by Amber Nation
I saw the bartender approach, who I instantly recognized as none other than Grady Finnegan, partial owner of the bar and fiancé to Emmalynne Morgan. He was freaking gorgeous. Even though he was obviously taken, he still caused my breath to hitch.
“Hey, what can I get for ya?” he first asked Gio.
“I’ll have a Bud and Maggie will have,” he glanced my way.
I wasn’t much on drinking so I wasn’t up to date on what was popular, so I simply spelled out my request.
“I’ve had a shitty day I need something fruity, strong, and delicious.”
I took a quick moment to think if that concluded my key aspects of what I needed in a drink, then nodded my head, “Yep, that’ll do it.”
A slow sly grin appeared on Grady’s face and oh Lordy he needed to put that smile away, it was lethal. I wiggled in my seat due to the instant arousal I felt. Stop it Maggie, he’s happily taken.
Grady turned around to fill our orders, and I sat up straight in my chair and took a looksee around the bar before I looked back at Gio, who had a devilish smirk on his face.
“Was that him?” he asked, thankfully in hushed tones.
“Who? Charlie? No, that was Grady, he partially owns the bar. I’ve only met him once when his then girlfriend now fiancée was in the hospital. I doubt he remembers who I am.” I said and shrugged my shoulders, while wiping away nonexistent dust on the counter.
“Mags, you doubt your ability to impress anyone too much, when in fact you leave a long lasting impression on everyone you encounter. You are a true sweetheart whenever you let down your walls enough to let people in. Take me for example, I don’t become instafriends with just anyone, you have to be special. Your shyness and purity is what makes you such a special person. Once you land your special someone, he better grab ahold for one amazing ride, because once those walls of yours are broken into, it’ll be one hell of a sight to see.” He ended with a wink which caused me to blush like the awkward person that I was. I wasn’t used to receiving compliments, so I didn’t know how to react to them.
Grady returned with a bottle of beer for Gio and a glass filled with liquid that had a yellow-orange hue, for me. Leaning down level with the glass, I eyed it suspiciously as if it would jump up and bite me. Straightening back up, I asked, “What is it?”
“It’s called a Georgia Pie. Basically, it has equal parts Southern Comfort, Peach Schnapps, and Malibu Rum, with Orange Juice to top it off. It’s a Georgia specialty and it’s extremely potent, and it’ll knock you on your ass if you’re not careful. Enjoy.” He took his dishrag off of his shoulder and went about helping other customers.
I lifted my glass up off of the napkin it was placed on and brought the edge to my lips, taking the smallest of sips. Licking my lips making sure every last drop was off of my mouth because it was in fact incredibly yummy, I looked up to find Charlie standing frozen behind the bar except for the clenching of his jaw muscles. Feeling the flush creep up my neck, I quickly darted my eyes to Gio.
Gio could tell, by my abrupt movement, that things just took an uncomfortable turn.
Taking a risk and peaking back around towards Charlie, I noticed that he had his eyes narrowed murderously on Gio. What the hell was that about?
The drink was extremely welcome now and I picked it up and took a huge gulp. The mixture of peaches and oranges was so refreshing, and it went down incredibly smooth, almost too easy.
I looked back to Gio, who now had a mischievous look in his eyes, and I slightly shook my head while biting the inside of my cheek, silently letting him know not to go there. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Charlie stalk off towards what I assumed was the backroom. I let out an audible sigh in relief as my shoulders slumped. Yup, this was definitely unchartered territory for me.
I commenced drinking my drink which was disappearing quicker than I intended it to, so I raised my glass to Grady to indicate that I was in need of a refill.
It was no secret to Gio that I was avoiding him, which didn’t seem to faze him even in the slightest.
Clearing his throat, and pointing his index finger towards the space that Charlie had just occupied, “Ahem…so that was Charlie?”
Rolling my eyes, I decided to stop sulking, “Yes if you must know that was Charlie. I had no idea he worked here though, in fact I have no idea of anything about him other than his name.” Which just proved how insane this was, I was acting like a crazed school girl, acting giddy because a cute boy looked my way. But in this case, it was a mega hot man, who had strong forearms that I just wanted to wrap around me, and protect me from the cruelness of the world. Where did that come from? I wasn’t dependent on anyone especially a man, I took care of myself and had done so for as long as I could remember.
“I could sense the chemistry sizzling between the two of you and you weren’t even interacting. He thought we were together and he wanted to rip my head off. But he is very attractive.” He lightly nudged my arm with him elbow, “I think you should go for it.”
Downing the remainder of my drink, I picked up my refresher which seemed to appear out of thin air and took another hefty drink. I thought these were supposed to make me tipsy, but I wasn’t feeling a thing, no affect whatsoever, so I continued to chug along.
“Baby girl, I think you need to slow down a bit there, unless you have a new alcohol habit that I’m unaware of. You’ve got to be borderline drunk if not all the way,” Gio remarked.
“Pssh. I’m fine.” I waved him off. I was perfectly fine except for I was suddenly in the mood to dance. The DJ wasn’t playing anything from this decade, but it was dance worthy. I had never danced in front of anyone else but at the moment I didn’t care. I was ready to do as the song mentioned and bust a move.
“Let’s dance!” I screamed a little too enthusiastically. I annihilated the remainder of my Georgia Pie, slammed my glass upside down on the countertop, and grabbed Gio’s hand, who looked to be suppressing a laugh.
I went to hop off of the barstool and completely miscalculated my landing and ended up with jello legs, almost face planting amongst the other patrons. Luckily for Gio’s quick reflexes he was able to catch me around my waist.
“Easy there baby girl, I told you to slow it down,” he said in my ear.
I regained my bearings and straightened my composure by fixing my dress thinking no one would be the wiser, when Emmy approached me.
“Hey Maggie, I thought that was you. Are you ok?”
“Yup!” I exclaimed, “I may have had a teensy bit too much to drink.” I held out my thumb and index finger about an inch apart. “Grady said it would knock me on my ass and fuck if he wasn’t kidding.” Realizing what I’ve just said I slapped my hand over my mouth. “Oops, I just said fuck. I never say fuck. Fuck, there I fucking go again.”
Looking at Gio, I lightly patted his chest, “Come on my Italian Stallion, I want to dance!”
Emmy and Gio burst out laughing as Emmy said, “Toby and Tessa are out there dancing. I’m not sure if you’ve met Tess, but Toby was the one who went gaga over your boots this afternoon.”
“Oh yeah, good ole Toby. He freaked me out a bit earlier. Hey, is he gay? Because if he is…”
“Come on Mag Pie, let’s go dance,” Gio interrupted as the muscle in his jaw ticked and he yanked me out by my arm onto the dance floor.
I immediately spotted Toby, whose face lit up as he saw me approach, then he saw who I was being drug by and his smile died on his lips.
“Hey Toby, how are ya?” My words were coming out a bit slurred.
“I’m good, I can see that you are obviously having a great time.”
“Uh huh,” I said as I nodded my head up and down.
“This is my best friend Gio. Gio, this is Toby, I don’t actually know him. I just officially met him when I met Charlie.” Just by saying his name, my cheeks turned heated. But, I was too far gone to be embarrassed over my excessive talking and swooning over Charlie.
“Nice to meet you, Toby,” Gi
o boomed and clasped hands with him, while a spark of something that resembled a whole lot like lust flickered in each of their eyes. Toby took the time to scan the entire length of Gio’s hard body not even trying to hide his perusing, all while still shaking Gio’s outstretched hand. Hmm…Interesting.
Releasing each-others grip several moments later, Toby reluctantly moved his eyes from Gio to me.
“Maggie this is Tessa, she works here at the bar with Grady and Charlie, but tonight its girl’s night. Ems has been so busy with the wedding planning and getting things ready for the new baby to take a break. And well, the only bar around here is one that her fiancé runs, so of course she ditches us to play kissy face with Grady. But then again who am I kidding, if he were mine I’d be playing kissy face with him as well.”
He looked at Gio again and winked. Gio’s smooth olive skin turned a little flushed. Oh me oh my, Gio was actually blushing.
But out of everything that was said and done that wasn’t what I was focused on.
“You work with Charlie?” I asked Tessa. I was sure the stars in my eyes were more obvious than the surprised look on her face.
“Uh yeah?” she said with a questioning tone.
“Mag Pie here has a bit of a thing for Charlie,” Gio so rudely interrupted, earning him a punch in his chest.
“So Tessa are you ready to dance?” I yelled over Gio.
“Does a bear shit in the woods?” she asked.
I didn’t know what to think of this. I would’ve thought she was joking but the serious look on her face had me thinking otherwise.
“Is this a trick question?” My head was so foggy and my social skills even being drunk weren’t equipped for this. I looked between Gio and Toby and finally back to Tessa. If the Jeopardy theme could be playing right now it wouldn’t make this situation any less awkward. I mean, what kind of an answer was does a bear shit in the woods?
Tessa’s reaction wasn’t one that I expected when she tipped her head back and let out the biggest laugh I have ever heard then proceeded to snort which in turn caused me to laugh.
I was giggling so hard that it was now hurting to breathe. My side was beginning to cramp up and I had tears forming in the creases of my eyes due to my incessant laughing. I had to lean onto Gio before I fell over.
Tessa cut her laughter off immediately. It was the damnedest thing, like a switch she just flipped off. And with a straight face she said, “I fucking love this girl,” while pointing at me, “let’s dance.”
And just like that I felt myself starting to break out of my shell. I could see Tessa and I becoming great friends, there was just something quirky and different about her, which made it hard not to like.
An eighties classic jam came on and Tessa threw her hands in the air while she hollered out, “Yeah, this is my jam!”
“Every song is your jam, Tess,” Toby said, unamused while rolling his eyes.
They were both getting into the music and my nerves were starting to return. I slowly began bopping my head and shifting from foot to foot. I was sure I looked like a stiff corpse.
“Mags, you gotta loosen up and sway your hips. Come on move with me.” Gio placed his hands on my hips and began to move.
He didn’t tell me anything I already didn’t know. I was very used to dancing within the privacy of my home just never in the presence of an audience. I never had the opportunity to go to prom, so this was another new experience.
I let the music sink in while I placed my hands on Gio’s biceps. This was a fast-paced song so I felt my hips gyrate on their own accord. Continuing to sway my hips around I began to feel a bit more comfortable. I moved my hands from Gio’s arms and lifted them above my head, then I began moving around in a circle and adding a little shake to my booty. I closed my eyes, letting the music wash over me, and just continued my dance.
I felt free and liberating and if I dare say, even a little bit sexy, which I knew had to be all in my head, but for right now I was going to own it even if it was for myself.
Several songs passed by and I was sweaty mess, but I was having such an amazing time that I didn’t want to stop.
Tessa said that I had the ass for twerking, so she was currently trying to show me how.
I wasn’t so sure that I wanted to learn how to do that.
I looked to Gio with wide eyes and I mouthed the word HELP. He proceeded to chuckle and said, “I’m going to go get a drink, do you want another one?”
“Sure, but not as strong as the Georgia Pie.”
He nodded and walked off and I muttered, “Ass,” under my breath.
I reluctantly looked back to Tessa who was still continuing her instruction of bouncing her hips up and down. This was supposed to be sexy and seductive? The way she was squatting and thrusting her hips just made her look friggin’ ridiculous. But whatever, to each their own.
(Charlie)
Seeing Maggie here at the bar tonight, was the last thing I expected, but seeing her out on the dance floor shaking her ass and all up on some guy was pure fucking torture. I told myself that I would stay away from her, but I never really intended to. I was going to follow my heart this time and consequences be damned, but it looked as if she already had herself a man so I had to force myself to step back. It just fucking sucked.
She looked incredible out there. She was dressed in a black dress with her knee high boots that she was wearing earlier today. The outfit certainly didn’t scream provocative, but on her it looked entirely fucking sexy, but then again she could’ve been wearing a paper bag and would still be able to turn me on.
She appeared to be entirely drunk, but seemed to be coming around a bit. Seeing her swiveling her hips had my dick straining against my jeans. If this erection didn’t let up soon, my zipper may leave a permanent indention. Lucky for me I was the man behind the counter, so no one could see the raging hard on I was sporting like I was some fucking fifteen year old boy.
It was a Wednesday night, so it wasn’t very busy which was another negative, I had downtime and as much as it pained me to see her here with another man, my gaze was still drawn to her.
“Why the hell are you sulking?” Grady asked, forcing me to pull my gaze away from Maggie.
“I’m not fucking sulking,” I mumbled, partially under my breath. But that was a complete lie. I’ve never wanted to pursue a woman as much as I wanted to Maggie, not even my quest for Emmalynne was this powerful.
“Bullshit. Ever since that couple came in you’ve been acting as if you have a stick up your ass. What gives, who is she?”
Expelling a breath, who was she? Someone I wanted to get to know, that was for damn sure. “Her name is Maggie Walker, she was Emmy’s nurse last year when she was in the hospital.” Recognition flickered in Grady’s eyes. He wasn’t with Emmy during the time that she was in the hospital, so he was only there long enough while she was unconscious, to know that everything was going to be alright. I continued on, “I’ve seen her out and about a few times, but I officially just met her this afternoon.” I didn’t go into detail about watching her while she was out on her runs, I didn’t want anyone to think I was some type of psycho stalker. But then again, thinking I was some pansy ass acting like she was my first high school crush wasn’t a good thing either.
I leaned in a little closer and lowered my voice, “I also found out that she’s Mason Walker’s sister, the douchebag drug dealer I’ve been keeping an eye on. I knew he had a sister but didn’t know her name until today.” That right there should be enough for me to back off, but there was just something about her that drew me in. But now that I knew she had a man, I had to try harder to stay away, I was not one to condone cheating. There really was no point to it to me.
“Something tells me that they aren’t together, but here’s your chance to find out.” Grady gave a slight lift of his chin, causing me to face the bar in time to see the Italian heading my way.
He approached, eyeing me warily.
“Hey man,” I said, trying
to keep things cool, “what can I get ya?”
“I need another Bud and Mag Pie, needs something that is not quite as strong as that Georgia Pie she had earlier, so how about an Amaretto Sour?”
“Yeah sure, coming right up.” I moved to grab his beer and mix Maggie’s drink, not adding in as much of the almond liquor, so it wasn’t as strong.
With his bottle and her glass in hand, I set them on the counter in from of him. Call me a glutton for punishment, but I couldn’t leave well enough alone. “So have you and Maggie been seeing each other long?”
Hopefully it wouldn’t have been long, then maybe just maybe there was a chance for me. I’d never seen him around here before which didn’t mean much, it was just odd.
“Nah, Mags isn’t my girlfriend,” he muttered, while chuckling.
“She’s not?” There was no masking the surprise in my voice. “Then what’s with the pet names?” Mags I could definitely see but Mag Pie? What the hell?
“I’ve known Maggie about five years now. Met her after our first year of college, been best friends ever since. Not many people get me, but Maggie, she totally does, and me with her.”
“So you two have been strictly platonic friends?” Geez get it together Charlie.
“Charlie. . .” Hearing that he knew my name had my brows instantly arching. “Look at Maggie.” I did as he said and saw her giving an odd look to Tess who appeared to be... twerking? Jesus Christ. But then again, that was Tessa.
“I’m looking at her,” I replied.
“Now, tell me what kind of dress does she have on?”
What the hell did that have anything to do with whether they were platonic friends or fuck buddies? I decided to humor him and answered his question, “I don’t know, a black one?”
“It is a split neck chiffon dress in charcoal. It was last year’s style but she loves it so much that she doesn’t care,” he answered.
“Ok, so you are a fashion designer? What does that have to do with my original question?” This guy was a little freaking weird.