Page 6 of Bourbon & Bonfires
Ben’s first to respond, which isn’t unlike him.
Ben: I’m out. Piper and I just put a movie in and I have a bunch of shit to do tomorrow.
Owen: Let me see when Minnie is going to get home. She’s at her sisters. I’ll get back to you.
Jameson: I’m fucking sicker than shit. Keep an eye on my lady while you’re there.
Me: Keep your germs at home.
Jameson: DO NOT tell Ash I said to watch her.
Me: Whoa. Quit yelling man.
Owen: I’m telling her. She’ll rip you a new asshole.
Jameson: Fuck you guys. I’m going to go lie down and cough up a lung now. Have a great fucking time.
Owen: Be there in twenty.
I climb out of my truck and realize that, at thirty years old, we’ve turned into chicks. We just had a group text about movies and being sick. I need to take some shots and flirt with girls to balance this out.
I open the door to Country Road and the bass of the music beats in my chest when I enter the building. The DJ is playing a mix-up of country and rock, and the crowd seems to love it; the dance floor is packed. I make my way through the crowd toward the bar where I see Ashton with a shaker in her hand.
Ashton Sullivan and I grew up together. Not only is she Ben’s sister, she’s engaged to Jameson and expecting their first child. Seeing her behind the bar with her little baby bump, shaking the shaker over her shoulder, is a little comical. The minute she spots me, her smiles grows, and she nods her head toward the end of the bar. I follow her direction and wait for her to finish pouring the drinks she made.
“Did my overprotective baby daddy send you here? I swear, Landon, if you are here to babysit, I’m going to beat both of your asses.”
Laughing, I hold my hands up in surrender. “Girl, I’m here for a beer or three and maybe a shot. I just received written confirmation your baby daddy is in fact on his death bed with a cold.”
“Okay, sorry. I stopped working weekend nights once this happened,” she says motioning to her mid-section. “But, Lexie has the same cold, and Taylor called in a favor. It’s not a big deal, but J acts like I’m going off to war or something.”
“He just worries is all, Ash. You’re feeling okay, though?” I ask.
“Yeah, it’s the adrenaline, ya know? I worked this shift for years, and now that I’m not, it’s fun to be back. Let me grab you a beer and a shot. Jager?”
“You know me well. Yeah, I’ll go down to that empty seat at the bar,” I tell her, gesturing toward the middle of the bar. Nodding in agreement, Ashton quickly returns to her post behind the bar before pouring me a beer and shot.
She beats me to the seat and slides both drinks my way before returning to her post. Tossing back the shot, I shake my head a little as the thick liquid burns my throat. I look around the bar and see a few ladies smiling my way, and I return the gesture and hope it’s enough to show I’m not blowing them off but not enough to invite them over. Even though that was my intention when I came here, now that I’m here I realize I’m not that guy.
“You keep looking like that and all the women around here are going to avoid you like the plague.” I turn my attention to the voice and laugh.
“Taylor,” I say while extending my hand in greeting.
“What’s up? You look more pissed than usual.”
“I don’t look pissed. I just got here, man. Give me a few minutes to get my bearings.”
“I’m giving ya a hard time, relax. It’s a pretty decent crowd, lots of new faces. Pretty faces I might add. You coming to the New Year’s party?”
“Where the fuck else would we go?”
I turn toward the voice and greet my best friend with a fist bump. Owen Butler has been my best friend since we were kids and, until a few months ago, was my roommate. Once he met his girlfriend, Minnie, he was a goner, and it’s been a long time since we’ve hung out, only the two of us.
“Just making sure. I don’t see y’all much these days. Well, except Landon here.”
“I’m here now, and I appear to be in the goddamn Sahara Desert by how parched I am,” Owen says, holding his throat.
“Whatever, fucker. Beer?”