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“I may have to take you up on your often then. Your place or mine?” I joke.
He laughs and shakes his head. “It wasn’t an offer. I don’t sleep with employees… or my sister’s friends.”
I stick out my bottom lip. “But I have a feeling we’re made for each other,” I tease, and he rolls his eyes.
He lets out a laugh at my stupid joke. “Go. Go home. Go away. Go somewhere other than here.”
I toss him the envelope with my daily deposit and grab my things. “See you tomorrow,” I say with a grin. I look back before pushing through the door. He’s leaning against the counter with his arms crossed, watching me leave with a smirk on his lips. Something tells me he enjoyed our exchange as much as I did. And for the first time since I started working here, I made him smile. Maybe I’m starting to get to him. I guess there’s only one way to find out for sure.
6
TRAVIS
It’s Friday night and for the first time all week, I feel like I can breathe because that means I don’t have to put up with Riley. John took the day shift today, and I’m covering the night shift. I’m almost excited to go in, thinking it will be like old times, before Riley worked for me. I can hang out with the guys at the bar, have a couple of drinks, and probably watch a game or two on TV. I feel like I can relax, whereas I usually have to guard myself with her around.
I go in and John and I switch places at the register. After he leaves for the day, I busy myself making sure everyone has enough to drink, and then I go about checking the coolers to make sure I don’t need to stock anything. One good thing I can say about Riley is that she always leaves everything fully stocked… John doesn’t. It takes me about an hour after coming in to stock and rotate everything while serving drinks between. Once everything is stocked up, I crack open a beer and put an old UFC fight on the TV for everyone to watch while we sit around.
The door to the bar opens around nine, and in walks Riley. All the guys greet her, and she stops, giving each a hug until she makes her way to an empty barstool. I can’t help but notice what she’s wearing: A short, tight denim skirt and a white tank top. I can see her neon pink bra through the top, and her long blonde hair frames her face perfectly. She’s wearing more makeup than she usually does, and I can’t help but wonder why she’s coming in all dolled up. Is she meeting someone?
She smiles at me and digs into her purse for some cash. “Can I get Crown and Red Bull?”
I feel my brows lift. “Sure,” I manage to get out, surprised she’s drinking crown and not something girly like the wine coolers we hardly ever sell. I make the drink and slide it over to her.
She gives me six dollars. “Keep the change.”
I move to the register and put in the money. “You don’t have to tip me, Riley. I’m your boss. It’s not appropriate.”
She takes a sip and grins. “You want to give me the tip, then?”
The guys bust out laughing, and I’m left speechless and shaking my head.
Steve looks up at me with excitement in his eyes. “Seems to me like she’s asking for the tip, boys. Who’s going to volunteer?” he asks, raising his hand.
The other guys join in, raising their hands, too.
Riley laughs and waves them off. “You all are married. You better keep your tips to yourselves,” she jokes.
I watch as she moves to the jukebox and puts in a few bucks. After a moment, music comes on and to my surprise, the customers are bobbing their heads to the song she picked. I guess she’s worked here long enough to know what they prefer to listen to, but I’m still surprised by her choice of music. Most women her age would pick a popular pop song, but she goes all the way back to 70s rock, playing Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and The Doors.
She puts back her drink faster than I would’ve thought possible, and then, she’s pushing the glass back over to me to refill it. I refill the glass while she and Tom get up to play a game of pool. With live entertainment, everyone on the other side of the bar spins around to watch them play rather than watch the fight on TV. I even find myself watching as she takes shot after shot.
It takes her a moment to get into the game; she misses the first couple of shots. But then she warms up, lining up her shots, and taking her time. She knocks them in one after the other. She ends up winning the game, and she’s so excited that she leaps into Tom’s arms for a hug. His face is priceless as he holds her against him, even though it’s all in good fun and completely innocent. I can’t help but feel a little jealous and that’s when I stop paying attention, turn my back on them, and go about refilling drinks.
It shouldn’t bother me that Riley is making close friends with the guys. It shouldn’t bother me that they take every opportunity to flirt, as I know it’s all part of the gig and nothing is serious. It shouldn’t bother me that Tom got to hold her against him while I can’t. But it does. It eats me up from the inside out. If anyone gets to feel her pressed against them, it should be me. I’m the one who put up with her ass growing up. I’m the one who gave her a job when she needed it. And I’m the one who’s dreamed of sliding inside of her long before anyone should’ve been thinking that about her. Fighting against the pull she has on me has been exhausting. I’ve been doing it too long. But at this point, I don’t know any other way. Our families are so connected… I can’t even think about what would happen if I were to give in, only to hurt her in some way. That’s why the best plan of attack is just to continue to avoid her at all costs.
“So tomorrow night, it’s going to be you and me, right?” Riley asks when she takes her seat at the bar again.
I nod. “Yeah, but you won’t have to come in until around eight. The band will start playing at nine.”
She nods. “Sounds good. I guess I better take off before I have too many of these.” She stands and moves around the bar to hug the men who are always flirting with her. “I’ll see you all tomorrow night,” she says, walking out and leaving all of us to stare after her.
“Why don’t you just give in already?” Tom asks, pulling my attention back to him.
I look over at him confused. “What?”
“We can all see how much you want her. It looks like she wants you, too. Why not give in already?”
I roll my eyes. “I do not want her,” I lie.
