Drunk Girl

by Samantha Lind

  With our first round of drinks in our cover charge-stamped hands, we head for the dance floor. With it being Saturday night, the stage is filled with a band hoping to make it in the country music industry. They’re pretty good, singing mostly covers and a few original songs during their set.

  “You ladies ready to hit our next stop?” Tiffany asks, once there’s a lull in the music as the bands switch out.

  “We’re ready!” we all answer at the same time.

  “Next stop is Second Fiddle,” Zara calls out.

  We leave Tootsie’s and head next door to Second Fiddle. With another set of hand stamps and drinks, our time at Second Fiddle, then at Holly’s pick, all go the same. Drinks, dancing, and celebrating our girl. At each bar, we fend off different groups of guys, who all buy us rounds of drinks and attempt to dance with us, hoping to score and take someone home with them tonight. Little do they all realize, out of the five of us, I’m the only single one in the group.

  “All right, ladies, we’ve got one last stop,” I tell them, a little after midnight. “We’re headed to The Tap House for one last round of drinks and some of the best greasy bar food around.”

  “I love it there!” Tiffany slurs slightly.

  “I’ve got the Uber ordered, so hit up the bathroom and let’s meet outside.”

  Tiffany, Nikki, and I head for the doors to wait outside while Holly and Zara stop by the bathroom. Thankfully, the lines must be short as they find us outside just as our ride pulls up.

  “Evening, ladies,” our driver greets us as we all pile in his minivan.

  “Good evening.”

  “I’ve got The Tap House as a destination, is that correct?” he asks, before pulling away from the curb.

  “That’s correct,” I confirm.

  “Perfect. You ladies having a good night?”

  “We sure are,” Tiffany tells him. “My girls, here, sure do know how to celebrate a birthday.”

  “Well, happy birthday,” he says on a laugh.

  With the late hour, we make it the few miles to The Tap House fairly quickly. “Thanks for the ride,” I tell him as we all exit the van. I look around to make sure no one left anything, and see Tiffany’s phone sitting on the seat.

  “Hey, Tiff,” I call out as she stands a few feet away from me on the curb. “You forgetting something?” I tease, as I hand her the phone.

  “Thank you!” she squeals. “That would have totally sucked to lose my phone tonight.”

  “Yes, it would,” I agree as we make our way inside. I quickly scan the place, looking for a table for us to occupy, so we can order some food to help soak up the alcohol we’ve consumed tonight. I see one fairly close to the bar and make a beeline for it.

  “The nachos are amazing. I had some the other night when I was here,” I tell the girls as we all gather round the table.

  “Yes! We need an order of those, along with the giant pretzel with beer cheese,” Tiffany says.

  “That sounds good to me,” Holly states as a waitress approaches the table.

  “Evening, ladies,” she says, setting down a round of shot glasses.

  “We didn’t order those,” Zara tells her.

  “Oh, I’m aware,” she says, a huge smile on her face. “These are on the house, sent straight from the bartender himself.” She motions over her shoulder to the guy behind the bar. I look over and notice it’s Nick, the same guy from the other night who saved me and was so, so kind to me.

  “Thank you!” Tiffany yells, lifting her shot glass up and nodding her head to Nick.

  He laughs at her drunkenness and mouths back, “You’re welcome,” before he turns his attention to the full bar in front of him.

  We place our order for both food and drinks, then sit back to relax for a little bit. We’ve been on our feet almost all night, and I know my feet are killing me, so the break from dancing is much needed.

  “Thank you, girls, for the incredible night. I know it isn’t over yet, but I wanted to tell you all that before we parted ways. I love you all so much and am so blessed to have you all in my life.”

  “Aww, we love you, too,” we tell her at the same time, sending us all into a fit of giggles.

  “Ladies.” A deep rumbling voice from behind me sends a hush over our table, and I immediately know who it is. “I’ve got an order of nachos and a giant pretzel with extra beer cheese,” Nick says, as he sets the two plates down on the table, along with some small plates for each of us to use. “Can I get anyone anything else?”

  “We’re good,” we state as we dig in to the food in front of us.

  “All right.” He laughs as he watches us all stuff our faces with huge bites of food. “If that changes, just flag one of us down,” he says before retreating from our table to back behind the bar.

  “Ready to dance?” Tiffany asks everyone, once we’ve finished all the food and drained our drinks.

  “Maybe for a few more minutes,” Holly says. “After eating and sitting for a while, I’m starting to feel tired. It’s past my bedtime.” She laughs, and Zara and Nikki agree with her.

  “We can head out if you guys want to go,” I offer.

  “No, we’d hate to make you guys leave before you’re ready. We can always grab our own Ubers home. I was just going to leave my car at Tiff’s until tomorrow anyways,” Holly states.

  “If you’re sure?” Tiffany says to them.

  “Of course. You stay and enjoy your night out,” they tell her.

  Tiffany and I make our way over to the dance floor as the other girls head out for the night. We dance the next hour or so away and before we know it, Nick is ringing a bell and calling out for last call. We make our way over to the bar and each order one last drink, as well as a glass of water.

  “You ladies have a fun night?” he asks as he shakes up our drinks.

  “The best!” Tiffany tells him over the loud music.

  “What are y’all out celebrating?” he asks, pointing to all the stamps on our hands.

  “This one’s birthday,” I tell him, wrapping an arm around Tiffany’s shoulder.

  “Well, happy birthday.” He pushes our glasses across the bar in front of us. I hold up my debit card for him to take and he shakes his head at me. “These are on the house. A birthday gift, of sorts,” he says as I try and protest.

  “Thank you!” Tiffany takes a drink. “This is so good,” she tells him as he pours a beer from the tap in front of us.

  “I’m glad you like it,” he says as he hands off the glass of beer.

  We bring our drinks back to the table we occupied earlier. The crowd has definitely thinned out since we got here earlier, but there’s still a decent group of people finishing up their last drink of the night.

  “Are we splitting an Uber back to my place, or what’s the plan?” Tiffany asks once we’ve finished our drinks.

  “I knew I wouldn’t be able to drive tonight, so I just took an Uber to your place. I can just grab my own, since we’re going in opposite directions from here.”

  “Now that you mention it, I realized your car wasn’t in my driveway when we left for dinner.”

  “Figured that was the best option,” I tell her as I finish off my glass of water. “I’m going to stick around for a few minutes and talk to Nick.”

  “Yeah, what’s up with that?” she asks, eyeing him behind the bar.

  “Nothing’s up with that. He saved me the other night after you left, that’s all. Took pity on the girl that was crying in one of his booths.”

  “And tonight… the free shots, free drinks?” she states.

  “That, I have no clue about. I didn’t even realize he was here until the shots were delivered and the server said they were from him.”

  “I think someone likes you,” she says in a teasing voice.

  “Shut up.” I smack at her shoulder. “And it doesn’t matter anyways. I’ve sworn off men. They’re all bad news. Well, except Colton.”

  “Ashley, you’ll find a good one, jus
t give it time. I promise you, they’re not all toads. You’ll find your Prince Charming one of these days.”

  “If you say so,” I tell her, blowing out a huge breath.

  5

  Nick

  I wipe down the bar again as I watch Ashley and her friend in my peripheral vision. I noticed her group as soon as she walked in tonight. I tend to watch the door as each customer comes and goes; just something I’ve always done since we opened. It helps me keep tabs on what’s going on in the bar, especially when it’s busy like it is tonight. Her group looked like they were having a great time tonight, laughing constantly as they sat around, eating and drinking.

  With last call over, and the crowd dispersing as everyone finishes up their last drinks of the night, I watch as the one last friend that was with Ashley heads out the door before she does.

  “Need another water or soda?” I call out to her from behind the bar.

  “Another water would be great,” she tells me, moving over to sit on a bar stool in front of me.

  “What happened to your group?” I ask, placing the glass of ice water in front of her.

  “Some left earlier, as they were tired. Tiffany just went home in an Uber. I need to get one, as well.”

  “Why didn’t you go together?” I ask curiously.

  “We live in opposite directions, so it made more sense to take separate ones,” she says, taking a drink of her water. “Thanks again for the free shots and drinks tonight.”

  “You’re welcome. Looked like you ladies enjoyed yourselves.” I place all my shaker cups in the dish tub as I start my cleanup process. “How’d everything turn out after the other night?” I ask curiously.

  “Nothing really to turn out. I applied for a bunch of jobs yesterday, after I moved all my things out of my apartment with my ex and into my mom’s place. Thankfully, she was willing to let me move back in. Not exactly where I thought I’d be living at this point in my life, but I also didn’t quite expect to be jobless, either. Shit, sorry, I’m rambling again,” she says, clamping her lips together to keep from saying anything else.

  I don’t know what it is about her, but she’s cute when she’s flustered like this.

  “Well, I hope things turn around for you soon. I’m sure a job will come through for you before long.”

  “Hopefully,” she says, blowing out a big breath, one strong enough to flutter the hairs framing her face.

  “If you want to hang around until I’m done, I can give you a ride home,” I find myself offering. “Save yourself the Uber fare.”

  “That’s okay, I wouldn’t want to be a bother.”

  “Not a bother. I’m the one that offered, after all.”

  “Okay then,” she says, biting her bottom lip, and I find my dick rising to attention at that.

  “It will take me a half hour, forty-five minutes, tops, to finish up my closing procedures. Would you like anything before I get to work?”

  “I’m good. Thanks, Nick,” she says, smiling at me. “If anything, can I help do something so you can get out of here sooner?”

  “We’re fine. Just pick a booth and sit back and relax. We’ve got a good routine,” I tell her as Katie and Kaiden both start flipping chairs up on the tables before we mop the floors.

  I focus on cleaning the bar and restocking a few bottles I used up tonight. Once I have the bar all cleaned and ready for tomorrow’s opening crew, I check in with Kaiden, who’s already balanced our tills out for the night and dropped the cash into the safe we keep in the office until he can prepare the deposits after the weekend.

  “Good night tonight,” Kaiden says, slapping me on the shoulder.

  “It sure was. Steady all night.”

  “It was fun being behind the bar with you tonight.”

  “Yeah, it was,” I agree. We usually only end up behind the bar together on our busiest nights—Thursday through Saturday.

  “What’s up with the chick?” he asks, motioning his head in Ashley’s direction. “You don’t usually take someone home with you at the end of a shift.”

  “Just giving her a ride home. We met the other night and she’s had a bad week. Just trying to do something friendly,” I tell him honestly.

  “So, you’re not tapping that?” he asks, a shit-eating grin on his face.

  “Nope,” I tell him, popping the P. “At least not tonight. She’s had way too much to drink to make that decision clearly tonight.”

  “So, what I’m hearing is that you wouldn’t mind tapping that,” he asks, still boasting the shit-eating grin.

  “I wouldn’t turn it down if offered under the right conditions, and her three sheets to the wind isn’t the right conditions,” I deadpan.

  “I hear ya,” he says, looking around for Katie. “Been there, done that, brother.” He smacks my shoulder. “I’m off to find my wife and take her home. See you tomorrow.”

  He walks off in search for his wife and I approach the booth where Ashley is sitting. “You ready?”

  “Yeah,” she says sleepily, then yawns. “I almost fell asleep.”

  “Well, then let’s get you home.” I hold my hand out for her. She accepts it and slides out of the booth, and keeping her hand wrapped in mine, I lead her through the bar and out the back door. I lock it up quickly and then escort her to my truck parked just a few feet from the back entrance.

  “Where to?” I ask, once buckled in the driver’s seat. A few minutes later, with the address to her mom’s place programmed into my GPS, I pull out of the parking lot and onto the main street.

  “Where all did you apply for jobs?” I break the silence filling my truck.

  “A bunch of places in the mall and surrounding buildings. I don’t really care what I get a job doing, as long as they pay and it’s full-time, I’ll take it. I just need anything, at this point. I can get picky later, once I have a good job under my belt, and steady income.”

  “Have you ever tended bar?” I ask, knowing we’re going to be hiring a new bartender soon.

  “Nope, I’ve usually worked at diners that either didn’t have a liquor license, or only served beer and wine. Why do you ask?”

  “We might be hiring for a new bartender. Thought I’d tell you about the opening, if you’d be interested in it.”

  “Oh, thanks for thinking of me. I’m not sure I’d be good for the position, not having ever tended bar before. Especially with how busy you guys stay most nights.”

  “You’d be surprised how quickly you pick up mixing all the drinks,” I tell her as I drive down the street. “That, and we fully train our bartenders, and have new ones work the easier shifts to start out. We wouldn’t throw you to the wolves,” I add on a laugh.

  “Maybe. I’ll keep the option open and see what comes of all the applications I put in today.”

  “Sounds good,” I tell her as I quickly look over at her and take in her relaxed state. She’s got her head resting on the headrest, and her eyes are closed from what I can tell by my quick look at her.

  I continue driving, following the GPS directions as we fall into a silence. I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I think Ashley might have fallen asleep in the passenger seat. My suspicions are confirmed when I pull into the lot of the apartment building and park.

  “Ash,” I say, somewhat quietly as I run the backs of my fingers down her cheek. “We’re at your place.”

  Her eyes pop open and she looks around, then straight at me, a little shocked at her surroundings.

  “Crap, sorry for falling asleep,” she says, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

  “It’s okay,” I reassure her. “It’s late, and from the sounds of it, you had a busy night.”

  She yawns. “Yeah.”

  “I’ll walk you in, make sure you make it inside okay.” I get out and walk around to open her door, then offer her my hand to steady herself as she stands up. I slip it around her, resting my hand on her hip as I pull her against my side as we walk into the building. “What unit?” I ask, once inside
the hallway.

  “Number two,” she says, motioning down the hall.

  We walk back to the door marked with a metal number two. Ashley pulls out her keys and unlocks the door, opening it to a dark apartment. “Would you like to come in?” she asks, looking up at me with a mixture of drunkenness and desire in her eyes.

  “I’ll come in to make sure you get settled tonight, but for nothing else.” She pushes her bottom lip out in a pout and it’s just about the fucking cutest thing I’ve ever seen. “Sorry, darlin’, but you’ve had too much to drink tonight to make any decisions like that,” I tell her as I nudge her to move inside.

  She reaches in and flips a switch that turns on a lamp in the living room. The unit isn’t huge, but it’s homey.

  “Let’s get you in and into bed.” I follow her back to her room, standing at the doorway as she rummages through her drawers, pulling out a tank top and shorts. I step aside so she can exit her room and head into the bathroom. While she’s in there, I lean back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling, and blow out a big breath. What the fuck am I doing here? I see her phone laying on the bed and her charger on the nightstand, so I grab it, plugging it in so she doesn’t forget or lose it in her sheets overnight and end up with a dead battery in the morning.

  The bathroom door opening draws my attention, and I look over just as Ashley is coming out. She’s pulled her hair up into a messy bun that’s sitting on top of her head, and the tank top is tight and leaves little to the imagination. I can easily see her hardened nipples and the outline of her areoles. The sight of her curvy body in the tiny shorts and tight tank top has my dick pressing against the zipper of my jeans.

  She closes the space between the bathroom door and where I’m standing at her bedroom door, stopping in front of me. She looks up at me, that drunk lust still filling her eyes. “Are you sure I can’t change your mind about staying?” she asks, then nibbles on her bottom lip and fuck if my dick doesn’t twitch and harden a little more in my jeans.

  “I meant what I said earlier. You’re in no condition to make those kinds of decisions right now. Maybe another time, Ash, when you haven’t had so much to drink and can make that decision with a clear mind.” I will not budge from my stance on this. I would never push myself on a girl, and don’t want one regretting a decision made when drunk come the next morning.