Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
~MAC~
The night air is thick with humidity as I make my way into the bar. I adjust my Blaze T-shirt over the daisy duke shorts I chose for this event. I want to look nice and still a bit wholesome while also trying to get good tips from the crowd. The blue shirt makes my eyes pop.
Thankfully, the bar isn’t far from my place, so I could walk. I pause at the entrance and allow a group to make their way into the bar first.
Tonight, I braided my hair, so it won’t get in the way.
I look no different than I might on game day.
I’ve worn the long blonde braid down my back before.
Back west, it was my typical style. However, here in the Tampa heat, sometimes I wear it as a braided bun.
It needs to be all the way off my neck, or I’m a sweaty mess before we’re at the half.
I make my way to the side of the bar where I can see Cassidy and Amelia smiling away and waving frantically at me.
“This is going to be fun!” Amelia says, rocking on her ballet flats. “I’ve never been a bartender before—always a server. I really wanted to, but my manager wouldn’t have it.”
I smile brightly at her. Her long blonde hair is down and pin straight. She looks so much more dolled up than I do, even though we’re basically wearing the same outfit. “Here’s your chance. And it’s for charity, so yay for that.”
I try to sound more excited about this than I am, but Danny will be here. My scan of the bar hasn’t uncovered him yet. Maybe he’s hiding away like a snake and will eventually come slithering out from the gutter to insult me some more.
“You okay?” Cass puts her hand on my shoulder, staring intently at me like she’s trying to figure me out.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Danny is supposed to be here. You know, for the article.”
“Ah.” She nods. “Is that why you wanted to walk? Trying to clear your head so that you can keep your cool?”
“It wasn’t that far from the apartment. Two, maybe three, blocks away. I didn’t see the need for driving.”
Cass and Amelia came over in Cass’s car. I thought they were going to toss me into the trunk when I protested their offered ride. The walk did me good.
“Trying to blow off some steam?” Amelia teases me.
I shake my head and sigh. “Stop it.”
“What? He’s hot! And it’s not like you have anything else happening,” she reminds me.
“Are you forgetting what he said about me and the team?” I remind her.
My blood boils thinking about his suggestion that our team isn’t necessary because there’s already a team in Orlando. That the love the Pride had gained from Florida wouldn’t be replicated by us, even with those who lived in Tampa. And my personal favorite was when he said I lacked attack.
But we’re going to make Tampa love us, root for us, and get behind the idea of another women’s team here in Florida. That’s part of the reason we’re bartending tonight—showing goodwill to the community and raising money for charity.
Before any of us can say anymore, Phil, the bartender, comes over to us. “Hey, ladies. Do any of you have any bartending experience? Typically, when we do these nights, we like to have the players actually serving the patrons. They love it and it raises a lot of money for charity. It’s a win-win.”
I nod and raise my hand lamely. “Yeah, I do.”
Cass and Amelia just shake their heads, indicating that they do not.
“Do we have to be servers?” Amelia asks. She’s chewing on her bottom lip and looking around the crowded bar. I take a peek around and know exactly what her issue is; she’ll never make it around this bar without covering herself in beer.
“Nope, you’ll just bartend. We can teach you how to work our drafts or you can uncap the bottles, but we’ll keep you safe behind the bar. And if anyone gives you any trouble, just flag us down and we’ll step in.”
We all head back behind the bar, and Phil shows us where to stow our belongings, which isn’t much, and then we get ready to serve. Phil gets on the mic and announces us.
“Good evening, ladies and gents. Just wanted to let you know that we are entering charity night here at The Backwoods. We have some players from the Tampa Bay Blaze here to serve up some drinks! Feel free to tip them generously, because all proceeds will be benefiting the Tampa Children’s Hospital. ”
Cheers ring out and Phil hops off the barstool he stood on to get everyone’s attention. I sigh and put on an apron. The announcement sure made them all run to the bar. I wonder how long we’ll have to do this for. I’m not really in a peopley mood tonight.
“Come on, kiddo, you gotta smile and shake that moneymaker,” Cass says in a sing-song voice. “We need to raise money for the kids. Besides, I bet slinging some drinks is exactly what you need to get yourself out of this little funk you’ve been in since we got back.”
“Yeah, honey, Henny is good,” Amelia reassures me. “I saw her working with Jase yesterday. She wasn’t diving but she’s fine.”
She must think my mood is about Henny, but it’s not.
Danny went with us to Chicago and came back from that game separately, with August, and had nothing to write about.
There was no article, positive or negative.
Nothing to clammer away all the things he said about us.
It’s weird to me that he can be all nice and friendly with me—sometimes flirty even—but then he printed all that stuff about me and the team.
“Ladies, come here,” Phil calls us over, and we stand in a circle, waiting to see what he needs.
“You all look so tense and scared right now. Do you want to take a shot of liquid courage?” He smiles widely, pulling a bottle of tequila and three shot glasses from behind his back.
“What do you say, will this help put some smiles on your faces?”
Cass giggles. “I’m in.” She greedily takes the shot glass from him and holds it out, waiting for him to fill her up.
“Why not,” I say, grabbing my own glass.
Amelia just smiles and takes it.
Phil fills up the glasses and says, “On three—one, two, three, drink!”
I down the shot, feeling the burn in the back of my throat. I stifle a cough so that I don’t look like some kind of amateur, even though I’m not a big drinker.
Amelia lets out a whoop and we all join her.
“There, that’s better. I knew that was all you needed.” He pats Cass on the back. “Now, let’s go raise money for the children.”
“You got it,” I reply, turning my attention to the bar.
A handsome man is standing there in a button-down shirt that is rolled up at the sleeves. It’s like my kryptonite. I love seeing a man with his sleeves rolled up like that.
“Hey, there. What can I do for you tonight?” I croon with a big smile.
He returns my grin with an even bigger one. “It’s nice to see such a beautiful bartender tonight. The last time I was in here, it was some grumpy man.”
“You mean Phil?” I gesture to where he’s standing watching over us, in case he needs to jump in, or we get too busy.
“Yes, that man right there. He was so grumpy when I asked him for my draft beer.”
“He kinda owns the place, so you might want to be careful with what you say or how loud you say it.”
“Will do. So, when I was walking in here, I heard him yelling something about proceeds being donated. What is that all about?”
“I’m a soccer player for the Tampa Bay Blaze, along with my friends.” I point to Cassidy and Amelia. “We’re raising money in the form of tips for the Tampa Bay Children’s Hospital.”
“That’s so nice of you. I had no idea we even had a soccer team in Tampa Bay.”
I give him the side-eye. “Are you sure? We’ve made quite a few headlines with this expansion team.”
He shrugs. “Well, I don’t know. I’ve been spending a lot of my time in Europe on business. And I honestly don’t pay a lot of attention to sports either, so I wouldn’t know.”
I just nod. Yeah, he’s hot, but I don’t know if I could date someone who doesn’t pay attention to sports. Maybe I should just focus on getting the tips and not worry about securing his number.
“So, what can I get you to drink?” I change the subject away from sports, thinking it might be safer. But he brings it right back.
“What position do you play?”
“I’m the striker,” I tell him.
“I don’t know what that means.” He laughs nervously.
I laugh along with him and say, “It means I play offense. I’m the one at the top of the formation. It’s my job to take the balls that are fed up with me and turn them into potential goals.”
“Nice. How many have you scored?”
“You mean in my career or this season?” I ask.
“Let’s just go with this season,” he says, though he doesn’t really seem interested in my answer. He’s just trying to keep the conversation going.
“Three so far. But we just started.”
“I have no doubt that you’re amazing at it.” He smiles and brushes his fingertips along my hand, which is resting on the bar.
I flush at his touch. “Would you like a beer or something?”
“Yeah, I’ll take a lager, please. Draft.”
I nod and pull down the draft lever as the amber liquid descends into the glass.
“Here you go,” I say, handing him his beverage.
“You are the prettiest girl in here. Thank you.” He hands me a fifty. “Keep the change. For the kids, you know?”
“Thank you.” I grin at him. “I’ve gotta serve some others, but I’ll come back and check on you, okay?”
“I look forward to it.” He winks at me. “And call me John.”
“Mackenzie.” I stumble back a little bit with a laugh.
“Please come back and see me, Mackenzie.”
I just smile and head over to the next customer in line. Hopefully we slow down so that I can go back and have some more conversation with John.