Life After Taylah(45)

I’m finally happy.

I finish up here and then I make my way over to the bar. I’m working tonight, and luckily for me, it’s just around the corner from the dance studio. When I arrive, it’s already bustling. It’s a Saturday night and I usually make great tips. I see Quinn, a girl I’ve befriended over the past week, standing at the bar, flipping glasses into the dishwasher. She notices me and smiles, waving.

“Hey, Avery.”

I wave back, quickly rushing out back to put my stuff down. I tie my hair up and lean down to do up my laces before heading out to help her.

“How’s things?” she asks as I begin drying some glasses.

“Not too bad, what about you?”

She shrugs. “So so. I have so much study to do it’s snowing me under.”

I frown. “I know the feeling.”

A man comes up to the bar and smiles at both of us. He’s about forty and reasonably good looking with black wavy hair and striking blue eyes. “Can I get a whiskey, neat.”

I nod and prepare his drink for him, and then I slide it across the bar. He hands me some cash and I quickly get his change. He grins at me as I place it in his hands, and I feel his fingers curl around mine as he takes it.

“Do you have a name, sweetheart?”

Ugh.

“It’s Bianca,” I lie.

“Well, Bianca,” he purrs, “thank you.”

I give him a false smile as he walks away.

“Gross,” Quinn mutters. “Some men are so wrong.”

I laugh. “I know!”

We work side by side for another few hours as the bar picks up. At about nine p.m., I take my break and head outside for some fresh air. I find a seat and sit down with a glass of water and a granola bar. I see a group of men walking towards me, and I smile when I see it’s Kelly, Keanu, Liam and . . . oh man . . . Nate. Kelly grins at me and when they stop, he leans down and presses a kiss to my head.

“How’s it goin’, Av?”

I shrug, trying to avoid Nate’s gaze. “Busy. You guys here for a drink?”

“You know it,” Liam says, walking inside.

Keanu is gathering the attention of women to our left, and he’s grinning at them like he wants to eat them alive. God, he’s such a womanizer. Nate is also garnering attention, only he’s not paying any back. Instead, his eyes are on me.

“Avery,” he murmurs.

“Hey Nate,” I say, trying to sound as casual as I can.

I stand up, needing to get back in and needing to get away from his penetrating gaze. I rush behind the counter and begin serving again. I take a round of drinks to the guys and see Keanu already has three women in his booth. I roll my eyes and do a round looking for empties before heading back to the bar.

“Bianca.”

I turn at the sound of the older man’s voice. He’s back at the bar and is grinning at me again. “Hi,” I say, forcing a smile.

“Can I have another drink?”

Well, derr.

“Another whiskey?” I ask, pulling out a glass.

“Only if you’ll have one with me.”

“I can’t drink on the job, sorry.”

He smiles at me, a leery, disgusting smile, and then he takes the glass I hand him. As he goes to get some cash out, he knocks the glass off the bar and it smashes onto the floor. Sighing, I rush around and bend down to pick up the glass before someone gets hurt. It’s then I feel his hand on my ass. On. My. Ass. I straighten quickly and spin around, glaring at him.

“Please keep your hands off my backside.”

His grin widens and his hand curls around my hip, pulling me closer.

“Don’t pretend you’re not interested. I saw you watchin’ me. I’m a wealthy man, Bianca. I can do things for you . . .”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, my name isn’t Bianca. If I wanted you, I would have given you my real name. I didn’t, because I’d rather fuck a pointy broomstick than let you anywhere near me.”

His eyes flash and his hand tightens on my hip as he yanks me forward.

“Don’t you ever speak to me like that again, or I’ll have your job.”

“Let me go,” I growl. “Now.”

He doesn’t.

“Let me go.”

“Let her go.”

I hear Nate’s deep, gravelly voice come up behind me. The man looks over at him and glares. “This is a private conversation.”

“I said,” Nate grinds out, “let her go.”

The man lets me go and stands, taking a step towards Nate. “Be careful, boy.”

“Or what?” Nate growls.

I stare at the two of them, feeling my heart beginning to pound. Great, of course I’ll be the one to cause a bar fight in my second week here.