"Seriously?" The guy asks, straightening his shoulders.
"Yeah, man. I wouldn't be getting involved with this chick right now. She's a loose cannon. I already tried."
"Whoa," the guy responds, wiping away the non-existent sweat from his forehead. "I thought you were just after her or something. Thanks for helping a brother out."
"Anytime, man," I tell him, knowing that could have ended badly for August or me.
A hand clenches my shoulder, and a fist makes contact with my cheek. Christ, almighty, I cannot get a break with this girl. "Thanks for nothin'." I should hit him back, but Luke would kill me even though he's in the process of breaking up a secondary fight caused by that jerk hitting me. There hasn't been a bar fight in this place for ages and go figure I'd be the cause of this one.
After checking myself for blood, finding just a small cut it seems, I watch Luke settle the rest of the bar down. He tends to me once everyone is back to their original seats. "You all right?"
"I'm fine," I tell him, checking the napkin I've been holding against my face.
"You should find her. She's going to get hurt."
"How did I get myself into this?" I ask him. I seriously don't need this,
"I don't know what to tell you, bro." Luke seems mildly irritated, and I don't know if it's at me or what just happened in the bar, but I can't help feeling responsible for it.
I clean up my plate and polish off my one beer before heading out into the rain. I'm soaked within a matter of seconds as I look in the front windows of the other pubs nearby. I pass three before I spot August inside one, hitting on a guy at the bar.
She's a train wreck in a hurricane.
Chapter Twenty
August
The rain is heavier nowthan it's been all day. I don't mind since we don't get a lot of it, but I don't like to be cold and wet, which will happen if I don't duck into a new spot.
Pubs and coffee shops line the street, so I step into Lionel's Shamrock Shack, finding a big crowd. The lighting is the same as Kenny's, but the bar top is wrapped around the entire bar here. It isn't warm in here either—it's rather damp and chilly. I feel like I'm standing inside of a cave.
I'm not naive about what happens when a woman walks into a bar alone at night. I assume most men might think she's looking for some company. I often wonder why I receive so much attention at this point in my life but couldn't fit in when I was a kid in school. Picking up a man in a bar has never been on my bucket list, but tonight, I could use a little distraction, especially after almost causing a brawl in Kenny's.
I'm standing behind a few people at the bar, waiting for the bartender to take my order. As a woman on the shorter side of the height scale, it's easy for people to look over my head, which seems to be happening.
"What can I get ya, honey?" a man asks me from behind. I'm not sure if he's offering to order me a drink because no one is serving me or if he thinks he's buying my time. In any case, I just want the drink.
"Whiskey sour please," I tell him. The man isn't my type. He's bald, packed full of muscle and his clothes are too tight like it's intentional.
"I like a girl who can handle her whiskey," the man says. "Aaron, nice to meet ya, sweetheart."
This situation is not going to end well, and this little connection is not going any further.
I hand over a ten-dollar bill, making it clear I don't want Aaron to pay for my drink, whatever his reason is. "I got this, honey."
"No, thank you. I'm happy to pay for my drink."
"I see," he says. "No expectations. It's on me, though. You look like you've had a rough night out in the rain. This weather is something else, ain't it?"
"It is. I suppose we could use the rain, though, right? And thank you for the drink," I offer, hoping he's honest about having no expectations.
"Where are your friends at?" he asks.
"No friends here tonight," I respond. "I'm just here to grab a quick drink after a long day."
He yells my order out over a few heads, receiving immediate attention from the bartender.
The drink is in my hand within a matter of minutes. "Thank you, again," I offer.
