“We have new drink specials. One is called the, uh… Mango Explosion. The other is a Flamethrower.”
“Is that spicy?” I asked.
“I think so.”
That sounded fun. “Can you bring me one?”
Lucian chuckled and sat back.
“Sure thing!” The young lady hurried off, leaving her pen on the table.
“She’s new,” Tak pointed out. “I doubt she’ll last long. Sweet girl, but I’ve already seen her drop three drink trays.”
“Mercy and Bear revived this place,” Mel said, still in total concentration. “She can’t work here all hours, so Calvin needs another server. He can’t afford to let her go just because she’sclumsy.”
I scanned the busy room, which was filled with laughter, boisterous conversations, and drunks pushing each other at the pool tables. Working in a place like this would be my nightmare. It made me appreciate the quiet and predictable atmosphere of the bookstore even more.
“Check this out,” Archer called to us.
We each craned our neck to watch. He centered his eyes on the target, tested his aim, then turned his head to the side and shut his eyes. With quick precision, he threw the dart, and it landed in the bull’s-eye.
When Melody and I clapped, he beamed with pride.
I smiled and asked Melody, “Why is Virgil wearing that pink Girl Power shirt?”
She laid down another card. “Because Archer stretched it out. It’s supposed to be a short cutoff that fits close, but now it’s so loose that I told him to wear it tonight as punishment. He refused, and Virgil volunteered. I can’t wear it anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, remembering the day Archer came over. “I feel like that might be my fault. He came in out of the rain, and that’s what he put on so his shirt could dry.”
“It’snotyour fault. Anyhow, I’m not mad about it. I just wanted topretendI was mad so I could get him to wear it.”
“You see?” Tak pointed at her while looking at Salem and Lucian. “Women conspire behind our backs.”
“I conspired in front of you,” she replied before finishing out the diamonds. “You guys like to show off and throw axes to have fun, and this is my version of fun.”
Tak arched his eyebrow. “I thought your version of fun was shooting arrows at our feet from the roof.”
“That was an accident. The arrow slipped.”
“Three times?”
She tried pushing back a smile. “That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it.”
He lifted his chin. “One might assume you were using our shadows as target practice.”
Mercy and Bear walked over.
“I have to see this,” Mercy said. “Who ordered the Flamethrower?”
Everyone pointed at me.
Her face fell. “Are you sure you want that? It’s spicy. I tried it and nearly expired on the floor from my mouth being on fire.”
“I like spicy.”
Mercy scratched the back of her head and exchanged a concerned look with Bear.
The way I saw it, maybe I needed to take more chances in life, even small ones. Try new things. Meet people. Push myself to be brave. It wasn’t to get over my shyness; it was simply a way to remind myself that I always had a choice and sometimes scary and new things turned out to be wonderful memories.
