Page 9 of Hammer and Hops

I went through about a million excuses for why I did not need to call Cameron Telliyard, but they really all sounded hollow. Hell, I was aggravated with everything, including myself. In the end, I caved and typed out a text. And erased it. Typed something else, but it sounded stupid, so I deleted that too.

Tucking my phone into my pocket, I went home, plugged my cell into the charger, and took a long hot shower before getting in bed. I still had to get up early.

The next day started out like any other. Up, dressed, grab a granola bar and some fruit along with my coffee, and out the door I went. I didn’t think about anything but getting to the brewery until I was there, sitting behind the desk in my office. I started pulling up my spreadsheets when an errant thought hit me.

Cameron Telliyard

All those excuses, including my awkwardness, felt cold and lonely as I stared out the window and into the brewery floor. Large silver fermentation vats stretched from one end to the other, each in various stages. Those cold tanks were the only thing consistent in my life, and they did not keep me warm at night. Well, shit. What the hell did I have to lose? At a minimum, I could get a break from the brewery and some companionship. At best… well, did I hope I could get laid? He was a good-looking man, rough and bigger than me, which hit all my buttons. Plus, it had been a few months.

But I’d been lured in by good-looking guys before and nothing beneficial had come from it. One broke my heart, and the other just pissed me off. And I was already pissy with this Cameron dude.

So no. I refocused and got back to work.

Chapter six

Accidentally on purpose - Cameron

All I could think about for the next few days was the grumpy brewery owner. I stopped in at Pints ‘n Pool more than I normally would have, hoping to see him again, with no luck. I didn’t want to give off stalker vibes, but I needed to see him again, if for no other reason than to prove to myself that he wasn’t an asshole but simply upset by the tap mishap.

Plus, he was good-looking and got me all revved up. So much so that I’d been jacking off a lot more simply thinking about the glint in his eyes and his thick, sandy-brown hair framing his face with those killer model-like cheekbones. Or those frowny lips that I really wanted to see wrapped around my cock. Shit. Now I was sitting at the bar with a hard-on.

I raised my hand to order another beer.

Beside me, Merle snorted. He was a local you could find in the bar more often than not. “What?” I glared at him.

“Are you single-handedly keeping that brewery in business or what?”

“You should try it.”

“I’ll stick to the classics, but you go ahead.”

“I will.”

“Won’t get the hotty to notice you any sooner. You should just go on up to the brewery.” He gestured with his hand.

“You should stay out of my business.” Could I actually do that, though? “Uh…Merle? Is that brewery open to the public?”

He shrugged and took a long swallow of his beer. “Bet you’ll find out, huh?”

“Fuck off.” My words didn’t have any heat in them, though. Merle was a regular fixture not only in the bar but in the town. He was probably as old as my grandfather and had been great friends with Nate’s, and I knew he didn’t mean any harm. Actually, he meant well, being helpful in his own codger-like way. But he did get me thinking hard.

I tossed a handful of dollars on the bar and headed out the door. It was early enough to find out if the brewery was open, and since I only had one beer, not even taking a drink out of the second, I drove up there.

The parking lot was empty when I arrived, and I was pretty sure my presence would look anything but casual. I drove slowly by the front door and stopped, noting they had hours printed on the door. Guess I could either come up at my lunch hour or take off early. Hmm…

The door opened, and a big guy came out, broad shoulders, dark hair, and a bright smile. He waved and approached the truck, so I rolled down the window. “Hiya. I’m Lukas, the Beer Master here.” He thumbed over his shoulder toward the building.

“Nice to meet you. I love the beer, so, uh, wanted to see if you did tours. To see how it’s made and all. We’ve never had a brewery before.” That sounded innocent. Sort of.

“Not exactly tours, but you’re welcome to stop by during operating hours. We’re pretty small still, so not a lot to see, but what we have, I’ll show you.”

“Great. Thanks.” I started rolling up the window to leave, but Lukas had other ideas.

He tapped the window. “Hey, man. Didn’t get your name.”

“Oh. Sorry. I’m Cameron. Cameron Telliyard.”

“Nice to meet you, Cameron. Have a great evening.”