A lone man sat at the indicated table, watching them over the rim of his glass. He set it down into a drying puddle of beer foam as they approached.
“Good day, sir!” Theo nodded at the empty chairs. “Would you mind if we joined you?”
The man leaned back in his chair with a growing smile as he let his eyes run from the tips of Theo’s spats up to the length of his hair. A puff of dust filled the air when he slapped one of his thighs. “Sure thing.” He slid down in his seat, spreading his thighs. “Got just the place for you right here. Your frownin’ man’s gonna have to split though. I don’t like to share.”
His smile dropped when Jun kicked out one of the chairs. A firm hand on Theo’s shoulder pressed him into it. Jun turned the next chair the wrong way around and straddled it, arms crossed on top.
Theo set their drinks on the table, the clink of glass muffled by the thick layer of grunge coating the surface. He studiously ignored the flutter of heat trying to start a fire in his belly at the sight of Jun’s confidently spread legs.
The man rested a hand on the holster at his hip while he scoped out the visible edges of Jun’s tattoos. Theo leaned forward to gain his attention as tension crackled across the table. “I’m terribly sorry to approach without a proper introduction, but needs must. I’m Theo, and my companion is—”
“In a hurry.” Jun shot a poisonous glance Theo’s way.
The man managed to smile warmly at Theo while keeping a hard eye on Jun. “Some folks call me Sam. Pleased to meet you, Theo. Pretty little thing, ain’t you?”
Jun stiffened at Theo’s side, hostility radiating from him like rising clouds of steam. The man’s smile only grew wider.
Theo leaned in closer to Sam, playing with the lace at his cuff as he angled a look up through his eyelashes. “Do you really think so? I wonder if perhaps you might be amenable to—”
Jun yanked Theo back by the collar of his jacket and ignored his strangled yelp. “We’re looking for a”—he winced as he gritted the word out through his teeth—“singer. That’s you. You give me the latest jump coordinates, and I give you credits. Then we”—he tilted his head meaningfully at Theo—“can get out of this shithole.”
Theo raised his eyebrows, impressed with the length of the speech.
Sam appeared less impressed, squinting thoughtfully at Jun before turning back to Theo. “Look grown to me. I expect you can decide for yourself exactly what you’d like to do.” He angled his head away from Jun as he lowered his voice. “And who you’d like to do it with.”
Jun’s growl was back, raising the hairs at the back of Theo’s neck and stoking that heat in his belly.
Sam raised one of the whiskey glasses and brought the edge up to Theo’s lips. “Have a drink. I’d sure love to wet your whistle.”
Theo took a dutiful sip, only to choke back a cough at the harsh burn and aftertaste of vaporized fuel crystals.
Jun pulled out his pistol, knocking the glass away and spilling the potent golden liquid across Theo’s jacket. He slammed the weapon onto the table on its side, his bandaged finger on the buzzing trigger, the barrel aimed at Sam’s torso. “Cut the bullshit and give me the coordinates or I will shoot you. Still feel like singing?”
Theo rested his fingertips on Jun’s tight wrist, a determined smile plastered on his face. He fluttered his lashes at a very unamused Sam who yanked his own ray gun out and aimed it at Jun. “What my associate means to say is that we are in a bit of a rush, and as much as I am enjoying your company, we really do need to put some bounce into our step. I would be ever so grateful if you could come to our rescue, Sam.”
Theo let go of Jun’s wrist to try the same approach with Sam, trailing his fingers up the outer seam of his trousers from knee to midthigh, finally getting the man to cut his eyes over to him instead of blazing a hole in Jun.
While the two men were glaring at each other, Theo had been biting and licking his lips until they were shiny and pink. He pouted them now in Sam’s direction with his head tilted exactly so, his eyes appearing larger than they really were. “Truly, just, ever so very grateful, Sam.”
He let his fingers trail back down to Sam’s knee, then pulled his hand away to play with a lock of hair. Sam predictably followed the motion.
A spark of amusement lit Sam’s face, transforming his unremarkable features until he was very nearly handsome. He gave Theo a broad wink. “All right, now. Watch out before you blow me across the room with those eyelashes. You tell Romeo over here to drop the gun, and we can talk credits.”
Theo turned to Jun expectantly, holding his breath as several silent moments passed. At last, the buzzing clicked off, and Jun and Sam, staring into each other’s eyes, holstered their weapons with slow, steady movements.
The amusement had fled Sam’s face, leaving it hard and blank. “Sixty credits. I don’t take Ident from Outliers, so you better have the chips.” He tensed as Jun reached into his coat.
Jun pulled out a clinking pouch and dropped it on the table between them. “Eighty and you forget you ever saw us.”
The pouch disappeared in a sleight of hand Theo would have loved to learn. Sam leaned forward and dropped his voice to blend in with the noise of the saloon. “Looks like we got a deal, fellas.”
Chapter Seven
The loading ramp rattled beneath Jun’s heavy boots as he boarded the ship behind Theo. Theo checked back over his shoulder at
