Chapter 1Though the customers at Heat Wave knew better than to touch, they crowded around the platform like ants on syrup, filling every available seat at the tables, laughing and joking loud enough to make the music harder to hear. It wasn’t even ten yet and already the bar was packed. Men, women, a couple in the corner who were too androgynous to tell…everybody was there, which meant the tips would be good that night. They weren’t always on Thursdays. AJ Mobley could count on Fridays and Saturdays to bring in a nice chunk of change, but during the week was a crapshoot at best.
He sat at his piano, head bowed, pretending not to notice the fingers pointing at him or the not quite whispers as people questioned his presence. The regulars knew the whole story, but Heat Wave got a lot of the
