Last call for hope? Not on his watch. Nolan Chase has hit rock bottom. After being laid off from his corporate job and finding himself crashing on a friend’s futon, he’s desperate for a fresh start. When he lands a gig as a barback at The Rail, the local dive bar everyone warned him about, he expects nothing more than a paycheck and a place to hide. He didn't expect Eli Navarro. Eli is the bar’s star bartender—charismatic, infuriatingly confident, and hiding a vulnerability that only surfaces when the lights go down and the bar closes. Their dynamic starts with professional friction and high-stakes wagers, but the tension simmering in the cramped backroom and the walk-in cooler is impossible to ignore. As Nolan learns the ropes of the service industry and Eli battles the ghosts of his past, the line between coworker and something more begins to blur. In a world of sticky floors, late-night shifts, and dim amber lighting, they both realize that the biggest risk isn't failing to make rent—it's losing the one person who actually sees them. Barbacks & Backrooms is a slow-burn, high-heat contemporary M/M romance about finding yourself in the most unexpected places.
