by Jami Wagner
“Wait a minute…does this have anything to do with Ethan?” Logan suggests, folding his arms in front of him.
“Oh, I bet it does,” Sarah says.
Logan reaches his arm over the counter, his palm flat, and Sara gives him a high five. It’s like I’m not even here. How does Logan know about Ethan anyway? I just found out yesterday.
“He called me this morning, wanted to get together but something came up, said he needed a rain check.” Logan shares this piece of information as he joins us behind the bar. I continue with my side work and listen to them at the same time.
“Yeah, well, it better be for something good because he said he was going to be late.”
He probably went to change his shirt, but I’d be okay with him not changing his shirt and just forgetting about it altogether.
“Hello? Earth to Kelsey!”
I look up from—wait. Was I just staring at the sink water this whole time?
“What’s your deal?” Sara asks.
“She knows something,” Logan answers.
They both study me with their full attention. I crack under the pressure. It only took two seconds, but it’s always hard to keep things from Sara. Then you add Logan, and there’s no hope. They make a strong team.
“Alright, so I may have seen Ethan once or twice since yesterday.” That sounds good enough. I turn with the intention of filling the sink at the other end of the bar, but Sara grabs my arm. I keep my eyes pinned to the floor.
“And…?”
“And…I might know why he’s late?”
“Is that a question?”
My face wrinkles up. I want to avoid this whole conversation. Treat it just like a Band-Aid, Kelsey. One quick pull and it’s over.
“I may have kicked him in the face, given him black eyes, hit him with my car door, and burned him with coffee right before I got here.” I shrug. “Hence no coffee.”
Phew. I can breathe now. I pull my gaze off the floor to look at Sara.
Scratch that.
Based on the look on Sara’s face, I might not be breathing much longer.
Ethan
“You did what?”
I clear my throat as I walk inside. I don’t want to eavesdrop on whatever I interrupted. Kelsey, Logan, and Sara are the only ones here, and all three pairs of eyes focus on me. Kelsey looks like she’s about to cry. Sara’s eyes practically bug out of her face, and her mouth falls open as she takes a sharp breath. Logan just raises his eyebrows and lets out a whistle, scratches the back of his neck, and walks away. Maybe I should have driven home to get a new shirt instead of buying a new one in town so I could be on time.
“Oh my god!” Sara shouts as she rushes to me. She gushes over me and examines all the viable bruises. It’s like having my mom here all over again. When she finishes, her worried eyes meet mine and they quickly turn cold. She whips her head around so fast I swear she snapped something.
“This is all because of you?” she asks Kelsey. Her tone is sharp.
Kelsey is standing behind the bar, frozen. She nods slowly. Even when she’s sad, she’s beautiful. I want to hold her and tell her not to worry because it’s not her fault. Most of it was just really bad timing on my end. I notice a glimmer in her eyes and my body flinches. I move to take a step toward her, but my cousin cuts me off.
“In there…now!” Sara shouts at Kelsey, pointing in the direction of her office. Wow. So she can act like a boss, even though now is not the time, considering this isn’t work related. I reach out to stop her.
“Sara, it’s not what you think. Wrong place, wrong time is all,” I say.
“Yeah, three times?” She huffs. “I don’t think so.”
I watch as Kelsey follows her with her head hanging low. The front door opens and a guy and two girls walk in, wearing black shirts that are sporting the BA’s initials across the front. One of the women is the redhead from yesterday. Their conversation comes to a stop when they notice me. None of them say anything as they step around me and disappear down the hallway to the left that leads to the bathrooms and break room.
They don’t know me. Sara never introduced us yesterday, and the bar is closed. Someone should have questioned why I was standing here. Do they just let anyone walk in before they open?
“So,” Logan’s voice brings me back to reality and reminding me he’s probably the reason they didn’t stop me. “You already ran into Kelsey, huh?” He grabs the towel hanging over his shoulder and dries his hands. I let out something that sounds like a laugh, a sarcastic one.
“Yeah, looks that way.” I point to my face and move to stand across from him. He tosses the towel on the counter and then squats down. One by one he begins placing bottles of whiskey on the bar top.
“Kelsey was trying to give us a quick rundown before you came in,” Logan says; it sounds muffled since I can’t see him.
He stands, putting his palms flat out to either side of him, leans forward, and nods in the direction of Kelsey’s office. My head follows his gaze. “I have to tell you, man, I think Sara was faking the whole being mad thing.”
“You think?”
“Yep. I’ve worked with those two long enough to know when they are faking it.” He chuckles. “So tell me…did she really kick you in the face? You look like shit.”
I pull up a stool and take a seat. I explain my last twenty-four hours to him and he just nods, laughing at the right times. Everything sounds different when I say it out loud. In a way, it looks like I was intentionally trying to be around Kelsey at all those moments.
“Does she know that you told me about your kiss?” Logan asks.
I shake my head. “No. She would kill me.”
I’ve never understood why Kelsey got so mad that day. Yes, I had a girlfriend and it was wrong to be kissing someone else. But I was sixteen. Relationships aren’t serious at that age, and this was Kelsey. I had wanted to kiss her since the first day I visited my cousin.
I remember it clearly. I’d been sitting in Sara’s parents’ living room, setting up my Xbox when Sara came running into the house with Kelsey right behind her, laughing. Sara called me a loser for playing video games, but Kelsey just stood there. We stared at each other for what felt like forever to any fifteen-year-old until Sara dragged her away.
From that moment, the idea of Kelsey has always stirred my body.
Chapter Seven
Kelsey
“Oh. My. Gosh,” Sara squeals the moment she closes the door. She stands in front of me, crossing her arms. A smile appears slowly. “Tell me what happened. It has to be good. Boy, did you do a number on him, Kelsey. He looks like shit.” She straightens her arms and grabs each of my shoulders. “Please tell me some of it was an accident from, you know.” She wiggles her eyebrows.
Whoa. Freeze. Sara is excited about this?
“I…” I’m so confused. I thought she was bringing me in here to scold me for hurting her cousin. She can’t really be serious about Ethan and I fooling around. He’s been back for a day.
“Um no. It wasn’t like that.” I take a step back.
“Then tell me what happened.” She can barely contain her excitement. She moves around the desk, sits down, and rests her elbows on the desk with her chin in her hands. “Okay, I’m ready,” she says.
I take a seat in front of her and lean back. The chair squeaks. My arms flail in the air as I feel as though I’m about to go down. Sara just watches me until I regain my balance. “You need to buy a new chair,” I tell her.
“It’s fine. Now tell me!”
As I place my hands on each armrest, I debate whether or not to say anything. I should just sit here with a smile on my face in total silence. I give it a try. Not two seconds go by.
“Uggghhh.” Sara groans and throws her head back dramatically. “You’re such a pain some days. Just spill already.”
Ah, what the heck.
“Alright, so last night Ethan saw me while I was trying to get inside my parents’ house and though
t I was breaking in. He didn’t know it was me. When he tried to pull me off the fence, I kicked him in face, causing his black eyes.”
Sara looks confused.
“So he just happened to be in the neighborhood. How did he know where you were?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I guess he lives in the house across from my parents.”
“He bought a house?” she says, shaking her head. “Why would he do that if he’s only here for a year? Maybe less.”
“I don’t know. Maybe he wants to stay longer. Just because he lives there doesn’t mean he bought the house.”
Sara stands and starts pacing around her office. “It just seems weird. He never liked it here and that’s a new neighborhood. I can’t imagine they would rent houses already.”
I don’t say anything because she looks deep in thought.
“Anyway.” She breathes. “Go on.”
“Okay, so then this morning, my car wouldn’t start and I hit him in the face with the door when I got out.”
“What was he doing with his face by your door?”
“I have no idea.” I laugh. “We never got that far. And then I spilled coffee on him, which again, is why I am coffee-less.”
Sara frowns and crosses her arms. “I thought it would be more interesting than that.”
I start to apologize for being so boring when Abby, one of the other bartenders, knocks on the door and pokes her head inside.
“Hey, Sara…Kelsey.” —she looks away when she sees me— “everyone is here for the meeting.”
Sara gestures with her hand for me to get up. When I stand she locks her arm with mine and quietly says, “Try not to hurt him too badly tonight; you’re training him.”
I glare at her as we walk out of the office to see everyone sitting around the bar. There’s only one seat open and it’s right next to Ethan. Since Sara will most likely stand to talk during this meeting, I wander toward my seat, and Ethan keeps his head down as I sit next to him.
Sara starts off the meeting discussing pointless stuff: cutting the chit-chat when we’re on the clock, people slacking off on their side work, and, of course, showing up to work on time. She jumps right in to the schedule and confirming that she met everyone’s requests. People begin passing out this week’s copy. The papers come to me. I take one then deliberately pass them to Ethan. Still, it startles us both when his fingers brush mine as he grabs the stack. I jump slightly in my seat, turning to face him. Our eyes meet and neither of us moves. My mouth instantly runs dry and I have to force the lump in my throat down. Ethan’s lips move into a sly grin as he pulls the papers from my hand.
“Hello…hi, yeah, remember me?” Sara says in front of us. Holy crap. Wasn’t she just standing at the other end of the bar? I pull my gaze from Ethan’s and turn until I’m facing Sara. My cheeks are heated as I focus on her and no one else.
“Oh good, you do,” she says sarcastically then winks at me. She totally loves this. How embarrassing.
“As I was saying,” she continues, “Ethan will be taking over for me.” She gives him her best poker face. “Hopefully he can keep your interest longer than I apparently can.” She says it to everyone, but secretly I know she is directing it to me.
It might not be work related, but trust me, Sarah. Ethan has plenty of my attention, and I don’t see that fading anytime soon.
Ethan
Well, this is one hell of a way to start my new job. Making goo-goo eyes with some chick. Focus, Ethan. Kelsey is an employee at the BA. Nothing more. I’m here to succeed at moving some numbers to get my father off my back. Kelsey Brian will be nothing but a distraction. Even as I think it, I doubt myself.
I take my frustration out on the empty keg in front of me, moving it from the cooler to the storage room across the hall, with all the other empty ones. A girl can’t be more important than family. It’s not possible. But this is Kelsey. She’s always been different. As a kid I was never sure why, but now, I’m starting to figure it out.
Sara thought it was best to have her show me the ropes. The night is almost over and I need a break. Being around her is messing with my head and I don’t like it. She’s almost as unorganized as my cousin, and it drives me nuts that she doesn’t write down every order. She claims it’s not necessary, but I think it is. Oh, what do I know? I’ve never had to serve people anything before now. Instead of scribbling down an order, Kelsey just smiles and surprisingly remembers what people want. Everyone in the bar loves her and I know exactly why. She’s smart, confident, and as of now, there isn’t a dull moment when we are together. It’s refreshing, and already I want to spend more time with her. But that’s not why I’m here. Just get the number, move some money, and be gone. Don’t complicate things by falling for her.
I finish switching out the keg, then step into the storage room and grab a stack of towels as I head toward the bar. One of the other bartenders, Abby, is blocking my exit. At a quick glance she’s cute with a tiny waist and big boobs. But when I look closer, her hair is so light I’m not sure if it’s blonde or white and her skin looks like it’s about to shrivel up and fall off if she lays in one more tanning bed. She gives me a playful smile as her brown eyes glance over my body.
“So, are you the same cousin who used to visit Sara over the summers?” she asks quietly.
“Yep, that’s me.”
What does this girl want? I’m not in the mood for this. She takes a step, leaning into me. I can feel her breath on my ear when she whispers, “I’m Abby.”
She smells like rotten coconut, and her breath isn’t any better. This is one fine example of a girl who could be pretty only on the inside. Apparently she’s a space case, too. I’ve been here long enough to know her name. She should clearly know mine now too. Since she’s still leaning into me, I whisper back.
“I know, and I’m Ethan, your boss.”
She backs off, but her smile doesn’t falter. “I know.”
“Then get back to work,” I say firmly because she isn’t figuring this out fast enough.
This time, her smile falls from her face before she turns to leave. I shake my head as I watch her round the bar, and that’s when I see Kelsey watching us. She has a blank expression on her face and it doesn’t change after I walk up to her. She looks down to her notepad before she says anything.
“You don’t have to be such a dick. You’re going to be here for a while and you already have someone who doesn’t like you,” she says. “It might be a good idea to make a few friends while you’re here.”
Did she just call me a dick? I’m pretty sure that’s violating some kind of rule.
“Employers shouldn’t make friends with their employees,” I defend myself, resting against the bar, keeping a straight face and looking her in the eyes. Unless Kelsey wants to be friends, and then I’ll make an exception. I just won’t tell her that.
“Yeah, well, good employees are the ones who enjoy working for someone they like. Someone they can get along with.”
She tucks her notepad into her apron and walks away. What? No way is she getting the last word. I come up behind her as she stops and almost run into her.
“We get along. We can set an example. Show everyone what the boundaries are between employer and employee,” I suggest. My voice sounds desperate. To spend more time with her or to prove a point, I’m not sure. Pull it together, man.
I need to prove a point.
She spins around, her mouth open like she is going to say something, but she stops. She takes a deep breath then looks me in the eye.
“No.”
No.
People don’t say no to me.
“What do you mean, no?” I growl at her.
Now she’s looking at me with pity. She gives me a half smile.
“Look, Ethan, with our history it would be a bad idea. We have never been able to play nice with each other. It happens.”
History? We don’t have a history. We kissed once and then she freaked out on me. Besides, she
’s the one who can’t play nice. Not me. I’m a nice guy.
“Hey, I’m not the one who kicked myself in the face, hit myself with a car door, and then dumped hot coffee all over myself,” I say politely, refreshing her memory.
She scrunches up her face and then pulls her lips into a hard line as she tries not smile. She starts to clear the dirty dishes sitting on the table near us.
“I didn’t mean to do any of those things and you know it. I thought we were past that.” Her tone is light and playful. I smile as I approach.
“Well,” I begin and help her clear the table. “You did get me pretty good. How about if you lock yourself out again, you come get me and we can avoid the cops next time.”
For the first time since we started this conversation, I cause her to smile. If she liked what I said, I will absolutely find a way to get her to come to me. We walk the dishes to the bar, setting them on top so the closing bartender can wash them.
“Ok, I will,” she says and looks around. “But I don’t plan on locking myself out again, so I don’t think we will have to worry about that.”
I give her my biggest grin. Yeah…we’ll see about that.
Chapter Eight
Kelsey
It was a waste of time showing up to class today. I haven’t been able to focus in any of them. It’s been two days since I saw Abby flirting with Ethan. I didn’t like it and hope I don’t have to witness it again. I’ve never felt that way about any guy. Ever. Not even when she walked out of my bathroom that god-awful day I caught Tyler cheating on me.
And Ethan’s not your man, Kelsey.
The way she stormed away from Ethan, I knew he shut her down. It took everything I had not to smile at him when he caught me watching. How could I be interested in him again after just a couple days? This just goes to show how unstable my brain is when it comes to choosing someone of the opposite sex.
“Are you even paying attention?” Logan whispers.
I shake my head no.
“Then let’s skip out because I’m about to fall asleep.”
We quietly grab our bags and sneak out of class without drawing attention. This isn’t good. Ethan has distracted from the one course I give a rip about. In fact, the other night, I wanted to do nothing but write and Ethan got in the way of that too. This isn’t a good sign.