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But if Pike wasn’t hot anymore at least I could be over him. I could say, well, he was hot then but he’s not hot now and it’s fine, I’ve moved on the way that he’s obviously moved on.
That would just be too easy for the universe though, wouldn’t it? Too easy for me, huh? Pike just had to stay fucking drool-worthy didn’t he?
Damn him.
I had a lot of customers so it was easy to just keep watch out of the corner of my eye as he casually sauntered up to the bar and held a hand up for a beer. I got him one and passed it to him without looking at him, focusing on the orders of other customers.
But I watched, though. I couldn’t help myself.
I watched as Pike made his way back through the crowd, and I watched as a woman who looked to be in between him and me in age come up to him. I wasn’t surprised it had only taken a few seconds. Everyone knew everyone in this town and that meant that all the good guys were taken, or you’d already dated them and things hadn’t worked out. Slim pickings. And Pike wasn’t any random guy, he was drop dead handsome and his smile could charm anyone.
The girl flirted with him—I couldn’t hear what they were saying but I knew what flirting looked like and this woman was not being subtle—and then I watched as he followed her to a booth where another girl was sitting. She quickly made room for him.
Yeah, soon other women would be swarming around him like bees to honey. And I couldn’t blame them. I was envious. Of course I was. I could feel my cheeks heating up and my stomach was churning. But what could I do about it? I had no right. He wasn’t my boyfriend. Pike wasn’t my anything, in fact. He never had been. And he was a handsome, charming guy. It wasn’t his fault that he was that way and it wasn’t the fault of the women that they noticed that and wanted a piece of it.
Didn’t stop me from feeling sick about it, though.
I wondered if he would make up for lost time now that he was back. He’d been on and off with Amber before, and even though every other girl in town had wanted to get with him, he’d never been with any of them. He’d been oddly monogamous that way and I’d respected him for it. I think everyone else had, too, even when he was running around painting the town red.
Hell, he was probably excited to finally get to let loose that party aspect of his that he’d had to keep leashed because he was in a relationship with Amber. There had been girls ready to throw themselves at him and he must’ve known it. Even now I could see him chatting with them, a few more women joining the booth like he was holding court, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if the women were all drawing numbers to see what order they’d go in as they took turns with him.
I knew I was only punishing myself by thinking about this. The mature thing to do would’ve been to ignore it all completely and just carry on with my life. But I was so angry about the whole situation and how it had turned out, and despite my best efforts, all the things I’d told myself over the last four years—now that he was here in person I couldn’t deny that I still was desperately attracted to Pike. I was joking and laughing with everyone, trying to keep my head in the game and trying to play my part as the entertaining bartender, but it was like my head wasn’t even really in it.
I was so distracted I didn’t even realize how sloppy my movements were becoming and how little I was paying attention to things until I completely knocked over a glass, shattering it—and splashing the beer inside it—all over the floor.
Shit. This really wasn’t my night.
The guys at the bar all hooted and hollered, amused and some of them a bit tipsy. I quickly cleaned up the mess, apologizing. “Next round’s on me, all right?” I said.
“Sure thing,” one of the guys said. He was one of the younger oil field hands, good looking enough (although nothing compared to Pike, my traitorous mind reminded me). I couldn’t quite remember his name—it really wasn’t worth remembering people’s names, it was better to remember faces. The guy leaned in, grinning at me. “So long as you do a shot with us.”
I could kind of drink on the job. The boss told us that if we had one or two shots or nursed a beer with the customers, it was fine, all a part of creating a party atmosphere and selling the place. But we couldn’t actually have enough to get us drunk. That would make it impossible for us to do our jobs—not to mention it would be illegal.
