Page 26 of Oracles Always Win

Hegrabbed a chair at a nearby table and dragged it over toGage’s.Assoon as he plopped down, he pulled out his ever-present notebook from his backpack—I’dnever seen the guy without a pad of paper and a pen—and eyed the others.

“Okay.I’mhere now.WhatdidImiss?”Hiswords were loud, andIheard them all the way across the room.

“Abouttime you two showed up.”Theblond guy grinned atJeremyand punched him lightly in the arm.Adrian, who’d now pulled over his own chair, swatted the blond guy’s hand away.

Huh.Theyknew one another.

IlikedJeremy.Healways had a welcoming smile and talked a lot.IfJeremyliked these guys, maybe they weren’t so bad after all.

“Shit,”Jeremymuttered. “Weneed drinks.I’llget them.”Hepushed his notebook and pen toward his boyfriend. “Takenotes whileI’mgone.”

Iglanced at the ordersIhad lined up.Iwas filling them as quickly asIcould, but most of my regulars liked things that took time, like mixed drinks or draft beer.Draftwas the worst because ifItried to go too fast, the drinks would be all foam.Veryfew people ordered easy things like bottled beer or coolers.

“Hey,Jake,”Jeremysaid as he bounced up to the bar.

“It’lljust take a few minutes—” or a lot of minutes, “—for me to get to your drinks, but what canIget you?”

Jeremyscanned the bar. “Whereis your usual server?”

“Shecouldn’t make it today.”

“Soyou’re working alone?”Hecast his gaze over the crowd.Hiseyes lingered on the table where his boyfriend was now chatting with the others.Thenhe turned his attention back to me. “I’veworked in bars before.CanIhelp?”

“Oh,Icouldn’t ask you to do that.You’rehere to meet your… friends…”

Jeremywaved his hand through the air, dismissing my words. “Adrianis getting pretty good at taking notes.He’llfill me in on what’s happening withMr.Dimplesand the others.”Thenhe ducked around the end of the bar, like everything had been decided and he was now my employee for the night. “I’mpretty sureIknow all the latest news anyway.Justhad a touch ofFOMOwhen we were running late, but it’s fine now thatI’mhere.”

“Mr.Dimples?”Hewasn’t talking aboutGage, was he?

Gage, as if he’d heard whatJakeandIwere saying, glanced over and frowned atJeremy, who snorted and wiggled his fingers at him in a little wave.Hiswave didn’t look like he was a toddler, but it did feel mischievous.

“That’sjust whatIcall him.Icouldn’t believe it whenImet him and saw his cute little dimple.He’ssuch a badass dem?—”

Sallysquawked, cutting off whateverJeremywas about to say.

Jeremy’smouth snapped shut. “Uh…Oops.Imeant to call him a… a… um, demonstrably badass kind of guy.Mymouth just gets tangled sometimes.Youknow how it goes.”

Jeremywas lying to me, very poorly too.He’dalmost said something else, butIcouldn’t figure out what.

“Doyou know those guys well?”Iasked quietly.

Jeremygrinned as his gaze bounced back toGage’stable, and my eyes followed. “Oh, yeah.They’regreat.Adrianconsiders them family.”

“Huh.Okay.Thingsgot a little tense in here when they arrived, so…”

Jeremywaved his hand through the air, dismissing my concerns. “They’rethe good guys.Trustme.Theysaved my life.”

Thatseemed a bit dramatic.Afterall, how often did a person get in a situation where they needed their life saved?Hehad to be exaggerating.Buthis endorsement swept away my lingering concerns.

“Okay.Whatdo you need me to do?”Jeremyrubbed his hands together.

Itucked the piece of paper with my number on it into my back pocket and thenJeremyandIgot to work pouring drinks, bussing tables, and making food.NowthatIhad help behind the counter, it was like everyone rushed over at once.

Wewere swamped with orders, butJeremystill found time to talk.Ididn’t think he knew how to stop talking.Iheard all about the paranormal romance he was writing.Andthen he started on some weird questions thatIassumed were related to his book.

Heput a pint glass under the lager spout and tilted it perfectly as he opened the tap.Ashe let the glass fill, his gaze wandered over to me.

“So… hypothetically speaking… do you think demons are sexy?”