Chapter 4
FOUR
brIGID
“You know I’m not going to let you go back on our deal, right?” I asked.
Maggie nodded as she drove her car. “Hey, I promised you a gourmet dinner next week, and that’s exactly what you’ll get.”
“But no broccoli, though.”
She giggled. “Trust me, you’ll like my broccoli.”
I rolled my eyes. “Maggie.”
She scoffed playfully. “Look, you can either have a chef at a four-star restaurant whip you up an outstanding meal or you can go to Applebee’s. Your choice.”
I grinned. “And here I thought you liked Applebee’s.”
She swatted at me. “You’re a real jerk, you know that? Of course I like Applebee’s. Their drinks are bangin’.”
I barked with laughter as we cruised down the highway that stretched along the ocean.
I rolled down my window and let my wild red hair flutter around my face as I drew in lungfuls of the decadent air.
I loved the way it smelled here. I loved waking up every morning to the draw of an ocean that held my heart.
I always knew that I’d never live away from the ocean.
I had known my entire life that while my childhood hadn’t been easy, the ocean was always there to wash my fears, worries, and sins right away with the tide.
So, I drank it all in as Maggie continued down the road.
“Penny for your thoughts,” she said.
I sighed heavily. “Just wondering where we’re going.”
“Yet, somehow, I find that hard to believe.”
I peeked over at her. “No, really. Where the hell are we going? We’ve never been to this end of town before.”
She giggled. “Do you trust me?”
“Uh, yeah? What the hell does that have to do with anything?”
She snickered. “Then, trust me that where we’re going is going to get our night off to a really great start.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What did you do?”
She shrugged. “I might have invited Laurie and Tennessee to come hang out with us.”
I gasped. “I haven’t seen them since we all graduated!”
She squealed. “I know, right?! They’re both in town for family shit, so I figured we could all get together. You know, since classes don’t keep us together any longer.”
I clapped my hands and rubbed them together. “Tonight is going to be legendary.”
“That’s the spirit I was looking for. Hell, yeah!”
I moved and weaved with the car as Maggie blew past all of the regular joints we frequented when we were all in community college together.
And the further into town we got, the less I recognized.
I enjoyed being on the outskirts near the ocean.
I never wanted to be too far away from the one thing that made me feel cleansed in the midst of a life that should’ve made me feel alone, abandoned, and dirty.
Then, Maggie turned down a street I recognized.
“You’re kidding,” I said flatly.
Maggie furrowed her brow. “What?”
I rolled my eyes. “We’re going to the Gaslamp District? Seriously? That place is nothing but a damn tourist trap.”
“Oh, come the fuck on, girl. It’s the one place in this town we haven’t been yet. So, why the hell not!? Live a little with me. Let’s go see what the tourists find in this place.”
I leaned heavily against my car seat. “Just a bunch of pot-smoking hornytoads if you ask me.”
“Then it sounds like we will also get you laid tonight.”
I balked. “No.”
“When was the last time you got a good dicking down, Brigid?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “That doesn’t matter.”
My best friend barked with laughter. “That long, huh?”
I sighed heavily. “I’m not taking some weed-hungry tourist home just to get a little dick.”
“Well, then let’s find you a big dick.”
“Maggie!”
“What?!”
I whipped my head in her direction, unable to stop myself from falling apart in laughter when I caught the seriousness of her face. She was legitimately serious. I couldn’t believe I had let her trick me into coming out tonight.
“I should’ve known there was a catch to all of this,” I murmured.
Maggie reached over and patted my knee. “At least you know it comes from a place of love. But I’m tired of seeing you alone. You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman, and you deserve all of the good things life has to offer.”
“You know why I don’t want to start anything, Maggie.”
She groaned. “I know, I know, because once you get your fancy four-year double-degree or whatever, you’re going back to Ireland to help with your family business. I know.”
“Right.”
She peeked over at me. “That’s why I’m not going to find you a relationship.”
“Maggie!”
She mocked my voice. “Brigid!”
I glared at her. “You better get me back home at a reasonable hour then. I’m not letting some random man take me home just so he can come back and stalk me later.”
Maggie giggled. “It’s tourist season. If anything, the person you hook up with is only in town for a few days at the most.”
“How long did you think this through?”
“Girl, I know how you operate. I also knew you’d throw absolutely everything at me in order to get out of this. So, if you promise to live a little and take that stick out of your ass, I’ll make sure to have you home at a reasonable hour.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
She pulled into a parallel parking space. “We’re here!”
I looked around. “Which one?”
She pointed to a neon sign. “There.”
I squinted to read it. “Home Run?”
“That’s the one.”
I unbuckled my seatbelt. “Looks like a dive bar more than anything.”
Maggie reached over and patted my knee. “Girl, dive bars are the fucking best. Trust me, you’ll see once we get in there.”
But as we walked through the front doors, I still didn’t understand the appeal.
As my best friend led me straight to the bar, I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose at the smell of tobacco and weed in the air. I thought people weren’t allowed to smoke in bars anymore?
I mean, the smell alone turned my stomach, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get anything down into my stomach in this place, including alcohol.
And as we slid into our seats, Maggie lifted her hand.
“What can I getcha?” the bartender asked.
“Two margaritas, please. On the rocks.”
The bartender nodded. “Comin’ right up.”
Maggie swiveled her stool around. “Look at this place. Isn’t it fantastic?”
I peered over my shoulder and took in all of the half-naked women sitting in the laps of old, gross men with beer stains on their shirts.
Bass thumped loudly from inside and I watched as a couple of the women got up and danced on one of the empty tables in the middle of the damn bar.
Maggie whistled at them while guys took out dollar bills to throw at the girls that were now grinding on one another.
Just as our margaritas touched down in front of us, I leaned over into Maggie’s ear.
“This place isn’t really my scene,” I said.
Maggie waved me away. “Drink your drink and we’ll go find someplace else to perch.”
I furrowed my brow. “Do you really like watching people dance like—”
“Shh, shh, shh, shh. I’m watching the show.”
I crooked an eyebrow before my eyes volleyed between Maggie’s face and the girls that were now making out with each other.
Money was tossed into the air and men whooped and hollered like a pack of fucking pigs.
I was shocked when Maggie took out money of her own.
She threw her margarita back, swallowing it in a few breathless chugs, then she winked at me before she slid off her chair and walked over to the girls.
And got up onto the table and danced with them.
“Maggie!” I exclaimed.
I balked as she got up there and shook her ass cheeks. I had absolutely no idea that my best friend could dance that way, which made me wonder if she had pre-gamed at all before she came over to my place.
No, she couldn’t have. She was the one driving.
“I need an Uber,” I murmured to myself.
“Something wrong with your drink?”
I spun around at the bartender’s behest and shook my head. “No, no. Not at all. Just…my attention was elsewhere.”
She grinned. “You swing towards women?”
I picked up my margarita and slammed it back in one swallow.
I ignored the bartender’s question as I pulled out my wallet and offered her my card to pay for the drinks.
I’d leave the tip to Maggie, since she was the one who had money flying in her direction.
After the bartender gave me my card back, I noticed that she slipped me a folded piece of paper.
With her number on it.
“Give it a call sometime if you want to explore a bit,” she said with a wink.
Then, she was off to clean the other end of the bar.
I really need to get home.
I spun back around in my chair and went to get down when my eyes scanned across a man that caught my attention.
Had it not been for a set of car lights that had flashed through the window, I might not have seen him due to the darkness shrouding his booth.
But as the lights of the cars passing by lit up the space around him, I drank in his honey brown hair that he had swept off to the side.
The muscles beneath his white t-shirt were crisp and chiseled, pulsing with need and calling to me like a siren’s song out in the middle of the ocean.
And when his eyes locked with mine, I found myself spinning back around.
Before I beckoned to the bartender for another drink.