Chapter 11
Sela
“Okay, revelers, it’s last call!” I stood in the middle of Ol’ St. Nick’s with aching feet, throbbing calves, and a big smile on my face.
Last call was always a mad rush of last-minute drink orders, dodging hook-ups that were about to spill into the night, and friends wrangling the one who drank too much.
“You’ve got fifteen minutes to order another round, drink it, and then get out so I can rest my poor dogs. ”
Several tables called out for me or Dani, eager to get their orders in before anyone else.
It was the day before Thanksgiving, so everyone was out numbing themselves in preparation for a day of love, gratitude, and family.
It wasn’t something I could relate to, not really.
I loved my family, but maybe it was because I missed them.
Mom and Dad didn’t spend much time in Holiday Grove anymore, so I longed for the obligatory family dinners, the inappropriate conversations, and the expected arguments.
The fact that it was also my birthday only made me miss them more.
“Hey, Antonio, I need three pitchers, two IPAs, and one brown ale.” I wiped down my tray while I waited, rushing to deliver the pitchers before I returned with another round of orders.
“What happened to people being knee-deep in food prep for tomorrow?” Antonio’s brows dipped in confusion. “Is this another Holiday Grove quirk?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Nope. Look around, and you’ll notice that this crowd is out-of-towners, family home for the holidays with friends and serious relationships. They’re pre-gaming the holiday.”
He laughed before he set three margaritas and two glasses of white wine on my tray. “This place gets amazingly weirder with each passing holiday.”
“Agree to agree,” I told him and dodged a few unsteady drinkers as I made the delivery.
It went like that for the next fifteen minutes, a complete and total madhouse of beer, wine, and cocktails until my feet were ready to come off.
It was the downside to wearing amazing shoes as a waitress.
My tips were always incredible, but my feet paid the price.
A little bit of ice and Epsom salts, and I’d be good to go.
Tomorrow the bar was closed, so I could just spend the day in fuzzy slippers.
“And we are officially closed!” Dani shouted as she locked the door behind the last customers. She clapped her hands loudly and gave a little celebratory shimmy. “Let’s run through the post-shift checks and then have a drink.”
“Sounds good to me.” I kicked off my spiky black stilettos with a groan and then Dani and I got busy working as a team the way we always did. She cleaned the tables, and I wiped them down before we flipped the chairs and swept the floors. “This shift felt like it was a week long.”
Dani and Antonio both laughed. “It was busier than I expected,” Dani agreed. “Must be a lot of people bringing home friends and lovers.”
“Must be.” I wasn’t one of them, and based on my history, I wouldn’t be introducing anyone to my parents anytime soon. If ever. “Have you done the meet-the-parents thing yet,” I asked and nodded to where Antonio wiped down the bar.
“By Zoom, yes. With my parents and his aunt and uncle.”
I looked up in surprise. Dani and I had worked together for years, and we were friends, but we weren’t close friends. “How did it go?” There were several times in my life I thought I was at that stage in the relationship only to learn that I wasn’t. Harshly. Brutally.
“It went great. My parents grilled him, and his aunt basically called me beautiful and told him she knew it would be a spitfire who stole his heart.” Her smile was filled with love.
“That’s really great, Dani.” Her relationship history was about as dismal as my own. “I’m glad one of us got the happy ending.”
She frowned. “But you and that new guy, Brock. You’ve been spending a lot of time together, haven’t you?”
“We have,” I admitted. “I like him, and he seems to like me, but he’s divorced and cynical, and I’m perpetually single and cynical. It’s a recipe for disaster.”
“So is meatloaf, but it’s so damn good.”
I laughed. “But only when you know what you’re doing, which I do not.” Maybe Brock did, but he was just having fun. We’re just having fun. Right?
“Drink time, ladies.”
I leaned against the bar, and Dani took a stool, smiling up at her man like he was her everything. “What’s the drink of choice tonight?”
“Birthday-tinis for all of us.” He slid a cocktail glass rimmed with rainbow confetti across the bar with a smile.
My eyes widened. “How did you know it was my birthday?”
His grin brightened. “Dani, of course.”
“Of course.” I glared at her smiling face.
“Thank you both, but please do me a favor and keep it to yourselves.” I liked Thanksgiving.
No, I loved the holiday, even though it’s been lonely for the past few years, because what’s not to love about eating too much, laughing too much, and spending time with the people you love?
But my birthday was always an added weight to the holiday.
“Your secret is safe with me,” Antonio promised. “But why?”
I took a sip of the drink, enjoying the creamy chocolate goodness with a hint of delicious liquor.
“That’s really good,” I told him. “And I don’t like people who don’t know to know because they forget in the holiday rush, and then they feel guilty, and then I have to be the one to soothe them.
And then when they do remember, it’s so obviously an afterthought that it makes me feel worse, and then I still have to rush to reassure them the thoughtless gift wasn’t thoughtless.
” Explaining it made me feel childish, so I just took a big swig of my drink and wished I could disappear.
“Well, I remembered,” Dani said and raised her glass. “So happy damn birthday, Sela. Maybe this next year will be filled with love, laughter, and a ridiculous amount of orgasms.”
“I’ll drink to two of those.” I held my glass high in the air before I held it to my lips and finished it off. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.” Antonio smiled and rinsed our glasses before we all left the bar. He and Dani turned right at the door to get to their car while I went left, not wanting to risk driving under the influence. “Hey, Sela, you want a ride?”
“No thanks. I think I’m going to enjoy the night air.” It was crisp outside, but the drink provided enough warmth that only my fingers were cold when I turned onto my block.
It was officially Thanksgiving. My birthday.
I was now squarely in my thirties with none of the things I thought I’d have at this milestone birthday.
I had friends who cared about me. I had a whole town, in fact, who cared.
What I didn’t have was a man of my own to love me or children to take care of and teach about the world.
“Two things,” I said to myself. “I don’t have two things.
Three if you count my career, but there’s still time for that. ”
“Time for what?”
“Oh my god!” I jumped about ten feet in the air and spun to face the familiar deep voice. “Brock, what the hell?”
He grinned as if he hadn’t just taken ten years off my life. “Hey, Sela.”
“Hey?” I shoved his chest. “Did you just hey me after sneaking up on me, or were you following me?”
He held up his hands and took a step back, but his masculine scent wafted on the breeze. “I was coming to see if you were home from work.”
“And you thought it was okay to eavesdrop on a private conversation?”
He laughed. “With yourself?”
I nodded. “That’s private.” It was a weak insistence, and I didn’t even know why I was insisting, only that I was.
“Okay, then what do you still have time for?”
I glared at him and turned on my heels, certain he would follow. This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have with anyone, but Brock was temporary, and I was in my not giving a damn what anyone thinks of me era. I could do this. I would do it.
“Hey, are you okay?”
I shoved the key in the lock and opened the door, waving him in. “I’m fine.” I slipped off my shoes again and locked the door. “I still have time to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.”
“This seems to be a big concern of yours.” He wasn’t judging me, just stating an observation. He sat in the middle of the sofa, one leg rested over the knee, his gaze steady on my face. “Make two lists: skills that you possess and things you’d like to do. See where they intersect.”
“Just that simple?” He sounded incredibly privileged, but I kept that thought to myself.
“Not simple at all, actually. But that’s the first step. The really hard part starts with figuring it out and then working towards making it happen.”
Okay, not so privileged. “Thank you.”
He flashed a small smile that lit up his eyes, and I felt it all the way down to my belly.
There was heat in his eyes, but I swore there was something else, something I couldn’t name but terrified me, nonetheless.
“Of course.” His voice was soft and low, that deep rumble more comforting than it should’ve been considering we were practically strangers.
A long moment passed between us, hot and electric, but also comfortable. It was strange, feeling so at ease around someone I didn’t know well, wasn’t sure I could trust beyond having a good time. “I’m glad you came,” I said with a heavy sigh.
With a nod, Brock stood. “But you’d rather be alone?”
I shook my head. “No, but I really need a hot shower.”
One ebony brow arched, and he leaned forward, resting his forearms on his legs. “Is that purely informational or is that an invitation?”
My lips curled into a smile completely on their own at the same time a shiver rushed down my spine. How could the man make just one sentence sound devilish? “That depends,” I answered slowly. “Are you very dirty?”
Brock was on his feet in an instant, stalking towards me until he was close enough to grab me and toss me over his shoulder. “There’s just one way to find out.”
I knew then that I was in over my head.