A Second Chance
Author
Emmian
Reads
17.2K
Chapters
44
Jason Harries has always wanted out—too much trouble, too much past, too little time. Bryce Michels just wants peace, running his pub quietly after a rough past. When Jason shows up needing work, their worlds collide. Late nights, shared meals, and quiet understanding slowly turn into something neither expected. In a town that never forgets, two broken lives begin to fit together awkwardly, tenderly, dangerously. As old ghosts return, Jason and Bryce discover that love can be a slow burn—and home isn’t always a place, sometimes it’s the person beside you.
Chapter 1: Help Wanted, Evenings
His hand paused on the door. Not shaking. Just…still.
The wood was worn smooth where other people had pushed their way in before him—some eager, some desperate, some already halfway gone. The handle felt colder than it should’ve been.
Jason took a breath. It tasted like rain, like asphalt, like the last clean second he was going to get. Then he pushed. Inside, the place wasn’t empty. Just quiet in that particular way bars had—like the night before hadn’t fully left yet. Stale beer clung to the wood.
Fryer grease lingered under it. Something sharp and chemical tried to cut through the smell but didn’t quite manage.
No music. Just the low hum of something electrical and the slow, steady drag of a rag over the counter. Jason stepped in anyway.
Warmth followed, thick and used. His fingers tightened around the crumpled note in his pocket, edges soft from being folded and unfolded too many times. Help wanted—evenings.
The bar stretched out in front of him, polished in places, sticky in others. He moved forward like he belonged there. Like this wasn’t just another version of somewhere he’d sworn he wouldn’t end up.
The man behind the counter noticed him. Jason didn’t know how he knew—maybe the way the rag slowed, maybe the shift in the room—but the attention was there. Quiet. Immediate.
He stopped at the bar, pulled the note free. “Jason Harries,” he said, extending a hand across the counter.
The man didn’t take it. Just looked at him. Not long. Not obvious. But enough.
Jason let his hand drop and slid the note across instead. “Is the job still open?”
The man glanced down at the paper, then back at him, one eyebrow lifting just slightly. No reaction. No smile. Just…taking him in. “Harries, huh?” he said after a moment, voice low, even. “Haven’t seen your mom around lately.”
Jason’s shoulders tightened before he could stop it. “She doesn’t leave the apartment much,” he said, aiming for neutral and landing somewhere closer to tired.
The man watched him for a beat longer than necessary. Not judging. Not soft either. Just…noticing. “How old are you?”
“Twenty.” Too fast. The word hung there, thin as paper.
The man didn’t call him out. Didn’t react at all, actually. Just went back to wiping down the bar like the answer didn’t matter enough to argue.
Jason shifted his weight. He wasn’t used to that. People usually pushed. Or dismissed him. Not this…waiting. His stomach growled. Loudly.
He muttered a curse under his breath, glancing away, suddenly very aware of the smell of food buried under the bar stink—something warm, salty, real.
“And school?” the man asked.
Jason blinked. “Ends at three. You don’t open till seven.” It came out defensive. Like he was already being accused of something.
“Twenty and still in school?”
Jason froze for half a second, then shrugged, hands disappearing into his hoodie. “Had to repeat a few years.”
The man didn’t answer. Just looked at him again. Longer this time.
Jason felt it—like being held in place without being touched. Most people didn’t bother looking that closely. They decided what he was in the first five seconds and moved on.
This one didn’t. Then, without a word, the man turned and disappeared through the swinging door behind the bar.
Jason stared after him. Was that a no? His brain started running—fast, messy. Leave. Stay. This was stupid. He shouldn’t have come. He should—
The door swung open again. The man came back holding a plate. “Sit,” he said, sliding it across the counter.
Jason blinked. A BLT. Still warm.
“Sit,” the man repeated, and this time there was something under the word. Not louder. Just…final.
Jason sat. A glass of cola followed.
“Eat.”
Jason hesitated—then bit in. Salt. Heat. Actual food. He didn’t realize how fast he was eating until it was almost gone.
The man turned away, giving him space like it wasn’t something he needed to watch. Jason slowed down, chewing more carefully now, trying not to look like he hadn’t eaten in days.
“It’s not charity,” the man said, still facing the other way. “Call it your first paycheck.”
Jason paused. “You’re hiring me?”
“The name’s Bryce,” he said. “Floor needs scrubbing. Tables wiped. Ashtrays emptied. Ice bins filled.” A beat. “You don’t touch the liquor.”
Jason nodded immediately.
“Seven days a week. Six to close.”
Jason’s brain started calculating before the sentence even finished. Sleep later. Doesn’t matter. It’s work. “When do I start?” he asked.
Bryce glanced over his shoulder. “Now.”
Jason grinned—quick, sharp, gone just as fast—and pushed off the stool.
The kitchen was hotter than he expected. Heavy air, metallic, thick with grease and steam. He found the mop and got to work. The rhythm came easy. Water. Scrub. Wring. Repeat.
Out front, voices drifted in and out—low, familiar. Jason kept his head down, focused on the floor, on doing something right, instead of getting annoyed at the regulars. By the time he came back out, the place had filled just enough to feel alive. A few men at the bar. Loud. Half gone already.
Jason carried a rack of clean glasses from the dishwasher, steam hitting his face. “One more hour,” he muttered. Not because he wanted to leave. Because leaving meant going home.
The kitchen door swung open. He glanced up. Bryce rolled a keg past him, moving like the weight didn’t matter.
Jason stacked the glasses, then asked, “You need help?”
A shake of the head. Bryce hooked up the keg, poured a test glass, sniffed it, tasted it—then dumped it straight down the drain. “Storage was full when I bought the place,” he said. “Some of these have been sitting there a while.”
Jason nodded toward the men. “Don’t think they care.”
A small nod in return. “Middle tap’s for regulars. Right tap’s for the Techtron crowd. Left one’s for anyone who actually knows what they’re drinking.”
Jason huffed. “Should I memorize that? Thought I wasn’t allowed to touch the booze.”
Bryce looked at him then. “You can serve it,” he said. “You just don’t drink it.” Something in the tone settled deeper than the words. “Understood?”
Jason nodded.
“Understood?”
“Yes, sir.” It slipped out.
Bryce didn’t react. Just nodded once and turned away.
By the time the last customer stumbled out, Jason’s arms ached. He mopped the floor while the bartender counted the till. The soft shuffle of bills filled the quiet. The jukebox went dark. The bar exhaled. Jason wrung out the mop, hung it up, and turned back. Cash sat on the counter.
“Today’s pay,” Bryce said.
Jason frowned. “Daily pay? You don’t think I’m coming back.”
A look. Measuring. “You’re easy to read,” Bryce said. “You’ve got a connection to this place.”
Jason’s jaw tightened. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Sure about that?”
Jason straightened. “So what, you think I’m gonna skip work because my mom used to hang out here?”
A shrug. “We’ll see.”
“Why the hell did you offer me the job in the first place?” Jason snapped. “You want to watch me fail? Is that it?”
“You can’t yell at customers,” Bryce said calmly. “But yelling at your boss is fine?”
“Because you—”
“Because you don’t like what I’m saying?” The words landed heavily. The cash slid toward him. “Go home,” Bryce said. “Come back when you’ve grown up a little. I don’t need someone who runs when things get uncomfortable.”
Jason stared at him. That hit harder than anything else. He grabbed the money, tore off the apron, and walked out. The door shut behind him, and he didn’t look back.
