voice.
“Vodka,” she yelled, still about twenty-five yards from me. “Must have vodka.”
Passersby turned and stared at her as she plodded toward me, looking as if she’d gotten caught in a gang war on her way home.
“Good day, huh?” I said when she reached me.
“I feel unprepared for the real world.”
“Wow. So today triggered like…an early life crisis. Intense.” I pulled open the front door of the bar and gestured for her to go first.
“Such a gentleman,” she snarked.
“Shut up.”
I hadn’t been in Rafferty’s in a while, but it hadn’t changed at all. It was still a little dark, giving it a slightly dingy appearance, but the bar was almost full, and there were also people congregating around the pool tables and dart boards.
The conversations were loud and boisterous, but a joviality carried across the din that gave it an upbeat atmosphere. In short, Rafferty’s was a typical neighborhood hole-in-the-wall, but the drunks were happy ones.
It was my kind of crowd.
Taylor and I found two open barstools and slid onto the red-leather cushioned seats.
A guy approached, wiping his hands with a towel, and smiled at us. “Can I see some IDs, ladies?”
We both fished them out of our wallets and handed them over. The bartender inspected them with diligence before handing them back.
“What can I get ya?”
“Lots of vodka,” Taylor replied quickly.
The bartender leaned forward and propped his hands on the bar. “Tough day?”
“Yes. Drunk is the only way to survive.”
“You’re in the right place, then,” he said with a grin. “My name’s Wyatt.” He extended a hand to each of us in turn, and we introduced ourselves.
Wyatt seemed particularly interested in getting to know Taylor, which was great. I looked him over as he listed drink options with “lots of vodka” to Taylor. He was attractive: tall and broad with dark hair and stubble on his jaw. He looked a little too mature to be college-age, but not too old. Definitely under thirty.
Totally acceptable for Taylor.
“And for you?” he asked me, interrupting my plans for matchmaking.
“Oh, um, cosmo, please.”
“Coming right up,” he said and started to turn away, but I called him back.
“Do you know if Drew’s here?”
I could’ve texted him, but I’d been hoping to surprise him. I’d expected him to be behind the bar and hoped he hadn’t gone home already.
“Yeah, he’s around somewhere. You a friend of his?”
“She’s his girlfriend,” Taylor said in a singsong voice that likely annihilated her sex appeal.
Dummy.
Wyatt smiled. “He’s out back on the new deck. I can slip back there and tell him you’re here.”
“Can we go out there?” I asked.
Wyatt shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I’ll put your drinks in plastic cups so you can take them outside.”
“Thanks.”
Wyatt nodded and went about making our drinks.
“He’s got great forearms,” I whispered in an attempt to get Taylor interested.
She looked over at me, her face scrunched up. “Forearms?”
“Yeah, didn’t you see them when he was leaning on the bar? They’re all veiny and thick. Sexy.”
“That is literally the least sexy description of arms I’ve ever heard.”
“How many descriptions of arms have you heard before?”
She thought for a second. “I’m coming up empty.”
“So it’s also the most sexy description you’ve ever heard.”
“Touché. But you’ve set the bar very low.”
“Low standards are kind of my specialty,” I said with a wink.
She laughed loudly.
God, it was so good to have her with me for the summer.
“Here ya go,” Wyatt said as he set our drinks in front of us.
“Great. Can you start us a tab?” Taylor asked.
“Sure, but first round’s on me.”
Taylor gave Wyatt a smile that lacked her usual sultriness. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“Do we go out that way?” I asked, pointing at a door at the back of the place.
“Yup.”
I smiled my thanks and stood with my drink. Taylor followed, though I could sense her sashaying more than walking behind me. I threw open the door and stepped out into the sunshine.
The door opened onto a small landing, and there were about four steps leading up to the deck. When I got to the top, I stopped abruptly, causing Taylor to walk into my back.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
I slid to the side so she could stand beside me.
“Dear Lord,” she muttered. “What are they doing?”
“I wish I knew.”
Across the deck from us stood an alarmed Drew watching Brody, who was using both his feet and hands to balance on the railing.
“Dude, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Drew said.
“You have a better one?”
“We can just tiptoe back across and touch up