“You promised we would only have a couple of drinks and then we are heading back to my place. I figured there wasn’t a reason to get all gussied up only to take it off half an hour later.”
I sighed and stared out the windshield. “I can see your logic, but I would have gone with pajamas that were a little bit less…well…cow.”
“Besides, I’m not looking to impress anyone at The Bar. Half of those guys are friends with my dad and grandpa.”
Second thoughts about going to the bar flashed through my head as she pulled into the vacant parking lot. “Are you sure this place is even open?” I asked. I figured there would have been at least a couple of cars in the parking lot.
“The bar is always open. It’s the only place you can get a drink around here besides the grocery store.” Alice pulled up next to the door and shut the car off. “I’m telling you, you have no idea what we are about to walk into.”
I pushed open my door and put one foot on the pavement. “As long as they have whiskey and a jukebox, I’ll be good.”
Alice rolled her eyes. “Sugar, you could have had both of those at the restaurant. You know Bos has a bottle behind the grill, and I could have brought in my boom box.”
“Are we in the eighties now?” I laughed as I slid from the car and slammed the door shut behind me.
She rounded the front of the car and leaned against the fender. “Don’t be talking shit about my boom box. I’m gonna bring it to work tomorrow, and we are going to liven up the breakfast crowd.”
“We seriously need to update you, sweetie,” I muttered. Alice was only four years older than I was, but I swear, sometimes it felt like she was twenty years older. “Now, let’s get our drink on so we can safely get you back home to your movies and cow pajamas.”
Alice moved to the front door and held it open for me. “After you, sugar. I want to see your expression when you walk in.”
I rolled my eyes and stepped into the smoky bar. My eyes adjusted to the foggy haze. I waved my hand in front of my face and looked back at Alice who was still standing outside. “I thought you couldn’t smoke inside bars anymore.”
Alice laughed and hesitantly stepped next to me. “Technically, you’re not supposed to, but the only people who come in here smoke, so it really doesn’t matter.”
My gaze traveled over the small bar, noticing the bartender leaning against the bar, a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth while he pointed a remote at the TV over the bar. “Three dollar rails, two dollar drafts, and one dollar pull-offs,” he mumbled without looking at us.
“Gee, Reierson, it’s nice to see you too.” Alice strolled up to the bar and set her wallet on it.
Reierson, the bartender, looked over his shoulder and smiled. “You’re the last person I would have thought would walk through that door tonight, Alice.” He turned fully around to us, and his eyes bugged out of his head. “What in the hell are you wearing?”
A giggle escaped my lips knowing I wasn’t the only one who thought Alice’s attire was a bit mind-boggling.
Alice rolled her eyes and scoffed. “I’ll have a Coke, and Nikki will have whatever will get her drunk in half an hour. The meter is running on my patience, and I have no plans to be here longer than thirty minutes.”
I lamely waved at Reierson and cleared my throat. “Um, I’ll just have an amaretto sour. Make it a double.”
He hitched his thumb at me and smiled at Alice. “Is she always this cute?” His gaze landed on me, and he shook his head. “How about a whiskey and Coke? That’s about as close as you’re going to get to an amaretto sour here.”
I had initially wanted whiskey, but I was trying to ease into a drunken stupor for the night. Reierson had plans for me to fall head-first into it. “That’ll do,” I mumbled. One does not turn down whiskey.
“Pretty dead tonight.” Alice plopped down on her bar stool and slowly spun around taking in the bar. “I thought for sure at least Mick, Bean, and Dell would be here.”
“They were,” Reierson replied. He poured a healthy stream of whiskey into my cup and topped it off with a short squirt of Coke. “Your mama called and said she had leftover pot roast and they were out the door faster than I could add their drinks to their tabs.”
Lord have mercy, I was going to be half in the bag after three sips.
Alice snickered watching Reierson’s heavy hand with my drink. “You think you could maybe go light on the first drink with her?”
He shook his head and placed our drinks in front of us. “You get what I serve you. Rule number uno of The Bar.”
I hesitantly took a sip and felt the whiskey burn the whole way down my throat. “Good golly,” I gasped.
Alice sipped her Coke and slowly spun around in her chair. “I have a feeling we’ll be out of here in fifteen minutes, and I’m pretty sure Reierson is going to have to carry you out.”
That was probably a good guess. I lifted my glass up to hers and tapped them together. “Cheers, babe. Here’s to forgetting, well…everything.”
“There is one good thing about you deciding to get rip-roaring drunk today. I can get your lips loose, and you can tell me all about everything you are trying to forget.”
I took a huge gulp and shook my head. “You could feed me that whole bottle of whiskey, and there is no way I would tell you. It’s in the past, and that is where I fully intend it to stay.”
Alice watched me warily as I downed half of my glass and slammed it down on the bar.
“It’s a man, isn’t it?” This was from Reierson.
I leveled my glare on him. “Really? Aren’t you just here to get me drunk?”
He leaned his hip against the bar and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m here for whatever you need me for.”
“Ew,” Alice squeaked. “You think you could turn down the creep-o factor?” She wrinkled her nose and stopped spinning.
“The offer stands for you, Alice.” Reierson winked at Alice and moved down to the other side of the bar. He grabbed a towel off the bar and started drying off glasses.
I spun my chair toward Alice and grabbed her legs, stopping her from spinning away from me. “You wanna tell me what that was all about?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Probably the same thing going on with you, but since you don’t want to talk about it, then neither do I.”
“You’re evil, Alice,” I mumbled.
“As soon as you tell me what is going on with you is when I’ll tell you what the deal is with Reierson. Although I’m sure, your story is going to be much more entertaining than mine.”
I looked over my shoulder at Reierson who kept glancing at Alice. “I highly doubt that. I can tell that man has the hots for you.”
“What you call the hots is more known as the fact we live in a small town, and he doesn’t have a lot of prospects to hook up with.”
I scoffed and took a sip of my drink. “I highly doubt that. I think it more has to do with the fact you are smokin’ hot and he can’t control himself.”
Alice put a hand on my shoulder and laughed. “Sugar, he actually said out loud, ‘I don’t really have much of a choice’ when he was asked about me.”
Hell. That had to hurt. I turned my back to Reierson, not liking the way he had talked about my new-found friend. “Well, fuck him. You are way better than someone to settle for.”
Alice clinked her glass against mine. “Amen, sista.” She set down her glass and smiled. “And now it’s your turn because I somehow told you what was going on with him without even knowing I did it.”
“There isn’t mu—”
“Oh, my God, I found you!”
My jaw dropped, and the blood rushed from my face. My eyes landed on the door, and if I hadn’t been sitting down, I would have ended up flat on the floor.
Karmen was standing in the doorway. Nickel was next to her.
Pipe was sneering at me behind her.
Holy. Fuck.
*
Pipe
We f
ound her.
After we made it to her duplex and found it empty, we decided to hit the local bar before we headed back to Weston. I never would have thought Nikki would be sitting on a barstool with a drink in front of her gabbing with some chick.
“She doesn’t exactly look happy to see us,” Nickel murmured under his breath.
Karmen took off across the bar not caring that Nikki looked like she was about to puke.
Nickel looked over his shoulder and smirked. “You still want that drink?”
No, I sure as hell didn’t. Karmen had thrown herself at Nikki, but Nikki was looking at me like I had run over her puppy and was grilling it over an open flame.
Jesus, maybe her leaving did have something to do with me.
Nickel and I made our way over to the bar next to Nikki, and I nodded to the bartender.
Karmen was in the middle of running her hands over Nikki and asking her fifty questions. Karmen had said she talked to her on the phone, but she was acting like she hadn’t spoken to Nikki in years.
“Whiskey, on the rocks.”
Nickel held up two fingers. “Make that two.”
Hell, the bartender might as well just put the bottle in front of us.
Nickel wound his arm around Karmen’s waist and pulled her to his side. “Breath, baby. You’re smothering her.”
Karmen huffed and looked up at Nickel. “I have a month of not seeing her to make up for.”
“Well, I don’t think you need to do that in the first thirty seconds you see her,” he chided.
She slapped him on the chest, and I swear to God, a growl escaped from her lips. “I’m gonna smother you in your sleep if you’re not careful.”
His hand traveled to her small bump, and his other hand caressed her cheek. “I’ll come back and haunt you and this baby, baby girl.”
“I see Nickel’s possessive assholeness hasn’t changed since I left,” Nikki giggled. She grabbed her glass, downed it in three swallows and set it on the bar. “Well, this was a great reunion, but Alice and I have some plans with Vin and the guys.”
The chick she was with clapped her hands like a happy seal and hopped off her barstool.
“Wait, what? You can’t leave.” Karmen grabbed her arm and smashed her nose to nose with Nikki. “And who the hell is Vin? You’ve been holding out on me,” Karmen whispered.
Under normal circumstances, whenever I was in a bar, you could barely hear the person next to you talking, but Nikki had found a hole in the wall no one else knew about except for the bartender and the chick dressed like a cow.
Nikki warily sat back down but clutched her purse in her other hand. “Vin is no one, and Alice and I only planned on being here for a couple drinks.”
“Nikki,” Karmen pouted, “I haven’t seen you in a month. You can’t hang out with me for a little bit? I know you wanted to get out of Weston, but I didn’t think you wanted to get away from me.” And this is where Karmen burst into tears and buried her face in Nickel’s chest.
The bartender set our drinks in front of Nickel and me. I downed my drink and motioned to him to keep them coming. I bumped Nickel and handed him his drink. He kept his arm wrapped around Karmen and lifted the glass to his lips with the other hand.
“Why is she crying?” Nikki asked, bewildered. Her eyes were bugged out, and she looked back and forth between Nickel and me.
“She’s pregnant,” Nickel informed her as if that explained everything.
“Girl, your hormones are raging, huh?” Cow pajama girl asked.
“You have no idea,” Karmen wailed.
Good lord. Karmen was having a nervous breakdown. Nikki looked like she was ready to bolt any second, and Cowgirl had a huge smile plastered on her face watching the craziness unfold.
“I’m Alice, in case you didn’t catch that. Nikki and I work together.” Alice gave a big wave and tipped her glass to Nickel and me. “You guys are more than welcome to come back to my house and hang out with Vin and us.”
Nikki spun around and glared at Alice. “Would you stop?” she hissed. “They are not coming with us.”
Karmen wiped her nose on Nickel’s chest and raised her head. “Why can’t we come hang out with you? I’d love to meet your boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” Alice asked, bewildered. “You got a boyfriend and didn’t tell me?” she asked Nikki.
Now the circle of confusion was complete.
“No, I don’t have a boyfriend, Alice. You damn well know that. She thinks Vin is an actual guy.”
“He is real, Nikki,” Alice insisted.
“Of course he is, but he’s real in California or wherever the hell it is he lives. I’m pretty sure Vin Diesel isn’t sitting on your couch waiting for us, now is he?”
Nickel looked over at me. “Did we drive into the twilight zone and not know it?”
I shrugged and grabbed a shot off the bar. “I didn’t notice anything on my bike. Maybe in that cage, you would have noticed.”
“I wonder where he does live?” Alice pondered.
“I’ll Google.” Karmen pulled her phone out of her pocket.
“Wasn’t she just crying ten seconds ago?” I asked.
Nickel shrugged. “Just go with it, brother.”
That sounded like good advice. I wasn’t up to deciphering Karmen’s mood swings.
“So are we going back to my house or not?” Alice bounced on the balls of her feet with a huge smile on her face. “I already got the movie loaded. I just need to stop by the store to get more snacks since I only planned on Nikki coming over tonight.”
“Get beer,” Nickel advised.
“Google says New York and Los Angeles,” Karmen muttered.
Alice tossed a ten-dollar bill on the bar and hitched her purse over her shoulder. “I suppose he has a couple places he lives. Nikki and I can run to the store, and we can meet y’all at my house.”
“Nikki can ride with me.” I don’t know why I opened my mouth.
Everyone turned to look at me, their jaws dropped.
Was it so odd Nikki rode on the back of my bike with me? Nickel had offered me to ride in the cage with him, but I wasn’t up for the Karmen and Nickel show.
“What do you mean by ride with you?” Alice asked.
Nikki scoffed and shook her head. “They’re part of the Fallen Lords, Alice.”
Alice’s eyes lit up. “Motorcycles?” she asked with awe in her voice.
“Yup. I’m sure if you play your cards right, Pipe will take you for a ride.” Nikki stood and hitched her thumb over her shoulder toward the door. “You guys don’t really want to come to Alice’s, do you?”
Karmen looked up at Nickel and clasped her hands to her chest. “Please,” she begged. “We can hang out there, get a room at a hotel for the night, have breakfast with Nikki, and then we can head back to Weston in the morning.”
“You got this all planned out, don’t you, baby girl?” he reached up, tucked her hair behind her ear, and looked over at me. “You gonna stay or head back tonight?”
Nikki’s eyes connected with mine, and I knew exactly what she wanted me to do.
I grabbed a cigarette out of my pocket and stuck it in the corner of my mouth. “I’ll stay.”
Nikki gritted her teeth and grimaced. “Perfect,” she growled.
She grabbed Alice by the arm, and they marched out of the bar with the door slamming shut behind them.
“You gonna tell us what that was all about?” Nickel asked.
I shook my head and tossed a twenty on the bar. “Nope. But I do think we should get out there before Nikki convinces her cow print clad friend to leave without us.”
Karmen grabbed Nickel’s hand and tugged him toward the door. “He’s right. We just found her, we can’t let her get away again.”
Nickel laughed and pulled his keys out of his pocket. “I don’t think Pipe would let her get away again.”
Karmen gave me a knowing look but wisely kept her mouth shut.
I wasn’t goin
g to let her get away again. At least, not until I figured out what the hell was going on between us. I wanted her, but I had never wanted someone like this before.
Nikki was different, and I didn’t like it one bit.
*
Chapter 5
Nikki
“You have about fifteen seconds to spill.”
I rolled my eyes and leaned against Alice’s car. I didn’t have a damn clue what the hell was going on. I had my own questions that needed to be answered.
How did they find me?
Why was Pipe with them?
And why in the hell was Pipe staying the night?
“Hello.” Alice waved her hand in my face. “What is going on, Nikki? I can see you being friends with the chick, but I’m not too sure about the two guys.”
“Then why did you invite them to your house?” I hissed.
“Because my mama raised me to be polite. I couldn’t invite Karmen and not the two burly guys.”
“Nickel is cool.”
She rolled her eyes. “How great, he’s cool. How about we talk about the tall drink of water who just walked out the front door and has eyes only for you?”
Shit.
Fuck.
Damn.
My plan to get in the car before Nickel, Karmen, and Pipe got out of the bar went out the window.
Pipe leaned against the back of Alice’s car and cupped his hand around the cigarette in his mouth, lighting the end.
I hated how handsome the man looked while he slowly killed his lungs. I hated smoking, but whenever Pipe did it around me, it made me sigh and wish I was the cigarette in his mouth.
Argh! This man made me whacked in the head. Who in their right mind wished to be a cigarette?
He inhaled deep and turned his head to blow the smoke over his shoulder.
“Nickel and I are going to run to the hotel to get a room for the night, and then we’ll be over to Alice’s.”
Nickel put his arm around Karmen’s shoulders and tucked her to his side. “You gonna ride with us?” he asked Pipe.
He shook his head. “Nah. Just make sure there is a couch for me to sleep on.”
Pipe Page 2
