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Of all the nights Tex chose to take off work, she had to choose a Tuesday night. Everyone knows Tuesdays are the slowest for businesses but Tuesday nights at a bar? Forget it. The only customers are the regulars and the few unlucky souls whose 21st birthdays happened to fall on that particular day. It was getting close to last call and while the remaining stragglers were saddling up their tabs, there was one person still sitting at the bar. Church hadn’t paid him much attention the entire night but he’d been sitting there alone looking awful serious for the better part of it. Shit, the guy was actually kind of good-looking. If there was ever a chance for him to talk the man up, it’d be now and he figured it was time to dismiss the only other person working with him tonight in case he made a fool of himself in the process.
“Hey Tucker, if you wanna head out for the night, I got this, I can close up. I’m not paying your ass overtime again.”
Tucker grinned, putting aside the damp rag he’d been wiping the bar down with. “Not like I look forward to staying late.”
“Yeah, yeah, get outta here, I’ll see you back at the apartment. Make sure Caboose isn’t fucking trying to sleep in my bed again tonight!”
The darker skinned man flashed him a grin as he made his way out and Church was sure he saw a brief flicker of amusement flash across the handsome stranger’s face.
“What?! It’s weird to find a grown man snuggling up to his killer dog in your bed because he missed you when you were gone for all of forty fucking minutes to get some goddamn groceries.”
The man at the bar snorted. “I didn’t say a thing, you don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
“I saw the look on your face.”
“You must be seeing things.”
Church sat down next to the handsome stranger, “I’d rather be seeing you in my bed tonight.”
The stranger, who at a closer distance seemed to have slate grey eyes and a streak of blonde in a sea of dark hair, gave him a look that was part entertained but mostly surprised at its straightforwardness. “Subtle.”
Church shrugged. “You’re not beating the shit out of me so as far as I’m concerned, I still stand a chance.” The guy was fucking ripped. His grey t-shirt was plain except for a yellow stripe down the sides and some insignia emblazoned on the chest, but it didn’t do anything to accentuate the stranger’s physique. However, if those biceps were any indicator of what lay underneath this guy’s clothes… He was getting ahead of himself though, he knew nothing about the bar patron.
“Never seen you around here before.”
“New to town.”
Church nodded his chin in acknowledgement at the markings adorning the man’s shirt. “Army?”
“Yeah. Special ops.”
“Respect. Marines myself. The name’s Church.” He stuck out his hand and was greeted by the firmest handshake he could recall in recent years.
“Washington.”
“My ex-girlfriend’s name is Texas,” he blurted out and Washington looked at him incredulously. “Sorry, she was special ops too, I thought maybe you might’ve known her. Like you guys worked together or something. She uh… she owns the bar. That’s why it’s called Tex’s.” Normally this would be the point in a conversation where Caboose would butt in about how it’s a funny name because her name is Texas and “Tex’s” sounds like Texas and Church would tell him to shut the fuck up but wow, it was hard for him to stop rambling when there was no one around to interject. Looking around, there was no one in the bar at all whatsoever except for Washington and himself.
Wash half-smiled at him over the top of the bottle he’d been nursing. “Well, I don’t know her but we seem to have some things in common. Washington’s too long, most of my friends just call me Wash.”
Church nodded to himself, trying to find things to talk about it. The man was attractive and he kind of liked his company so he wanted him to stick around a little longer. Sure he didn’t know much about Wash but his quiet demeanor was better than what was waiting back home for him: two obnoxiously loud roommates and one dog that was bound to snap at you if you so much as looked at him the wrong way. It was amazing how Freckles only cared for Caboose of all people.
Having been caught up in trying to figure out how to stave off going back to the apartment, he didn’t notice Washington begin to put on his jacket and place some money on the counter. “You’re heading out?”
“Everyone else left, I thought you were closing for the night.”
“I’m part owner, the bar’ll close when I say it does. C’mon, stay, help me kill some time! Where you gotta be this late at night?”
Truthfully, Washington had just moved here so for now all he had to go home to were two cats. When Church leaned over the counter and plucked a bottle of top shelf bourbon, that definitely piqued his curiosity.
“Drinks on me,” the green-eyed man beamed.
Wash stared at him appraisingly then set his jacket down as he took his place next to the man waving a bottle of really expensive alcohol at him.
“Alright. How about we take turns asking each other questions, get to know each other better?”
Church nodded as he grabbed two shot glasses, “Sounds fair. You first.”
“You said ex-girlfriend but you very obviously hit on me earlier. What’s the story there?”
The goateed bar owner threw his shot back, grimacing somewhat at the burn working its way down his throat. “Really went for the jugular there, buddy. That’s not why we’re not together if that’s what you’re asking, more like there’s a very complicated history between us and she’s kind of an asshole. But then people say that about me too. It’s mostly true. We’re just business partners now and sort of friends. I’m into whoever I’m into.” Which was partially true, he was great at hooking up with people, those piercing green eyes combined with dark hair on light skin could lure anyone in but as soon as he spoke, he was only good for a fuck and not a relationship and that was no sweat off Church’s back. He had enough on his plate what with his supposed best friend status in Caboose’s mind and his tendency to attract complicated women.
“So Wash, where’d you move from? If you say anywhere in Washington the state or Washington DC, know now that I will never let you live it down.”
Washington shook his head in mirth as he downed his drink. “I was born in Oregon, actually, but most recently I moved from Maine. Your turn. How long did you serve for?”
“10 years or so but I was utter shit at it. Amazing I managed to survive.” Church was leaning over the counter again to grab at a bucket of ice when he accidentally elbowed his glass causing it to spill his drink all over Washington’s shirt. “Oh shit, I’m so sorry.” As he scrambled to find a nearby rag to help clean up the mess he’d made, he caught a glimpse of the ridiculously chiseled body hiding under the nondescript t-shirt the special ops soldier was wearing. Wash was somewhat pulling his shirt up to wring it out, not even noticing the, at times, blatant staring of his companion until he heard Church mumble something.
“Goddamn, how long do you have to stay in the military to look like that?” When his eyes flicked up, he noticed grey ones staring into his own green ones. “Fuck! Sorry! I swear I didn’t spill it on purpose, I’m not that desperate. Shit, uh, here’s a towel.”
Washington never averted his gaze as he slowly pulled the ruined shirt over his head, “no worries. Short of tossing it into the laundry, not much I can do about it at the moment.” As soon as the offending fabric landed into a heap on the floor next to him, a faint smirk graced his lips daring Church to do something. Up until this point, the darker haired soldier had been off his game but he was Leonard fucking Church, he was afraid of no one and he could seduce any person thrown his way and fuck if he wasn’t going to do that tonight.
“How about we make this interesting?” He snatched a bottle of tequila, some cut up limes and a small bowl containing salt from behind the bar. “Screw the questions, let’s do some body shots. If you break first, I get your number. If I break first, well… that won’t happen.”
“We’ll see about that.” Once Church had placed everything on the counter, Washington whirled him around and tugged the material of the other man’s shirt over his head, discarding it near his own. His eyes boring into green ones, never leaving the bar owner’s face, he tucked a lime into the waistband of Church’s boxers making sure it didn’t disappear completely. And if his hand lingered for a moment too long in that general region, it was no accident. Pouring a small amount of liquid into an emptied shot glass, he tipped Church’s bottom lip downwards until he was biting down on the container. With two fingers tucked under the younger man’s chin, he turned Church’s face the other way as he poured a stream of tequila down his neck. Satisfied with the amount he’d dispensed, he sprinkled some salt over the drenched area. Pulling Church in by the waistband of his pants, Washington leaned in close as he took the shot glass from the other man’s mouth into his own, tipping it back. Setting the glass down gently on the bar, he then lapped up the combination of tequila and salt from Church’s collarbone. Wash’s tongue firmly glided along pale skin, licking traces of alcohol from across the darker haired man’s Adam’s apple to just about under his jaw. Once he’d made sure he’d gotten every little bit he could, he gracefully sunk down onto his knees and plucked the lime with his teeth all the while not once breaking eye contact as he did so. Extracting the juice until there was none left, he threw it away and looked back at Church inquisitively.
“Think you can beat that?”
Considering he was gripping the counter space awfully tight, he had his work cut out for him. He hoped Wash didn’t notice that his breathing was rather uneven. “Lie down on top of the bar, I’ve got this,” he sneered in response.
Washington did as he was instructed and Church had to stop momentarily to marvel at the way he looked stretched out in front of him like this. He wanted to do more than just drink liquor off the man but for right now, even that was something he had to treasure. He sure as shit wasn’t going to lose.
He emptied the tequila across Wash’s taut abdomen, watching as some of the liquid traveled along the grooves of his muscles. He wet his index finger with some of the lime juice and dipped his finger into the salt until it was nicely coated. Church rimmed Wash’s lips with the mixture and when he felt the older man take the tip of his finger into his mouth, he pulled his hand back and shook his head at him playfully.
“No cheating.”
Climbing atop the bar until he was practically straddling Washington, he leaned over and soaked up the remaining liquid. He made sure to follow the path the liquor had created along the other man’s happy trail, ran his tongue along exposed hip bones, and placed some chaste kisses on the firmed abdominal muscles decorating Washington’s body. Pinning Wash’s wrists to the surface, Church kissed his way up the former soldier’s torso, maybe nipping at skin every now and then. Once he made it to the special ops’ clavicle, Church witnessed Wash lick his lips and shrug half-heartedly as he smirked down at him.
“Oops.”
He fixed himself so he was looming over Washington whose arms were still pinned down. Church leaned in until his nose was barely pressed against the other man’s. “Thought I said no cheating?” Glancing down at the slightly parted lips and feeling the warm breath that escaped, he muttered, “I can’t finish the shot without a chaser.”
Church dove in; the contact between the two men was searing and the kiss was voracious, rough. While he was trying to taste the remnants of the lime and salt on the other soldier’s tongue, he was also pleasantly surprised by the infrequent nips and tugs Washington was instigating. Every time the buffer soldier tugged on his lower lip, he would sharply inhale at the way Wash would catch him off guard. As far as he was concerned, he was content to stay like this until Tex wandered in tomorrow morning but then he felt Washington’s leg slide up between his own. His knee was rubbing up back and forth between a particularly sensitive spot which caused Church to break away with a startled gasp.
Washington grinned into the green-eyed soldier’s neck, managing to mumble out between kisses to the exposed skin, “guess. this. means. you. lost.”
Church rolled his hips in retaliation, growling out an impatient, “shut up.” To which Washington kissed his way up the bar owner’s ear, whispering huskily as he nibbled at Church’s lobe, “make me.” To ensure he stayed quiet, Church captured Washington’s lips in his own again. He finally loosened his grip on the other soldier, fighting his own desire to keep this going. With one last, long, deep kiss he finally pulled away looking as disheveled as he felt. The younger soldier rummaged around for some scrap paper, scribbling his number onto it. He stuffed it into Wash’s castoff jacket.
“Call me some time, I’d love to continue this. I’m hoping Tex won’t review the security tapes, she’ll have my head for doing that on top of her bar.”
Washington laughed, nodding as he hopped off the surface, straightening himself out. “I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll be sure to say hello to her next time I stop by then.” He pulled on Church’s clean shirt and his own jacket, fixing up his tuft of blonde hair. Considering the darker haired man was nowhere near as in shape as Washington, the shirt clung to him much more nicely than the one he came in wearing and it was frustrating how much that was a turn-on for him.
“This was fun,” Washington grinned.
The green-eyed soldier grumbled under his breath about how he’d rather still be doing it right now and for a brief moment, Wash obliged. Church had managed to put the damp, bourbon-soaked shirt back on as well which Wash promptly fisted the material of, pulling him in for one final burning kiss to tide the other man over with. The bar owner trailed after him for a moment once Washington had pulled away in hopes of prolonging the contact for as long as possible. No luck on that front though he did feel a finger on the underside of his goatee, tipping his head. (Which was entirely unnecessary in Church's opinion, Wash was barely an inch taller than him.)
“Have fun in your hopefully empty bed without me tonight.”
And with a wink and a thank you for the free drinks he was gone and Church was left standing alone in the middle of his bar wearing a stranger’s alcohol-covered shirt. He had to stick around a little bit longer to clean up the mess they’d managed to make but goddamn it had been worth it. Whoever this guy was, they had a spark. The kisses were lightning and Wash’s body against his felt like fire. Church didn’t know enough about him still to assess whether he was good material for a relationship but he knew whatever the outcome, he definitely wanted to see him again and finish what they started.