An excerpt from Cool Story, Bro:
“Red leader! Red leader!” A blast of static. “Red leader, I’m coming in hot!”
“Copy that, gold leader. I’m coming back around to give you some cover fire.”
“Red leader!” A long, drawn-out scream. “Nooooooo!”
Another voice cut in suddenly. “Brayden! Travis! Knock it off! Those aren’t for playing around with! They’re to improve our customer service delivery!”
Travis rolled his eyes. “Sorry, Colin.”
“Sorry, Colin,” Brayden echoed, still staticky. “We need better call signs anyway, Trav.”
“I’ll put you on register, Brayden!” Colin threatened.
Travis snickered, and switched his Bluetooth headset off so he didn’t have to listen to Colin giving Brayden a bollocking. The headsets were Colin’s latest and greatest idea and, like all his others, they were doomed to failure. If people came into the Booze Barn and couldn’t be stuffed to wait the extra five minutes it took to get something from the back dock, then fuck ‘em. But Colin had this idea to divvy the Barn up into zones. Travis had scored the wine zone. That meant if, over in the spirits zone, someone said to Brayden that they also needed a bottle of moscato, Brayden was supposed to get onto Travis over the headset and Travis would run it over. Which was stupid as hell, because if you let people browse they’d find another half dozen bottles of something to buy anyway. But hey, Colin had done a PowerPoint on customer service delivery or whatever, so there was no bloody telling him.
Travis skulked around in the wine aisles, checking to see if anyone needed help finding anything, or if anything needed restocking from out the back yet.
From the wine aisles he had a good view of the beer zone, and he caught occasional glimpses of Levi Tanner, looking hot as hell in his cargo shorts and his red Booze Barn polo shirt. Travis wasn’t sure which god he had to thank for the fact that Levi’s work shirts were a size too small, but he thanked them deeply and profoundly every time he saw the way the cheap fabric stretched across Levi’s chest and shoulders. And those guns. Jesus. Whenever Levi had to lift something, Travis wanted to cry at the way his biceps popped.
And that arse.
Holy shit, that perfect arse...
“Excuse me?”
Travis blinked back into existence to find a middle-aged woman standing in front of him. “Sorry. Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for the rosé.”
“Oh, yeah,” Travis said. “It’s in the next aisle with the reds.”
The woman hurried on, and Travis craned his neck to see if he could spot Levi. He couldn’t, so he rearranged a few bottles just for the hell of it.
A few minutes later, Colin appeared at the end of the aisle, panting and sweaty. “Travis! Travis, is your headset off?”
“Nope,” Travis lied. He took his headset off and examined it. “Must be out of batteries.”
Colin bustled up to him and snatched the headset out of his hands. “No, look! The light isn’t on! That means it’s not working.”
“Oh,” Travis said. “Well, I didn’t know the light wasn’t on, because I was wearing it. Did you need something?”
“I need you to get over to the beer zone,” Colin said. He fiddled with Travis’s headset until a tiny green light appeared, and then handed it back. “Levi’s got a rush on.”
“Okay,” Travis said. He bounced on his heels while he put his headset back on, and then hurried over towards the beer zone.
“And keep your bloody headset turned on!” Colin called after him.
“Red leader! Red leader!” A blast of static. “Red leader, I’m coming in hot!”
“Copy that, gold leader. I’m coming back around to give you some cover fire.”
“Red leader!” A long, drawn-out scream. “Nooooooo!”
Another voice cut in suddenly. “Brayden! Travis! Knock it off! Those aren’t for playing around with! They’re to improve our customer service delivery!”
Travis rolled his eyes. “Sorry, Colin.”
“Sorry, Colin,” Brayden echoed, still staticky. “We need better call signs anyway, Trav.”
“I’ll put you on register, Brayden!” Colin threatened.
Travis snickered, and switched his Bluetooth headset off so he didn’t have to listen to Colin giving Brayden a bollocking. The headsets were Colin’s latest and greatest idea and, like all his others, they were doomed to failure. If people came into the Booze Barn and couldn’t be stuffed to wait the extra five minutes it took to get something from the back dock, then fuck ‘em. But Colin had this idea to divvy the Barn up into zones. Travis had scored the wine zone. That meant if, over in the spirits zone, someone said to Brayden that they also needed a bottle of moscato, Brayden was supposed to get onto Travis over the headset and Travis would run it over. Which was stupid as hell, because if you let people browse they’d find another half dozen bottles of something to buy anyway. But hey, Colin had done a PowerPoint on customer service delivery or whatever, so there was no bloody telling him.
Travis skulked around in the wine aisles, checking to see if anyone needed help finding anything, or if anything needed restocking from out the back yet.
From the wine aisles he had a good view of the beer zone, and he caught occasional glimpses of Levi Tanner, looking hot as hell in his cargo shorts and his red Booze Barn polo shirt. Travis wasn’t sure which god he had to thank for the fact that Levi’s work shirts were a size too small, but he thanked them deeply and profoundly every time he saw the way the cheap fabric stretched across Levi’s chest and shoulders. And those guns. Jesus. Whenever Levi had to lift something, Travis wanted to cry at the way his biceps popped.
And that arse.
Holy shit, that perfect arse...
“Excuse me?”
Travis blinked back into existence to find a middle-aged woman standing in front of him. “Sorry. Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for the rosé.”
“Oh, yeah,” Travis said. “It’s in the next aisle with the reds.”
The woman hurried on, and Travis craned his neck to see if he could spot Levi. He couldn’t, so he rearranged a few bottles just for the hell of it.
A few minutes later, Colin appeared at the end of the aisle, panting and sweaty. “Travis! Travis, is your headset off?”
“Nope,” Travis lied. He took his headset off and examined it. “Must be out of batteries.”
Colin bustled up to him and snatched the headset out of his hands. “No, look! The light isn’t on! That means it’s not working.”
“Oh,” Travis said. “Well, I didn’t know the light wasn’t on, because I was wearing it. Did you need something?”
“I need you to get over to the beer zone,” Colin said. He fiddled with Travis’s headset until a tiny green light appeared, and then handed it back. “Levi’s got a rush on.”
“Okay,” Travis said. He bounced on his heels while he put his headset back on, and then hurried over towards the beer zone.
“And keep your bloody headset turned on!” Colin called after him.