---Ian’s POV---

I laughed again when Louise was giving a play by play from Brandon’s expressions throughout the battle. Apparently, he hated to lose but in his haste to get more orders, he had barked and snapped at his costumers instead of giving them a good time, thus making them only pay for their drinks, without giving any tips.

“So, what are you going to ask from him?” Austin asked curiously as he sipped from his freshly made drink. After the whole battle, me, Austin and Louise had decided to go and sit down at a calmer spot, closer to the VIP section.

Leaning back in the leather chairs, I sighed in joy from the cool leather pressing against my hot back. Sagging down in the seat, I thought about Austin’s question before I snorted, “I don’t know yet. He hardly has anything I want.”

While saying that, my eyes scanned the crowd lazily. I was still annoyed with Brandon’s irritating behavior and I knew I was forced to see him again tonight, since he had to come over and hear what I wanted from him.

Faded blue eyes were staring at me from within the crowd, peaking my curiosity slightly. The intensity of that gaze made my body heat up the slightest and I caught a flash of brown-cropped hair hiding the intensity of the gaze before someone stepped in my line of sight.

I looked up with annoyance and my scowl only grew in intensity when I noticed it was Brandon hovering a step away from me. My gaze flitted over his body while I wondered why I ever picked this guy to be my boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend. I mean, was I drunk during the whole relationship?

He wasn’t that bad looking though; dark brown hair, almost black that was cut rather short, green eyes flaring under them and a slender yet muscled build. It wasn’t the outside that I hated, but the inside.

Brandon smirked at me and looked at my body in a heated gaze that forced shivers over me. Not of lust but of disgust; after what he did to me, I wasn’t surprised that I had forced my love life to a halt and focused on my job and home first.

“Come with me? I know what you want from me.” He purred suggestively, completely ignoring my friends as he kept eying me as if I was something to eat. Gritting my teeth, I slammed my glass on the table and shoved him out of my sight. “The only thing I need from you is to get the fack out of here sham.” I snarled in his ear when he grasped my shirt and pulled himself against my body.

Brandon looked up as if he wanted to say something but he was pushed of and away from me before he even opened his mouth. Austin turned back towards me after he had pushed my ex away and looked towards me.

“Need a little help?” I shook my head and growled under my breath, “More like a restraining order.” Before I made my way over to Brandon, grasped the scruff of his neck and dragged him towards the doors of the VIP section and exit. Once we arrived there, I released Brandon and glanced over his shoulder towards Mike, who was keeping a close eye on him.

Sadly, everyone knew what had transpired between Brandon and me and I didn’t want to recount it again and again every time I came to work. But the arsehole seemed to take great joy in shoving it in my face every time he spotted me.

“Missed me that much that you had to manhandle me Ian?” Brandon smirked slightly, stepping closer to me before he halted as I glared at him. “Not a heartbeat.” I hissed, “the only thing that I want from you, is to stay the fack away from me, got it you eejit?” Brandon scowled slightly, his face contorting in confusion, as my Irish accent broke free again.

“What did you just call me?” He threatened, stepping closer to me with his fists clenched by his sides. I snorted, not impressed by him and I could tell by the slight flash of fear in his eyes, that he was bluffing.

“I called you an eejit, a bloody moron. Now fack off and leave me and me mates alone will ya?” I snapped before turning around and started back towards the club, where Austin and Louise were waiting for me.

Three things happened in a short time.

One, I saw the faded blue eyes again, the owner of them leaning against the doorway as he must have heard the whole bloody conversation. Two; his eyes widened slightly as they moved from me to a point somewhere behind me and made a move forwards as if to warn me.

And three, I got punched in the jaw while hearing Mike shout something out. Growling slightly, I turned around and saw Brandon throwing another fist at me, which I barely dodged but it still scraped against my jaw, splitting my lip in the process. Instinctively, I balled my fist up and plowed it in Brandon’s stomach, seeing his split second expression where his eyes bulged out of their sockets as the air was forced out of his lungs.

He stumbled back and fell on his back; heaving and panting for air as Mike drew closer and muttered something in the microphone build in his sleeve. Seconds later, the doors behind me barged open and the Johnson brothers walked out, their eyes searching around before they landed on us.

Brandon groaned and worked himself on his lower arms, throwing me a vicious glare before he noticed the brothers stalking closer. Both he and I knew that when the Brothers Zeke and Liam had to bother with their staff, something was gonna blow.

Last time they had a fall out with one of their staff, the kid got fired and couldn’t find anymore work in the bartending branch. Zeke, the older one of the two was standing more in the background, glancing from my face to Brandon and back again while Liam came slightly closer with a vein ticking on his temple.

“Mike?” Liam asked in a cut-off and surprisingly calm voice, never taking his eyes away from the both of us before he glanced back at me. I felt something warm starting to ooze out of my split lip and licked on reflex, winching slightly when it created a sharp stab of pain. Bloody hell, people are going to stare tomorrow night!

“Brandon here has been stalking Ian. Again. The kid doesn’t know when to quit and has challenged him to a battle earlier tonight. Ian won.” Mike started his explanation, crossing his arms in front of his chest while he glanced back at some customers that were eavesdropping and send them a menacing scowl.

“Obviously, Ian is the best we have.” Zeke stated while looking at Brandon with growing anger and disgust in his eyes. I felt pride swell through me, knowing that my employers called me the best bartender they had. A small smirk slipped on my lips, despite the bleeding cut in it.

Some movement from the corner of my eye intrigued me, and I saw the same man from before, looking at us while his eyes flashed with different emotions. “But why have they come to blows then?” I looked back at Zeke as he stepped between me and Brandon, taking us both in as Brandon slowly pushed himself on his feet.

Mike shook his head slightly and replied, “I wasn’t close enough to hear what was said. All I know was that Ian turned around and Brandon attacked him when Ian’s back was turned.”

Zeke and Liam both shot a look at Brandon, who quickly began to utter some excuses, ”It was self-defense! He threatened me with my life and I reacted on instinct!” He shouted out, gaining us some more attention from onlookers while the muscles in my jaw ticked even more. That little chit dared to accuse me?

“Actually, what happened was that this sir here asked him to leave him and his friends alone. True, he could have been a bit more tactful about it but it didn’t give any reason for being attacked.” A smooth yet polite voice said when Zeke and Liam had turned on me.

Both of their heads snapped up towards the speaker and Zeke raised an eyebrow. “You saw what happened mister…” He trailed off, still looking at the man. The man looked up at him, his eyes flashing at me for a second before he threw me a wicked smirk and nodded at Zeke. “ Sebastian Grey, sir. I was just going out to get some air and saw what happened here.”

This…Sebastian was intriguing me.  Here he was, some unknown stranger, defending my hide against my employers though he didn’t need to. My eyes rolled over his body, noticing the expensive looking designer clothing; the dress shirt, vest and black jeans formed a semi-casual outfit. Looking up, I noticed that he saw me checking him out and he didn’t seem bothered at all; he was busy checking me out as well before he flashed that grin again.

My head swiveled to Liam as I heard him sigh. “Come on Brandon, we need to talk.” He pulled Brandon with him and nodded at me and Sebastian on his way inside, while Mike had to go back to the entrance to let the new arrivals in.

With a heavy sigh, I stepped back and sat into the leather seats where people could blow out for a moment and smoke and closed my eyes for a second.

---Sebastian’s POV---

My eyes were glued on Ian’s face, occasionally flitting down to his body. When I had made the plan to talk to him, I never suspected that I would have first seat on a fight between him and another employee.

Ian’s sigh brought me back to the present, just seeing him sit down in the seats with his head tilted back and eyes closed. A drizzle of blood trickled down his lip, making me frown before I stepped forwards. “Don’t you need to check that out?”

He just licked his lip and barely flinched before sighing slightly.” Possibly. Might just numb it with a pint though.” He chuckled, opening one brown eye to look at me. “Thanks for a few seconds ago mate.” I shrugged slightly, shivering at his Irish accent. At least, I think it was.

“Irish?” I questioned, not hiding the fact that I was curious for his accent. He grinned now, showing the dimple in his cheek as he hummed deep in his throat. “Aye, born and bred an Irish and I’ll stay that way too. Most folks down here don’t understand me though, so I’ve learned to speak ‘proper American’.” He snorted at the end, shaking his head.

I chuckled slightly, loosening the tie around my neck before I slipped it off and sat down too, not too far away from Ian but not too close to bother him. He looked at me with a calculating gaze before he turned his head slightly. “Why did you ask? Didn’t completely understand me mate?”

Shaking my head, I showed him my trademark grin as I simply shrugged, “Nah, I think the Irish accent is hot.” His eyes twinkled with amusement at that before he laughed softly and shook his head. “Just the Irish accent huh. Ouch.” He joked, leaning back against the seat and closing his eyes again.

“Well, can’t say too much about the rest of the Irish, but I like what I see.” I stated boldly, throwing my feet up to cross them on the seat. His eyes flashed open again, this time with a slow smirk forming on his face, making him even hotter than he already is and what made my cock twitch in reaction to the obvious interest that laid in his eyes.

I turned my head slightly to the side, observing him curiously to see if my first impression of him was justified. There was something on his aura that made me think he was batting for the same team as I was. That or he was completely fine by gays, maybe even bi-curious.

“Just out of curiosity, but are you gay?” I dared to ask, needing to satisfy my curiosity and the need to know more of this man. If he was straight, I would sway him over if I had to because there was something about him that made me crave him like no one else.

“Aye.”

I was surprised at his short yet boldly spoken answer. His tone made clear that he didn’t care that he was gay and that he didn’t give a second thought about the fact that some people were against it. His head lowered just the slightest while he pushed himself up a bit. “You?”

“I believe that the word was Aye.”

He grinned, shaking his head slightly. My groin jolted when he groaned slightly, stretching his arms above his head and cracked his knuckles in the process. His eyes flitted over my body, arousing me although he didn’t mean it in a sexual way. He was merely checking my outfit.

“Ye don’t seem like the kind of man to go out clubbin’ to have a craig night, mate.” He drawled, speaking with a thick Irish accent right now. I shivered slightly, ignoring the way my pants were tightening quickly and crossed my legs to hide the bulge. “Needed to get my mind of things.”

“Oh.” He nodded, not prying any further with made him even more attractive in my books. I don’t know why but every time I held interest in a gay man, it was the overly gay, noisy type of guy. There was no way that Ian was like that; it even surprised me that he was gay.

He didn’t seem like it though, the way he moved and talked never showed any glimpse of a feminine side. I on the other hand have been told several times that I have somewhat boyish looks.

“Seems like its serious if you keep thinking about it.” Ian drawled, his tone more seriously than before. I blinked and snapped my head up to look at him, noticing now that he was sitting up again, frowning as he looked in my direction. I shrugged, sighing lightly before sitting up and rubbing a hand over my face.

“Just had to fire a ton of people who broke my trust. As if that wasn’t enough, I need to replace them, pronto.” I stated before looking at Ian, checking him out again. I didn’t want to force him to be my model but I did wanted to pursue him to become my boyfriend.

“Well, good luck with that mate. I’m off; Louise and Austin will be going home soon and I have to work tomorrow night.” Ian said, raising himself of the seat he was in. I jolted up and stood as well, now almost chest-to-chest with him. I blinked and looked up, past the pecs that were tauntingly right in my face to those brown eyes that darkened slightly.

“Work for me.” I heard myself say, surprising both Ian and myself as he widened his eyes slightly and took a step backwards. “Sorry?” He questioned, although he heard me the first time. I suddenly felt nervous to explain him that I wanted him to be a model for my new winter collection. I mean, he had the hot body and looks of a model; I was surprised he had never thought of working as one.

Ian’s chuckle made me look up as he looked at me with a mix of amusement, gratitude and a hint of wariness. “Me, a model? Bartending at night and modeling by day?” Crap, did I say my thoughts out loud? Ian’s eyebrow rose while his lips lifted in a grin before he nodded again, making it obvious that I was still spewing my thoughts out loud.

“Uh…” I brushed my hand over my hair, feeling my cheeks heat up a bit. Ian bit his lip before stepping forwards again. “Thanks for the offer mate but I don’t think I’m cut out as a model. Although me being hot and all.” He smirked teasingly, although his eyes twinkled with emotions that he was covering. “But I’ve had some offers of some people who just wanted a craig ride and left in the morning.”

I chuckled, smiling as I looked down at my feet. “But I wasn’t offering you a one-night stand now, was I? I’m genuinely interested in you as a model, but I would be lying that I’m not attracted by you.” I replied honestly, stepping forwards teasingly to press against his chest.

Ian’s eyes flashed with hidden lust, soon followed by caution before he stepped back. “Sorry mate, but I’m not convinced. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to my friends and get back home. Have a craig night, Sebastian.”

“Hmmhmm.” I hummed, turning away from him to go back to the VIP room upstairs to retrieve my stuff. “I’ll be coming back to persuade you Ian.” I said over my shoulder, hearing him snort slightly before he replied, “In your dreams fella.”

Looking at him, I winked while responding, “Oh, you will be. Just, not with so much clothes on, probably in a photo shoot with my new clothes on, or maybe even without them…” He barked out a laugh and grinned, resting his hip against the doorway as he pushed the door open with his shoulder, still looking towards me as he raised one perfect eyebrow.

“Goodnight, Sebastian.” He said again and took a step back so the door fell shut, not before flashing me a wide grin and a wink before it snapped shut. I chuckled and walked ahead with my hands in my pockets. I was going to thank Henry for his suggestion, because I would be spending a lot of free time here.

---Ian’s POV---

Bloody hell, that guy was persistent, but in a good and slightly hot way. I was feeling grand and was slightly looking forwards to his methods of persuasion before I caught myself still standing by the door and shook my head.

This should be fun.

 New chapter ^-^ Yay!

Okay, so Sebastian is going to need to persuade Ian, but at least he's interested :D Let's see how that turns out huh?