Page 57 of Coerced

I’d just made it back to the bar, and the man who’d walked in at the same time as the grouchy guy was looking at me expectantly. “Pardon?”

“I’m just learning everyone’s names,” he said. “I moved to town about a month ago, and some of my buddies from work mentioned this was one of those spots to check out. So far, I like the vibe. I’m Ronnie, by the way.”

Smiling at him, I returned, “It’s nice to meet you, Ronnie. I’m Aria. And having just moved here to Steel Ridge shortly before you, I can say you’ve chosen a great place.”

“Aria. That’s a cool name. Unique.”

“Thanks.”

“Was it business or personal?”

I raised a curious brow. “I’m sorry?”

“The reason for your move,” he clarified. “I was just wondering if your reasoning for coming here was work-related.”

My eyes shifted back and forth, my lips twitching. “As great as this place is, I did not make the move here just to work at The Steel Pub,” I shared.

Ronnie laughed. “Fair enough. I guess I thought it was possible this was just a side hustle. So, a personal move then?”

I offered a slight nod. “I guess you could say that. And you? Was this a work move for you?”

“It was.”

A bell rang behind me, indicating Ozzie had some food ready. I turned, noted in was the nachos, and sent an apologetic look in Ronnie’s direction. “Back to work.”

He laughed again. “By all means.”

I grabbed the nachos, delivered them to the table, and saw another group had just walked through the door. After making a quick stop to check on the guys at my first table, who requested another round, I went to the newest table. And once I’d gotten all of them taken care of, I returned to the guy in the corner.

I’d just barely made it to his table and hadn’t had a chance to open my mouth to speak when he said, “I’ll take another.”

“Sure.”

Although he was a relatively hassle-free patron, there was something about this guy that left me feeling so unsettled. Was it that he was sitting in the corner of the bar alone? Was it the way he looked at me, almost sneering, that did it? Or could it have been that he was just plain unfriendly? This had been the first less-than-pleasant encounter I’d had with anyone since arriving in Steel Ridge.

When I returned to the bar to get the beer for him, Ronnie asked, “So, where did you move from?”

“Me? Birch Creek. It’s a pretty small town. What about you?”

“Oh, I’m from out of state. I’m here from Indiana.”

“That’s cool.”

“Here you go, Aria,” Sawyer interjected, sliding the beer for the creepy grouch in my direction.

I took the bottle and walked off.

And from there, the night got busier. It was, just as Butch and Sawyer had declared earlier, a chaotic night. On the bright side, all the tips were great for my bank account. Before I knew it, things were winding down. And the creepy guy wound up leaving within an hour of gettinghis third beer, which really helped to improve the vibe for the night.

Although hours had passed since I’d arrived at The Steel Pub, it had been so busy that it felt like my shift had passed in a flash and that I was walking back out the door mere minutes after I’d arrived.

I finished up with my closing duties, grabbed my things, and said goodbye to the rest of my coworkers before stepping outside. The moment I made it to the lot and was nearly at my car, someone called my name.

“Aria.” I spun around and saw Ronnie moving toward me. He came to a stop a few feet away and said, “I’m sorry if I scared you. I just… well, I was curious if I could convince you to let me take you out sometime. I thought we could check out this new town together.”

A vision of Paxton’s face flashed through my mind.

While I was technically single and free to date anyone I wanted, I had a crush on Paxton. There wasn’t a chance I could be fair to someone else at this point. “Oh, wow, Ronnie. I’m flattered. But I’m not exactly available.”