envelope for covering my tables when I refused to leave the bar earlier. “I asked about his brother.”
She looks up at me, pushing in chairs on her way back to the bar. “Bear?”
“No, his other one.” Sighing, I jam my cell phone into my back pocket. There’s a brief moment when I look at it, as if I’m going to see an apology from him, but then I remember he doesn’t have my phone number. Would it be wrong to give it to him? Shit. I shouldn’t even be thinking about that. That leads to connections or attachments. I don’t want or need either. “I guess there’s one named Rhett,” I mumble when she passes by me, her eyes on Avie’s office.
“Oh, I didn’t know that.” She leans casually against the bar, sighing. If I had to gather, this is her way of making small talk, and I can’t blame her. She’s probably eager to barge into Avie’s office to either throw herself on his desk or get him to explain the wink. “They didn’t say anything about him the other night.”
“Because he’s off-limits from what I gather.” I laugh, reaching for my bag under the bar. “I think there’s a lot about them we don’t know.”
“And you’re sleeping with one of them….” Her voice trails off, as if to hint that I’ve been in this position before, and I should have learned my lesson. I did. Don’t get attached.
“No, I’m fucking one of them,” I point out, a sour edge to my tone. “There’s a difference.”
“Uh-huh.” Her laughter floats through the bar. “I told myself that too.”
When we’re finished closing up, Presley offers to give me a ride back to the house. I tell her no because I remember what happened the last time Lincoln left the bar. He’d been waiting for me, and even if he’s not, I’m going to find him and demand he tell me why he left so suddenly.
Thankfully, Avie is distracted with paperwork, and Presley is hanging out inside. “Need any help?” she asks him, nervously shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
Avie doesn’t look up from his laptop, but he tosses his phone on the desk. “Yeah, line up the deliveries for the morning. Sam hasn’t texted me back.” Sam is a beer rep who is constantly late on deliveries. We’ve tried to find another distributor, but being in a small coastal town, it’s limited.
Presley smiles. “Oh, I can do that.”
Well, at least she’ll know now if he’s hiding anything from her on his cell phone. Knowing Avie, he’s not. He’s just… Avie. But enough about him.
Just as I reach for the handle of the door, Kylo finds me, he and Everett, with their jackets in hand. “Need a ride?” Kylo asks. I notice Kylo’s nervousness. His shoulders tense the moment we’re standing next to one another.
“You don’t have a car,” Everett adds, walking ahead of us. At the door, he spins and lays his back into the steel frame. “Don’t be offering rides in my truck.”
He’s teasing.
Smiling at Everett, I lean my shoulder into Kylo’s. “Thanks, but I’m okay.”
His breath catches, and I realize I probably shouldn’t have done that. He probably thinks I’m flirting with him now. Aside from the obvious five-year age difference, I might consider Kylo. He’s cute, shy, sweet, everything a girl like me needs. But unfortunately, I’m that girl that wants a man to slide his sure and steady hand up my skirt and not have his fucking hand shaking while he’s doing it. Not that I’d ever wear a skirt, but you know what I mean.
I take another step toward the door, our bodies separating from one another. Kylo reaches out and touches my arm. “You’re going to walk home by yourself?”
“I do it all the time.” My eyes drift to his hand, and he immediately retracts it, shoving it deep in his pockets.
Everett groans. “C’mon, Ky. You’re blowing it.”
Kylo pushes past him and out the door. “You’re a dick, man.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “See ya guys tomorrow.” I wait until I hear Everett’s truck leave the parking lot.
Slipping out the back door, I curl into my jacket. The cool early morning air hits my face, and it feels like I’ve stepped into a creepy movie. The town has its usual layer of fog. I turn the corner to the street and come to a dead stop when I notice a shadow move near the windows lining the bar. Startled, I touch my