Chapter Eight #2
“I’ve been behind a bar all of my life. I can usually guess what my customer wants and mix it up for them.” Rhys stepped back and eyed Rebecca up and down.
“I don’t think I’ve ever given anyone this designation.” He looked at Abby, then at Rebecca and closed his eyes, shaking his head.
“What?” Rebecca and Abby leaned in together.
“Abby, you are the Three Wise Men. Three sweet, good ole boys from Tennessee, Jim Beam, Johnnie Walker and Jack Daniels. Smooth but potent, with slight possibilities for disaster.” Rhys turned to Rebecca.
“Baby girl, you’re the Four Horsemen. You’re the Three Wise Men, plus one shot from a devilish bastard that goes by the name of Jose Cuervo. You and Abby combined could bring about the next apocalypse.”
“Please, don’t tell me that.” Aleks groaned.
Liam leaned over and wrapped his arms around Aleks rubbing his back. It went on for a minute and Abby caught Kent giving his mate a curious look.
“Aleks, I’m here for you.” Liam breathed into Alek’s ear and continued to rub circles on the bear shifter’s back.
“Uncomfortable yet?” Liam asked, grinning wickedly.
Aleks yawned and lay his head down on the bar.
“Rub lower, I did my rounds today talking to everyone in town, my lower back is killing me,” Aleks said, sounding half-asleep already.
Liam stopped and looked at Aleks, disgusted. He turned to where Rian and Damian were catching up with Bethany and Asling.
“Rian, I need you to babysit Aidhan more often. Aleks is exhausted and is not responding to any of my well-thought-out digs.”
“Let me get this straight. You want me to babysit BooBear so that Aleks will get more sleep so he is awake enough for you to torture?”
“Yup.” Liam nodded.
“Okay.” Rian shrugged.
“Y’all are bad.” Bethany giggled.
“Okay, what about me?” Giddey asked from the end of the bar.
“You’re easy, Giddey. You’re a New Orleans Hand Grenade. A harmonious blend of vodka, gin, rum and melon liquor that is hijacked by the out-of-control presence of grain alcohol. It’s the kind of drink you have and the next morning are wondering what state and or country you’re in.”
Giddey’s eyes widened. “I have to try that!”
“Me too, I wanna try mine,” Rebecca said.
“No,” was Alek’s muffled response.
“But, it’s my drink.”
“No.” Aleks repeated, his face still on the bar.
“I want…”
“No.”
“But…”
Aleks sat up and turned to look at Rebecca. He leaned in and whispered something so low that Abby couldn’t hear what he said. When he sat back, Rebecca’s face was tomato red. She quirked an eyebrow. “Promise?”
Aleks nodded.
“Just orange juice for me please.”
Abby sniffled a little. “He really does know you, and loves you anyway.”
“Hey!” Rebecca eyed her with suspicion.
“AbbyGirl, you want to try your drink?” Rhys asked, running his fingers over her hand at the bar.
Normally, she would definitely be reaching for some liquid courage, but she knew that she would need to be clearheaded tonight. Seducing Rhys was way more enticing than a drink. She shook her head.
“No, I’ll just have a coke for tonight.” Rhys brought her hand up and kissed her fingers before turning to get their drinks. Her heart melted. She was falling in love with him so quickly.
“Well, I might as well work on my crochet. I taught myself so I could make Boo a blanket.” Rebecca reached into her backpack and pulled out a ball of yarn and a knotted mess.
Abby couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but Rebecca was so proud of her progress she didn’t have the heart to tell her it looked like a fishing net.
“Giddey, who’s driving you later?” Rhys asked, holding his drink back.
“He’s staying with us at the pride house a few days before settling in with Connor and Madison. We’re driving him back,” Rian said, holding up his beer. Rhys nodded and handed the drink over to Giddey.
“Sweet baby Elton, this is perfect. Rhys, you are a god!” Giddey took another sip and sighed happily.
“Elton?” Abby asked, curious.
“Elton John, my idol,” Giddey explained.
“Well, we’re off,” Ms. Tully said, walking past where they sat.
“Rhys, son, you have been a breath of fresh air in this bar. Your drinks are so lovely.” Ms. Tully patted Rhys’s hand in a motherly fashion.
“Thank you, Annabeth.” Rhys winked and flirted with the older woman.
“Oh, oh my. You rascal.” Ms. Tully giggled like a schoolgirl. She looked down where Rebecca had her crochet needle twisted up with her yarn. She looked at it for a moment and then at Rebecca, whose tongue was sticking out the side of her mouth in concentration.
“Baby girl, what are you making?”
“A baby blanket.” Rebecca held up the “blanket” with sections large enough to pass a hand through.
“Why on earth are you using bondage knots to make a baby blanket?”
The conversations in the bar stopped and everyone turned to look at Rebecca’s creation.
“Bondage?” Rebecca squeaked.
“Yes dear, you have made some lovely patterns which would look simply divine on your bear, but I don’t see how it can be used for a blanket.” Ms. Tully took the knot work from Rebecca and turned it over in her hands.
“Rebecca, where in the hell did you learn to crochet?” Abby asked, trying not to laugh.
“A YouTube video, Pleasures of Knotwork.”
Ms. Tully clucked her tongue.
“You mean the Knots of Pleasure video. Yes, I enjoyed that one. That was a video about shibari dear, not crochet.” Ms. Tully handed the piece back to Rebecca who was eyeing Aleks covertly, before a panicked look crossed her face.
“So, you mean that website was ‘adult’ oriented?”
“Yes, dear.”
“Oh my god. I ordered my swing from there. I wanted to get a swing for the back yard so that I could swing with Aidhan in his baby swing. What kind of adult swing would they sell on that site?” Rebecca looked around, the picture of innocence.
Abby couldn’t help it. She was howling with laughter and beating the bar with one hand.
Aleks was now sitting up straight, very alert and looking at his mate. “You ordered an adult swing?” he asked, his eyes wide.
“Yup, it was that box that came earlier this week. I wondered where all the bars and stuff were, I thought maybe they just sent the swing part and the rest would come via freight or something.” Rebecca slumped down looking defeated.
“You mean to tell me there is an adult swing in our house and Ma is watching Aidhan tonight?” Aleks asked, suddenly not looking that tired at all.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
Aleks stood, dropped fifty dollars on the bar, grabbed Rebecca’s backpack with one hand and threw his tiny mate over his shoulder with the other.
“Night everyone,” Aleks said, heading to the door.
“Neanderthal! See you in the morning, Abby!” Rebecca waved and the door shut behind them.
“Oh my,” Ms. Tully said, smiling wide.
“I want a Neanderthal to carry me around like that.” Giddey sighed and sipped his drink again.
“I’m taking bets she comes up pregnant in a couple weeks.” Rian laughed.
“That was so hot,” Sebastian said, and Ashby sighed in agreement. Kate was fanning herself.
Gabriel, Liam, Kent, Caleb and Bran shared a look before sweeping their mates over their shoulders and heading out of the bar. After the sounds of squeals and giggling faded Nic, Rian, Damian, Giddey, Bethany and Asling all burst out laughing.
“You young people.” Ms. Tully winked at Rhys and walked out as well.
“It’s so different here. Everyone is so happy and comfortable to be who they are.” Bethany smiled happily.
“It was different before Rebecca. Ma made sure no one got picked on, but it was Rebecca that really made us family,” Damian said.
“She was like that in college too. Cassandra, Meg, Camille and I would hang out together because it was better than hanging out with some of the humans, but Rebecca made us like sisters.” Abby felt a large, warm hand on her lower back.
“It’s her gift.” Moe nuzzled the side of her neck and moved away to wipe down the counter. Abby noticed that he was doing every small thing he could to ensure that closing down the bar would go quickly. She was just about to ask for some pretzels when Peyton came running up to Rian and Damian.
“I’m on the last level but, I don’t know what to do.” Peyton hopped from foot to foot frantically.
Rian and Damian exchanged looks and stood up quickly.
“We’re coming, little buddy.” They quickly followed behind Peyton. Bethany, Asling, Giddey and Nic stood drinks in hand and followed.
“It’s bound to be interesting,” Nic said, and they all sat down at the table next to where Peyton, Rian and Damian sat facing the large television screen.
Abby turned to Rhys, playing with the straw in her drink.
“Any chance I’ll get as lucky as Rebecca tonight?”
“I’m sure we can figure something out.” Rhys started tracing his finger along the back of her hand sending shivers down her spine.
Feeling spunky and aroused as hell, she pulled Rhys’s hand to her mouth and sucked on his pointer and middle fingers.
She drew them deep into her mouth and out again mimicking what she had done to him earlier.
She heard his breathing become labored and he pulled his fingers from her mouth to lean against the bar trying to catch his breath.
“No fair, AbbyGirl, I still gotta work.” Rhys’s eyes burned with desire.
“I look forward to you getting off…work.” She grinned and hopped off her barstool. She grabbed her drink and swung her hips from side to side as she walked away, leaving Rhys groaning behind her.
When she sat down, Giddey simply held up his fist. Without saying a word she gave him a fist bump and settled in to watch sweet Peyton kill his zombies.