Places With No Carpet

Chapter 3

Tharn's first crush on Type was, obviously, purely physical. He admired the other's body, especially when running, and adored his smile. But other than a few tidbits dug up by Lhong, he didn't really know anything about him.

But since Type had started work at Prime, Tharn had had the opportunity to watch and listen up close and actually interact with him in a way he never had in college. He learned a lot about Type.

He was foul-mouthed as they come, for example. Listening to him after he dropped a table on his foot was a master class in obscenity and Tharn was still laughing about some of the phrases he heard days later.

Type was also fiercely loyal and a good friend, despite said foul mouth. Tharn overheard him talking to someone on the phone during a work break and Tharn spent 10 minutes in a doorway, listening to Type talk his friend through a crisis.

Type could be hilarious when he wanted to be, cracking up the entire staff during meetings with precisely timed snarky comments. Tharn struggled to not put his chin in his hands and stare dreamily at him.

Type was also hot-headed and protective. Tharn came through the doors from the kitchen one late afternoon just in time to overhear a customer say to his friend, "Hey, see that blonde at the end? I bet if you slipped her something, she'd be a killer in bed."

Before Tharn could even react, Type was slamming his hands down on the bar in front of him, glaring at the man. "If you ever even think something like that again, I'll punch you so hard, your nose will come out the back of your head."

"Why you..." the man snarled, half coming off the barstool. "Lemme talk to your manager."

Tharn straightened his tie and smiled politely as he took a few steps forward to stand next to Type. "What a coincidence, I happen to be his manager." As the man opened his mouth to complain, Tharn stopped smiling. "And I happen to agree with my employee completely. I would invite you to take your patronage somewhere else. Immediately."

Stunned, the two men stumbled out of the bar. Tharn turned to look at Type, sure his grin was just as wide as Type's. For a moment, they were in complete accord, and then Type seemed to remember who he was grinning at and he looked away. "Uh, sorry—"

"Don't be sorry." Tharn reminded himself he didn't have a right to touch Type to comfort him. "I meant it. I agree completely with what you said."

"Thank you."

"You probably shouldn't make a habit of threatening all our customers," he said, pleased when Type smiled slightly at that. "But I do make exceptions and that's one of them."

He wanted to keep talking to Type but both of them had things to do, so he nodded and went upstairs. And if he spent 15 minutes smiling at the memory of how adorable Type was when he was angry, well, there wasn't anyone to see it.

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After leaving Tharn in the office, Type stared at the apartment key in his hand, then sent Techno a text to let him know to drive around to the bar. While waiting, he sat down in a chair facing the street and had a quick freak out.

The owners of Prime were classified by the employees thus: Thanya was the nice one. She dealt with human resources issues and was the one you went to if your mother was sick and you needed time off. Thorn was the stern one. You went to him if someone stole your tips or a customer was harassing you.

Tharn...well, Tharn was the hot one. Nobody really went to him for anything because he hadn't spent much time at the bar. Everyone said that had changed recently but Type hadn't noticed a difference.