Chapter 12
It had been five hours into my shift and the soles of my feet were already killing me.
I was embarrassed by how badly out of shape I was, and I didn’t even realize it.
Every now and then I’d stop to watch the Minx girls dance on the bar, remembering at one point that had been me.
Before I became a shell of a stranger in my own body.
I agreed to bartend, not dance on the bar with the rest of the Minx’s, and truthfully, my confidence was just not there yet, but I wished so badly that it was.
Raquel came in with Buffy and sat at the bar. “Hey, I think I know you?”
I rolled my eyes, amused. “What are you two trouble makers doing here?” throwing an ice cube at them.
“Oh, you know. Thought I’d stop by and see my favorite bartender,” Raquel snickered.
“I’m here for it, what do y’all want?” I said, amused.
“I’ll take a rum and Coke on ice,” Buffy said, with her bright smile.
“Same thing,” Raquel shouted over the music.
I grabbed the bottles from the shelf and capped the cups off, filling them with Sailor Jerry’s, ice, and cola. I handed them over, and Raquel had a smirk on her that she only had when she knew something I didn’t.
“What is it now?” I pleaded with her, already annoyed.
“What, who me? I know nothing.” Both of them took a sip of their drinks over annoying chuckles.
“I will cut you off after these drinks if you don’t tell me.” I pointed the bar hose at her.
Buffy glanced at Raquel, as if to say, tell her now.
“Oh my gods, fine, I hate to burst your bubble but Jax is outside with his brothers. They’re about to walk in any minute actually.
” Rocky replied, as if mocking me. The three of us side-eyed the entrance.
I felt like my lunch was going to come up and got immediately clammy.
At least this time I was wearing a bra and some pants, well…
kind of. I glanced at my black chaps in the mirror behind the bar and fixed my wispy cut hair.
Wherever I went, there he was, following me like a damn shadow.
This damn small town. These damn cowboys, and their pathetically nice muscles.
“Yeah girl, and he looks delicious tonight,” Buffy said, swigging her drink.
“What’s wrong, prima, you look a little, shall I say… nervous?” Raquel said, teasing me.
I replied to her, in denial, “I am not. What is there to be nervous about? It’s been five years. We’re both grown now and have moved on. It’s in the past.” I glared at her.
“Uh huh.” Raquel drank the last of her glass, eyeing me up and down like she could see right through me. Gods, I hated that so much. It was almost like she could read my thoughts.
“Actually, Jax is single and has been for a while from what the grapevine says.” Buffy winked at me with her bewitching eyes and dark brown luminous skin.
“You both are such jokesters, you know that right.” Deep down inside I couldn’t help but think about what she said.
Jax was single? But I tried to convince myself, so what.
I was a single mother, about to be divorced, who the hell would want me and all this baggage?
Buffy grabbed Rocky’s hand and kissed it tenderly.
The fact that these two bitches were together didn’t surprise me one bit.
They looked so beautiful together it was utterly vile.
The energy between them was kinetic. There was no denying how they looked at each other; with respect and trust. I so badly wanted to be looked at like that. But the thought of love repulsed me.
I glanced out the door quickly, nearly holding my breath. Bracing myself to see Jaxon Reed Grimwood—my Jax. But he wasn’t mine anymore.
“We’ll leave it to you, cousin, we’re gonna go prowl the bar and find ourselves a cowboy to ride tonight.” Rocky and Buffy walked off holding hands, both waving at me in a taunting fashion, with Buffy pretending to ride a horse. Those two were trouble. I giggled lightly.
“Have fun and use protection, or you’ll end up a single mother and a divorcee like me,” I yelled from across the bar. Rocky held her hand to her ear like she couldn’t hear me. I turned to the bar quickly, beginning to clean glasses and shaking my head to myself, entertained.
“Is that right?” I went frigid. My heart was beating so hard I thought I’d faint right here, right now.
I knew that voice. That deep, husky, silky voice belonged to no other than Jax.
I glanced at the mirror, where all the liquor was stored for selection, looking straight into his hazel eyes in the reflection.
Damn, he cleaned up nice. Why was this man so achingly beautiful?
He switched out his blue collar country look for his rebel attire it seemed.
He was wearing black Wrangler jeans and a black v-neck that hugged his pecs and arms. He sat there all smug and full of patches that read Grimwood, with his slicked back, dark brown, undercut hair, and Nordic tattoos that went all the way from his neck to his hands.
Tattoos I didn’t notice before, due to his long sleeve shirt and gloves.
He had changed so much, yet still had the same warm, hazel eyes.
He was exquisitely handsome, and rugged—an outlaw cowboy daydream.
I needed to gather myself, and quickly. The last thing I wanted to do was act like this was having some kind of effect on me, because it wasn’t.
I turned, facing him, seemingly annoyed but more anxious.
“What can I get you, Jax?” I asked him from behind the bar, trying to seem aloof by his presence.
“Damn not even a ‘hi’ for your small-town sweetheart? Ouch.” He took his hand to his heart as if I’d broken it. The truth is, what happened was the opposite. I tried to seem unfazed.
“How have you been, Grimwood?” I asked, trying to calm the brazen dragons in my belly.
“So, we’re on a last name basis again? You know I’ve seen you naked, right?” he replied, smug. I nearly choked, throwing my bar rag at his stupid handsome face.
“Well, I guess some things haven’t changed, including that dry sense of humor of yours.” I rolled my eyes at him.
“It’s no humor, Faye, it’s a fact.” He stared at me in my soul and licked his lips.
I tried to catch my breath. Ignore him, ignore him, I told myself, feeling my core ache and clench.
My punani and I would be having a serious talk later.
I’d had enough betrayal this year, the least she could do was abide.
But this damn rebel cowboy and that damn beard.
I wanted to do nothing more than sit on it so he would just shut the fuck up for once.
It wasn’t fair that after all these years, he still had this effect on me, while he sat there in his jeans, pleased with himself.
“Jax, are you going to order something or not?”
He smiled in response, “You were always such a hard-ass, Faye Robles,” Jax replied, eyeing me up and down slowly, gulping.
“I thought we weren’t on a last name basis?” I attempted to shake off his comments.
“Ah, there she is, there’s the spice that had my heart in a tumble.” I swear my heart skipped a beat. I ignored his comment, like I ignored the ache between my legs. “You know what I like.” He winked at me.
I could have melted right there.
I whipped up a No. 2 Jack Daniels, chilled, with a splash of Coke. He just eyed me and watched from across the bar. I felt like my ass was on fire.
“So, what are you, Clark Kent by day and Thanos by night?” I eyed his patched peacoat, while I handed him his drink. Jax seemed pleased, looking at his glass and smirking, as he twirled the liquor before taking a drink.
“Nope, just Jax.” He glanced at me from the glass as he took a sip.
“Attagirl. It was nice seeing you, Faye.” I noticed his silver Reaper ring on his tattooed fingers when his fingers brushed up on mine giving me a twenty dollar tip.
We caught each other’s gaze just for a moment.
I had to look away before I melted right there. I had to put myself on some damn ice.
“Tell Ma I said hi,” he quipped, before walking off with his drink… and my heart. Damn him.
He went and sat at a booth with his brothers; they were all wearing the same long black peacoats.
Nothing about the looks of them were funny when looking at these bearded and tattooed men.
In fact, if I hadn’t known the Grimwood’s from the past, I may have even considered them intimidating.
But I knew him. That cowboy, from Grimwood farm.
I watched as they saluted each other, and chugged their drinks in a Viking manner.
“Hail Odin!” They cheered as they clashed their mugs together.
I recognized the other two men instantly—Creed and Ryker Grimwood.
Jax was the oldest, but Creed and Ryker surpassed him in height.
Ryker stood at six-foot-five and was the tallest among the three brothers, which was hilarious because we used to call him little Ry.
The Grimwood brothers looked like Viking gods in the flesh.
They were notoriously known in the town for their last name and their farm that took up almost a quarter of Grimstone.
The Grimwood’s settled here right after the Robles’ bloodline did, making them the second founding family.
Creed dated all the town's girls in high school and was a real dick to be around to be honest. He was the sports god of the town.
As for Ryker, he was my favorite of the bunch, like a little brother in a way. He was always the timid one—intelligent but quiet. Ryker had more green hues in his eyes than all three of the Grimwood brothers’ hazel eyes.
But Creed’s dimples were the real killer, especially when he smiled, which was a treasure if you did catch it.