by L. T. Varner
I had a hunch he felt as emotionally screwed up as I was at that point.
We got back to town and it was only nine, so we headed for the bar. After pulling into the back garage, he told me to follow him. The bar was closed, considering it was Sunday night, so we had the place all to ourselves. When I saw him pulling all the blinds closed, I knew exactly what we were going to do. When we first started the bar and we didn’t know many people in town, we would hang out here and try to invent the weirdest drinks we could come up with. Oh, how I had missed that.
He was a full-time bartender now, and I was only part-time, so this would not end well for me. To make it more fun, we started applying rules: namely, you can’t touch the shot glass with your hands or ask what was in it. If you forgot these rules, you had to drink one of the bad shots from the old bottles of liquor no one ever ordered from. They were lined up on the back counter, and Mike had even lit one on fire and dared me to drink it. We decided that would be the loser’s glass.
After a bathroom break, I came back to Mike, who was talking to someone on my phone. When I got closer, he hung up quickly and tried to act like nothing happened.
“Who was that?” I asked, and he smiled while turning on the stereo, drowning my question out.
Mike sang along as he put a shot of something black in color in front of me and told me to try it. I heard my phone go off then, and Mike pulled it from his pocket. He listened to someone and mumbled quietly before hanging up. He took off jogging toward the back garage, and I realized he was letting someone in. I wondered if it was Mark, but then realized that he wouldn’t call my phone. Then I saw all of them walking in Daniel, Collin, and Rick. I was not thrilled, to say the least.
Standing behind the bar, I leaned over the shot and used my mouth to pick it up, quickly swallowing it in one gulp. It burned all the way down and my tongue felt like it was on fire as I quickly grabbed my water.
They sat up at the bar across from us, as Mike filled them in on the rules and how to play.
Daniel smiled ready to play our drinking game and said, “I knew there was a reason I liked the two of you!”
So far Collin and I hadn’t looked at each other, and I hoped it stayed that way. My turn came up to make a shot, and now I had to make four of them. I wanted to make it as putrid as possible. I used the mint liquor and the cinnamon that no one ever asked for, knowing it was a horrible combination. I put one in front of each of them and told them to enjoy. When I handed Collin his shot, he made eye contact with me; instead of looking mad, he looked dejected, and I felt a little sorry for him.
Rick asked, “What are those?” as he pointed to the back counter where the one shot still burned. Mike pointed out that he had just broken a rule and had to drink one.
Rick laughed and said, “They can’t be that bad.”
Mike handed him one and said, “Good luck.”
They all mimicked what they saw me do minutes ago, quickly drinking down their shots without using their hands.
Daniel was quick to say, “That was the worst shot I have ever had!”
I laughed and said, “This is also the first time you’ve played with us.”
My phone rang at that point, and I looked to see who it was, already having an idea. James’ name flashed across the screen, and I lost my temper. I threw the phone across the bar where it hit the brick wall and fell to pieces. Everyone looked at me with confused faces except Mike, who probably expected it.
Daniel asked, “What the hell was that for?”
I didn’t say a word when Mike said, “A bad idea,” before he looked at me for my turn in our game.
I asked, “When did it become the four of you against me?”
Mike laughed and said, “You could easily out-drink all of us.”
I smiled knowing he was a lightweight when Collin quickly responded, “I think we can give you a run for your money.”
“How much money are you talking?” I asked, very curious.
“How does one-hundred bucks each sound?” He didn’t break eye contact with me, and my brain screamed that this was a bad idea.
We all put a one-hundred-dollar bill on the bar and agreed that the person who took the last shot would win. Mike put a shot in front of me that was pee-yellow, and I picked it up to look at it. Instantly I knew I shouldn’t have done that when Daniel called me on it. Mike put another in front of me that was clear, and I hoped it was water. The first one tasted like beef jerky, and I quickly wondered what could taste that horrid. I used the second shot to wash it down, and that one was good, it tasted like whipped cream, so I knew it was flavored vodka. This went on for a while before I finally convinced Daniel to come to my side. With the music playing, we danced and just had fun screwing around.
The look on Collin’s face was hilarious when Daniel asked if he could make the next round for them and I agreed. Collin shook his head at me and mouthed “no” and I just laughed as Daniel got to work, knowing this wouldn’t be good for them.
Apparently, Daniel makes worse drinks than I do. Collin and Rick both looked like they were going to throw up after they took theirs. After a short rest period, Collin decided he needed to make our next shot. I was a little nervous about what he could come up with now.
While Collin carefully put a shot in my cleavage, he said “I have a new rule. You have to do the shots off someone.”
I had worn a low-cut shirt with a push-up bra for tonight for other reasons, but it came in handy now. Collin smiled at me and went back to his side of the bar. Daniel didn’t hesitate as I felt his hot breath on my chest and his hands on my hips. He took the shot quickly before he moved away and glanced at Collin. Daniel complained that Collin didn’t know how to make drinks at all. I was scared of what was in store for me.
Daniel looked at me smiling and said, “Where do you want me to put it?” I was completely blank when he said, “Here, I’ll help you.”
As he put the glass between his stomach and his belt buckle, I quickly felt my cheeks turn red. I was not about to lose to Collin, though. I just went for it and took the shot, avoiding touching Daniel as much as possible. Daniel was right: the drink was awful. It tasted like cotton candy and tomatoes.
It was Collin’s turn considering Mike was passed out on the couch in my office, and Rick had his head down on the bar, mumbling about surrender. I grabbed the hottest cinnamon I could find and decided not to water it down. Daniel grabbed the shot and shoved it in my cleavage, looked at Collin, and said: “your turn” as he started walking away.
“Where are you going?” I asked as Collin started laughing.
“To throw up.”
Collin quickly asked, “You admitting defeat?”
“Yes!” Daniel said, starting to run to the bathroom.
Collin got up and walked over to me and said, “You know I’m going to win, right?”
I assured him that I could hold my own. He put his hands on my hips and slowly took the shot and drank it. He instantly grabbed his water and drank all of it.
“Fuck! What the hell was that?” he asked, reaching in the cooler for more water.
I couldn’t help but double over in laughter at how red his face was turning.
“I can come up with something much worse, little girl,” he stated as I sat up at the bar to watch him.
After searching through all the bottles, he settled on one and turned his back to me. I didn’t see what he grabbed until he walked toward me with something green. Stopping incredibly close to me, he grinned, and I leaned away slightly. As I sat on the bar, he put the shot in between my thighs then placed his hands on my thighs. He was so close I could feel his breath on my neck, using my brain didn’t seem to be working at this point.
“Danni, how about we make this much more interesting?” he said, running his finger down my neck.
“How could we do that?” I asked while trying to calm my racing heart.
“I see that you have a stripper pole over there.”
“Oh, hel
l no, Collin!” I said as my brain started working again.
He went back to thinking and smiled at me and said, “If I win, you have to make an appearance in the video we’re shooting.”
I thought to myself, how bad could that be? I agreed and countered that if I won, they would play free one night at the bar. He agreed. I could feel the sexual tension between us and tried to get back to the game, ignoring the fact that I wanted to kiss and undress him. I told myself to stop and come back to reality.
He moved the shot so I could hop down off the bar. I fell sideways when gravity took over, and he grabbed me, so I didn’t face plant on the floor. He pulled me close to him, and that didn’t help at all considering I had other ideas of what I wanted to do with him. I stepped back, and he let go of me just in time for Daniel to sit down at the bar, asking what he had missed. Collin told him how we made the bet more interesting. I knew I couldn’t lose and still keep my dignity intact.
“Let me help you out, Danni,” Collin said as he picked up the shot and placed it between his stomach and jeans.
I looked down at the shot as he held up his shirt and I could see his hard, tanned stomach. Dammit, why did he have to be so sexy? No wonder he was on magazine covers all the time. I took the plunge, leaned over the shot, my fingers lingered on the flesh at his waistband. I heard his sharp intake of breath as my lips brushed against his skin before I pulled the shot free and drank it.
I stood there for a minute when it hit me: I was going to be sick. I took off running for the bathroom.
After ten minutes of putting myself back together, I walked back to the bar. Collin and Daniel were sitting there drinking water, and Rick was still face down on the bar, out cold. I grabbed water and a bottle of pain reliever, hoping not to be sick anymore.
“How does it feel to lose?” Collin asked, grinning.
I knew when I threw up that I had lost and slowly turned to face them. They both had huge smiles on their faces. I started walking toward the employee lounge.
“Where are you going?” Daniel asked.
“I’m going to sleep on one of the couches in the lounge. Goodnight, boys.”
They both got up and followed me. Daniel plopped down on one couch and made sure there was no room for anyone else. I grabbed a blanket and collapsed, just wanting to sleep.
“Move over so I can lie down, too,” Collin said, lowering himself behind me on the narrow couch.
Considering how much sexual tension there was between us, I wondered if that would be a good idea. He left me no choice as he made himself comfortable and smashed me up against the back of the couch. I had my back to him, and he swung his arm over me and pulled me close to him. I was too tired to care at this point and the comfort I felt in his arms made me stay still as we both fell asleep.
A couple of hours later I got up and went to the bathroom to get sick again. When I went back to the couch, I noticed Collin was sitting up waiting for me.
I whispered to him, “Go back to sleep.”
He got up to go to the bathroom, looking pretty much like I felt. I crawled back on the couch and got comfortable just in time for him to come back and make it not so comfortable. He crawled in behind me like he had earlier and this time he didn’t put his arm around me. I was relieved just to go back to sleep.
“Turn around and face me, Danni,” he whispered while running his hand down my arm.
I whispered back, “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”
“Why? Does it have anything to do with fucking James last night?” he stated in an annoyed whisper.
That instantly pissed me off, and I tried to get up. He grabbed me, turned me on my back, and held my hands down. This set off all my panic buttons. I was confused, crying and screaming hysterically at him.
“Please don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me!” I kept screaming without even thinking about my choice of words as I fought back.
Daniel yanked him off of me, and I was shaking uncontrollably. He was yelling at Collin as all these pictures popped in my head: a cornfield, a knife, and the moon above me.
“Danni, it’s me, Mike. Take a breath for me. You’re okay. I got you. You’re safe. Look at me, Danni,” Mike rambled as I focused on him above me.
“That’s it, Danni, just keep looking at me, deep breaths for me,” he continued as he put his palm against my cheek.
I stopped screaming and grabbed onto him as the cloud in my mind started to clear. I realized where I was and what triggered my response with tears running down my face.
“There is my girl. You okay now?” Mike asked when I realized my hands had a death grip on his forearms.
I relaxed and let go of him, nodding.
“Come on. I think we should go home now,” he said as I heard Daniel screaming.
“What were you thinking to do that to her? Don’t you ever do that again or I will kill you. Mike warned you what sets her off and you couldn’t even fucking listen to him.”
Collin didn’t say anything. He just looked at me with concern in his eyes. I knew he didn’t mean to scare me, but I also knew he was an ass when he mentioned James. Mike was right. I needed to go home. Daniel’s words sunk in and I wondered what he meant by “what sets me off.”
Chapter 16
Feelings Suck
It was three in the afternoon when I finally crawled out of bed feeling like I had been hit by a bus. I was hungover big time. It took me two attempts to take a shower: I needed to sit for a minute in between to make the room stop spinning.
I got dressed and put my sunglasses on before going downstairs. Someone had made coffee. Normally it smelled wonderful, but right now it made me gag. I saw Mike sitting at the table, and he looked worse than I did. I had to laugh a little at our situation. I sat down at the table with him, and we compared how horrible we each felt, both remembering why we had quit playing that game.
“I heard you lost a bet last night?” he said, looking over his coffee cup.
“Yeah, but it was only a hundred bucks. No big deal,” I said.
“I heard it was more than that.”
I shot him a nasty look, and he changed the subject by mentioning he put my phone back together, and it seemed to be fine. He pointed to the counter where it was charging, and I walked over and grabbed it. Seventeen text messages and twenty-two missed calls.
“Wow,” I said out loud, shocked at the number of messages.
Mike winked at me and said, “Only one of them is from your dad. The rest are from Collin.”
I asked, “What does Dad want?”
“He needs you to come out to the schoolhouse and sign some papers for something.”
I vaguely remembered he had mentioned that a couple of days ago. I texted Dad that I would be out in a little bit. Afterward, I deleted all of Collin’s texts and calls. It was over and done, and I hoped never again to bring up what had happened.
An hour later Mike and I headed out to the schoolhouse. He mentioned on the way out that he and Daniel talked to Collin about last night. Mike explained that he didn’t think Collin meant to scare me. I agreed with him, it had just freaked me out a little.
“You know, Mike, it wasn’t him grabbing me like that, it was the comment he made about me sleeping with James that pissed me off,” I said as we turned down the dirt road.
“I hadn’t heard that part. I think you should hear him out and let him apologize before you hate his guts forever,” he said casually, trying to defuse the situation.
We turned into the schoolhouse driveway, and I couldn’t help rolling my eyes when I saw the tour buses still there.
“I thought they were leaving this morning, dammit,” I mumbled more to myself before Mike changed the subject mentioning that he thought Dad’s house would be done before ours. I laughed and said, “Ours?”
He responded, “It looks like you have plenty of room to spare. So, I should just stick with you.”
I laughed and said, “I like the idea, Mike, but I don’t think
you should give up on Mark quite yet.” He rolled his eyes at me as we got out of the SUV.
We walked into the schoolhouse and were surprised by how much it had changed. The main floor looked like a school until you looked inside what was once the classrooms. The area was now a huge recording studio and the other side had turned into an apartment for overnight guests. I planned that part with Daniel in mind. We walked upstairs into the kitchen, and it looked impressive. The cherry cabinets had been put in, and the hardwood floors were finished. They were working on the wiring and the fireplaces today.
I walked past the kitchen dragging Mike to the first extra bedroom. He asked if it was too late for him to pick the paint color. Then I took him into what was going to be my room. I explained to him that I wanted to restore most of it the best I could, leaving the old original red brick walls. Next, I showed him what was going to be the closet and the bathroom. He laughed at me when he saw there was a fireplace in the bathroom as well as in the bedroom. We heard the music stop, and he seemed eager for us to go down to see the band shoot their scenes.
I was surprised at how many people were working when we walked into the gym. An incredible amount of equipment was lined up around the sides of the space. Mike and I climbed up on the bleachers on the opposite side. I waved at my dad, and he waved back, grinning at me. It was then that I noticed Collin looking at me, as well. I gave him a small wave, and instantly his face lit up. Daniel yelled hello to us before he beat on his drums.
They started playing at the director’s cue. It was downright exhilarating to watch them in action, and, once again, I was reminded of why I thought Collin was so sexy: his deep, scratchy voice and the way he moved when he played. Holy hell, I wanted to jump on him and take his clothes off right there. Instantly I scolded myself for how easy I could get lost in him with all my dirty thoughts. I didn’t want to be physically or emotionally attached to anyone other than my family members. End of story…or, so I thought as I hopped down and walked out of the gym.
Mike came to me and asked, “Danni, what’s wrong?” He had to yell so I could hear him over the music.
