Chapter One
“Why are there two entrances?” Kyler Burgard eyed the Big D’s strip club only a few blocks from downtown Vegas. While he wasn’t a tourist, he also didn’t frequent places like this.
Sure, he was used to gay bars, but strip clubs were a whole different animal. His friends had dragged him out. Brian and Joey thought he was getting too serious. Kyler just called it being a grown up. They were all twenty-six now, and while he’d consider going to a club like this for a bachelor party, he didn’t think it was something to do on a normal night.
“One is for women and one is for men. Trust me, it’s more fun that way,” Brian said.
“Why don’t we just go to the usual bar, and you guys can try fixing me up there for the hundredth time?” Until he laid eyes on the glitzy strip joint, Kyler had never thought he would miss those days.
His best friends had become a couple last year, making him the third wheel. They never let him feel left out, but they were determined to get him a man. Kyler appreciated the effort, even though it made him uncomfortable.
The trio paid the cover and passed by a burly bouncer into a classy setup with an old-style bar and plenty of tables and chairs. It was not as glittery and stereotypical as he had expected.
“I want you to forget about the shelter and work and everything.” Joey steered Kyler into a seat and patted his shoulder. “I’ll help Brian grab some drinks from the bar.”
Kyler didn’t argue. Instead, he turned and took in the massive stage and big curtain. The odd, pod-looking things to one side confused him but he figured they were some kind of extras . He grunted and sunk further into his seat. He just wasn’t in the mood for a lap dance or hunky men strutting around.
“What is making him so sad?” Brian asked to Joey as if Kyler wasn’t right there.
Joey set a drink in front of his friend and sat on the other side of Brian. “His parents visited.”
“Right. So they messed with your head. Forget them,” Brian said.
His friends weren’t wrong. His parents had had a hard time accepting his life choices. Kyler worked with Brian and Joey as a mechanic at a local dealership. He’d always loved cars—fixing and rebuilding them. They had always been his obsession so why would his parents suspect he was gay? Still, as the baby of four kids, Kyler had always been the misfit. When he dad retired, his parents had followed his two sisters with children to New Mexico. A wonderful relief.
“They just want me to grow up.” Kyler shrugged and sipped his drink.
“You have a good job. Great friends. You volunteer at a shelter for gay teens and you are a great friend. What? Do they want you to get married to Mr. Right and adopt a couple kids?” Joey teased.
Brian chuckled. “They want him to go straight and move to the same subdivision his sisters live in so they have a big play group for the grandkids.”
“Pretty much.” Kyler was in no danger of giving in on that score. He loved Vegas and his friends. He loved hot men, just had never met one that stuck. When guys heard mechanic , they thought big, tough, burly men, and Kyler just wasn’t one of those. He could work out like a madman to define his muscles, but he would never be that big.
Yet he wasn’t twinkish or feminine, which meant he didn’t fit into any of the usual gay labels. He still got plenty of dates but couldn’t find one who was willing to love him for who he was. Brian and Joey made it look so easy. They met on the job and bam!
“Oh God, he’s getting all quiet again.” Joey frowned. Just then the first dance was announced.
The MC was a silver fox who introduced the opening dance before the lights dimmed and a group of hot young men shook what they had. Looking them over, Kyler wanted to card a couple of them. He assumed they must be at least eighteen, but they looked so young. Working in a shelter for gay teens made him sensitive to that. The other
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