, I grab my keys and lock the door before walking to my car.

  Man, how I wish the summer would stay. I can’t believe it’s mid-August already. Thoughts of school starting in a few weeks begin to plague my mind as I trudge down to my car…well, that is, until I happen to glance to my right and notice my very friendly neighbours, Missy and Sarah. I offer them a wave as they sit on their porch soaking up the sun and drinking what looks to be some fruity frozen shit with one of those annoying umbrellas decorating the cup, all the while showing off their assets in slinky bikinis with their tits almost spilling out. I have no doubt they realize they’re driving half of the men in our cul-de-sac crazy. Women with bodies like that always know exactly what they are doing. Yeah, I’m sure gonna miss the summer. I grin to myself as I hear Sarah calling out to me.

  But looking past Sarah down the street, I see what looks to be one fucking hot-ass brunette rushing to a little red Beetle that’s parked on the side of the road. Is she wearing a fucking coat? It’s summer. Fuck me, those legs alone have my full attention, as she’s wearing a pair of black shorts that show nothing but legs for miles. And here I thought my pervy brother had found the shortest shorts possible. Damn.

  Squinting to get a better view of her, I realize I’ve never seen her around here before, and this is my third year living in the Village. I wonder if she’s some fresh meat who’s just moved in, or a visitor passing through. I tend to have a thing for brown-haired women, and this one’s a babe. Who am I kidding? I tend to have a thing for brunettes, blondes, redheads—I’m not picky. I have a thing for women, period. I scan this new girl to memory, and remind myself to revisit this little situation later when I’m not running off to work.

  “Hey, Ryker,” Sarah purrs in a low sultry voice, one I assume is her ‘sexy’ voice, bringing me back from my thoughts as she inches closer to me. When the hell did she move off the porch? I take in her long strawberry blonde hair along with the trace of freckles gracing her nose. She really is pretty. “We’re having a small get-together tonight with some of the other early arrivals. You should come over and join us,” she adds, while looking me up and down, a knowing smirk on her face. I take in her perky tits, the ones pretty much on display for all. Tits she’s clearly using to try to entice me as she bounces up and down as she goes on about the party. She also manages to move her cold drink along her nipple so it’s now protruding, taunting me as we talk. I can’t help but stare as she smiles, knowing she’s gained my full attention.

  “Thanks for the invite, sweetheart, but I’m heading to work. Believe me, I’d rather be here with you girls tonight. I mean, you’re so fucking sexy right now, Sah,” I say as I pull her closer. Sarah is hot and I know she’s into me. We’ve been flirting with each other since at least second year. Maybe it’s time to say fuck it and just give in.

  “Well, sexy.” She pretty much moans into my ear as she leans up on her tiptoes. I can smell the coconut of her sunscreen mixed with the alcohol on her breath. “We’ll be here when your shift is done. Why don’t you come on over after? I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

  “That sounds really good, Sarah, but I don’t think us hooking up tonight is a good idea. I’m going to be closing the place down, maybe another time.” I tap her nose, giving her tits one more glance before walking away.

  The reason we’ve never hooked up in the past has been me. I can’t help but think she lives too close. You know that old saying about dipping your pen into the office ink…well, I think that applies to neighbours, too, especially ones who live right next door. The last thing I need is a complication if she doesn’t get my rules.

  “Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me,” Sarah calls out in a last-ditch effort.

  See? She’s already showing herself as a needy, clingy chick. Yep, decision made. Avoid Sarah Richards at all costs. There is no way she could handle my golden rule.

  One night only.

  You see, this is a game for me. One where I make the rules, choose the players, and never play for keeps.

  Hopping into my car and making my way to work, I admit to myself that I really do need to get laid, though. It’s been way too long. Thoughts of how Sarah’s lush body would feel come to mind. I laugh as I think back on how living at home with Mommy for the last month hasn’t really helped my game at all. Mom, you’re a huge cock-block.

  I mean, it’s not like I could bring a one-night stand home and give it to her while my mom is asleep in the next room. Nor would I want to.

  Besides, I wouldn’t want to chance some girl accidentally running into my mom. Any girl meeting her is completely off limits. I’ve never brought a woman home, not even Melissa, my ex. Although we dated for a year, I just didn’t feel Melissa was worthy of that honour. Fuck, am I ever glad for that now. For me, meeting the family signals a huge commitment, one I’m just not ready for. The idea of being with one woman, only one, is not appealing to me at this point in my life, and that’s something I intend to steer clear of for a very long time.

  Luckily for me, Pub Fiction is always ripe for the picking when I need to bury myself in the warmth of a woman’s tight, hot body. It’s a hangout for the type of women I’m looking for right now. Women who are looking for a quick, no-strings attached hook-up just as much as I am. Ones who know and respect the score.

  We tend to get a lot of regulars at the bar, groups of girls who have made Pub Fiction their stomping ground. This is great for business, but not great for my extracurricular activities. That means I need to be extra careful when choosing who I hook up with, like making sure I don’t end up with a crazy stage-five clinger. You know the type, the one
who will be there every week, drunk with her girls, trying to convince me to take her home one more time. The same one who will have the ability to make it look like I’m taken to the other prospects. And that shit is the last thing I need, some chick who thinks she can change me…to be the one to tame Ryker Eddison. It ain’t happenin’.

  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’m this super douche or anything. But, truth be told,

  I’m…a guy. A guy who, like all men, likes to fuck.

  Like most other guys my age, I’m a horny motherfucker and I do not do relationships. Definitely not serious ones, anyway. At best, if you’re something extra special, maybe we can be fuck buddies for a while. But the number of girls to hold that status is currently zilch. I haven’t had anything other than a one-night stand in years. At least, not since my ex, Melissa. That girl did a real number on me. It really messed with my head and, honestly, my heart, too. Melissa and I dated somewhat exclusively for just over a year during my first year here at Brock. I use the term exclusively loosely, because apparently, people have different interpretations as to what the word actually means.

  In the beginning, things were great. I couldn’t have been happier. Melissa was smart, attentive, sweet, and drop-dead gorgeous, to top it all off. Complete with a sexual appetite that rivalled my own. Yeah, she was a dream…until she became my nightmare.

  Now I refuse to put myself in that position again, not unless she is my perfect girl, my very own Holy Grail: The future Mrs. Eddison. And right now, I can safely say I’m not looking to meet her. One day I want a wife and family, the norm I guess, but not anytime soon. I can’t allow myself to get so caught up in a woman like that again. I simply want to fuck. A lot. It’s never more than fucking. I’m only looking for Ms. Right Now.

  Walking into Pub Fiction, I immediately spot my brother behind the bar. God, I love the smell of this place—lemons and leather with the slight hint of beer—always lingering in the air.

  “Hey, man, we’ve missed you around here,” Levi says, shaking my hand and giving me a typical man hug. “It’s nice to have you back. I think a few of the regulars will be happy to see you, too. They’ve been sulking without their main eye candy behind the bar. They’ve had to settle for the boss and Lukey. We aren’t nearly as fun as you, buddy,” he adds with a wink.

  Levi and I have always been close, eventhough he’s two years older than me. We’ve hung out in the same circles, especially once I hit high school and he realized how cool I am, so being away for a month has sucked for both of us. “Well, of course you missed me. I’m the one who gets you all the tail. How the hell have you and Luke survived without me?” I deadpan.

  “You wish, man. I’m the one with the big dick, and you know it, you little fucker. You’re just the tag along, and always have been,” he says, tossing the towel at me.

  “Asshole, is what you are,” I say, throwing a bar lime at his head.

  While neither of us would ever admit it, Levi’s my best friend. He knows me better than anyone, and he shares the same mentality when it comes to women and commitment. I’d say he’s more committed to not being committed than me. I can’t name a single woman Levi has dated, not ever, not even in high school.

  “Ryk, dude, you must be dying? A month at Mom’s with only Palmela and Handula to tide you over must have killed you.” He chuckles. “Good thing you’re back. The girls are going to be all kinds of batshit to see you tonight. They’ve been going stir-crazy waiting for their favourite bartender to return. I actually think Naomi had to replace your message cup with a bowl behind the bar.”

  I laugh, picturing Naomi with a message bowl. With so many girls trying to give Luke, Levi, and me their numbers, many of the staff were done with “being our receptionists,” as they eloquently put it. One of the main shooter girls, Naomi, thinking she was funny, set up two stations at each end of the bar with three labelled cups and a sign saying, “If you wanna get a HOLD of Levi, Ryker, or Luke, drop your sales pitch here.” Despite it starting as a joke, you wouldn’t believe how many chicks actually put their info along with a blurb into those cups!

  “Good, that’s what I was hoping for,” I say, reaching for my bowl, sifting through the messages. “I’m hoping to find a girl to make myself happier later tonight.”

  I put the bowl back on top of the bar and quickly turn to face Levi with my hands in front of my face, studying them intently. “After all, I need to give these blisters some healing time.” I laugh, and then display my pristine hands. He just shakes his head. I clasp his shoulder, squeeze his neck, and give him an all-out shit-eating grin.

  “How’s Mom? She sounded like she was doing good on the phone. She told me she’s been a lot more mobile than she figured she’d be.”

  I quickly fill him in on how well our mom’s doing, sharing how the doctors are pleased with her progress to the point where they might begin her physio sooner than expected.

  “You should go see her, Levi. I can hold down the fort here for a few days.” I look around the club. “I mean, really, this place is a well-oiled machine. Besides, with my easy course load, I have some extra time, so I can cover you no problem.”

  “Yeah, I’ll leave you in charge for a week while I go see her. I think I can trust your ass to take care of the place for that long. Thanks, Ryk—”

  “Aw, shit!” someone yells from the front entrance, followed by the sound of something clanging, interrupting us.

  “Who the hell is that?” I laugh. “Naomi being her klutz-assed self again? Shit never changes around here,” I say, shaking my head and picturing Naomi all flustered.

  Levi shrugs as he polishes glasses for tonight. I crane my neck to see what the hell is going on. I freeze, not at what, but rather who I see. It’s not fucking Naomi. Shit, this girl is gorgeous.

  “Holy shit, Levi, I’m serious, man. Who the fuck is that?” I nod toward the door again. My eyes are glued to the girl who’s just come barrelling in. “Fuck me,” I mutter, more to myself than to Levi. I feel like I’ve seen her before, and the more I look at her, the sooner I realize it’s the same girl I saw not twenty minutes ago. She’s still wearing that fucking jacket in the dead of summer, but those killer legs, I’d recognize them anywhere. Shit, I wonder if she spotted me too and followed me here? It wouldn’t be the first time a girl has followed me to work. Goddamn clingers. But as she unzips her jacket, I catch a glimpse of the Pub Fiction logo stretched across her impressive rack. Fuck, are you kidding me? She works here. “Levi, dude, again, who the hell is she?”

  “Newbie shooter girl,” Levi says, then growls the next bit, “and keep your fucking hands off her, brother. I need this chick, and I can’t afford to lose her ’cause you’re an asshole.”

  Asshole. I slap his back. “Ha, okay. Whatever, man. Like you’ve never fucked your own staff.” He ignores my jab, but shakes his head.

  Turning back just in time, I smile, ’cause I’m such a lucky bastard. I catch the sweet curve of this chick’s ass as she bends over to retrieve her keys. Fuck me, that ass is perfection, instantly giving me wood, even from a distance.

  I’m staring, completely rooted in place, unable to peel my gaze from her. She is, without a doubt, the most stunning creature I have ever laid eyes on.

  I see her pausing, nervously taking in her surroundings. The reaction I’m having to this girl is not one I’ve experienced before. Never have I been this stunned by a woman to the point of near immobility. Yep, I’m gonna need this one beneath me. And soon.

  As if he can hear my thoughts, Levi leans in. “Easy there, fella. Don’t go scaring off my newly hired help before she gets through the door. Like I said, I need her, man. I’m short-staffed as it is,” he says, turning toward the dishwasher, beginning to empty it.

  “No, I know, Levi; it’s a crazy time. I’ll be good.”

  “I hope so, Ryk, with Marie moving back to Toronto for work in her field and Stacey quitting because Luke doesn’t want to give her the time of day after they slept togethe
r.” He raises his eyebrows, knowing I’m shocked he knows about those two. “Yeah, yeah, don’t think I don’t know. Fuckin’ Stacey told me when she quit. Told me how she was in love with the little shit and he didn’t want her. Said she couldn’t bear to look at him every day. So yeah, I need the new girls, especially this one and the new bartender, Claire, who happens to be her roommate.”

  “Okay, okay, man. I get it. Relax, Levi,” I tease, “I’m just looking…for now.” I grin.

  “Ryker,” he grits. “Believe me, I know she’s some real eye candy, and you can thank me later, little brother. I think I’m actually going to be getting a lot of thank yous for adding these two to the staff. I can only imagine the cock parade that will start once the men around here feast their eyes on them. Big Jim and the team are gonna be extra busy for a while,” he adds.

  Levi prides himself on security and his staff feeling safe. Sure the girls might wear short shorts and tight tees, but he won’t take anyone messing with his crew. Levi has hired the best security staff he could find. Big Jim is just that, big, and his team of Ruck, Sam, and Dalton are just as tough and scary. We’ve never had any real issues. I think just their presence alone is enough.

  For some reason, the thought of other guys checking her out, meeting her, doesn’t sit well with me at all. I want to be the one to check her out, to meet her. I clench my jaw and glare at Levi. Whoa, shit, I don’t know this girl and I’m starting to be all kinds of pissy. What the fuck is that?

  I listen to Levi go on and wonder if he’s noticed my little freak out. If he has, thank Christ, he hasn’t said anything. I don’t need Levi busting my balls about some girl I don’t know.

  “I mean, you don’t need to tell me twice; she’s smokin’ hot,” he says, “but if you ask me, the new bartender hotter.” I simply nod, unable to find the right thing to say. He laughs, shaking his head, as we continue watching from behind the bar.