AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Allowed or not, though, I’d never had a single drink with a customer. I wanted to keep a level head, keep my wits about me. And I didn’t want any of my customers thinking that they had a closer relationship with me than they did, or that they had more of a shot with me than they did.
But you know what?
I glanced over at Pike, who was telling some kind of story, gesturing with his hands, wearing a grin wide enough to split his face. The women around the booth were rapt, listening in with stars in their eyes.
“Sure,” I said to the guy, before I could change my mind. “I’ll have a shot with you all.”
The men cheered, and I saw several of them yelling to others that B.A. was finally going to have a drink with them. B.A. was my nickname at the tavern. It was short for my name, Billie Adams, but it was also short for Bad Ass. I liked the nickname, actually. I felt like a badass when I was here. Like I could be as tough as I wanted, like people actually respected me.
“All right, all right, you’d think I was entering a wet t-shirt contest,” I mock-complained. I stood up on a stool so everyone could see me as I downed the shot.
The men all cheered, and I gave a deep bow. “Thank you, thank you, I’m here all night.” The alcohol burned like a motherfucker, stinging my eyes, but it also felt like exactly what I needed. I bowed again.
Hopefully that bit of liquid courage would help me to ignore Pike and his entourage, but the only thing I could think was that he wasn’t paying attention to me even with all the noise and applause around me. Fuck, I knew I was being childish, wanting his attention, but I also couldn’t seem to stop myself. I got down off the stool and when the guy who’d said to do a shot with him asked if I wanted another, on him this time, I said sure.
What the hell, right?
I took the second shot, enjoying it, but also knowing that this was going to be the last one for me tonight. I had to count the till and everything and I couldn’t do that with my judgment or my senses impaired. The guy cheered and I winked at him. Yeah, I never flirted but just this once would be harmless. Anything to distract myself.
And if I was really doing it in the hopes that Pike would notice—well, I could ignore that thought well enough, just like I’d ignored every thought about him for the last four years.
7
Pike
I’d come to this bar to meet up with some old friends and see how everyone was doing, but I had to say, I was thinking this might’ve been a fucking mistake.
There were all these women trying to get my attention, and honestly, yeah, it was flattering. I was having some fun flirting with them. But I wasn’t interested in doing anything more with them, and they were being way too boisterous. Like they were all trying to show off for me and trying to get my attention, and they were doing it by competing to be the loudest person at the booth. It was overwhelming and exhausting.
And I didn’t want to just be a prize that someone won. I’d been well aware of that back in high school and college when I’d been with Amber. Every time we’d been ‘on a break’, girls would try and get with me and I’d known that it was just so they could brag about it. I didn’t like feeling like a piece of meat or a bragging opportunity.
The only person who’d ever sounded like they genuinely wanted me for me, who sounded like they had wanted to be with me and not with ‘the baddest boy in town’ had been Billie. And I couldn’t be with her.
Even if I also couldn’t stop looking over at her.
She was clearly a favorite with everyone here. She was wearing these tight jeans that showed of her ass and this tight off-the-shoulder top that had my heart damn near stopping when I first saw it. Fuck, she was hot as sin and I could hardly keep up, keep my eyes off her. The men seemed to be respectful about it, which was good. None of those rednecks were fit to tie her fucking shoes, never mind put their hands on her.
Not that it was any of my business. Billie didn’t want me and so I couldn’t muscle in. She wasn’t my property. But I couldn’t stop myself from being drawn to her, keeping tabs on her a little.
She was flirting with this one guy, letting him buy her a shot, and envy rose up sharp inside of me like bile. I wanted to be the one making her laugh and wink like that. If only.
