Chapter 4
Jordan
“Can I have a Fuzzy Navel?”
I glance over and see April Lester standing at the bar between Grady Jones and Rich Hensburg and staring at me expectantly. I nod and finish stacking the rocks glasses I’d just washed, then reach over and grab the bottle of Schnapps.
“So, you coming home with me yet?” Rich asks April, giving her a skeptical little scowl.
Grady chuckles softly, while I smile to myself. April just turns away, looking annoyed.
All these people are regulars. April usually doesn’t go home alone, and everyone knows it. Rich only half jokes to save face when she constantly refuses him, though. Old, it seems, is her only hard limit. Anyone else is fair game. It doesn’t hurt for him to keep trying, I guess. Might get lucky one of these nights.
Not that I begrudge her. What do I know? She’s a good customer, and she tips well, after all. I just can’t help but keep an eye on her when Cole is around. I’ve seen her go after married men, so someone’s boyfriend certainly won’t faze her.
I finish pouring the orange juice and set out a napkin before placing the drink on top of it. She grabs a straw and takes her glass. “Thank you,” she sing-songs and immediately turns around, taking a sip as she walks back to her booth.
I watch her go and see her slide in with two other men I’ve seen around before.
Sometimes she makes me think of my mom. I’m not sure why, they look nothing alike. My mom was a blonde—is a blonde—and April is a brunette. Hair so dark brown it almost looks black.
But they’d be around the same age. April has to be pushing forty and dresses like I remember my mom dressing. Short skirts, billowy, silk tank tops, jewelry, and six-inch heels.
Like Cam. My sister inherited my mom’s sexy style.
I wonder if my mom has settled down with someone or if she still needs that freedom she craved so much when I was seven. I don’t miss her. I barely remember her. But I do still wonder about her.
Reaching behind me, I mark a tally on April’s tab for her drink and grab a towel to finish drying the glasses.
But then the front door swings open and a voice booms, “Shit, it’s dead in here.”
I look up, the hair on my arms instantly standing on end. My boyfriend enters with a few of his friends in tow, but it’s the all-too-familiar voice leading the pack that makes my skin crawl.
Jay McCabe, my ex-boyfriend, walks in, slowly and taking his time, entering a room like the star quarterback he was in high school and still waiting for a fucking applause. It’s funny how he got less good looking the more I got to know him. My spine goes steel-rod straight, and awareness makes heat spread up my neck.
Cole strolls in behind with a couple guys, and Elena Barros trailing them, and I see his arched brow and the slight snarl on his face as he glances at Jay and then looks over to me.
They don’t hang out, but they will find themselves at the same parties sometimes. My guess is Jay headed here with his pack and Cole followed to make sure I’m okay.
Jay scans the room and then his eyes lock on me, a little smile curling the corner of his mouth. I immediately avert my gaze, my stomach rolling.
I try to pretend he’s of no consequence anymore, but I think he knows he won. He should be in fucking jail after what he did to me, and he’s not, because two years ago, I was scared and pathetic.
I wish someone would hurt him.
And even better if that someone turns out to be me.
Cole strolls over while his friends walk around, chatting up people they know. He swings up the partition and comes behind the bar, an apologetic look on his face as he comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“What are you doing?” I ask, my fist wrapped in a towel and wiping the inside of a glass.
I feel him shrug. “Haven’t seen you. Just missed you.”
I breathe out a laugh, trying to relax my stiff body. “I’m okay. You don’t have to worry about me at work.”
He nuzzles my neck, and we both know he’s just worried about Jay being here.
I put my hand over his, feeling the small scar on his thumb, and inhale his clean scent. He looks fresh and good-looking, a lot better than he did this morning. No one can shake off a hangover like him.
“You know, it’s bad for business if her boyfriend is hanging around,” Shel warns, walking by in front of the bar and setting down a tray of glasses.
Shel fancies herself like the bar owner in the Coyote Ugly movie. ‘You are to appear available but never be available’ type thing. The problem is this is a dirt bar in a small town, so either way, the tips won’t set any records. Whether or not my boyfriend is here.
Cole snuggles my neck, and I smile, feeling safe against the wall of his body. His friends’ voices carry as the level of noise heightens in the room, and I glance up at the clock, seeing it’s nearly midnight.
And it’s Wednesday night. Cole has work in the morning.
I draw in a breath, turning my head to look up at him. “You know, we couldn’t really afford for you to lose those hours today,” I tell him.
And if he’s out tonight, chances are he’ll call in tomorrow and lose more pay.
We still have bills from the old apartment that need to be paid, and I’ll do my fair share, but he’s damn-well helping. If he misses another day, I’m going to get loud.
But he just gazes down at me thoughtfully. “I’m not stupid, babe,” he assures me. “I already know everything you want to say to me, okay?”
“And you know you’re damn lucky to still have your license, right?” I jab at him some more. A DUI on his record is the last thing we need, and he tempts fate constantly.
Especially after everything that’s happened. How can he be so careless?
I glance down at our scars again, remembering.
“What would I do without you?” he says, his breath tickling my ear.
I jerk away. “Your own laundry, probably.”
But he just laughs, tightening his hold around me. “I’m sorry I’m a loser.”
“You haven’t always been.”
He cocks an eyebrow at my dig and walks me back into the bar, a smirk playing on his lips. “I’m good at a few things, though, aren’t I?”
He tips my chin back and dives into my neck, his hot mouth kissing and biting.
Chills spread up my arms, and I gasp. “Cole…”
Ok, yes. You’re not completely terrible at everything.
He’s always been able to make me smile, and he’s a good kisser. I just wish he’d do it at home more. He hasn’t been touching me a lot lately.
And now he’s going out again tonight.
I turn my head, kissing him and hungry for the connection, but then I quickly pull away, pushing him off with a grin. “Not here,” I scold.
I twist around and clear a couple beer bottles off the bar, tossing them away.
“I am really sorry, you know?” he says in my ear. “I didn’t mean to get us kicked out of there and in this situation with my dad.”
I nod, pretty sure he means it. He’s good people, and I’ve seen him at his best. Right now, he’s in a rut, but he stood by me when no one else would, so I want to believe he’ll get on track.
I glance over at Jay, remembering how Cole was my only friend left after I broke up with that asshole. Everyone else took Jay’s side.
“So is my dad being nice to you?” he asks, pulling away and releasing me.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t he be?”
He shrugs. “Just making sure. He used to be kind of a dick back in the day. Cheated on my mom a lot, which is why we don’t get along.” He pauses and then adds, “Just to explain the tension you’re probably feeling between us.”
Cheating? Why didn’t he tell me this before? Jesus.
That doesn’t seem like Pike at all, though. He doesn’t strike me as that shallow.
But people grow up and change. Maybe he was a different guy twenty years ago.
But wait…
“I thought you said your parents broke up when you were two,” I ask.
If he was that young, how would he remember that?
“Yeah.” He starts walking back for the end of the bar. “I just know what she’s told me. It wasn’t pretty apparently, so don’t take any shit from him. He likes to push women around, which is probably why he’s still single.”