Shifting Gears (Crossroads Series Book 2) (3 page)

Rod tossed his cell phone to the counter after sending the text. He wasn’t sure what made him message Landon, but he was bored and work was slow, and the guy had sexy eyes. So sue him.

His phone buzzed a minute later, and he looked down at it.

Sleep.

He smiled, imagining a sleep-ruffled Landon, his dark hair messy from rubbing against the pillow. Or better yet, a sex-rumpled Landon, his hair disheveled because Rod had tugged on it all night while Landon fucked him.

Shit. He really needed to get laid.

It’s one.
Rod texted back. He didn’t open until noon. Most people who went shopping for sex toys and lube didn’t do so before twelve.

Couldn’t sleep. Didn’t pass out until about seven this morning. Thanks for fucking up my rest.

Rod laughed just as the bell rang over the door. He put his phone under the counter and made his way to the woman who walked in. She had long, curly hair, looked to be in her early twenties, and her cheeks were bright red.
Ahh, a virgin.

“First time, huh?” he asked her.

Her mouth went wide, making an
O
.

Oh shit. “I meant in an adult store! Not having sex.” Fantastic. He was sexually harassing female customers now.

“Oh. Sorry. I should have realized that’s what you meant. And yes…my boyfriend and I…it’s our six-month anniversary and I wanted to get something to surprise him. I looked online, but it’s different, ya know? I want to actually be able to look at the product…whatever I get.”

Rod smiled, wanting to take her under his wing. She was obviously nervous as hell, shy, and a little insecure. “You’re in the right hands. We’ll get you all figured out. Tell me a little about your boyfriend.” He nodded toward the center of the store and she followed.

“We’re both in college. He plays football, but he’s not the conceited jock type. I mean, we were both virgins when we met. He would kill me if he knew I told you that.”

Rod shook his head. “Your secrets are safe with Rod.”

She smiled. “Summer break starts soon and we live in different states. This will be our last night together.”

“And a special night it will be. You said he plays football. Is he still pretty active, even though it’s not football season?”

She nodded.

“We’ll start you guys out slow then, maybe with some massage products. You can work out his muscles and if he’s a good guy, he’ll return the favor. The fun stuff starts after that.” Rod winked at her, and the blush was completely gone from her cheeks.

“That sounds perfect. Thank you.”

“No problem.” They walked side by side through the store. “After the massage products, we definitely need to hit the lingerie.”

The girl stumbled at that. “No. I don’t have the body for something like that.”

Rod frowned. It killed him to hear things like that from people—men or women. “You’re gorgeous, and he obviously feels the same way. I promise you, he’ll love it.” This earned him a shy nod. That small confirmation was all he needed. “Let’s do this.”

She shrugged. “I guess since I’m here…yeah, let’s do it.”

Thirty minutes later they were at the counter with a whole basketful of fun, and Alethia—she’d told him her name—wore a huge smile on her face. “Never in a million years would he think I’d do something like this. He’s going to freak.”

“He’s going to love it,” Rod told her.

He gave her the total, and she paid. Alethia made it halfway to the door before stopping and turning to him. “Thank you. I was really embarrassed to come here. This is the third time I’ve tried and I finally had the guts to come in. I actually think I’m even a little excited to wear the lingerie. You’re good with people…and you made me feel really comfortable. I appreciate that.”

This was the part of the job people didn’t understand. It wasn’t just about selling sex toys. It was about making people happy, making them feel good; if that made him dirty and sinful, then fine by him. “That’s what I’m here for. Have fun.”

She smiled and ducked out of the shop. A feeling of contentment settled in his chest. When his phone buzzed again, he remembered his conversation with Landon. Rod pulled the phone from the shelf to see three missed texts.

I was giving you shit.

Oh, I see, wake me up and then ignore me.

I’m going back to bed.

Obviously Landon wasn’t very patient.
Wow…are you always this impatient or am I just special? Very important stuff going on over here. I had a shy, first timer. I saved the day in case you’re wondering.

Rod set his phone down again, somehow knowing Landon was going to make him wait.

***

His mom was doing the dishes when Landon went into the kitchen. Jesus, this was so fucking strange…being back here, living at home. “Mornin’,” he said, scratching his head.

“It’s the afternoon.” She smiled. She was dressed, wearing makeup and had her hair down. She looked good, looked happy. He glanced at the counter and saw her pill bottle there. Her eyes followed his. “Yes, I took my medication. I’ve been taking it for years on my own. I’m not a child, Landon.”

He frowned. He understood her feeling that way. He’d just been thinking the same thing, in regards to being home. It was a tricky situation. She’d gone through a really tough time when his dad left. She had what she called dark periods from time to time, but over the years, they’d become fewer and farther between. If the situation were reversed he knew he wouldn’t appreciate being checked up on like this. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wonder.”

“It’s okay. I get it, but I promise you, I’m good. Don’t think I don’t know you’re here because Shanen over-worries about everything. I’m not a fool, but I love having you back so I’m going to pretend you moved back to Virginia just because you missed us.” She grabbed a towel from the counter and dried her hands. “It’s good to see your face every day, but I hate that you felt as though you had to come back because of me.”

“I’m not back only because of you.” He was back because it was important. Shanen was getting married. He hadn’t seen his family more than once per year since he left home.

The older he got, the more he feared becoming his dad. He fucking hated that prick too much to risk being like him.

“Then why do you act so miserable?”

Guilt swarmed him, like bees around a hive. “What are you talking about? I’m not miserable.” It was strange how that was partially the truth. Fuck, he hated this town. And again, he sure as hell didn’t want to live with his mother but, besides his job, he hadn’t had much he loved in Orlando either. He’d been in need of a change—just not this one in specific.

“You don’t want to live here. You don’t want to
be
here. You’ve made that much obvious over the years.”

Landon sat in the chair and sighed. Her words stung, but he wouldn’t lie to her. “No, I didn’t want to be here. Not really, but that’s not because of you.”

“Leaving home won’t change the past. It won’t change the fact that he left.”

White, hot anger pierced him. You’d think after all this time, it wouldn’t matter, that he could forgive him or at least not feel like burning the whole damn world down when he thought about him. “What I do has nothing to do with him.”

“Sure it does. Our experiences shape us, good and bad. There’s no denying that, Landon. He was young…we were both young and made our mistakes. You and Shanen both know I wasn’t innocent.”

Landon shoved to his feet, walking over to the fridge because he needed something to do. He sure as shit didn’t want to talk about his father. “Don’t do that. Don’t make excuses for him.” Why were they even talking about this?

“People are human. We make mistakes. If you can forgive mine, why not his?”

Landon turned on her. “Because he’s not here! He left, remember? He didn’t give a shit and he walked away!” She flinched and he silently cursed. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you.” Still, everything he’d said had been true.

Landon pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her dark hair. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, and I just want you to be happy. No going through life with regrets, huh? I have enough of them for the both of us, and I’m sure your father does, too.”

He tried to fight going rigid at the mention of him again.

“There are a lot of exciting things going on. New opportunities. Shanen is getting married. You’re back. Who knows what else will happen?”

He wasn’t so sure he wanted to find out.

“I have a confession to make…I’m looking forward to living on my own again. I haven’t lived by myself since before I had you kids.”

He crossed his arms and looked at her. “Um…did you forget I moved in with you?”

She patted his shoulder. “Not forever. I know you better than that. Once you get a job, you’ll find your own place, which is the way it should be.”

“Are you kicking me out?” Landon teased her.

“Yes?” She grinned, but he knew she really wasn’t. She was giving him an escape and he was thankful as hell for it. “Just don’t go too far this time, okay?”

He wondered if it had been like this for his dad before he’d left. If he’d been looking for an escape, and his mom had provided him with one, the same way she tried to do with Landon.

About a week later, Landon pulled up at the shop for his interview. It was a nice, clean place. The drive was slightly a bummer, since it was about forty-five minutes away from where his mom lived, but he could handle it. He’d do anything to be in a shop again, to spend his days working on bikes and getting grease under his nails.

He killed the engine, put the kickstand down, and pulled his leg over his bike just as a guy with a similar build to his own, and dark hair walked out. “R1, huh? She’s a beauty.”

Landon pulled off his helmet, set it on the bike and held out a hand. “Thank you. I’m Landon Harrison.”

The other man clasped his hand in a tight grip. “Bryce Tanner. It’s nice to meet you.”

So this was Bryce. He’d heard quite a bit about him from Rod. It was strange, and he wasn’t sure exactly how it happened, but they’d been texting each other often over the last week. It felt like such an odd thing to do, texting, with the guy who sold him lube. His conversations with men on his phone were usually done on a hook-up app, but considering he’d thought about doing more than that with Rod before he’d told Landon about the job, maybe it wasn’t so strange after all.

“You as well,” Landon told him before Bryce led him inside. The shop was just as clean inside as it looked outside. It was obvious that the man took pride in his work, which was incredibly important to him.

“MMI, huh?” Bryce asked him about his schooling. “If I left Virginia, that’s where I would have wanted to go.”

Most people who loved to work on bikes did. “Yeah, it was great. I loved it.”

They made their way into a small office and Bryce closed the door behind him. “We do motocross and street bikes both.”

“I have experience with both,” Landon told him. “I rode moto as a kid. I don’t do it as much anymore, but I can definitely work on any bike you put in front of me. I have a buddy who rides professionally, and I’ve rebuilt his top for him more than once.”

“No shit?” Bryce asked and it was obvious Landon just scored some points.

“Beckett Monroe.” What he didn’t say was that Beckett was the only person he’d ever slept with who he considered a friend, and still spoke to afterward. Maybe that’s because they only fucked once and Beck was one hundred percent in the closet with no plans of coming out.

“Are you fucking kidding me? He won the Monster Energy cup.”

“Yeah, I know. I was there.”

Bryce clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I think you’re my new best friend.”

Just like that, Landon knew he was in.

***

It was Friday, which apparently meant everyone had to come out and buy their sex products for the weekend. Rods-N-Ends had been crazy all day, but Rod still made sure to check his phone often, hoping for a text from either Landon or Bryce to see how the interview went today. Neither man had messaged him, which didn’t make for a very happy Rod.

He liked to know what was going on, which some people in his life said was a nice way of saying he was nosy, but Rod didn’t give a shit about that.

At about seven, they had a lull in customers. “I’m taking a quick break, Todd. I’ll be back in a few,” he told the young college-aged guy he had working with him tonight.

As soon as he stepped outside, he pulled out his phone and shot a text to Bryce.
So? How’d it go?

You want this guy don’t you?
Bryce replied.

And? I wanted you and Nick too. You guys are no fun though. You don’t like to share.

He walked over to his car and leaned against it.

I’m not telling you. It’s not my place.

Well, what the fuck did that mean?
You didn’t give him the job??

A minute passed, then another. He was going to fucking kill the man for not responding to him. Just as Rod was about to type out his confession for the murder he planned to commit when he got off work, he heard the deep buzz of a motorcycle. He looked up just as a black bike came his way. The rider pulled to a stop in the space beside him, wearing faded jeans and a black riding jacket. Landon pulled off his helmet and ran a hand through his dark hair, those sexy fucking eyes right on Rod.