“You don’t know unless you try.”
“Whatever.” A slurping sound from my straw alerts me that I’ve reached the bottom of my glass. “I was just thinking I should go get us more drinks, that’s all.”
“If you say so.”
“I do say so, thank you very much.”
AJ laughs and hands me his empty glass.
I wink at him and head into the bar.
Jake
I’m wiping down the bar when Cassie comes in off the back deck with two empty glasses dangling from her fingers. The raucous laughter from Dante and his crew follows her through the door, and so do Dante’s curious eyes. I’m not proud of the way his interest makes my jaw tense up or my pulse jump to attention, but she’s a nice girl and Dante...
Well. Dante’s a friend, but he’s got some baggage.
Like I’m one to judge about issues.
“You know you can leave the glasses on the table,” I say with more ingratitude in my voice than intended. My mother would have been disappointed.
“Course I can, but I do wait tables myself, you know. Bussing sucks. I was coming this way. Thought I’d help out.” She puts the glasses down and leans across the bar, a pose that manages to wrap innocent and come hither all into one package. I wonder if she has a clue, or if it’s something girls do on purpose. Another girl, I’d say yes.
Her? Unclear.
She’s right that bussing tables sucks, and I’d appreciate the gesture more if it didn’t mean she’d come back for another round. From the telltale flush in her cheeks and the brightness in her eyes, another drink will slide her over the border from tipsy to straight-up drunk. Three would be a mistake. I know drunks, and she isn’t one.
“Can I get you some water?” I’m filling a glass before she has a chance to answer. After salty nachos and a couple of drinks I’d lay money the girl’s gonna be draggin’ ass in the morning. I stick a straw in and slide it over, leaving no room for discussion.
“Hey. Thanks.” Her smile brightens the inside of Joe’s dim bar. “That’s a good idea.”
I tap my forehead. “Not my first rodeo.”
“No, I’m sure it’s not.” She wrinkles her nose at that. Huh. But then she seems to change her tune. “Can I please get two more of those, also?” She points at the empty glasses.
I consider trying to talk her out of them, but it’s only her second drink and I’m not her father. I do take the liberty of making them a little smaller, and lighter on the alcohol. “So you guys got a ride home tonight?”
She swallows. “Uh. No. But it’s not like it’s far to walk.”
I find myself gritting my teeth, the heat and burn of it grabbing hold of the back of my skull. “I recall the night you and I met, you were standing in the middle of the road. You gonna wind up doing that again?” This time, I see hurt flash across her face at the rough judgment in my words.
God help me, that was shitty. But it’s like she was asking to get mowed down that night. I sure as hell can’t get out of my head the way she stood there—just fucking stood there, while the rain soaked her clothes—like she was waiting for that truck to flatten her.
Fuck, maybe she did have some kind of fucked-up death wish. Maybe I need to leave it the hell alone. I can’t seem to.
Her fingers curl up into a fist. “I already told you I wasn’t trying to get hit,” she says with fire sparking up in her narrowed eyes. “I was about to move when you pushed me.”
Funny how I always thought light brown was sort of a boring color for eyes. The way Cassie’s flash and dance under Joe’s minimal bar lights makes me think differently. “Oh yeah?” I set her drinks out, closer to me than to her. “What if you hadn’t moved fast enough? What if I hadn’t shown up that night?”
She’d been soaking wet with no idea where to go. She’d mentioned a dying phone battery. What would she have done? Does she think about it? I sure do. Way the hell more than I should, which is really not at all. This girl is not my fucking problem. Not my friend, not my sister, not mine in any way.
I landed in Evergreen Grove because I needed to quit fighting and Dante’s uncle had some basement space we could both crash in until we found our feet. I liked the fact that the town was so small you couldn’t even find it on any maps. I wanted to be anonymous, and this place fit the bill.
Getting all wrapped up in this chick’s issues? Stupid. In more ways than I can count. Even if she was trying to kill herself that night. Especially if she was trying to kill herself that night.
For a while we don’t do anything but stare, with Cassie and her flashing hazel eyes giving off every brand of “fuck you” they can throw my way. Me and my stubborn ass with my fists braced on the bar. The kitten may have claws, but if she thinks she’s got what it takes to make me back down, then she’s already had too much to drink.