Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
juniper
Afew days had passed since Rudy offered me the bartending job. Bartending was pretty universal, so it was easy enough to learn the ropes and pick everything up. On my first day, I shadowed another one of the bartenders, Nico, but by my third shift, I was basically on my own.
Rudy’s was a small bar, so it never got too busy. Not much exciting happened in town in general, but I was told when May rolled around, Miles City would get crazy for something called The Bucking Horse Sale.
I was wiping down the bar when my coworkers, Nico and Liv, walked up next to me. Both of them were students here at the local community college, but they weren’t that much younger than me.
“Sup, Junie.” Nico threw his arm around my shoulders, and I resisted the urge to brush him off.
I gave him a side-eyed glance. “Don’t call me that.”
“Sorry, sorry.” He put his hands up in mock surrender, but his eyes shone with a playfulness that screamed trouble.
Liv cleared her throat. “How have your first few days on the job been? Enjoying it so far?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I like it. The people here in town are nice. Pretty easygoing.”
“This is your first time here in Miles City, yeah?” she asked.
“Yep. Just moved here a few weeks ago.”
“Have you done much exploring?” Nico leaned against the bar casually, like he was trying to seem nonchalant and not like he was prying for information.
“Not really. I’m living with one of my old friends from college, and I’ve gone to the grocery store with her a couple times, but I’ve mostly stayed home.” I gave him a noncommittal shrug. “I was mainly focused on finding a job, to be honest.”
“Well,” he drew out the word, “a bunch of us are having a bonfire this weekend, if you want to come by? Bring your friend, too.”
“Oh, I don’t—”
“It’ll be super fun!” Liv chimed in, a pleading look in her eyes. “We’ll introduce you to everyone and you’ll make loads of new friends. It’ll be great.”
That was what I was worried about. I wasn’t planning on staying here long-term.
While I was grateful for Natalie and Rudy, Miles City wasn’t going to be my final destination.
I’d give myself a few months tops to get my footing, then I’d be out of Montana for good.
Maybe I’d go back home to Michigan, or maybe I’d travel.
At some point in the last few weeks, I’d decided that small town life ultimately wasn’t for me.
I wanted to be able to date and not have to see them at the grocery store if we happened to break up.
“I’ll think about it.” I finally decided to give them a sort of nonanswer, and it seemed to get the two of them off my back for now.
“Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find us, Junie.” Nico flashed me a crooked grin as he walked back to the end of the bar.
I let out an amused sigh then went back to wiping down the bar.
Tonight wasn’t slow, but it wasn’t packed, either. There weren’t a ton of bars in town, but Rudy’s was more popular with the older folk. Rudy had tasked us with coming up with theme nights to get more of the college students to come in, and we planned to announce our first soon.
Apparently, though, there was a group of men—cowboys—in their mid- to late-twenties who frequently came into the bar. They didn’t live in town, but they lived close, in a little community called Silver Creek.
Liv told me about them on my second day of work.
“They’re pretty cute. I know two of them aren’t single anymore, but I haven’t seen the others with girls before. Well, except for one of them. But he’s a notorious playboy, so I wouldn’t even dream of going there.” She wrinkled up her nose.
“Don’t you think they’re a little bit old for you, Livvy?” Nico teased her with a laugh.
She immediately blushed and sputtered out, “I’m twenty-one! There’s only a five-year age difference between me and the youngest one!”
We both laughed at her outburst, but she crossed her arms and mocked a pouting face.
“What about you, Junie?” Nico asked.
“What about me, what?”
He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Are you on the market for a man?”
“Ew, Nico, never say it like that ever again,” Liv groaned, to which he rolled his eyes and said, “I’m just teasing.”
I just shook my head, still deciding if I was going to answer his question. “No. I’m definitely not interested in dating.”
Before he could respond, Liv spoke up. “Wait, but what about you and—”
Nico made a face of what seemed to be slight contempt in the middle of her question. Liv gasped, and then they both walked to the back, leaving me amused and by myself at the bar for about an hour.
The bells on the front door jingled, pulling me from the memory, and I lifted my head to see who it was.
Rudy flashed me a bright smile as he sauntered up to the counter. “Juniper, how’s everything been for you so far? Feeling at home here?”
“So far, it’s been going really well. I’m used to the bars I’ve worked in being, er…” I paused for a moment, not wanting to offend him.
The corners of his eyes crinkled. “Busier?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Uh, yeah.” I let out a nervous laugh. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way, I just worked in Goldfinch and you know how those college bars are.”
“Don’t you worry, I know very well what you mean.
I had my fair share of rowdy nights as a youngster.
” His eyes seemed to glass over, but the expression was gone just as quickly as it appeared.
“I’m sure Nicolas and Olivia have filled you in, but we get good business during The Bucking Horse Sale, so it’ll be nice to have you on staff so I don’t have to drag my old ass in here.
” He let out a deep, belly laugh, and I couldn’t help but crack a smile.
“I’m happy to help.”
“Well”—he patted the counter a couple times—“I just wanted to check in.” Then he disappeared around the corner, presumably to go to the back office.
The next few hours were slow. Only a few people trickled in and out of the bar, giving Nico and Liv plenty of time to pester me about the bonfire.
I gave them the same kind of answer as before, but I had a feeling I’d be hearing about this gathering—and plenty more in the future—if their facial expressions were any indication.
Around nine o’clock, I was in the middle of pouring a whiskey and Coke for one of the regulars when the front doors opened and a group walked in, led by an average-height man with dark-brown hair that curled under the baseball cap that he wore backward and tattoo sleeves covering both his arms. He had a thick mustache, but the rest of his face was fairly clean shaven, with a bit of stubble on his jawline.
“First round’s on me, boys!” his slightly deep, masculine voice rumbled.
I couldn’t pinpoint where I recognized the voice from, but I was sure it would come to me later. Probably didn’t matter in the long-run, but it made me curious all the same.
I slid the drink I had been making to Jim—the regular—and he thanked me, handing me a five-dollar bill. The group of cowboys had already gathered in front of Liv, and she was working on pouring them shots of Pendleton.
“How’s your evening going, Livvy?” the tattooed cowboy who offered to buy the drinks when they walked in asked her.
The blond one standing beside him elbowed him in the ribs. “She’s already told you she’s not interested, Michael, leave the girl alone.”
“I’m just being nice, Flynn!” He elbowed him right back.
“Don’t mind him, Liv, he’s just being his usual self.” The youngest looking cowboy—who was shorter than the other three but taller than the tattooed one—apologized for his friend.
Liv’s face immediately flushed to beet red. “Can I get you guys anything else?” She stumbled over her words a little but recovered quickly.
“Nah, thanks, Olivia.” One of the final two who hadn’t yet spoken thanked her. “Let’s get a move on, shall we, boys? Jake and Hayden against me and Reid?”
They all nodded and grabbed their shots, making their way to the pool table in the back. Now that I was thinking about it, they looked vaguely familiar. Especially the short one.
“Who were they?” I whispered to Liv.
“Those were the Silver Creek cowboys. Colter Carson, Reid Lawson, Jake Flynn, Hayden Watkins, and Michael Tucker. But everyone calls him Mikey.”
Mikey Tucker? No fuckin’ way.
“Cover for me, will you, Liv?” I asked, earning a puzzled look from her. “I’m about to do something reckless tonight.”