“Me too. I need a beer.”
“You’ve got beer at home.”
“But it’s not free at home.”
He follows me inside, where I join my manager, Kit, behind the bar. She’s setting a cold one in front of the only empty space. He thanks Kit, and I hand him the legal pad with his running tab. “Beer’s not free here, either.”
He scans the paper. “You’re serious?”
“That’s with a friends and family discount, too.” Kit turns the page with a smirk. “Your brother has a business to run, and I don’t work for free.”
“I thought the cash I shoved in the tip jar was enough to cover it.”
“That doesn’t go toward your bill.” I tell him what I assumed he already knew. “It’s tip money only, bro, split between the cocktail servers at the end of the night.”
Kit tilts her head. “Why do you think the girls are always so nice to you?”
“Because of my good looks and charming personality, of course.” He winks.
He clears his tab, and when he leaves for the night, he pays his billandleaves a wad of cash in the tip jar.
After last call, I take the trash out and shake the raindrops from my hair as I head to the stock room. I do a quick inventory, then grab what I need to start restocking. I’m carrying four cases of booze when the bell chimes.Shit, I forgot to lock the door.
“Sorry, we’re clo—” The boxes slip through my fingers and crash to the ground. Bottles break, and liquor oozes through the cardboard, but I couldn’t care less. I close my jaw, then open it just enough to get out, “Holy shit.”
The woman standing fifteen feet away doesn’t move a muscle. She just stares at me, and I realize I’m staring, too. It’s dim in here, and I almost don’t believe my eyes. Her hair is shorter, she’s not wearing her glasses, and she’s lost too much weight, but I know exactly who I’m looking at.
I’m transported back in time, but in the same breath, it’s standing still. “Annie?”
Her head wobbles, and her body follows suit, like she’s about to collapse, so I move. Liquid sloshes under the soles of my boots, and I push a chair out of the way. “What’s wrong?” I close the distance between us and am shocked at her distraught and disheveled appearance. “Jesus. What happened?”
Her normal bright green eyes are swampy, her skin is pale, at least the skin I can see through the dirt and blood, her teeth are clattering, and she’s shivering. “Are you okay?”Who the fuck hurt you?I grab her too thin arms and give her a little jerk to snap her out of it. “Talk to me, Blue.”
She shakes her head, takes a breath, then finally whispers, “I think I need you.”
“You got me.” Anything but isn’t an option.
“Sorry to just show up like this,” she apologizes timidly. “But I had nowhere else to go.”
I’m eager to find out what she needs my help with, but I don’t want to discuss it in the middle of the bar where we’re so exposed. “You good to walk upstairs, or do you need me to carry you?”
“What’s upstairs?”
I reach beyond her and secure the locks. “My apartment. Are you okay to walk?”
“Yes.”
She skirts the table, and I see how bad she’s limping even though I can tell she’s trying to pretend she’s not in pain. Without a word, I swoop her up and cradle her.
“I said I can walk.” She contradicts her protest as she winds her arms around my neck.
A memory flashes of the last time her arms were wrapped around me…and her lips were on mine. Despite how much I try to forget it, I can still feel the bullets tearing through my skin,can hear her screams, I can taste the blood in the back of my throat.
I swallow the metallic taste as I carry her through the bar, push through the steel door, set the security system, and then climb the slim staircase. We get inside, and I don’t put her down until I get to the couch.
I take her muddy, wet shoes and socks off, then hold my hand out. “Sweatshirt.” I hold my hand out.
She slides the oversized hoodie off, and rolls her lips together as she looks around. “Will your, uh, girlfriend be okay that I’m here?”
