Oath Sworn - K.N. Banet Page 0,2
the reasons my bar was so empty when normally I could get ten or so people in on a weeknight, more the closer the weekend got. “Go drink your beer, Joey, and-” I looked over to my clock on the wall above the window I had previously been staring out of, “-I close in an hour.”
“Fine, fine.” He waved a dismissive hand at me, then grabbed both his drinks and sauntered off. In another life, I would have found a saunter like that attractive, but Joey was absolutely not my type. Physically, he was fine, except the beginning of a beer gut. He was an average five foot nine, only an inch taller than myself, with a decent build. He had clean brown hair and nice brown eyes. He kept a perpetual scruff that didn’t turn me off.
Like always, though, there were some problems. Off the top of my head, I could think of three. One, he was a blazing alcoholic, and that had always been a turn off for me. Two, I didn’t fix men, and Joey was the type who needed a woman to come in and fix him. Desperately. I didn’t have it in me. So, while he might have been attractive, I wouldn’t overstep friendly bartender, no matter how kind he was. He could be attractive and kind might work with other women, but I was never going to fall for it. I couldn’t.
Three? My kind didn’t date humans. Never. Not even for a fling. Not even a one night stand. It was completely out of the question.
An hour later, and the news was still talking about the werewolves in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I still had a throbbing headache, which wasn’t normal since I almost never got headaches, and Joey was long gone, earlier than normal.
“All right, everyone! Time to get the fuck up and get the fuck out!” I yelled over the news and the quiet country music that I naturally blocked out. I hated country, but the regulars didn’t and it paid to keep them happy. “Move!” It was what I said every night, and like a good little herd of sheep, everyone, all of the three people left in my bar, stood up.
“G’night, Jacky!” one called, followed by the other two.
I waved towards the door, continuing to try and usher them out. I still had to clean up before I could leave and they were taking their sweet-ass time. “Goodbye, boys! Drive home safe or call Ubers!” If they even knew what Uber was, I’d be amazed. Does Uber even get to this area? I have no idea.
When I could finally lock the door behind them, I sighed. It was a normal Thursday night, really. I let my head fall against the door thinking about it. Another Thursday night in a tiny dive bar named Kick Shot off US-175. It was the life I had wanted six years ago when I opened it.
It was still the life I wanted, but it was lonely, and I wasn’t afraid to admit that. It was lonely and tiring. I was open five nights a week, Tuesday through Saturday. Five to one. No one helping out, no one to go home to.
I was worse than Joey.
“Fuck. None of that thinking, Jacky. Think of the alternatives.” Even saying the word alternatives made me remember exactly why I had chosen the life of bar owner outside a small town in Texas. The other options I had made me want to gag.
I cleaned up my tiny bar quickly. It wasn’t much work on the quiet nights. I didn’t balance the books until Sunday, so once I was done loading my dishwasher in the back and sweeping the floor, I had nothing to do except go home, if I even wanted to. I had a small apartment above the bar, along with my office, but I really only used it on the long nights when going home and coming back didn’t seem worth it. Tonight wasn’t one of those nights, something I was thankful for. My skin itched, which was a sign I needed to head home and stay there for the evening.
I walked out the back, locking the last door behind me. I didn’t really need to, since I had no fear of anyone breaking in, but I didn’t like taking chances.
Turning away from the building, I dismissed the idea of driving home. It wasn’t very far to my house. Kick Shot was surrounded by the pine forest that