Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Abby
The door clicks shut behind me, and that’s it. The house is silent. Today is one of those days I’m especially grateful for a long shift to fill most of it.
I’m even more grateful Cole asked if I wanted to go grab a drink tonight. He has been so busy with the baby and everything, we haven’t had a lot of time to talk.
His picture flashes across my screen with an incoming call. “Hey,” I say.
“You still want to go to Benny’s tonight?” Everyone still calls it Benny’s Tavern, even if he isn’t the one who owns it anymore.
That title now belongs to a mystery group of guys who recently moved to town. I haven’t been there in months, so I have no idea who they are. I’ve pieced together from the gossip around town that they’re all bikers, but that’s it.
“Yeah. Give me a few minutes to wash the hospital off me, and I’ll meet you there.”
“Sounds good. I’ll head out now.” The drive from his house will take a lot longer than mine, so I have about twenty minutes to get ready.
I quickly hop in the shower, scrubbing off the day with my loofah. I keep my hair dry because I don’t have nearly enough time to deal with it after washing.
My hair was in a braid all day, so I have some nice beachy waves when I take it out. I put on ripped jeans, a white lacy camisole, a cropped leather jacket, and a pair of black boots. With a few touches of makeup, I’m out the door.
My neighbor, Leah, is walking out of her house at the same time. She gives me a warm smile and a wave.
“Hey. How are you?” I ask, walking down my porch steps.
“Good,” she says quietly.
She opens her mouth to say something else but is stopped when her boyfriend yells from his car. “Get in the damn car, Leah. Let’s go.”
Her face pales, and I hate it. He has always given me a bad vibe, so I have no shame in the way I glare at him.
“I should go,” Leah says, sounding dejected.
“Bye,” I tell her.
I want to say so many other things, but it’s not my place. We’ve been neighbors for a few years, but she keeps to herself for the most part.
My eyes stay locked on the car as she climbs in, and he drives away. There’s a sinking feeling in my gut, but there isn’t really anything I can do about it.
With a sigh, I turn and walk toward the bar.
Cole is already sitting on a stool on the far side of the bar when I walk in. “Hey, Abs,” he says, pulling me in for a hug. “You look nice.”
“Thanks,” I say, taking the seat beside him. I usually end up wearing scrubs or my mom uniform, which primarily consists of leggings and sweatshirts, but I do like to dress a little fancier sometimes.
There’s already a rum and Diet Coke waiting for me, so I take a hearty sip. “Thank you,” I tell him with an ice cube in my mouth.
He rolls his eyes, laughing. “You’re such a weirdo.”
“But you love me.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“How’s Mav doing today?” I ask.
“Good. He was attempting to teach Riley how to write her first line of code when I left.”
I snort out a laugh. “I’m surprised you made it here. That sounds highly entertaining.”
He takes a drink from his glass of whiskey. “Theo looked like it was the best day of his life.”
“And you say I’m weird.”
A tattooed arm reaches across the bar top, tapping a finger next to Cole’s glass. “Do you need another one, man?”
My gaze follows the inked arm up to a pair of dark brown eyes flecked with gold. His dark brown hair is trimmed short on the sides with longer waves on the top that look intentionally messy.
I have no idea who this man is, but holy hell. He looks like a model you would see posed on a motorcycle or something.
He gives me a wink, and I think it melts my brain. I blink a few times, trying to restore proper mental function. I probably look the opposite of sexy right now, but I can’t seem to manage anything else with the state of mush happening inside my skull.
“And who’s this gorgeous creature?” the man asks. His eyes turn to look at Cole. “Is this your woman?”
I know Cole well enough to understand his beat of silence isn’t because he wants me to be his woman—it’s because he doesn’t know if he wants this man to know that I’m single. He can be rather protective.
My brain finally snaps back to life. “He’s definitely taken, just not by me.”
He rests his forearms against the counter, smirking at me. “Good to know. So why are you at a bar with a taken man, beautiful?”
Cole lets out a low grumble that I’m sure is laced with disapproval, but I ignore his grumpy ass.
“Because somehow he became my best friend, and now I can’t get rid of him.” I hike my thumb in Cole’s direction.
“You don’t want to get rid of me,” Cole mumbles.
“Eh,” I say, taking a sip of my drink. The sexy bartender is still staring at me with a smirk I want to kiss off his face.
Calm the fuck down, crazy ass. You don’t even know the man’s name. Let’s cool down on the horny hormones.
“You can’t get rid of me,” Cole adds. “Remember that kid we were just talking about?”
The man’s eyes widen a bit with surprise. “You two have a kid?”
Cole and I both nod.
“And you’re still best friends?”
We nod again.
“Interesting,” the man says, running a rag through his fingers. His eyes stay trained on me, and it makes my whole body feel like molten lava.
Someone summons him from the other side of the bar. “I guess that’s my cue,” he says. “Another?” he asks Cole again.
“Oh, yeah… sure,” Cole says.
The man turns to grab a bottle from the rack, and I shamelessly check out his ass. I don’t even feel bad about it—an ass like that deserves to be stared at.
“Abby, I swear to fuck,” Cole groans.
I throw back my head, laughing because pissing Cole off is one of my favorite hobbies. If I get to flirt with a gorgeous man in the meantime, that’s just icing on the cake.
A very delectable cake… if I do say so myself.
“Here you go, beautiful,” Wyatt says, sliding my third drink of the night in front of me. I learned his name when he gave me drink number two.
It’s my turn to give him a wink this time. He brings both of his hands up to his chest, dramatically clutching at his heart. I snort because this man is utterly ridiculous but so charming that it feels like I’ve known him for years.
“You are determined to kill me tonight, aren’t you?” Cole asks, taking a big swig of his drink.
“I would never,” I say dryly. “Unless you bleach my scrubs or something, then I might have to.”
Wyatt’s mouth pops open as he tops off Cole’s glass. I don’t know how Cole is getting home tonight, but there’s no way he will be driving.
“Are you a nurse or a doctor or something?” Wyatt asks, putting the bottle back in its spot.
“You got it right on the first try.”
“Gorgeous and smart,” Wyatt says, eyes widening. “How the fuck are you single?”
“Hell if I know,” I say, shrugging.
“You’re picky as shit,” Cole pipes in.
“I’m not,” I say, swatting his arm.
He bats my hand away, like an annoyed older brother. “I didn’t say it was a bad thing. You just know what you want and aren’t going to settle for someone who doesn’t fit.”
I take a deep breath, cocking my head to the side in silent agreement.
“I am locking away so many pieces of the puzzle tonight.” Wyatt starts walking away but turns to look at me over his shoulder. “Abby?”
“Yeah?”
“Just so you know… I really like a challenge.”