Chapter 14 – Claire
FOURTEEN
CLAIRE
After another busy weekend due to an unseasonably hot June weekend, when June calls me on Monday and begs me to come to the bar Lainey’s dad owns and where our friend works, I say yes instantly.
I could use the break, and I miss my friends. School isn’t out yet, so June’s still working like crazy, and since I work every weekend for the foreseeable future, our free time hasn’t overlapped much. Even though Lainey is technically working tonight, we’ll still get some time to hang out and chat.
I’m running a bit late, as per usual, which is why I’m overjoyed to see a spot right out front of the Seabreeze, in the small gravel drive.
“The party has arrived!” Deck yells as I walk in, and I laugh out loud, all the heads in the quiet bar turning toward me.
“Sorry I’m late,” I say as I approach the small group, since I told June I’d be there thirty minutes earlier. I give my best friend a hug, then give Lainey an awkward one over the bar she’s standing behind. “I got distracted doing my makeup after work and then decided I needed to eat a bowl of cereal before I came out.”
“What, you don’t want me to have to call my brother to rescue us again?” June asks. “He’s coming in a bit, so Deck won’t even have to call him this time.”
I laugh and shake my head, though I do wonder if that means Miles will be showing up later on.
“Unfortunately, no. I have to work in the morning, so just one for me today.”
“Boooo,” Deck says, hands cupped around his mouth, and I laugh, rolling my eyes.
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“Did you find the place okay?” Lainey asks, since the only times I’ve ever been here were with June, and the old bar, which is only really frequented by locals, is a bit out of the way.
“Yeah, I made a wrong turn, but I got here all right. Plus, I was shocked when I got the best parking spot. June always has to park on the street.”
Every time I’ve been to the Seabreeze since I’ve been of age, the very small lot has been full, and cars lined the road leading to it, so we always had to park and then walk. I was shocked when I pulled up and saw a spot front and center.
“You got a good spot?” June asks, brows furrowed as her head tilts to the side.
“Yeah, right out front,” I say with a smile.
June looks at Lainey’s dad, Benny, whose smile is spreading wide. Then, Deck and June look at one another, some kind of silent conversation going on between them. “Should we—” she starts, but Deck shakes his head.
“No, no. It’ll be way more fun this way.” He laughs. June takes him in, then nods. I watch this all play out before me, slightly confused and still entertained.
“Do I even want to ask?” I say, and June shakes her head with a laugh.
“Nothing important,” Benny says, his signature pipe between his teeth bobbing.
Smoking indoors has been illegal in New Jersey for decades now, and even though I don’t think I’ve ever seen the pipe lit, something tells me that Benny doesn't really care about the rules. Besides, there’s no way anyone who frequents this dive would tattle on him.
“So I hear you’re a real local now, workin’ with Helen. Think we can convince you to stay long term?”
I laugh, then shrug. “You know me, Ben. I go where the good times are. Right now, the good times are in Seaside Point.”
“Damn straight they are.” His name is called from across the bar, and he gives me a wave. “I’ll be back, but you save all of the juicy gossip for me, okay?”
I let out a laugh and pat his shoulder. “Of course,” I say.
Lainey watches her dad walk away before leaning on the bar, her face assessing.
“So you’re officially a local,” she says, pouring me a rum and Coke before sliding it my way. “How is all of that going?”
“All of what?”
June glares at me. “Oh, come on. Don’t hold out on us! Living with Miles. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the man enjoy himself, so living with you must be a…change for him.”
I let out a small laugh and shake my head. I want to argue to defend his honor, and that alone should be a red flag.
“I made him a bucket list,” I say with a laugh, “of fun things we have to do this summer because he’s so boring.”
June lets out a loud laugh. “I’m sure he loved that.”
I think about it and smile. “I won him over eventually. He actually woke me up early a few days ago because watching the sunrise was on there, and he wanted to check it off.”
June’s jaw drops, and I realize that it’s been a minute since I’ve had a gabfest with my friends, since we've all been so busy with work.
“You’re kidding,” June says, giving a side eye to Lainey.
I shrug. “I made it because he came up with a list of rules for the house, and they were so boring, I needed to offset them.”
“Rules?” Lainey asks.
“I’m not allowed to flirt with him. It’s against his rules.”
June lets out a deep belly laugh. “You?” she asks when she catches her breath, and I nod.
“That’s what I said. Flirting with Miles is basically my favorite pastime. He always looks so uncomfortable.”
Lainey and June give each other a knowing look before June rolls her eyes at me.
“That’s because he’s obsessed with you,” June says, and I shake my head. “Always has been.
“No, he is not. He’s always tolerated me. He had to, since Grant is his best friend and June is mine. We’ve been thrown together a lot.”
Both of them give me a side eye like they’re not buying it, and if I’m being honest, I don’t even know if I’m buying it anymore.
“You should go for it,” she says. “I bet he would be amazing ? —”
“ What are we talking about?” Grant says, walking up to us at the bar. June’s eyes go wide, and I give her similar shut the fuck up eyes.
“Nothing,” Lainey says.
“Sex,” June says.
“Periods,” I say at the same time. The three of us all start laughing, and Grant gives us a look like he thinks we’ve finally cracked before shaking his head. In an effort to change the subject before things get weird as fuck, I look around.
“So this place hasn’t changed.”
The room is open, a bar against the back wall with bottles lined up and photos and memorabilia from the town along the walls. A dozen or so mix-and-match tables are dotted along the room. In one corner, there is a big bulletin board with notices, and next to it is a calendar shouting out specials for each day and events. Tuesdays are bingo nights, while Thursdays are ladies nights.
“The good ol’ locals bar,” June says with a smile. “Too dingy and off the beaten path for the tourists.”
“I like it,” I say, looking around again. And it’s the truth: ever since we first came after my twenty-first birthday, I’ve loved it here.
“Don’t lie,” Deck says with a laugh.
“I’m not! I genuinely like it. It’s cool. A little quiet, though.” I don’t know the last time I was in a bar without some kind of music on, and without it, it feels like something is missing. But upon my perusal, I see a few speakers in the corners of the room. “Do you think the sound works?” Lainey nods.
“Oh, yeah. Tuesday is bingo night, and they have a whole setup for number calling.”
“Do you think it could play music?”
Lainey shrugs. “I mean, yeah. I set it up when I’m cleaning up sometimes with an aux cord.”
My eyes light up.
“We should dance,” I say, a wide smile.
“What?” June says with a laugh.
“Come on! It’ll be fun!” The few sips of my drink are already making me feel warm, brave, and a bit chaotic. Or maybe it’s just this place, this town, my friends.
I’ve always felt right at home, the most me version of myself, in Seaside Point.
“Hey, Benny?” I call as he walks away from whoever he was talking to.
“What can I do for you, little lady?”
I smile wider.
“Do you think we can play some music?” I ask, and he looks to the speaker in the ceiling, then back to me. “I want to dance!”
A wide grin spreads over his face, his eyes wrinkling at the edges.
“Only if you agree to dance with me.”
I put a hand out to shake.
“Deal.”