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“Good thinking, sis, let’s wrap this up girls.” We all finish off our drinks and start packing everything up.
“I hate that we can’t bring chairs in with us.” Rowan is pouting while we pack up. I laugh at her dumb ass.
“Ro, why would you want to lug these chairs all the way there? We won’t sit anyway; we dance, and shit, the entire time it’s pointless. Quit your whining.” She throws a handful of ice cubes at me and I squeal as one makes its way down my shirt.
“Bitch.” I let it fall out and we finish packing it all into the truck. Once we have that all done, we take inventory. We check to make sure we have cell phones, money, and ID. We never carry purses, so it’s whatever can fit in our pockets. Satisfied we have everything we need we start our long hike to the stadium.
“Holy shit, how much longer? I am fucking sweating.” Lacey is complaining next to me. I roll my eyes. I turn to face the three of them and start walking backward.
“Listen fannies, we are going to see Luke fucking Bryan. I don’t care if we have to walk a damn mile, while we sweat all of our makeup off. Don’t bitch about everything and start enjoying our night.” I don’t understand why they are always complaining. We are out for a good time, so what if we have to walk a bit. I turn back around and feel a hand grab mine. I look over at Rowan and she squeezes my hand. I smile at her and give her a wink. I turn my head back to see Lacey and Lane. “Girls, are you ready to shake these asses?” I yell getting a bunch of ‘hell yes,’ ‘woo-hoo,’ and whistles from the crowd around us. We all laugh and continue on our walk.
We finally make it to the stadium and the energy is absolutely electric. We are waiting in line to show our tickets. Thankfully, I remembered before we left the truck to grab them. That would have sucked. We show our tickets and start to make our way to the lawn. “Let’s try to get as close as we can,” Lane says pushing her way through people. She cracks me up with her ‘take no shit’ attitude. We get on the lawn and it is already starting to get crowded; I’m so glad we left when we did. Lane leads us up to the railing that separates the lawn from the stadium. I like it, and it is the perfect spot. I can see the stage and no one can stand in front of me blocking my view.
“This is perfect. Now we just have to wait about an hour for the show to start.” We start talking and taking in the amount of people flowing onto the lawn. I smile thinking this night is going to be fucking epic.
I AM WIPING DOWN THE bar waiting for everyone to get here. Usually, Friday nights are one of my busiest and I don’t normally take off, but we’ve had these concert tickets for months. I know that ‘James Bar’ is in good hands tonight. I’ve got my best bartender on, and I put extra waitresses on just in case it gets crazy. I love my bar. I spend most of my time here. Shit, I live above it for Christ’s sake. It was my dad’s bar, but when he suddenly passed away a few years ago I took it over. My mom sort of lost her mind when my dad died. She went into a deep depression, neglecting everything. It was a low point in both of our lives. Before I decided I needed to grow the fuck up, I spent my fair share of time in a drunken state. I partied and drank every day to forget about the hell we were going through. What pulled me out of it was when I stumbled in the front door one night and nearly tripped over my mom. She was on the floor, in the fetal position, sobbing and screaming for my dad. I fell
to my knees and wrapped my arms around her. We both cried for hours that night. That’s what made me realize I needed to grow up and not only take care of her, but of all the things she was neglecting.
I was only twenty-one when my dad passed away--that was four years ago. I haven’t touched alcohol since the night I found my mom on the floor. I took over the bar and have been taking care of my mom since. I got her to see a therapist two years ago. He prescribed her anti-depressants; she’s been doing better, not great, but better. I sometimes feel like I am a hell of a lot older then twenty-five, but this is the life that was handed to me. I am so damn thankful for the sanity or insanity my friends bring to my life. They are a bunch of assholes, always busting my balls, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I check my watch. “Shit.” I throw the rag in the sink and pull my bartender, Roy, over. “You sure you’ve got this? I can just give my ticket to them to sell.” I hate leaving my responsibility on someone else.
“Cooper, I’ve got this. You never go out and do anything. Go have a good time; get laid.” I narrow my eyes at him and he backs away from me. “Or don’t, your call, boss.” He grabs the rag I threw in the sink and continues to wipe down the bar. He has a point. I never go out. I can’t remember the last time I went to a concert. I do need some time off every once and a while to regroup. As for getting laid, well I don’t have a shortage of women, that’s for damn sure. I had a girlfriend last year, but it didn’t last all that long because she didn’t like all the attention my mom required. It wasn’t a hard decision to let her go--my mom and my bar come first. I have no room in my life for anyone who doesn’t understand that.
I run upstairs to get ready really quickly before everyone gets here. I take a quick shower and throw on a pair of jeans with a black T-shirt. I look in the mirror as I run my hands through my dark brown hair. My tattoos always catch my attention, and I love every one of them. Just then there is a knock at the door. I grab my wallet and shove it into my pocket on my way to answer it. I can hear them all already; I smile and shake my head. I open the door, and Levi, my best friend pulls me in for a hug. “You ready to get this night started, man?”
“Hell yes. What’s up guys? Hi Nia.” Nia is my buddy Hunter’s sister. She is a couple of years younger than us. When we got tickets to the concert, Hunter surprised her with one for her birthday. He watches out for his sister and I have nothing but respect for that. She’s tried in the past to come on to me, but I’ve only ever thought of her as a sister. She is good with that now and has moved on to wanting Ryder. Ryder, Levi, Hunter, and I all went to high school together and have been friends ever since. It will be an interesting night, that’s for damn sure.
“Let’s grab a beer before we head out. What do you say Coop?” I just close the door behind me and lead them to the bar. I go behind it and grab four Miller Lites, pop the tops, and hand them to everyone who is now sitting at the bar.
“Just one guys, I don’t want to park too far from the stadium. Levi, did you pack the grill and grab the burgers?” I love tailgating at concerts. It just makes it that much better.
“Asshole, you texted me two hours ago to remind me. Of course, I brought it all. I also grabbed beer and water for you.” I have to admit that I appreciate that none of them bust my balls for not drinking. Obviously they all saw what I went through, but I still appreciate it nonetheless. I nod my head and look around the bar just checking to make sure that everything is set for opening. I usually open earlier on a Friday, but with going out I opted to wait as I’m stressed enough. The girls are all setting up the tables and Roy is cutting up fruit for the drinks. I start to feel a bit better seeing that they all seem to be doing what they should be.
“Man, relax. You are entitled to have a night off. You should do it more often if you ask me,” Ryder says throwing back his beer. I sigh and shake my head. I know I should take more time for myself, but I just don’t see the point. All my friends end up here anyway, especially on Saturday nights when we have live music. That brings in a huge crowd and I am grateful this concert is on a Friday.
“Hey Boss.” I turn to look at Roy and he raises his pierced eyebrow at me. I laugh and flip him off. He thinks I’m sticking around to make sure everything is running smoothly. Well, lucky for me, I can blame it on these guys wanting a drink even if I am doing just that. A squeal breaks me out of my thoughts and I look over at Nia at the same time as the rest of the guys do.
“What the hell, Nia?” Hunter yells.
“Sorry. I just saw on Facebook that a girl I used to hang out with in high school is going to the concert. I hope we see her.” Hunter shakes his head and finishes off his beer.
“Don’t get your hopes up, baby sister, there are going to be a lot of people there.” He stands up and throws money down on the counter. One thing I can say about these guys is they never expect a drink for free. They know how hard I bust my ass and never take advantage of it. Everyone else stands, indicating it is time to leave. I walk to the other end of the bar and throw my arm around Roy.
“If you need anything at all, call me.” He laughs and wipes his hands on a rag.
“Boss, I’ve got this, but if I need you I promise to call. Alright?” I know he is full of shit; he won’t call unless the damn bar is on fire, but I’ll take what I can get. I give him a slap on the back and make my way outside to meet up with everyone. I unlock my Ford F250. This truck is the only new thing I’ve bought myself in years. It is silver with black interior and it is a fucking dream to drive. Also, it has the extended cab so I can still fit everyone in here.
“Cooper, I put the coolers and grill in the bed before we came in, so we are ready to roll,” Levi says jumping in the front seat. Ryder, Hunter, and Nia get in the back, and I hop into the driver’s seat.
“Alright, you guys ready for a kick-ass night?” I ask and push the key into the ignition and listen to the purr that accompanies it.
“Fuck yes.”
“Damn right.”
“Bring on the hot cowboys.”
We laugh at her reaction because Hunter hates that shit. He’s happy to pretend that his sister is still a virgin, although I can’t blame him. If I had a sister, I would probably be the same way.
