Stories Beneath Our Skin by Veronica Sloane Read Free Book Online Page B

laughed into his glass. "But you're right. I'm thirty-one. She's thirty-four."
    Nine years difference between them. Liam mulled the number over through a mouthful of Coke. It was stupid even to think about it, but he couldn 't help himself. Ace hadn't shown a lick of interest in men in general or Liam in particular. Yet the possibility was there now, lingering between them in a tension that was most likely one sided. Nine years was probably a lot. You could become a different person in nine years. Get a doctorate, get married, buy a house. You could grow up, have your own business, and start calling twenty-two-year-olds "kid". Apparently. Liam stared at his Coke, willing it to ferment into something harder.
    " It's the Captain!" A girl emerged from the crowd, throwing herself at Ace's back, arms winding around him. For a split second, Ace looked like he might toss her right back off, but his expression softened.
    " How goes it?" he asked, turning in her arms on the barstool.
    " It goes." She shrugged, still clinging tightly to him. "I was just leaving, then saw you. I thought you might want to say hi. Me and Pete and James met up for a drink."
    " Pete and James are here?"
    " Sure thing. Come on, say hi for a minute." She tugged at him.
    " Deb is here too." Ace wiggled out from the girl's grip to cross the dance floor. He touched Deb's Buddha'd arm and shouted something unintelligible over the music. She froze then slid away from Goose to follow Ace into a darkened corner. In her absence, Goose went on dancing on his own, curls flying wild around his head.
    Abandoned, Liam turned his attention to Frankie. She zoomed up and down the bar, filling drinks and summoning cheeky comments as she went. She was tall for a woman, her shoulders and hands unusually large, but graceful and quick. When she spotted Ace and Deb 's empty stools, she did a quick scan of the room. A frown tugged at the edges of her mouth and a customer had to ask her twice for a refill. Eventually she made her way back to Liam's side of the bar and plopped another neon red cherry into his Coke. He sucked it off the stem happily. He'd forgotten how much he liked the overdyed sweetness of them.
    " They run off on you?" she asked casually.
    " Nah. Ran into some friends, I guess. Pete and James someone?"
    " Shit." Frankie blew upwards, sending her bangs flying. "They'll need refills when they get back."
    " Something wrong?"
    " Not exactly." She reached for the soda gun, topping him off with absent-minded grace. "Just bad memories shared and all that. Maybe some good ones too, for all I know."
    " I think I'm missing something. Who are these people?"
    " Not for me to say." Frankie gave him a sympathetic smile. "You know how it goes. Bartender is like a therapist, except the tips don't get chewed up by insurance."
    Before Liam could press her, Ace returned grim and holding an empty glass. Frankie filled him back up and gave Liam another cherry like it was a consolation prize, before zipping away to make a martini at the other end of the bar.
    "You okay?" Liam asked after Ace downed half the glass in a swallow.
    " Yeah, sure." Ice crunched between Ace's teeth. "Frankie looking after you?"
    " I've been to a bar before," he said dryly.
    " Can get a little rowdy in here, is all." Ace rubbed at his forehead.
    " So can I ask you something?"
    " Depends on what it is."
    " Is Frankie trans?" Liam hunched around his drink. "I mean, it doesn't matter if she is or anything. I just noticed and--"
    " Frankie is a classy fucking lady." Fishing in the glass, Ace sought out another ice cube and popped it in his mouth, crunching on it ruthlessly. "Whatever she was born as isn't any of your business."
    " Wasn't trying to be rude." He tried not to feel stung. "Just curious. She passes well."
    " Not well enough, apparently."
    " I know what to look for." Liam bit his lip, watched Ace polish off the rest of his drink. Given how Frankie poured, Ace had to be at least close to drunk now. Maybe