AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They had to let me go. There’s not much use for a travel agent with everyone booking their trips online, themselves. I did love it, but I have to admit, I love bartending too. I make good money, especially now that word has gotten around that Blaze and I broke up.”
“So, they give you big tips, hoping to get your number?” Dell asked.
“Yep,” she boasted, smiling at her brother like a loon.
“I’m not sure that I like you working in a place like that, sis,” he said.
“Well, I hate to tell you this, but I’m an adult and don’t need your permission to work in a bar,” she said. “So, if you’re going to camp out on my couch, you’ll need to keep your opinions about my job to yourself. Got it?”
“I’ve got it. I don’t like it, but I appreciate you letting me crash here for a few weeks,” he said. “You talk to mom lately?” he asked, not so subtly changing the subject.
“Yeah, about a week ago,” Blair said. She and her mother talked once or twice a month, and that was enough for her. Her mom usually talked about herself—what she had been up to, never asking about Blair or Dell. It was hard to take sometimes, especially when Blair had something exciting to share. That was usually when she called her brother to tell him her news, knowing that her mom wouldn’t really care.
“Did she have anything new to say?” Dell asked.
“You do know that you could call her and ask her yourself,” Blair insisted. Dell hadn’t spoken to their mom for months. It was the way that their relationship worked. Dell would call her on major holidays, claiming that he was out working on a rig, and didn’t have cell service, and their mom believed him. Her brother could facetime with her once a week, yet when it came to calling their mother, his cell service was suspiciously out.
“Not a chance,” he grumbled. “Listen, I love her and all, but I just can’t take how everything in the world revolves around her.”
“She’s had a tough life, Dell,” Blair defended as she usually did. “After our father took off, she’s had it rough trying to pay her bills and stay afloat. I’ve tried to help her, but you know how she is. Mom won’t take money from me.”
“That’s one of her good qualities,” Dell said. “She wants to make it on her own, and I can’t blame her. She doesn’t want to rely on anyone ever again.”
“Yeah, Dad kind of ruined her that way,” Blair said. Their father was a taker, and their mother was a giver—at least, she used to be one. Once he took off, their mother became almost selfish. A part of her couldn’t blame her for it, but she also didn’t like not being able to share anything about her life with her mom because she just didn’t care.
“You know, being with someone and giving them your trust, won’t turn you into Mom, Blair,” Dell said. “You’re nothing like her. You’re the best person I know, and you deserve to be happy,” he said. God, the last thing she wanted was to cry in front of her brother. She barely got to see him anymore and blubbering like an idiot wasn’t how she wanted things to play out.
Blair took a deep breath, willing herself to keep it together. “Thanks for saying that,” she said. “I’m working on it, but I’m just not ready to let anyone in. I’m learning to make it on my own, and then, I’ll figure out the rest.”
“I get it, and I can appreciate that sis,” Dell said. “I just want to see you happy.”
“I am happy,” she lied. She was completely miserable without Blaze, but she was learning to be happy. It was taking her one long day at a time, but she’d get there sooner or later.
Blaze
Blaze sat up at the bar, watching Blair as she worked to serve all the thirsty bikers. It had become his new pastime—watching Blair work, even though he knew that it wasn’t helping him to get over her. He wasn’t getting over her, no matter how many times he told himself that he was. It was a lie. He wanted her and sticking around the Smokey Bandits, every night that she worked, wasn’t his finest idea.
“You really are a masochist,” Joker said as he brought him out a burger and fries.
“Shut the hell up,” Blaze grumbled. “I’m hanging out at my club, with my brothers, having dinner. How does that make me a masochist?” Blaze asked.
Joker nodded at Blair and smiled. “Because of her,” he said. “You can’t seem to take your eyes off her. You do know that she notices you watching her, right? She’s already complained to Ryker that you’re creeping her out.”
“How the hell am I creeping her out?” Blaze asked. The last thing he needed was his ex complaining to his club’s Prez about him, “Creeping her out.” “Jesus, I can’t even come into my club anymore? I knew that her working here was going to come back to bite me in the ass.”
“Are you saying that you’ve changed your mind about her bartending here? I’m sure that if you say something to Ryker, he’ll figure out someplace else for her so that you two won’t have to cross paths.” That wasn’t what he wanted at all. Maybe he was a masochist and torturing himself by hanging around her felt right, even if it hurt like hell.
“No, not at all,” he insisted. “Listen, I’m just having a bad day.”
“Maybe it’s time you take one of those pretty bar flies back there home?” Joker asked nodding to the back of the bar where all the women hung out, hoping that a biker might notice them. He wasn’t interested in taking any of them home. The woman he wanted was standing ten feet away from him, sweet talking one of the guys as she served him his beer.
“Not gonna happen,” Blaze grumbled. “I’m not interested in starting something new up with anyone.” That was the truth of it too. He wanted what he had with Blair. Hell, he wanted it with Blair, but she wasn’t giving him the time of day anymore.
“She’s got a guy living at her place,” Joker said. “I’ve seen him in here a few times, and they seem close.”
“Did she tell you who he is?” Blaze asked. “I mean, did you meet the guy or recognize him?”
“No,” Joker said, “but, he comes in and sits up at the bar to talk to her while she’s working. I’m shocked you haven’t crossed paths with the guys, he’s in here so often. He must have gotten in an accident or something because he’s on crutches.”
