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A slow smile started to pull at my lips because everything she’d just detailed sounded like a ton of fun, and after the past few days I’d had, I could do with some fun.
“Okay, let’s do it. I don’t know what pool is, but I want to learn to play. Let’s go flirt and have a drink and live it up.”
Lyric hopped in place and let out a little squeal of delight. “This is so awesome! The people in this town aren’t going to know what hit them.”
Chapter
Twenty-Two
DEVA
Steppinginto Bad Alibi was like stepping into a whole new world. If I thought leaving the Fellowship behind to move into the town full of so-called sinners was going to be a culture shock, it wasnothingcompared to this.
It was sensory overload the instant I followed behind Lyric into the bar. Music that I didn’t recognize was pouring from the juke box, glasses clinked as people drank, and conversation of all different decibels filled the air. The air smelled of something I couldn’t put my finger on. It wasn’t pleasant or unpleasant, really. It was slightly bitter like coffee but had a tanginess to it that stung my nostrils just a bit.
“Have you been here before?” Lyric asked as we wound our way deeper inside toward the long bar that extended more than halfway across the back wall.
I was definitely out of my comfort zone, and not only because I was in an unfamiliar place. Before we’d headed to Bad Alibi, a bar that was supposed to be the hottest spot in town, Lyric had insisted we, as she put it, get gussied up for a night out. We’d gone back to her place, an adorable studio apartment over a flower shop in town, and there, she’d made me try on a milliondifferent tops until settling on the one I was wearing now. It was a sheer black racerback tank threaded through with strands of silver that looked like tinsel. I’d initially balked, given that the top was completely see-through, but when she’d held up the nude camisole I was supposed to wear beneath it, I’d finally relented.
It was fitted to my body, and the boatneck dipped low enough that some of my cleavage was on display, but I hadn’t fought it when Lyric insisted I looked hot as hell. She was way taller than I was, making the idea of sharing pants impossible, but we just so happened to have the same shoe-size, so she’d tossed me a pair of complicated strappy high-heeled sandals that I’d immediately refused. That was yet another argument she won, so instead of my flats, I was currently walking through a bar as carefully as possible in three-inch pencil-thin heels.
I shook my head and let my eyes take everything in around me as Lyric guided me by my hand. I recognized some faces, having seen them in town here and there, and returned smiles each of them gave me when our gazes connected. That worked to settle the nerves fluttering about in my belly like crazy.
We were just a few feet from the bar when I heard someone call my name. I turned in their direction and spotted Shane coming toward me, a round tray tucked beneath her right arm and a black apron tied around her waist.
“Hey. I thought that was you.” She surprised me by coming right into my personal space and pulling me into a tight, familiar embrace instead of stopping a few feet away.
It took me a second to get with the program and return the hug before she finally pulled back.
“I didn’t know you worked here.”
She smiled, no awkwardness or any hint she was judging me due to our last encounter. “Yep. For years, actually. It’s a good place to work, especially in a small town. Friends come in moreoften than not, so I get to spend most of my shifts hanging with my friends and family whenever there’s a lull.”
“Oh, that sounds wonderful. No wonder you like working here. I would too if I were in your shoes.”
“Thanks, hon. So, this is a nice surprise. I haven’t seen you in the bar before.”
“Oh... right. Um, this is my first time.” A sharp elbow to what should have been my ribs but ended up being the side of my boob since Lyric was so much taller reminded me that she was standing right there, so I got to work on introductions. “Shane, this is my friend, Lyric. Lyric, this is Shane. She and her husband are friends with my boss.”
“Lyric.” Shane extended her hand, and the two shook. “You’re the new town librarian, right?”
“That’s me. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too. So, you guys want to sit at the bar or a table? If you choose a table, you’ll have to sit in my section so we can visit.”
That was a really nice offer, and even more of my nerves washed away as I gave her a genuine smile. “Well, in that case, we’ll sit in your section.”
“Awesome!” she chirped, then started looking around for an empty table. “Come on, you two. Follow me.”
Lyric and I followed after Shane as she led us through a massive crowd of tables and people to a tall cocktail table surrounded by four stools. “This good?” she asked as she waved a hand toward the table.
“This is perfect,” Lyric said as we climbed up onto our stools. “Thanks.”
“Not a problem, so what can I get you guys to drink?”
Lyric didn’t hesitate to answer, “I’ll have a vodka tonic, two limes, please.”
It wasn’t so easy for me. Other than the wine I’d had with Myra, I’d never had a drink in my life. “I’ll have, um...”
