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Darius shook his head. “It would be messy. Home and asleep. That’s what we should do.” He finished his beer, then turned around so he leaned back on the bar. “Besides, I prefer having a clear head around her.” He took a breath and shifted on the stool. “Drunk sex is usually disappointing, anyway.”
The fact that Darius said it gave me pause. “What are we celebrating?” I asked, wondering if Adam and Cam had talked to him. They would’ve said something to me about that, right?
“I got a new job,” he said, grinning at me. “It’s not as much as I made on commission, but I don’t have to worry about dipping into savings if I have a shit week, if you know what I mean.”
“That’s great,” I said, meaning it. Hopefully it was a good thing. We could move forward with better ease from here. “I just need to clean up,” I said as I pulled Adam’s keys from my pocket. “You can wait for me in the truck, as long as you promise not to drive away. I’ll get Gary to watch you and call the cops if you do.”
“Are you trying to get rid of us?” Adam asked, looking offended.
“If we get away from the loud music, I’m gonna fall asleep,” Cam admitted. He rubbed his face, then pulled out his phone and squinted at it. “It’s fuckin’ late.”
I felt that. “What’s wrong with falling asleep in the truck? You don’t trust these two to not do you wrong while you’re sleeping?” I asked. I didn’t hang out and wait for his answer. The longer I stood there to chat, the longer it would take me to finish up so we could leave.
“I worked today too,” Cam said as he leaned heavily onto the bar. “It’s one. I’ve had too much to drink. I’m tired. There’s no way I could stay up much longer.”
“That definitely takes sex off the table,” Darius said as he nudged Adam’s shoulder. “There’s no way you’re gonna be able to talk her into it.”
I released a breath. How was I supposed to take that? Was Darius interested still, or was he just trying to keep us away from that? I shook my head. I couldn’t dwell on it. I couldn’t read anything into it if it wasn’t there.
I busied myself behind the bar as Adam huffed out, “We’ve waited inside before. Why cut us off now, Gracie? We can hang out and sober up while we wait on you.”
I started to explain myself, but I spotted Chad coming out of the DJ booth. He plastered a grin on his face as he approached the three men that were still at the bar. “I got the tunes for the after party, bros,” he said by way of greeting. “All for the right price.”
I didn’t wait for their response. Chad had a way of inserting himself into groups that weren’t looking for his services. At this hour, I could only hope they wouldn’t take him up on the offer. I wasn’t looking forward to a soundtrack going on before we eventually passed out.
Fortunately, it was something that didn’t happen, because Chad went back to the DJ booth and began to shut down—thefinal signal that it was closing time. No more drinks would be served, and all the bar patrons needed to find their way home.
Elle and I made quick work of the bar. She didn’t stay behind and offer to help with the three men that were clearly plastered. She walked out the door, leaving me the last mess to take care of.
“I hope you can walk,” I said as I gathered the three of them, “because now it’s time to get in the truck so you can go home.”
“I’m good, I’m good,” Darius said as he stood. He wavered for a moment before heading toward the front door. He only stumbled once, which was promising.
Adam wasn’t as sure as Darius. As soon as he got to his feet, he stumbled. Cam shouldered his weight with me, and it wasn’t long before I was tugging the two of them out of the door. I took his keys from him and, with a little help from Gary, I got the three men loaded up into the truck.
“You’re gonna need to tell them I don’t provide these services for free,” Gary said as he closed the passenger door. “That way they know, if they come here after your last day, they are gonna need to find their own way home.”
I didn’t want to tell him they weren’t privy to the fact that I’d put my two weeks in. I didn’t know if there’d be a reason for them to come to this bar if I wasn’t here. “I’ll let them know when they sober up,” I told him. “Thanks. For being understanding and an awesome boss.”
Gary grunted and stepped away from the truck so I could climb in. It looked like Cam hadn’t been able to wait us out. He had dozed off with his brow pressed to the glass. Darius had also fallen asleep. He’d tilted his head back against the headrest and his eyes were closed. He didn’t even twitch when I closed the driver’s side door.
Adam sat beside me in the passenger seat. He had his chin resting in his hand, propped against the center console. He gave me a pleased grin. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I echoed, and opened up my hand. “Keys.”
“It’s a push start. You put your foot on the brake and hit the button,” he explained, only slurring slightly. “This is my baby. Don’t wreck it.”
“I’ll try my best,” I assured him as I did as he instructed. Adam’s truck was larger than Cameron’s sporty car. It felt like I was driving a bus. Fortunately, it was late enough that there wasn’t a lot of traffic. “You said you were celebrating a new job?” I asked. “Where at?”
“Made some connections while I worked for your dad,” he explained as he leaned back in his seat. “Had someone come in looking for a deal when I wasn’t there, he called me up,” he continued with a wave of his hand. “My cell phone number was on my card.” He looked so pleased with himself. “I always thought that was a shit way to get me harassed by someone that thought I was fucking them over. Instead, it got me my foot in the door with a contractor as a buyer for materials.”
I blinked, glancing at him. “Do you even have any experience with that?”
He snorted out a laugh. “I don’t, and I’m not handy at all.” He sighed. “But he liked the way I haggled with him over the cost of his company trucks. Something that was six months ago. The fact that he remembered me is fucking marvelous.” He reached across the console to nudge my shoulder. “If he has to buy more trucks, it’ll be me going to buy them. That means I am literally taking money from your fucking brother.”
I didn’t point out that I worked there now. I knew nothing about car sales. The last few days at the dealership had been in the parts department. Dad had coupled me up with his best employee over there and he was teaching me everything he could about cars without me taking one apart.
It was something new and something that I was enjoying.
