Chapter 5 JR
JR
Lights swirled around the bar and people were shouting and singing along with the horrible music blaring through the speakers.
It was hell on earth.
How the hell I got myself roped into working tonight, I really didn’t know.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. After hearing what Lizzy had to say, there was no way I was leaving her alone to deal with the crowd coming in tonight.
I just hadn’t realized it would be quite so hectic. When I first arrived in town, I never would have thought a bar could get this rowdy on a Saturday night. And yet, it was like every citizen stuffed their way inside to spend their night with every other person in town.
Didn’t they ever get tired of seeing each other?
“Whiskey!” someone shouted.
I filled a glass and slid it across the bar, snatching the money out of the manicured hand, only to be stopped when she gripped on tight instead of letting me go.
“Hey, handsome. What are you doing tonight?”
“Working,” I answered, leaving little room for misinterpretation.
“Maybe we can have some fun when you get off.”
She batted her eyelashes at me, puffing out her pouty lips, which did absolutely nothing for me. My eyes inadvertently drifted across the bar to where my neighbor sat, cuddling the man she was on a date with.
Not that I cared. I wasn’t sure why I was even looking at her, other than the fact that it somehow struck me as odd how different these women were. My neighbor wore makeup, but nothing as drastic as the plastic blowup doll in front of me.
And that’s when I realized I was still ensnared in her grip. “You want to let go of my hand?” I snapped.
“Ooh, feisty. I like that in a man.”
Giving a lopsided grin, I leaned on the bar. “Well, you can see exactly how feisty I can be when I call the cops and tell them to get down here to drag out the drunken woman hitting on me.”
She didn’t seem to understand me at first, but the longer I stared at her, letting the smile wash from my face as I replaced it with my most menacing glare, she finally seemed to get the picture.
“Asshole,” she muttered, walking away with her drink.
Chuckling to myself, I rang up the drink and moved on to the next customer. The night flew by with little room for me to take a piss, let alone grab something to eat. But that was fine by me. It was nice to clear my head for the night and not worry about what the hell my next step was.
Even if I did have to deal with the worst screeching that anyone could claim was singing. I’d seen my neighbor get up on the stage a few times, but I ignored her, blocking out the sound of her voice by taking crates of glasses to the back or grabbing more alcohol.
The kitchen was just as busy, with several waitresses bustling about with no time to chat, which was more than fine by me. Only a few people seemed even mildly interested in me, which made the night go smoother.
“Hey, Tennessee!” my neighbor called out, drunkenly stumbling over to the bar. “Got any more of those cocktails for me?”
The smile plastered on her face amused me. For once, she wasn’t just happy. She was drunk-happy, and I found that mildly entertaining.
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”
“Ha! Have you seen Sawyer?” she whispered-hissed, holding her hand up against her mouth to block God-knows-who from hearing her. “He’s finally loosening up. Gotta keep ‘em comin’ until he forgets all about that skank.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You took him out to forget about another woman?”
She nodded, her head swiveling in a circular pattern. “A girl has got to do what a…girl has got to do,” she said slowly, enunciating each word. Then she grinned, happy she got it right.
“One more drink, but then you’re done.”
“Aww, don’t be a party pooper! I need at least two more before I can get up there again,” she said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder.
“Haven’t you done enough already?”
She shook her head quickly from side to side. “It’s Saturday night!”
“I’m aware.”
“Time for drinking and fun and dancing and drinking!”
“You don’t say,” I deadpanned.
Pouting her lips, it was nothing like the woman from earlier tonight. In fact, I’d almost go so far as to say she looked adorable doing it. Almost.
“Tennessee, just two more?”
I knew I was going to regret this. After all, she was already way too drunk to drive. She probably knew someone who would give her a lift. Hell, she knew everyone in this town.
“One.”
“Three,” she countered.
“One.”
“Three!”
“One!”
“One and a half,” she answered quickly
“Two,” I said before realizing she wasn’t going to say three.
“Ha! One and a half, it is!”
But before I could even make her the drink, she danced away from the bar and met one of her friends on the dance floor, shaking her ass like she was in a nightclub instead of a bar in Western Montana.
But I made her the damn drink anyway, keeping it behind the bar for when she came back minutes later.
“Thanks, Tennessee!”
I grunted, turning away to avoid any further conversation with her. But there was no one left waiting for a drink. It was getting late, and the bar would be shutting down soon.
I hauled more glasses to the back and dropped them at the sink to be washed. Thankfully, that wasn’t part of my job tonight.
By the time one o’clock rolled around, my feet were aching and I was ready to hit the hay and get some shut-eye. I hadn’t bartended in years, and I wasn’t exactly thrilled that I’d taken it on for the night.
I did as Lizzy instructed me earlier, ringing the bell above the bar to signal last call.
As I was taking the final orders of the night, I heard the most God-awful sound coming from the stage.
Glancing over, I about shouted for whoever it was to shut the hell up, only to realize it was none other than my neighbor.
But to make it worse, the date—Sawyer, I think his name was—joined her up on stage. It’s Your Love.
I recognized the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill song instantly. Though I hardly thought it was appropriate for what appeared to be a first date.
Still, they seemed to be having the best time ever up on stage, even if I did think they both needed to be shot for attempting to sing.
Thankfully, it was the last song of the night, and whoever was managing the karaoke called out that it was time to head home. A round of groans filled the bar, and the sheriff was in the corner, directing traffic out the front door. Luckily, not everyone was wasted.
Josie came stumbling over with a grin on her face. “Wanna make me one more?”
“Not even a little.”
“Pretty please with sugar on top and a cherry in the middle?” she slurred.
“Does that actually work on anyone?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but her date came sidling up to her, slinging his arm around her neck. “Josie, wosie, will you take me home?”
Sighing, she fumbled for her keys, which I immediately snatched out of her hand.
“Hey!”
“You’re not driving.”
“Well, of course I’m not,” she giggled. “You have my keys!”
“Sit your ass down. Both of you.”
Pouring them water, I set a cup down in front of both of them. “Stay.”
“Yes, sir,” Josie said, her face contorted somewhere between serious and laughing as she saluted me.
My dick stirred behind my jeans, but I squashed the thought of her saluting me in the bedroom, reminding myself that if I fucked her, I’d have to find someplace else to stay, because there was no way in hell I’d look at that face every day and deal with her chipper attitude just because I had the bad sense to stick my dick in her.
The bar cleared out quickly, aside from Josie and her date, who were practically passed out on the bar. I cleaned up, stacking the chairs on the tables before sweeping. The cook came out and said he would finish up, giving me the all clear to leave.
But when I saw my neighbor snoring on the bar, I knew my work for the night was far from done.
“Hey, let’s go,” I said, poking her in the arm.
She barely stirred.
“Josie, it’s time to go.”
She mumbled something under her breath, but didn’t move an inch.
“Fucking hell,” I muttered, hauling her into my arms bridal style. I had no fucking clue where the guy lived, and I wasn’t sure I would get it out of him based on the way he was drooling all over the bar.
I took her out to my truck, sliding her into the passenger side before buckling her in and going back for the date. There was no way in hell I was carrying his ass out to the truck.
“Hey,” I slapped him upside the head.
“Ow, why’d you do that?” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.
“Time to go.”
“Good. Told Josie didn’t want to go.”
“Well, next time, be more convincing.”
He stumbled off the barstool and followed me out the door. I had to keep stopping as he braced a few times against the brick exterior, breathing deeply like he was gonna puke.
“If you get sick in my truck, I’m sending you the bill.”
“Nope, I’m good. Just dizzy as hell.”
“Where am I dropping you?”
“Same as her.”
I laughed at that. “Yeah, I don’t think so, man.”
“No, really. I live with her.”
Ah, so he must be the brother. “So, you’re not dating?”
“Josie?” His face scrunched up in disgust. “That’s my sister.”
Thank God for that. “You should have chosen a different song to sing.”
“My choice.” He sighed heavily, stumbling around to the other side of the truck. He barely got the door open before realizing Josie was in the front. “I miss her,” he muttered as he climbed into the back seat.
I really didn’t want to know, but he told me anyway.
“Pearl was amazing.”
“I’m sure she was.”
“Really, man,” he said, sticking his head between the seats. “You should have met her. She was so beautiful.”
“You sound like a sad country song. Buckle up.”
He fumbled with his belt for a good two minutes before finally getting it clicked in. Christ, I did not need this at two in the morning, and I still had to get them inside.
“She left me, man. Just like that.” He attempted to snap, but failed miserably. “She was the love of my life.”
“That’s not a real thing,” I muttered.
“No, really. She was like…the sun and the rain and the moon and stars. You know?”
“No.”
Sighing, he leaned back in his seat. “Josie got it.”
“Of course she did.”
“But she left me.”
“Probably because you were talking too much, just like your sister.”
“Nah. She got some job. And then she was gone.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Gone, gone, gone.”
He shuffled forward as much as the belt would allow. “Have you ever been in love?”
“No.”
“Don’t do it, man. It’ll break your heart.”
“Not planning on it.”
“Right?” he laughed. “That’s what I said. And then, boom!” he shouted. “Just like that. She took my heart and left for Colorado.”
This was the longest ride of my life.
“Who would do something like that? Just leave. You don’t leave someone you love.” He slid forward again, slapping me on the shoulder. “Hey, promise me something.”
“Nope.”
“When you find that someone, you hold onto her with both hands. Don’t ever let her go.”
“Sure.”
“No, I’m serious. Cuz, otherwise, you’re just sad and lonely, drinking with your sister on a Saturday night.”
“What if I don’t have a sister?”
“Well, then you can borrow mine.”
My lips twisted at the implication. Not that I would mind having her under me, and every which way. She had a nice body, and if I gagged her, I wouldn’t have to hear her speak, but somehow, I didn’t think she’d be okay with that.
“Oh, look. We’re at your house.”
I shifted into park in my drive, thanking God that I was finally home and could leave these two behind. I flung the door open and walked around to Josie’s side, unbuckling her and catching her before she could slide out of the truck.
“You got the door?” I asked Sawyer.
“Sure. I got keys somewhere,” he muttered, looking in my backseat.
There was no way in hell I was waiting on him. I went against every instinct in my body and opened Josie’s purse. It was a nightmare. Tissues, lipstick, change, a fucking yellow ball with a smiley face on it…what the hell did she need all this stuff for?
Finally, I found the keys.
Carrying the limp woman was harder than I expected when walking across the slick ground, but I made it to her door without slipping or dropping her. Getting the door open was a little harder.
“Hey!” Sawyer called out. “I think I found them!”
I ignored him and started trying the multitude of keys in her door.
“Wait, nope! That’s just a Cheeto!”
The door gave way and I kicked it open, flicking on the light. The couch was closest, so I dropped her there, shoved a pillow under her head, and removed her shoes. I could still hear Sawyer outside, shouting about something, but I didn’t pay attention as I went in search of a bucket.
If I had been nice, I could have carried her to her room, but that was a little too much work for two in the morning, especially since I didn’t know where it was. By the time I got back out to the truck, Sawyer was on his knees digging under my seats.
“What the hell are you doing?”
His head popped up, but he was all over the place as he tried to find me with his eyes.
“Dude, do you know how much change you have down here?”
I looked at his open palm and sighed. “That’s not change. You’re holding a charger.”
“Really?”
He examined it for a solid minute while I waited for him to get off his knees.
“You ready to get inside?”
“Oh, did you get in?”
“Yeah, about five minutes ago.”
“Cool,” he nodded, dragging himself to his feet by gripping the door with all his might.
“Shut the door,” I said as I turned to go to his house.
The door banged shut just as he let out a girly yelp. Slowly turning, I rolled my eyes to the heavens when I saw him laying flat on his back.
“Hey, something’s wrong. Everything’s dark!”
Once I got him inside, I was never speaking to him again.