by Abby Brooks
A large herd of actual college kids claim about half the bar in a swarm of testosterone and monosyllabic conversation that fights for dominance over the music throbbing over the speakers. I nod towards Dominic and head over to take their orders, leaning in to hear them over the general cacophony that is The Bad Apple. Of course, they can’t resist flirting and double of course, The Bad Apple doesn’t appear to be their first stop tonight. I fend off a few drunken advances and fill their orders, constantly aware of the guy at the other end of the bar.
The super-hot guy with the coolest job ever.
The mildly famous internet celebrity.
The Instagram personality with over a hundred thousand followers.
The YouTuber with a ton of subscribers.
The guy with the dark hair and dark eyes and a twisting series of tattoos poking out from under his shirt sleeve. The guy who has been on just about every continent on this planet and has the pictures to prove it. A guy who has to have his fair share of interesting stories to share with me, to help me imagine—if only for a second—that I’m anywhere but dumb old Ohio surrounded by anything but rows of corn.
I finish with the college jerks and head back towards Dominic, drawn to him like a moth to a flame, a fish to a lure, a paperclip to a magnet. Like lightning to water. Like plants to sunlight. Like birds to the air and fish to the sea…
Basically, I couldn't have avoided going to stand next to him if I wanted to.
“Ready for another?” I ask, indicating his empty glass.
Dominic nods and fiddles with his phone while I pour him another couple fingers of Jack.
“That was pro-level stuff over there,” he says, indicating the jock herd with a nod of his head. “I don’t think they even realize how shot down they actually are.”
I shrug. “Can’t tell them what I’m really thinking or my tips suffer.” I lean on the bar again, rising up on my tiptoes to close the distance between us. “Gotta let them think they have a chance.”
“Is that what you’re doing with me?” He smiles in a way that tells me he totally doesn’t believe that. “Making me feel famous so I leave you a good tip?”
“Totally.” I nod and smile and disappear to check on the frat boys.
The rest of the night passes in a flurry of customers and drinks and music so loud I know I’m going to have a headache by the end of the night. Dominic stays. And in between the surge of drink orders, I talk to him.
As much as I try to hide it, I’m totally fangirling. Dominic Kane really is my absolute most favorite person to follow on Instagram. Not only are his pictures truly stunning, but he’s approachable as far as internet personalities go. He responds to the people who comment on his posts, strikes up conversations with them, shares his stories as if they were old friends. I’ve gotten a kick out of his sense of humor for a while now. I’ve never actually commented on his stuff because that’s just not me, but I have liked the hell out of most of them.
The evening stretches on and the bar—which always starts out quiet before it gets too loud—is on its way back to quiet again when I finally park myself near Dominic. “So here’s the thing,” I say, leaning on the bar again. “You took my picture, so I think I should get a picture of you in return.”
“Oh yeah? Is that how this works?” His laptop is closed and his phone is face down beside him and I finally have his full attention. And wow. I’m not sure I was prepared for the power behind those eyes. This is a man who sees stuff for a living. What exactly does he see when he looks at me? I fight the urge to fiddle with my hair. The last thing I want him to see is me being nervous.
“Totally. A picture for a picture.” I nod as if I’m talking about well-known social customs, as if what I’m talking about has been handed down from generation to generation throughout the ages. I pull my phone out of my back pocket like things have already been decided. Which they have, actually.
“You’re a much more interesting subject than I am,” he says as I point my phone at him.
I actually snort and immediately regret it. “No.” I drop my phone and hit him with my most incredulous look. “I’m just a bartender in a little bar in Ohio. You’re a world traveler who inspires hundreds of thousands of people on the internet. You win the interesting game.” I lift my phone up again and Dominic shrugs.
“Let me prove it. Come here.”
Intrigued, I do what he says, coming around the bar to stand next to him. He hops off the stool and takes my phone from me. Leans down to wrap his arm around my shoulder and holds it out at arm's length. “Say cheese.”
I smile broadly and say cheese. Dominic doesn’t take the picture. I turn to him, confused and get distracted studying his profile, suddenly so very aware of just how much bigger he is than me. How close we are. How he smells like whiskey. How much better looking he is up close.
And that’s when I hear the click of the camera on my phone.
“I so wasn’t ready!” I cry and try to snatch the phone from him so I can delete what’s sure to be one of the worst pictures of me ever.
Dominic chuckles as he holds the phone out of my reach, an easy thing since I’m tiny and he’s apparently not. “Hold on, now,” he says. “Who’s the professional here?”
“Professional or not, I have every right to see that picture and delete it if it’s awful.”
“It’s not awful.”
Dominic lowers the phone and hands it to me. “Just so you know, that picture is my intellectual property and I have every right to sue you if you delete it without my permission.”
I look at him, something stern and real in his voice making me wonder if he’s actually serious. “I won’t delete it.” I slide open the phone and find the picture and just stare.
There he is, smiling that smile that I’ve come to know through so many pictures in so many different places. He’s handsome, of course, always is, his dark features giving him that mysterious look while the warmth of his smile makes him feel like an old friend.
But the woman tucked into his arm? That’s so not me. Dakota London is a tiny blonde, a fun-sized woman. People call me a disco ball. I’m shiny and perky and my nose is slightly too large for my face. I smile too wide for pictures and snort a little when I laugh.
The woman in the picture is none of those things. Well, sure, she looks tiny, dwarfed by Dominic. And yes, she’s blonde, the perfect yin to his dark yang, but there’s a depth to her eyes that doesn’t belong on my face. My lips are parted and pulled up in this perfect little Mona Lisa smile as I study Dominic’s profile. My eyes are lit with the power of deep thoughts and the possibility of intriguing personality.
“See?” he asks, so close that I can feel the warmth of his skin against my cheek even though we’re not touching. The space between us so small that it almost doesn’t exist. “Who’s the interesting subject in this picture?”
I shake my head and drop the phone, careful to turn off the screen so I don’t accidentally delete the picture. “Yeah, but that’s no fair. You waited until I was distracted. In fact, you distracted me on purpose. And like you said, you’re the professional here. You know how to make a blade of grass seem interesting.”
“A blade of grass is interesting if you take the time to really look at it.”
I slide my phone back into my pocket and shake my head. “Nope. You just destroyed your own argument with that nonsense. Don’t get me wrong. It was all very poetic and lovely, but I’m a realist. You travel the world. I work at a bar in the same town I grew up in. One of these things is not like the other.” I wander back around to my space behind the bar.
Dominic doesn’t argue, but I can feel his eyes on me the whole way. And maybe, just maybe, I keep thinking about what he said and wondering if he really finds me as interesting as I find him.
And damn if I’m not busy mentally checking off my sisters’ requirements. Sure, Dominic Kane has a few tattoos, and sure, I met him at The Bad Apple, and okay, he doesn’t actually live around here so a
nything long-term is off the table.
But!
He has a great job. Travels the world and inspires people all over the internet. Surely Chelsea and Maya could forgive the tattoos and the place we met because he is so damn interesting and not at all at risk of being a serious relationship. Surely they would be cool with me spending more time with Dominic Kane, my most favorite Instagramer of all time. Right?
Chapter Three
It’s been a long time since I shut down a bar, but judging by the fact that even the drunken herd of frat boys has started to stagger out, the fact that the energy in The Bad Apple has changed from throbbing and frantic to sedate and almost sad, I’d say that’s exactly what I’m doing here tonight. I’ll be so tired in the morning that it will almost hurt, but I think it will be worth it. There’s no way I’m leaving this place without at least knowing my bartender’s name.
She has to be one of the most unique people I’ve ever met. Bubbly like champagne. Hair the color of the sand on the beaches of Bora Bora with eyes the same vibrant color of the water. Tiny with a personality that fills the room. She draws the eyes of everyone around her and doesn’t even notice. She’s color and she’s energy and … she’s waiting for me to respond to something she just said.
“Sorry,” I say and tap my head. “Deep thoughts.”
She raises her eyebrows and makes a face that’s part belief and part sarcastic incredulity. “I bet.” She tilts her head to the side and lets her eyes hold contact with mine. It makes me smile. A lot of people flinch from my gaze. Start fidgeting or look at their hands or over my shoulder or anything but me, really. Later on, they’ll throw around words like intense and awkward. Not this little bartender. She just looks at me while I look at her.
“So…” She draws out the word and shrugs a little. “I asked what you’re doing in such an un-exotic place like Townsbury, Ohio. Home of corn and farmers and cow poop.”
“It’s beautiful here,” I answer truthfully, disappointed that we’re going to have such an uninteresting conversation as I hate my hometown and can’t see the beauty under my own nose. I had higher expectations for this woman.
“Sure it is,” she replies. “If you like … you know … corn.” There’s a metric crap ton of disdain in her voice. I’m guessing she really doesn’t like corn.
“I actually am quite fond of corn. But!” I hold up a finger and raise my eyebrows. “That’s not why it’s beautiful here. It’s green and clean and the air doesn’t sting the back of my throat or leave a bad taste in my mouth. The hills roll gently while the roads twist through them. And the sky goes on forever. I flew here from Africa—”
“See! That’s what I mean!” She swallows hard and her eyes light up. “Elephants and lions and a red sun setting over a red desert. I can’t even imagine.” She shakes her head, eyes lost in the romantic idea she has of the continent.
“Sure. Yes. It’s stunning and terrifying. But it’s dirty. And the poverty is …” How do I tell her about it so she understands? I don’t think I can. I don’t think I want to. “It’s clean here. The buildings. The homes. The people. It’s fresh.” I shrug and take a deep breath. “There’s beauty here.”
And a lot of it is standing right in front of me, I think to myself.
“I think you take this place for granted,” I say out loud.
She flares her fingers and makes a face that is mostly concession. “Probably. But don’t we all do that? Lose track of all the amazing things in our lives? Take them for granted?” She leans forward, elbows on the bar, chin resting in her hands. The light plays in her hair and eyes and I would love to take her picture right now. “Anyway. Back to my original question. What brings you here?” She leans even closer to me and lowers her voice. “Notice I took out the part of the question where I disparage the corn.”
I can’t help but laugh. “How about this? An answer for an answer. I’ll tell you why I’m here, but you’ve gotta tell me your name.”
She straightens and makes a silly face. “My name? Dominic Kane wants to know my name?”
“See? Now it’s only fair that I get to know your name. You know mine.”
“Right. But life isn’t fair, my friend. And how do I know that you’ll answer my question after I answer yours? Maybe I’ll tell you my name and you’ll just get up and walk away, leaving me to wonder if I’ll ever see you again.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry, sweetheart. You’ll be seeing me again.” I pause while she tries to cover the excitement that makes those blue eyes sparkle. Damn if I didn’t miss another picture opportunity. I need to learn to have the thing turned on and ready to go around her. “I don’t think this town is big enough to avoid it,” I say, grinning as I give her the answer I know she wasn’t expecting.
“And here I thought you’d be coming back in here to see me.”
I pretend to consider it like I don’t already know the answer. “I guess I could work something like that out.” My phone buzzes at me for the hundredth time since I turned it face down so I could give my attention to this woman. That’s the price of internet fame. A million people out there, all vying for my attention. “But, that means I really do need to know your name.”
She shakes her head and crosses her arms across her chest. “I’m taking a chance on you, Kane.” She’s waggling her finger at me and tapping her foot, putting on what she must think of as her tough face. “I tell you my name and I never see you again and I’ll post that picture all over the internet and let the world know just what kind of man you are.”
I know she’s trying to be funny, but I can’t let an opportunity like this go by. I let my face drain of all emotion. I slowly lean forward, letting my eyes burn into hers. I rake my eyes across her face and body, letting lust and fire burn in them. “And just how do you think you know what kind of man I am, little girl?”
She flinches. Just the teeniest little reaction. Just a hairline fracture in her confidence. Then she laughs and leans forward, closing the distance between us. “Dakota London,” she says. “Pleased to meet you.” Her smile is wide and real and the lust I tried to fake just a few seconds ago becomes visceral and real. I want to taste her. To feel her. To take her to my room and strip her naked so I can see all of her. Have her raw and real in front of me and know what it’s like to have her.
“See,” I say and shift in my seat, trying to make some room in the crotch of my jeans. “There you go, being way more interesting than me again.”
“Oh sure. Because Dakota London is much more interesting than Dominic Kane.”
“Oh, come on. Can you think of two places that are any more different? The tightly packed city of London versus the rolling wide open spaces of one of the Dakotas?” I try to figure out how to tell her that her name has more than one kind of energy, kind of like her, but I’ve never been all that great with words. Instead, I smile and hope she’s quick enough to figure out what I meant.
“That’s me,” she says. “More energy than you know what to do with. Now. My turn. Why are you here?”
I tell her about the job I have taking pictures of a bed and breakfast in the area in exchange for a free room for a week or two. I do that a lot. Trade pictures in exchange for a place to stay. Cuts down on costs and considering just how much I actually travel, cutting down on costs is a very good thing indeed.
“Oh wow,” says Dakota. “You just left Africa and came straight here? Talk about jet lag. Don’t you get homesick?”
“Can’t get homesick if you don’t have a home.”
Now I’ve got her confused. This part of my life is the hardest part for most people to wrap their heads around. “I don’t have a house. Makes traveling so much easier if I don’t have to worry about things falling apart while I’m gone. Or paying for a place I sometimes don’t see for months at a time.”
“Wow. No home.” Dakota looks thoughtful. “I can’t decide if that sounds exciting or terrifying.”
“It’s both. I try to keep myself booked for at
least a month or two ahead but that’s life experience talking right there. It only took me a few times of realizing that I wasn’t going to have a place to stay the next day before I figured it out.”
Dakota sucks in her lips and studies me. I study her right back. “What’s it like?” she asks. “Not having a home base? What about your family?”
A massive man waddles up to the bar. Surly. Angry. “Dakota.” He barks her name and she jumps. “Been watching you stand around chatting this guy up for most the night. How about you stop picking up strangers at my bar and start actually working for your pay.”
He hits her with a look that makes me want to hit him.
“Sorry,” she says after the asshole disappears. “My boss is … bossy.” Dakota laughs at herself and gets busy organizing stuff behind the bar.
“I should be going anyway. The best light is early light and it’s gonna be a bitch to drag my ass outta bed tomorrow.” I gather my things and finally check my phone. Just as I suspected. It’s so late it’s early and I have about half a million comments on my latest uploads to reply to. “Maybe you can show me the sights sometime before I leave.”
“Sure. I can show you all the corn you ever wanted to see.”
I shake my head and slide my phone into my pocket. “Sounds like maybe I need to show you the sights.” I manage to leave before she whips up a witty comeback. Turn around for one last look at her as I push through the door and find her smiling after me, her hands on her hips and her eyes lit up with that too wide smile of hers.
Chapter Four
I can’t believe I met Dominic Frickin’ Kane last night. And he’s as good looking as his pictures. And he’s as down to earth as he seems online. There’s no way I’m not going to see him again before he leaves. I have too many questions.
What’s it really like to live without a home?
What is his favorite place to visit?
