Chapter 2 - Ruby
TWO
RUBY
“What’ll it be, cutie pie?” I asked as a man sat down at the bar.
He grinned at me before his eyes fell to my tits, so I shoved them together a bit with my arms. If it got me more tips, I didn’t mind flaunting what these men knew they could never have.
Not to say that the new owners of the place didn’t pay me well.
In fact, the second that giggly group of motorcycle guys purchased this place, my paycheck almost doubled.
But money was money, and if it was there for the taking then I wanted my fair share of it.
The man’s eyes focused on my breasts. “Whiskey sour and keep ’em comin’.”
I gave him my best smile. “I’ll make sure I do them personally, sir. One whiskey sour, comin’ right up!”
Ever since my paycheck doubled, I’d been able to pay down in full for the rest of my education.
Attending U.C. San Diego to get my degree in Surgical Nursing came with a pretty hefty price tag, and because of my salary hike, I’d been able to avoid taking out student loans.
And I wanted to keep it that way. So, I came up with creative moves to toss around in the bar that added value to the drinks we served.
And the tips I got alone some nights paid my bills so that I didn’t even have to touch my paychecks.
“Hey! Can a guy get a decent beer around here!?”
My twin brother, Puck, playfully yelled at me from the other side of the bar.
I tossed him a glare that made him chuckle while I twirled the bottles around, crafting a wonderful whiskey sour for the man that looked vulnerable enough to tip me double what his order would be.
And after I slid it in front of him, I gave him a cute little wink before grabbing a beer out of our personal fridge for my brother.
Who, thank fuck, was only my fraternal twin.
“You know,” I said as I handed him his beer, “every time I look at you, I thank my lucky stars that I’m the hotter twin.”
He barked with laughter as he clutched his glass-bottle beer. “You wish.”
I leaned against the bar. “Trust me, I already got my wish.”
He took a sip of his beer. “And so did I.”
I shook my head as a smile spread across my face. “Aren’t you going to ask me how school’s going?”
He peered at me from beyond his bottle. “How’s school going?”
I looked at my nails. “I aced all of my midterms last week.”
He laughed with delight. “Holy shit, sis. Congrats! The next round is on me, everyone! My sister’s gonna kick med school’s ass!”
The bar cheered and clapped before people started placing orders left and right.
The rest of the guys trickled through the swinging double doors that led to the main bar floor and when Notch walked in with his arm around Maya, my heart skipped a beat.
The two of them were the cutest, and he’d been helping her out with basic college courses for the past year.
And of course, the two of them made their way straight up to the bar the way they always did.
“Margarita, Miss Maya?” I asked.
She eased herself up onto a stool. “Can we make it a mango one this time? Notch says they’re great. He says you don’t make them too sweet.”
I nodded. “A not-too-sweet mango margarita coming up! And you, Notch?”
He leaned against the bar countertop as he rubbed Maya’s back with his free hand. “You got any good bourbons on that shelf behind you?”
I pointed at him. “I know just the thing.”
I quickly made up their drinks before the waitstaff flooded me with orders, but Notch talked to me as if I didn’t have anything to do.
“So, how are classes going?” he asked.
Puck spoke for me. “She aced her midterms last week. All of them!”
Notch cleared his throat. “You’re going to have to learn to multitask a lot in your world, Ruby. So, talk to me. Come on.”
I rolled my eyes as I filled empty trays with drinks to be divvied out across the room. “Classes are going okay. I’m glad midterms are behind me, but I’m frustrated because I’m not getting a lot of real-world experience.”
Notch cackled. “Well, trust me, if you keep working at The Dive, you’ll see plenty of real-life action that requires your very specific set of skills.”
I glared at him playfully. “This better not be some tortuous form of platonic foreplay, because I don’t do that lead-up shit. I like to get down to business.”
“And that’s enough conversation for one day,” Puck said.
I smiled brightly. “Love you guys, too.”
“Puck? Any word?” Notch asked.
I continued making drinks silently, but I trained my ears to their conversation.
“Actually, yeah,” Puck said as he moved closer to Notch at the bar. “I just got a call from Texas. They think that Keva may have broken her wrist playing on the swing set.”
I whipped my head up. “Wait a second, is she okay?”
Notch furrowed his brow. “Where is she? When did this happen? Why didn’t someone call me?”
“Or me?” I asked.
Puck held up his hands. “They told me they tried to get in touch with you, but you didn’t answer.”
Maya nudged him. “Your phone was vibrating right as we left, remember?”
Notch groaned. “Fucking hell. Puck, do me a favor?”
My brother pulled out his phone. “I’ll let them know you’re on the way. They’re at the house!”
Notch held up his hand. “Thanks!”
I stood on my tiptoes. “You need any help!?”
But Notch and Maya were back out the door as quickly as they had arrived, leaving me to bartend for the next four hours while salivating over the fact that he’d get to set a wrist all by himself.
“Jealous?” Puck asked.
I tossed him a look. “Shut up.”
After dealing out an entire round of drinks to a completely full bar, I took some down time to clean things up and refill what needed to be refilled.
I had almost run out of cherries, and I needed to slice up more lemons and limes.
I washed glasses and wiped down the bar as people filled their stomachs during their brunch hour before getting back out into the world.
And just as the last patron left, a young man stumbled through the swinging doors.
“Hi there!” I said cheerily. “Would you like a seat at the bar or at a table?”
When his eyes met mine, I was struck by their beauty.
His eyes were this deep, rich brown, and his jet-black hair was swept back.
The sides of his head were faded up like most men had their hair done nowadays, and the fullness of those dark tendrils called to my fingertips.
He stood tall, with long limbs and bulging veins in spaces where his clothes allowed me a glimpse of his skin.
But as he stumbled up to the bar, I knew there was something wrong.
“Sir, can you hear me?” I asked.
And as his eyes raked down the parts of my body he could see, he collapsed to the floor.
“Sir!” I exclaimed.
I threw my rag down and leapt over the bar before I touched down beside him. He groaned in pain and reached for his shoulder, so I reached for it and gripped his shirt. My hand instantly filled with this rush of fluid, and when I looked at my skin, it was coated in a deep, dark red.
Holy shit, he was bleeding really badly.
“Sir, can you hear me?” I asked as I rolled him over.
His black shirt practically concealed the blood it had soaked up, but the amount on the bar floor astounded me.
“What the fuck!?” Puck exclaimed.
I pointed back toward him. “I need alcohol and one of Notch’s extravagant first aid kits. Now!”
Stone marched in from the back room. “What the hell is going on?”
I waved him over. “I need you to help me get this man on a table. He’s been shot in his left shoulder.”
Stone hovered over me. “What the fuck? Hell, no. We don’t know who this is. Get him the hell out of here.”
I shot to my feet. “And what? Let him bleed out on the way back to his car? He’s lost a lot of blood. He won’t make it to a hospital or even to an ambulance. I have to fix him, which means you have to help me get him onto that table so I can work. Got it?”
I knew Stone was shocked. He was the president, and he always seemed surprised whenever someone stood up to him or overruled him on something. But I didn’t let it stop me. I reached down and threaded my arms underneath the man’s armpits, then waited for Stone to reach for his legs.
“Well? You gonna help me save him or watch him die?” I exclaimed.
Puck rushed up to my side. “Here, I can get him on the—”
I glared at him. “We’ve got this. I need Notch’s kit. Now.”
Puck looked over at Stone before the two of them moved.
We had already lost such precious time fighting over this random man that had stumbled into the bar and I honestly wasn’t sure I’d be able to save him without blood to administer.
Nevertheless, Stone and I got him onto the table while Puck raced around to find the bag Notch deemed his first aid kit.
And after he dropped the bag at my feet, my brother raced to go lock the front door.
“You know gunshot wounds in this part of town are never good,” Stone warned.
I didn’t even give him the courtesy of looking at him. “Yeah, well, you guys with your leather jackets and your clientele shouldn’t be so easily scared of a pesky little bullet. Right? Because I’m pretty sure a man with a stitched gunshot wound in our bar is better than a fucking dead one, Stone.”
He growled. “Fine. I’ll get his shirt off. You—”
I didn’t wait for his command. I grabbed the shirt at his left shoulder with both of my hands and tore it open without scissors. And when I confirmed that there wasn’t an exit wound, I flipped him onto his stomach.
“This is going to hurt, and I’m sorry,” I said.
Then, I shoved my hand into Notch’s bag and prayed to any God listening that I remembered my training.