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I eye his too small coat, but let it go. We don’t know each other well enough for me to push the issue. “All right, offer’s there if you ever need it.”
He nods and smiles brightly. “Appreciate it.” Then he scoops up his book bag and heads out.
“Was that Arthur?” Carter’s voice comes from the doorway at the opposite end of the room, nearer to the offices.
“Yeah, he was the only one who came.”
Carter nods and helps me stack away the chairs and tables I’d pulled out. “Yeah, he usually is on Fridays. Sorry, I forgot to mention it. I had other things on my mind.”
“Anything I can help with?” I ask.
He shakes his head and releases a frustrated sigh. “Unless you can stop people from being dickbags, no.”
“Depends on what they’re being dicks about, I guess.” I pick up the last chair and add it to the top of the pile.
“What are you doing now?” he asks.
The abrupt change of topic takes me off guard. “Umm, tidying up.”
Carter shakes his head. “After this, dumbass.”
“Oh. No plans. Probably just Netflix and chill by myself.”
He arches a brow. “Okay, that’s a little more information than I was ready for.”
I roll my eyes as I flip him off. “Not what I meant.”
“Ah-ha. Anyway, I need a drink. You in the mood to meet a few more locals?”
“Sure, why not. Unless I’m going to get jumped again?” I ask, eyeing him.
He slides his cell from his pocket and shoots off a text as he says, “Nah, my boys are pretty solid. Mase might manhandle you a little, but I’m sure you can deal with him. He’s a make-love-not-war kinda guy.”
I grimace. “You know what, on second thoughts—”
“You’re coming, I already told the guys.”
We finish pushing the tables to the side of the room, grab our stuff from the office, and make our way to the foyer.
“So where are we going?” I ask.
“Jack’s. It’s the only bar worth going to in town. You know where it is?”
I nod. “Yep. I’ll see you there in a bit.”
We part ways and I speed walk to my car because it’s frickin’ freezing. Five minutes later, I’m pulling into a parking spot on Main Street then digging my hands as deep into my pockets as they’ll go, desperate for warmth. I trudge down the sidewalk with my shoulders up around my ears to the entrance of Jack’s Bar & Grill, sighing in relief as I step inside the toasty interior.
The fireplace is raging, and people are everywhere. Clearly, this is the place to be on a Friday night in Shiloh Springs. I spot Carter over by the bar and make my way through the crowd to him.
“You drink beer, right?” he asks as I stop behind him.
“Is that a serious question?”
He gives me a tight nod. “Good. Mase and Trick scored a booth, you can head over, and I’ll be there in a minute,” he tells me, pointing to a couple of the buffest guys I’ve ever seen, lounging in a booth near the fire.
Luckily for me, I’ve never been a shy kind of guy, so I wander over and introduce myself. “Hi, Carter sent me over, I’m Arlo.” I stick my hand out to the dude closest to me who’s got wild curly brown hair and a huge shit-eating grin on his face.
He gives me a chin lift as he accepts my hand. “Mase. And this shit head here is Trick.” He tilts his head toward the guy sitting across from him who pointedly glares back before turning his head to give me a quick nod.
