13. Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
Golden decided not to go home. The thought of sitting there in her own misery sounded awful. Watching her stop pass by, she rode the bus until it stopped near Stardust Cove town center. Getting off, she squinted at the hot afternoon sun.
Around her, the shops bustled with activity. The town center was designed around a large fountain that sat in the middle of a small park. Surrounding it on four sides were charming little storefronts. Mom and Pop stores that had been there as long as she could remember. Despite not having any large retail chains, there was nothing the small town lacked. There were a handful of little boutique dress shops, a florist, artisanal bakery, antique stores, and two cozy bookstores that waged a small but friendly war with each other. But her goal was the quaint coffee shop next door to the hardware store.
Walking across the square, Golden gently pushed through the café door. A melodic chime signaled overhead and the woman behind the large counter lifted her head to greet her. The woman's eyes widened as recognition sank in.
"Golden!" she squealed, coming around the counter with her hands up.
Golden smiled, despite the lingering pain still in her chest, and embraced the girl back. "Hey, Lydia."
Lydia Dolton was one of the first friends Golden made when she moved to Stardust Cove years ago. Together they made it through elementary and junior high and even participated in summer Sing Camp. Golden had been the only one to receive an exception to attend Stardust Heights High School for their musical program. Thankfully their friendship never waned. Despite the distance, the new set of friends, and even college, they maintained a constant back and forth.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, girly? I thought you and I were meeting up this Saturday for brunch?" Lydia asked coming around the counter.
Sitting down at one of the tables, Golden shrugged. "I decided to see you earlier."
Lydia cocked her head causing her short black bob to sway to the side. Her gaze held hers, the suspicion growing with every second until Golden was forced to speak.
"I also wanted to get away from my boss," Golden admitted in a small voice.
Lydia nodded sagely. Although they had never once spoken of Golden's crush on the older Rosebank, Golden always suspected her friend knew.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and Golden sighed. It was no doubt another flurry of texts or calls from Gaige demanding her to explain her last text about quitting. Glancing at her phone, her breath caught at the name on the screen—Grayson. Swiping away the call, her heart clenched at the sight of five missed calls from him alone. Putting her phone on silent she stuffed it back into her purse.
Looking back up to Lydia, she gave her a big smile. "Let's do your Holter plan," she said, throwing the suggestion out like a Hail Mary.
All suspicion vanished from Lydia's face, replaced by wild excitement. "Oh my God. Do you mean it?!"
If this was a normal situation, Golden wouldn't mean it at all. Driving to Holter, an even smaller town with a dangerous history, to go to some dive bar and flirt with some notorious ex-bikers. Yeah, no. But again, it was that or go home alone and face the hurt she was actively trying to avoid as well as the calls from the man who started it. What choice did she have?
Golden nodded, despite everything telling her not to. "Yes."
A few hours later they were driving down the two-lane interstate. After Lydia got off work, they stopped by her house to change into appropriate clothes since Lydia looked absolutely horrified that Golden had every intention of going to the bar in her work clothes. Now dressed in a short denim skirt, a red leather halter top, and matching boots, Golden felt like one of those women on TV who always hung out with bikers. She wasn't sure if she liked it, but Lydia was more than happy. She was dressed in a black leather romper and black cowboy boots.
"Just a heads up, I want Victor," Lydia announced as she drove.
"Okaaay," she drawled out the word, giving her friend a speculative look. "I'm not necessarily on the hunt tonight but duly noted. Although you should probably tell me who this Victor guy is if you want me to be a good wingman."
"Oh, you’ll know him when you see him. Out of the Three Heathens, he is by far the hottest and that's saying something because the other two are drop-dead gorgeous."
The Three Heathens? Lydia had mentioned that earlier when they were getting ready. Something about the three bikers being in a gang at one time and now running a bar out in the boonies. Did they seriously call themselves Heathens or was that just the bar name? Normally, Golden would turn to her trusty phone and Google it but she was too afraid to even look at her phone. She could just imagine the texts and the number of missed calls from both Gaige and Grayson.
Nope. She would deal with that tomorrow. For now, she was going to keep pushing back the pain creeping around her heart like vines, with Lydia and her antics as a distraction.
Looking away from the dark nothingness from her window, Golden tuned back in to her friend.
"He has shoulder-length black hair that he sometimes keeps in a ponytail or sometimes down," Lydia groaned with appreciation. "He has muscles on top of muscles. I mean seriously his shoulders are huge. I just want him to bear hug me to death."
"And the bear hug of death is after you get some dick, right?" Golden clarified with a smirk.
Lydia's eyes practically glowed in the dark like a cat on the prowl. "You fucking know it. I can just imagine riding him until I die in an orgasmic firework."
Golden threw her head back in laughter. "I should be disturbed all of your fantasies with Victor involve death of some sort."
"It will be a warrior's death,” Lydia claimed excitedly.
For the rest of the way, they laughed and talked about Lydia's vast list of exes until they were finally pulling off onto a gravelly parking lot. A building with a neon sign of skulls and fire, spelling out Heathens, glowed in the night.
A part of her expected the parking lot to be filled with parked bikes, their chrome gleaming in the low light. Maybe even a few burly tattooed men leaning on them, giving people dirty looks. But instead of discomfort, Golden just got a sense of normalcy as she glanced around the parking lot. Though dimly lit, the parking lot was neat and orderly. A few bikes were parked along the front but everything else was just the usual beat-up pick-up trucks and old cars one would expect in a small rural town. The few people hanging by the door greeted them as they walked through the blacked-out entrance and into the bar.
As soon as she stepped inside, Golden was hit by the smell of smoke. The dim lighting cast a yellow glow over the wooden interior, illuminating the walls. Covered in random photos of bikers, motorcycle memorabilia, and neon signs advertising various beers, the place had an odd sort of appeal. She could easily see people perched on the leather barstools pulled up to the long polished wood counter sitting there for hours drinking and talking their problems away while never knowing the sun was rising and falling beyond the blackened windows.
Working their way through the slight crowd of the tables taking up the main floor, they were able to secure a spot at the bar. The bartender, a blonde man covered in tattoos, glanced over at them and gave them a wink of acknowledgment. Lydia giggled next to her while Golden had to bite down a smile herself. The man was very attractive. They watched him as he quickly filled up four tall glasses of beer while steadily talking to a group of chatty older men.
"Oh, here comes Hayden," Lydia whispered.
"So that means the blond is Joel?" Golden asked, testing out her crash course on Holter's Three Heathens she was given on the forty-five-minute drive there.
"Yeah, and if God loves me one fucking bit, Victor will be here somewhere," she grumbled, craning her neck and looking over the crowd.
The big man, Hayden, walked past Joel behind the bar and stopped in front of them. Golden had to tilt her head back to look at the huge man.
"What will it be ladies?" he asked in a gruff voice.
Golden just blinked at the man owlishly as Lydia ordered their drinks. He had a shaggy mop of thick brown hair that hung over his eyes, only letting her see glimpses of the dark gaze beneath. He freaked her out yet intrigued her.
Opening a tab and taking their drinks, they were able to score a table close to the back of the building by the jukebox playing classic rock and next to the pool tables. Needless to say, they had to practically shout to speak.
Two shots and two beers later both she and Lydia were trying and failing to suppress their giggling as they watched the three Heathens work the bar. Victor had finally made his appearance not too long ago emerging from the back room in all his dark glory. Even through her tipsy haze, Golden could agree with her friend, he was sexy. Hell, they were all sexy.
With near synchronized movements, the three men worked perfectly in tandem with each other as they served the busy crowd. Somehow, they even managed to talk to their patrons as they took endless orders, laughing at jokes, making their own, all the while still managing to squeeze in a few suggestive smiles and hot looks at the women who practically threw themselves at them.
"They seem very popular," Golden shouted over the loud rock song booming from the jukebox next to them.
Lydia gave her a pouty nod. She was clearly disappointed that she hadn't had an opportunity to talk directly with Victor yet.
Although it wasn't as if the Heathens didn't know they were there. All three of them kept glancing over to them every few minutes or so causing both her and Lydia to giggle and blush like idiots. Golden knew she was going to look back on this moment and cringe in the morning but she was just tipsy enough not to care.
"Oh my God, Victor looked directly at me again and gave me a look ," Lydia emphasized and tried to recreate the look for Golden.
Golden grinned. Trying her best not to be too obvious, she looked through the crowd of people and back over at the bar, which was not so busy anymore, to see both Joel and Hayden looking at them. Golden swiftly turned back to Lydia who tried and failed to stifle another fit of gleeful laughter.
Too bad the Heathens weren't the only ones paying attention to them. For the third time in the past hour, a short guy wearing a badly stained band t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans came over to the jukebox. And each time he put on a display that he was selecting a song all while trying to make eye contact with them.
Sadly, this time he mustered up the courage to speak. "Hey there," the man shouted.
Lydia's smile faded and she shared a look with Golden. Together they looked at the man and gave him a strained smile that hopefully conveyed how little they wanted him there.
The message was not received. Emboldened, Stained Shirt Guy walked closer to their table, smiling in satisfaction as he eyed them both.
"You guys must be new around here. Where you from? Stardust or Fort Mason?" he asked.
He just listed the only two other cities in the area. Theoretically wouldn’t they have to be from either one? Annoyed and wanting to say something catty, Golden forced herself to drink her drink instead.
Thankfully a familiar figure appeared next to Stained Shirt Guy.
"Hey there, Dan," Victor said, putting his hand on Dan's narrow shoulder. "I heard Steve is over there waiting to kick your ass," he said pointing his other thumb over his shoulder at the pool tables in the back.
Dan's eyes lit up and he looked to both girls and back toward the pool tables. Whether it was his ego or both her and Lydia's desperately combined prayers to God to make this man leave, Dan turned and left.
She and Lydia let out an obvious sigh that made Victor laugh. Sitting down in an empty chair, Victor gave them a smile that could melt a woman's panties right off her body. Looking over to Lydia, Golden nearly busted out laughing at her friend's not-too-subtle lust written all over her face.
"So, what brings two beautiful ladies all the way from Stardust to our little town?"
To see you was practically buzzing at Golden's lips. Dammit, was she drunk? If she wasn't careful, she was going to end up being an awful wingman.
"We're here so my friend can drink away a broken heart." Lydia said, gesturing to Golden.
Golden blinked in shock. How did she get mixed up in this?
But Lydia was too far gone staring into Victor's dark eyes to even glance at Golden.
"Oh really," Victor flicked a gaze at Golden, letting it linger for only a second before looking back at Lydia.
"Yeah, so if you think about it, Mr. Rosebank is the reason for us being here," Lydia giggled. Okay, she was drunk, Golden thought with a frown.
"Did someone say Rosebank?" The remaining chair next to them was suddenly pulled out and Joel sat down. His blue eyes practically glowed with excitement.
Victor chuckled. "These two are here because…" he paused and looked at Golden expectantly.
Golden blinked and finally caught on. "My name is Golden."
"And mine is Lydia," Lydia quickly interjected.
Victor smiled warmly at them both and looked back at Joel. "Because Golden here is heartbroken over Rosebank."
Golden shook her head. "Wait, I-"
Joel held up his hands shaking his own head in confusion. "Wait, you can't be talking about Grant Rosebank. That man is obsessed with his wife and his wife, Whitney, would have cut your throat while you slept. Who the hell are we talking about? Grayson?" he looked at her expectantly.
Golden felt her face heat and shot a scathing look at her friend. With both men staring at her, she shifted in her seat and tried to explain but Joel's grin grew even wider as he got his answer from her discomfort.
"Aww the straight-laced bastard, of course." Seeing her confusion, Joel relaxed in his chair and nodded as he took out his phone. "I play poker with them on occasion. They're moderately good," he conceded.
Victor gave him a deadpan look. "Last month you lost twenty-four acres of our land to Grant."
A muscle ticked in Joel's jaw. "I'm going to win it back," he growled.
Leaning toward her, Joel grabbed Golden by the shoulder and pulled her in toward him. She was so shocked she could hardly think much less react.
Holding out his phone, Joel gave her a devious smile. "Do me a favor, Beautiful, and say cheese."
Golden looked at the phone, gave a tentative smile, and heard the shutter sound go off. Joel didn't give her a chance to question the picture before he was up and going back to the bar. A few minutes later, it was Hayden who took his seat next to her, bringing a round of fresh drinks. Time passed and the crowd in the bar thinned to the point where even Joel could sit at their table with only one of the Heathens taking turns running back to the bar every now and then.
Lydia chatted happily with Victor while Hayden and Joel asked Golden questions or bickered about random things. Golden could feel herself slipping further and further down the hole. Everyone around her was drinking their drinks and handling it fine, even Lydia, but she couldn’t anymore. She already felt like she was past the point of no return with how her head was spinning and if she drank anymore, it was going to be bad.
Blinking slowly, she looked between Hayden and Joel who were arguing about something in regards to a gym. Or a gym they owned? She couldn't be sure.
Hayden stopped and looked at her and leaned over to her. "You want me to get you some water, Sweetheart? "
Golden gave him a thankful smile and nodded. She was so damn thirsty.
Going to the bar, he grabbed a bottle of water and came back, handing it to her.
Twisting the cap off, she thanked him. "I appreciate—Oh!" she cried when she spilled some of the cold water on her lap.
"Here," Hayden snatched a few napkins from nearby and reached for her legs.
A hand grabbed Hayden's wrist and both her and Hayden looked up to a pair of burning blue eyes. There was a shift in the air. A rippling force that created a suffocating tension in the entire room.
"Holy shit, you came!" Joel exclaimed next to her, looking far too satisfied.
Through the haze in her mind, Golden was sober enough to know this was bad even if her heart thrummed in excitement. "Mr. Rosebank," she whispered.